Ron Turner became interested in science fiction at an early age, with numerous works across several media: the novels of H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Jules Verne; films and film serials such as Metropolis, Things to Come, and Flash Gordon; and Alex Raymond's comic strips. He developed a keen interest in American science-fiction pulp magazines, such as Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories (now known as Analog Science Fiction), and Turner first began to develop his talent by attempting to copy the often spectacular cover illustrations.
In 1936, at age 14, Turner first got work as an apprentice in Odhams, a London art studio and publishing house. By 1938, Turner was providing illustrations for the British magazine Modern Wonder. In 1940, Turner's professional art career was interrupted by World War II, and he was drafted into the British army. He returned to professional illustration in the late 1940s, getting a job drawing comic strips for Scion Ltd.'s Big series, mostly centered around the crew of the "Atomic Mole", a subterranean craft, who would explore the habitable spaces beneath the Earth's crust.
Odhams eventually began publishing a line of paperback fiction, for which Turner drew numerous covers, notably the "Vargo Statten" series by John Russell Fearn. Turner's art raised his profile in the illustration world enough that other publishers began sending assignments his way as well. In 1953, Turner left Odhams to try his hand at freelancing and attempt to produce a regular comic strip in the mode of British cartoonist Frank Hampson, an idol of Turner's.
In late 1953 he spoke to the publisher of Tit-Bits Science Fiction Novels (for which Turner was providing cover illustration) about the possibility of producing his own comic series. The publisher agreed, and began Tit-Bits Science Fiction Comics, a 64-page monthly comic book written, drawn, and lettered by Turner. It quickly became apparent that the workload was too onerous for just one man, and Turner reluctantly brought in other artists in order to meet his deadlines. Nevertheless, the publication was canceled after just seven issues.
Just after the demise of Tit-Bits Comics (or just before; the chronology is unclear) Turner began to write, draw and letter the "Space Ace" strip for the Lone Star comic, which required only four pages per month. In 1954, he also started drawing for Amalgamated Press's Super-Detective Library comic, which had recently started running a science-fiction strip called "Rick Random: Space Detective". Editor Ted Holmes commissioned Turner to provide art for the strip, leaving the chores of script-writing, lettering and cover illustration to others. Turner worked on "Rick Random" for the next five years.
As the vogue for pulp science fiction dwindled, Turner found work doing cover illustrations again for numerous publications, such as the popular science journal Practical Mechanics. By the mid-sixties Turner had more or less abandoned the world of monthly publishing, and was producing original paint-by-number paintings for the company Craftmaster.
In 1965, Turner was offered the opportunity to draw his first colour comic strip, a Stingray strip based on the popular Gerry Anderson series. This was for TV Century 21 Stingray Extra, a holiday special issue of the weekly British comics magazine TV Century 21. The following year, Turner began contributing to TV Century 21 on a regular basis with his first ongoing colour comic strip, The Daleks, featuring the mechanical recurring characters from the television series Doctor Who but not Doctor Who himself. Turner replaced the strip's previous artist Richard Jennings, initially for issues 50 and 51 (January 1966) and then on a regular basis from issue 59 (March 1966). He continued to illustrate The Daleks until its conclusion in issue 104 (January 1967).
Between 1965 and 1969, Turner also contributed strips based on the various Gerry Anderson TV shows to a number of TV Century 21 holiday specials and the publisher's hardback annual books, illustrating further Stingray strips as well as Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and "Zero X". He illustrated all 80 pages of the Joe 90 Puzzle Book and the same number for the Joe 90 Dot to Dot Book (both Century 21 Publishing, 1968) as well as providing strips based on the television series The Champions, Star Trek and Land of the Giants for the 1969 Joe 90 Top Secret Annual . In addition, he again found work with Amalgamated Press (now called Fleetway), taking over the black and white "Robot Builders" strip from Carlos Cruz in Fleetway's Tiger and Hurricane comic magazine.
In the 1970s, Turner began working for IPC Media (which had absorbed Fleetway Publications), drawing strips for the Whizzer and Chips comics magazine, including "Wondercar", "Archie's Angels" and "Danny Drew's Dialling Man", generally oriented towards a youth market. As well as contributing a regular Star Trek strip to IPC Media's TV21 comic, he also continued his association with Gerry Anderson with Thunderbirds strips for the 1972 Thunderbirds Annual and the 1973 Countdown Annual.
In the late 1970s, Turner drew some Judge Dredd strips for 2000 A.D., although his style did not find favour with his editors, and the long-term assignment eventually fell to other artists, notably Mike McMahon, Brian Bolland, Ron Smith and, on select occasions, Dave Gibbons. Instead, Turner found regular work on the relaunched version of IPC's formerly violent Action comic with "The Spinball Slaves", a sequel to the science fiction sport strip "Death Game 1999" heavily influenced by Rollerball , and its less violent sequel "Spinball". When Action merged with IPC's war comic Battle Picture Weekly to become Battle Action, Turner contributed a further "Spinball" sequel strip entitled "The Spinball Wars". He also worked on a revival of "Rick Random" in 2000 A.D. and Star Lord.
Turner continued to work for Battle Action under its new guise Battle Action Force, drawing many of the "Action Force" strips, which featured Action Man characters licensed from Mattel. He also began drawing for the new IPC Media weekly comics magazine Speed a strip called "Journey to the Stars", although the magazine was canceled soon afterwards. Turner found work with other IPC comics magazines such as War and Battle Picture Library, but the shrinking comic-book market in Britain in the 1980s soon caused these publications to fold as well, in 1984. At this time, Turner announced his retirement, although not long afterwards he was found drawing strips for an independent small press, including "Nick Hazard" and "Kalgan the Golden".
By this point, Turner had started regularly doing book cover illustrations again, this time for Gryphon Books. Turner also painted a new six-part "Daleks" strip for Doctor Who Magazine.
Turner died of a stroke and a heart attack. His artwork has continued to appear posthumously on books published by Gryphon Books and Wildside Press, drawing on many previously unpublished pieces as well as reprinting his earlier book cover illustrations.