What made you want to work in and draw for the magazine industry?

I can't do anything else. Before I was 2 years old I liked the look and feel of periodicals, comics, magazines, newspapers, and I was very excited by the idea that there would be another issue tomorrow or next week or next month. Almost everyone was telling me there was no future in comics, it was a rather unsavoury business, I obviously wouldn't be good enough, there was no money in it and that it wasn't a real job. But I never even considered doing anything else.

Chart your journey from the start of your career to your current position

When I started out, I got rejected a lot, but finally got a break from two publishers on the same day when I was 20. Soon I began to pick up a lot of work from other people; IPC, Fleetway, BBC Magazines, Titan, etc. In 1990 I decided I wanted to be in the Beano and after several years submitting examples to the editor, in 1996 I was offered a 'ghost' job, filling in for another artist. As soon as I'd finished that, I was offered other jobs. In 1997 I was given my own strips in both the Beano and the Dandy the same week. From that point on, I haven't really stopped. By 2002/3 I was drawing Dennis 40 or more weeks out of the 52 each year. In 2012 I was appointed 'Official' Dennis artist.

What is the most challenging thing about being a cartoonist?

Having to draw when you're tired or ill or on holiday or it's nice weather out.

How do you continue to make your cartoons relevant to readers in such rapidly changing times?

It's part of what we do. We all keep up to date. It makes it interesting for us to keep up with changing trends, news events suggest new storylines, new personalities suggest new characters, new gadgets and gimmicks suggest new plot twists. Contrary to the casual glance, the Beano has never been set in aspic, it's always changed, evolved, and reflected the times it's made in.

How do you handle your deadlines?

It can be complicated and it would be nice if we were always given true deadlines and not just random ones. Sometimes a rush job comes in and that can mean shuffling other work around. I decided when I was 21 that I would always meet a deadline but would never work overnight.

Walk me through your typical day

Wake, draw, go to bed. An atypical day: Wake, draw, do something else, draw, go to bed.

Whose phone number do you wish you had?

No one I can think of. I've got lots of phone numbers and I never call them anyway.

What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received?

An editor once told me to concentrate on 'adventure' type strips and forget humour. I drew in about 20 different styles for many years, depending on what editors wanted, but it wasn't until I got into the Beano that I dedicated myself to humour full time.

What’s the last photo you took on your phone?

Artists Sonia Leong (Left) and Paulina Vassileva (Right) and me (centre) at a Comic Con in Cardiff.

What would be in your Room 101?

I'm quite phlegmatic and don't really hate anything enough to want it vanquished.

Introvert or Extrovert?

If I'm working alone quietly I'm an introvert. If I'm at a Comic Con meeting people, doing talks or presentations, I'm an extrovert.

Optimist or Pessimist?

I'm very positive. I always see the good side to everything.

Film or TV?

No time for either. Radio was traditionally the comic artist's friend when I started.

Sweet or Savoury?

Savoury – always end with the cheese board, that's the rule.

What magazine would be your Sunday afternoon or long train journey read?

What, and lose valuable working time? I regularly draw while on a train, usually going back and forth to a Comic Con, and Sunday is one of my seven work days in a week.