O Roy επιστρέφει!!!!

Η πρώτη έκδοση Roy of the Rovers μετά από 14 χρόνια είναι γεγονός. 1η Απριλίου κυκλοφορεί μια επανέκδοση αγαπημένων ιστοριών από τα 80s, που, αν αποδόσει τα προβλεπόμενα, ίσως προαναγγείλει την επιστροφή του ήρωά μας με νέες περπέτειες.

Διαβάστε τι γράφει η Daily Mail:

"Forget The Damned United. There's another fictional account of a famous football manager's life about to jostle for position in the nation's consciousness once more and you can guarantee this particular hero's family are not about to cry foul over his depiction.

In fact, for many thirtysomethings and above, the life and times of Brian Clough pale into insignificance when compared to those of a man whose footballing c.v. includes winning every honour in the game - on several occasions - surviving a 1981 assassination attempt, seeing six team-mates murdered in a bus attack by 'Basranian terrorists' in 1986 and even the loss of his left foot in 1993 - a travesty after which even he was forced to hang up his boots.

But then Roy Race, aka Roy of the Rovers, who first appeared in the Tiger comic in 1954, is for so many the ultimate footballing icon. Or at least that's how copyright holders Egmont Publishing are hoping he is still seen as they prepare to launch him back on to the nation's newsstands for the first time in 14 years.

A 64-page special edition comic, comprising strips of Roy and other characters from the Eighties, will grace the shelves of WH Smith for a 12-week period from April Fool's Day. But for Egmont, it will be no joking matter.

They are using the print run as an acid test of just how much 'Racey' and other two-dimensional heroes such as Billy 'Billy's Boots' Dane, Tommy 'Tommy's Troubles' Barnes and Kevin 'Mighty Mouse' Mouse, are still loved by their former readers and their children.

'We keep our classic characters under review all the time, to see what scope there is for their development,' explained Egmont's Melanie Leggett.

'Roy is without doubt one of the most, if not the most, popular, so it's exciting for us to see how well this goes.

'We've been very careful to stay as close to the original as possible and are even putting it out on specially produced tactile paper, just to ensure the reader is propelled straight back into his - or her - own childhood.'
Roy of the Rovers

And it is difficult not to be. A flick through an advanced copy and the memories come flooding back. The classic red-and-yellow Melchester Rovers strips (Race and Co seemed to change them even more than England back in the day), the classic, last-minute, left-foot finishes (into the top corner, naturally) and teammates such as Blackie Gray, Vic Guthrie and Paco Diaz (always a rich mix of nationalities) were just the start of it.

There is even a cartoon of a youthful-looking Gary Lineker, drawn for his 'Go For Goal with Gary Lineker' quiz page. Unfortunately there is no sign of fellow 'real' personalities Bob Wilson and Emlyn Hughes (brought out of retirement to play for Melchester in 1985), Geoff Boycott (long-time Melchester chairman) and Sir Alf Ramsey (caretaker Melchester manager while Roy was in his coma). And as for the storyline which saw Spandau Ballet duo Martin Kemp and Steve Norman don the famous redand- yellow strip, well, perhaps that is best forgotten, after all.

But did the players of the day appreciate Roy grabbing all the, at least fictional, glory? 'Roy of the Rovers is a national treasure, which I remember reading in the Eighties, so I am delighted to see it being bought back to newsstands,' said Chris Waddle. 'Roy was a great player who kids and adults will enjoy reading about again . I'll definitely be grabbing a copy.'

As, no doubt, will the fans, caught up in the current thirst for Seventies and Eighties nostalgia, who have helped revive demand for all things Melchester over the past few years.

A few minutes' surfing the web offers the chance to buy various replica Rovers shirts, a Melchester Subbuteo team (£21.39 on eBay last night, plus shipping from the USA - yes, the USA!) and The Bumper Book of Roy of the Rovers, published last autumn, which sold a healthy 7,000 copies.

So what next for the ultimate comic book footballing hero? A big-money film offer, perhaps? Michael Sheen, take off that baggy green jumper . . ."

Το Αγόρι, το Μπλεκ και μια σοκολάτα...

Για τους νεότερους πιθανότατα οι παρακάτω ιστορίες δεν σημαίνουν τίποτε, όμως σε όσους βρίσκονται γύρω στα 35 και μεγάλωσαν διαβάζοντας κόμικς στη δεκαετία του ’80, ίσως το θέμα αυτό να φέρει στο νου γλυκές αναμνήσεις από τα χρόνια της αθωότητας. Τότε που οι περισσότεροι ονειρευόμαστε να γίνουμε επαγγελματίες ποδοσφαιριστές για να σκίζουμε τα δίχτυα όπως ο Χάμις, να κερδίζουμε τίτλους και δόξα όπως ο Ρόι Ρέις ή να κάνουμε ηρωικές αποκρούσεις σαν τον Μπεν Λήπερ.

