LUCCA: Chatting With Former Grand Theft Auto Artist Stephen Bliss

Posted in: Conventions, Events, Games, Interview, Lucca Comics & Games, Video Games | Tagged: grand theft auto, Lucca Comics & Games 2026, Stephen Bliss

During his visit to Lucca Comics & Games, we got a chance to interview artist Stephen Bliss, one of the key artists for Grand Theft Auto

Published Sat, 31 Oct 2026 07:42:11 -0500 by Gavin Sheehan |

Article Summary

• Stephen Bliss reflects on shaping Grand Theft Auto’s iconic visual identity and the lasting impact of his Rockstar years.
• Bliss discusses Fear City Stories, his new novel about a rabbit-masked vigilante, addiction, and a dark cartoon universe.
• The former Grand Theft Auto artist opens up about AI fears, freelance work, gallery art, and building his own creative brand.
• Stephen Bliss also talks gaming ambitions, hopes for a Fear City game, and his experience visiting Lucca Comics & Games.

One of the many guests at Lucca Comics and Games 2026 is artist Stephen Bliss, or, as many may know him, one of the defining artists of the Grand Theft Auto series. For several years, Bliss' artwork defined the video game franchise, with his animated 2D style that made the characters feel both realistic and comic book-esque. A style that has continued, as the cover of Grand Theft Auto VI has clearly been influenced by his style. Since departing Rockstar Games, he has been working on his own projects, such as Fear City, as well as displaying his artwork in galleries across NYC. We were given the chance to ask Bliss a few questions about his career and current projects, as well as his thoughts on the convention.

How have things been going for you this year?

Very well. I started off the year not wanting to make visual art again, apart from freelance jobs. I think it was because of AI, and I thought it was futile trying to make visual images. But so I started writing a novel instead and learning how to do that, learning the craft of writing a novel. I mean obviously everyone can write, but I'm always like imagining and coming up with ideas, especially now I set that process on the road. I'm completely obsessed with writing that book and kind of getting inspired by movies and different things to kind of expand the storyline and the characters.

But recently, being asked to do collector's cards, like fine art for collector's cards, got me back into thinking visually. So it's been a very creative year, and I've had enough freelance jobs to kind of keep going whilst making my own work, which is always a balance I wanted to achieve. And also, I'm getting a lot more recognition now because people are starting to realize that I contributed to the Grand Theft Auto series and Rockstar. Previously, not so many people knew I was involved, but since GTA 6, I had nothing to do with the GTA 6, came out—the advert, the trailer—I've got a lot more attention, which is something I need and I've been craving for a long time. Because sometimes I'm like, can you all wake up, please, and recognize I'm doing some really good things, but it's happening.

Can you tell us a bit more about your novel and when it will be ready for publication?

It's called Fear City Stories, and it's based on an IP, a cartoon universe I started back in 2022. It was an NFT series, and NFTs are worthless now, but I had the stories written; I had the characters- maybe about 100 characters and I didn't want to waste them. They were part of me, they were like I was always thinking of these characters and I thought this has to be a novel. The main antagonist, the protagonist, is a teenage vigilante who wears a rabbit mask that's possessed by a very ancient spirit, and it gives him powers.

He goes out into the city and starts killing criminals, but it's kind of a battle between him realizing that he's taken a shortcut to becoming popular and kind of like an anti-hero, but it's corrupting him, and he's trying to realize that he has to get away from that addiction and be himself and try to achieve popularity by being himself. It's a metaphor; all horror movies, horror stories have to be a metaphor for something, and it's a story about addiction, I think. I reckon it will be ready for publication in the next season. It's going to take a long time, I think another year. Some people take ten years, don't they? I'm not putting any pressure on myself.

So you've been doing a lot of your own artwork and displaying in galleries. How has it been for you, a decade removed from Rockstar, creating personalized art on your own terms?

It's been a challenge, and I've managed to have a lot of interesting freelance work to finance my personal work. I'm lucky in that way because I could have had a lot of boring jobs, and they've been very challenging, so that's been good. But I'm set up already with a creative mind that wants to create, so I've never really been, I've never had a lack of being too distraught about not having a direction. There's always been a direction creatively for me, which is what fuels me. And as I said, it's now culminating; it's really like now collecting speed.

Do you ever see yourself getting back into gaming? Or is joining a project to give it something extra? Or are you good with things the way they are now?

Well, I'd like to have someone finance the Fear City game. I've already designed the outline of the characters and the gameplay. I was trying for a couple of years to get a publisher, a gaming publisher, and some money for that. Some people were interested, but they were generally full of bullshit, you know, and they never came through with the money. But that was something I'm very interested in doing: getting my own game made.

Getting a little bit of GTA, what's it been like for you to see your art and your style become synonymous with such a big series?

It's been pretty amazing, and it's something that, on a bad day, I can look at and think, well, I achieved that. And that is a lot of emotional connection for a lot of people that grew up with that artwork. So I feel like I achieved something from that, which was massive. Which is massive for me now, but I want to be able to develop my own projects away from that.

But then again, I have to be realistic that that has kind of set me up in a way to proceed with what I want to do, because there's kind of a fan base from that heritage of those games. But to be part of something that is like the best-selling entertainment unit of all time is, I think, in 50 years, Rockstar is probably going to be the only, one of the only cultural things that is remembered. And I'm hoping that I'm there too, and most of everything else will be forgotten, but Rockstar will be remembered, you know. And hopefully I'll be part of that heritage when that happens.

Why do you feel the artwork you create has been so iconic and has lasted a taste of time?

Well, because of the emotional association with the games. But I think because the style that I drew it in was an easy style for people to copy, like kids. Like I remember, you know, my connection with, I started drawing through DC and Marvel Comics and copying them, and they weren't easy to draw. I learned anatomy and, you know, action figures from drawing then. I think like a lot of people grew up with those games, and it was a style that they could copy.

Like a strong band logo was something that you can copy onto your sketchbook at school, you know, onto the back of your backpack or something. And it's been very recognizable. At the time, no one else had done anything like that. Previous to that, box design was like airbrushed screenshots from the game, and it was kind of dull. And Rockstar, you know, took the risk of putting out something that was two-dimensional. And I think it was so different from everything else; it really, you know, blew people's minds.

So what are some of the projects and events you have coming up?

I mean, apart from the novel we've already talked about? Well, I have a character called Luby, who might be joining the Fear City universe. I have a couple of comics I want published from scripts I've written that are published, but also Fear City comics and the Fear City novel. I'm trying to bring all my IPs together. It's what my ambition is: to get them all together and create my brand of me. And just really, you know, solidify that. Because sometimes it can be like, it's really frustrating, because I know that I'm doing good work, but it's kind of like not enough people recognize it, and it's really frustrating. So I'm hoping now I can pull it all together and make them identifiable and big, you know.

Is this your first time in Lucca? What do you think of the festival?

It's an amazing place to have a festival, isn't it? It's beautiful. I mean, I particularly like the torture museum. The torture museum? No, I'm joking. I stumbled onto it yesterday, and it was horrific and interesting and inspiring, because my artwork is quite dark. But it's incredible. It's a beautiful place to be, isn't it? And also, I'm looking forward to Halloween night, because all the costumes are going to be here. For New York, like, it's a really big Halloween celebration, so I think it's going to be bigger here. It's going to be a real horror night in a medieval town. Are you looking forward to that? Yes.

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