1954-2014: 60 years Roy of the Rovers

After being contacted by the Comic Book Heroes forum member and dear friend, Robvanderovers, Egmont confirmed that they indeed have a number of initiatives to celebrate Roy of the Rovers' 60th Anniversary later this year.

They are set to make a number of announcements about this over the next few months, including at least two new titles, further digital releases and marketing activity.

Let's hope 2014 will be the year that our favourite football hero will make his long-awaited comeback!   

Roy of the Rovers Holiday Special 1987

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Barrie Tomlinson remembers Roy of the Rovers Christmas past

Roy of the Rovers editor Barrie Tomlinson talks about his Christmas memories to Mark Towers for the online fanzine "Racey's Rocket" in 2008.

As Editor and Group Editor of children‟s comics, it was always my policy to feature the big celebrities of the day, from both television and sport. I began this policy with TIGER and carried it on when I launched ROY OF THE ROVERS. I figured that television was playing a big part in the lives of young people and the only way we could fight it was to join in ourselves and involve the titles in the world of television. When I later launched the New EAGLE, that policy was heavily criticised and I was accused of being “star-struck”. I had to change my plans to put top celebs in EAGLE. But that‟s another story! Let's get back to TIGER and ROY OF THE ROVERS...

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Could we be about to see the return of Roy of the Rovers? It seems that Ian Rimmer and Barrie Mitchell are working on new material in the hope of getting the story picked up.

I contacted Ian Rimmer about a Q&A for this blog and very kindly accepted, so please post your questions as comments, post them to the RotR forum here or e-mail them to me (strkav@yahoo.gr) so as to forward them to the creators of the latest comic strips, who are trying hard for a comeback. You can do this until the end of December.

Have a look at Ian Rimmer's site here: http://therealianrimmer.com/real-roy-of-the-rovers-stuff/

New Look Roy of the Rovers 1992

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILy_mh7TpIM

Roy of the Rovers stuff...literally

There are 3 pub conversations everyone reading this will have had at least once in their life –

1. Greatest album of all time?

Now this is open to a huge amount of debate - personal taste aside great bands don’t always make the truly ‘great’ albums, do you judge it on sales, mass appeal, or purely personal preference? I will simply say this without ever hoping to answer conclusively. If you say anything other than ‘The Stone Roses’ by The Stone Roses you’re wrong. If you answered with anything by Meat Loaf you can probably stop reading this and go spend some time taking a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror.

2. Greatest film of all time?

To be right just pick any one from these five – Weekend at Bernie’s, Rocky IV, Escape to Victory, Clerks, or Weekend at Bernie’s 2. Alternatively I will accept some pornography. Nothing with dwarfs though. Never again.

3. Greatest footballer of all time?

Now this is the biggie. Do you go Diego - mercurial, breath taking, the entertainer supreme and with the personality to match the talent? What about Pele, the most brilliant of the brilliant Brazilians, an institution in the game, scorer of over a 1000 goals (ish…)? How about Bestie, the wasted talent, the ‘How good could he have been’ argument? Then there’s Di Stefano, Socrates, Bobby Moore, Beckenbauer, Puskas, Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane, Gareth Bale…

Next time this comes up, let me give you a slightly different take. Let me submit to you a footballer whose career spanned decades from youth player to first teamer to player-manager. Off the pitch he survived player rebellions, a takeover of his club, a coma after being shot, a coach disaster, and a high profile marriage break up and reconciliation. On it he won everything domestically (including 9 league titles) as well as every European competition available including a personal favourite – the Cup Winner’s Cup.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Roy Race.