O Rob Davies για το Roy of the Rovers

O Rob Davies, καλλιτέχνης που σκίτσαρε το κόμικ στριπ του Roy of the Rovers Monthly, σε ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον άρθρο, γεμάτο αναμνήσεις...

http://dinlos.blogspot.com/2009/03/roy-of-rovers-monthly.html

O Roy της Melchester

Ο καλός φίλος Νίκος Νικολαϊδης γράφει ένα μυθιστόρημα βασισμένο στις περιπέτειες του Roy της Melchester στα χρόνια 1971-76, που πολλοί θεωρούν τα καλύτερα στην "ιστορία" της ομάδας. Το πρώτο δείγμα ακολουθεί...

He shoots ... he scores!

Fifty years ago this month, football hero Roy Race first turned out for Melchester Rovers, and although the ace striker hung up his shooting boots some years ago, the legend lives on, writes Tom O'Meara

Kidnappings, a shooting and the saxophone player from Spandau Ballet: forget about the football, Roy of the Rovers encompassed far more. Long before the Footballer's Wives scriptwriters started work on a soccer soap opera, the creators of Roy of the Rovers realised the value of mixing football with melodrama.

Roy Race comes to life in a charming biography of the Melchester Rovers legend

Publishers love football biographies and autobiographies.

They can estimate with considerable accuracy the likely sales, based on the regular attendance figures at the player’s club, with additional sales added on if the subject is an international.

The process is also more straightforward than conjuring marketable fiction out of a “blocked” novelist. All that is required is a willing and competent ghost-writer, a tape recorder and a fortnight in an acceptable Caribbean hotel.

Footballers can occasionally turn awkward, particularly when confronted with chapter headings such as “The Totalled Baby Bentley”, “Me, the Barmaid and the Handcuffs”, and “Back to The Priory”. Swift mention of the likely tabloid serial rights will often quell the nerves.

The wisest authors seek players who cannot answer back: either those who have gone to the great dressing-room in the sky, or those who never existed in the first place.

Great credit in this connection to Mick Collins, who has written the story of the greatest fictional footballer in English history. Roy of the Rovers: The Unauthorised Biography (Aurum) will take enraptured fans of a certain age back to the days when Melchester Rovers bestrode the footballing world like a colossus, with their blonde-mulletted striker, captain and later manager always at the heart of the action.

The author is certainly not short of material. As well as battling for the FA Cup, for the League title or (occasionally) against relegation, Melchester and Roy were subjected to plot twists that could - and often did - come straight from contemporary soap operas.

On their regular pre-season tours to South America, for example, Roy and/or a sizeable proportion of his squad could expect to be kidnapped on a regular basis, escaping only just in time to triumph in the tour-closing fixture. Helicopters and cars crashed, Roy got shot in the head and half the team were massacred in the Middle East. Perhaps most shocking of all, though, was the occasion when Roy’s long-suffering wife (and former secretary) Penny walked out on him with the kids and took a brief holiday in Crete.

Collins has pitched his biography well: he notes the risibility of the plot-twists and Roy’s unlikely longevity as a player, but he constantly reminds us of the affection that his subject commanded among his vast young audience.

He has conducted interviews with the surviving editors, writers and artists, who provide insights into the challenges of conveying football-related excitement on a weekly basis. Did you know, for example, that Roy Race’s nose was based on that of Cliff Richard?

Towards the end, events at Rovers started to spiral out of control. Geoffrey Boycott was appointed as the club’s chairman, and some of the players recruited on his watch were unusual, to say the least. Bob Wilson is, as the author rightly notes, a fine man, but perhaps 11 years of retirement might not have been the best preparation for assuming the goalkeeping duties at Mel Park.

A similarly retired Emlyn Hughes was another questionable signing, but he seemed positively sensible by comparison with Martin Kemp and Steve Norman, who when they were not turning out for Melchester had a lucrative sideline performing for the pop group Spandau Ballet.

Roy and his eponymous comic were chasing an audience that had other things on their minds, and the relentless rise of computer gaming and the unromantic evolution of the Premier league eventually sunk Roy, Melchester, the comic and the wonderful world they had inhabited.

Collins’ cracking book will inspire many former Melchester fans to seek out back issues of the comic on Ebay, but happily there is an easier source of nostalgia. Titan Books now has the rights to Roy’s adventures, and recently brought out a large-format paperback with the self-explanatory title The Best of Roy of the Rovers: The 1980s.

www.telegraph.co.uk