The seventies was a very turbulent time in Britain. Following on from the optimism of the sixties, the country faced a decade of strikes and power cuts. Luckily for the fans of Melchester Rovers, Roy Race and his loyal time mates provided great moments of glory for their fans, starting with European Cup final win in 1973 in the year that the club celebrated its 50th anniversary.
It was the decade in which footballers became real superstars a time when Melchester goalkeeper Charlie Carter had to choose between staying at the club or perusing a burgeoning career as a pop singer. And it was a period when Roy Race truly cemented himself as the heart, soul and brain of the club by taking on the role of player manager.
Written by Tom Tully with art by Yvonne Hutton and David Sque, this collection of classic Roy of the Rovers stories from the pages of Tiger brings back the best of the 1970s for audiences old and new!
The football might be postponed, but Roy of the Rovers is on hand to provide you with all the drama you could possibly need with the super Summer Special!
Available in newsagents, select supermarkets, and online, catch up with characters old and new, starring in thrilling new comic strips, read fantastic fiction, and witness the return of iconic Roy of the Rovers artist David Sque!
The Summer Special is jam-packed with fab football action – perfect for football fans of all ages. Whether it’s the Melchester team getting to test their skills against the finest teams in Europe, reuniting legends such as Hot-Shot Hamish, Gerry Holloway, Johnny Dexter and keeper Charlie ‘The Cat’ Carter for a special five-a-side tournament, or Roy and Rocky trying to see out lockdown without driving each under up the wall, there’s plenty to cheer thanks to creators such as Tom Palmer (Roy of the Rovers fiction), Rob Williams (Suicide Squad), Elkys Nova (Tammy & Jinty Special) and David Sque!
The football might be postponed, but Roy of the Rovers is on hand to provide you with all the drama you could possibly need with the super Summer Special!
Kick off is on June 10th, with characters old and new starring in thrilling new comic strips, fantastic fiction, and the return of iconic Roy of the Rovers artist David Sque!
The Summer Special is jam-packed with fab football action – perfect for football fans of all ages. Whether it’s the Melchester team getting to test their skills against the finest teams in Europe, reuniting legends such as Hot-Shot Hamish, Gerry Holloway, Johnny Dexter and keeper Charlie ‘The Cat’ Carter for a special five-a-side tournament, or Roy and Rocky trying to see out lockdown without driving each under up the wall, there’s plenty to cheer thanks to creators such as Tom Palmer (Roy of the Rovers fiction), Rob Williams (Suicide Squad), Elkys Nova (Tammy & Jinty Special) and David Sque!
Roy Race’s footballing legacy was rejuvenated by Rebellion back in 2018 with the start of all-new adventures from an all-new Roy, played out across a series of books, by Tom Palmer with illustrations by Lisa Henke, and in three graphic novels by Rob Williams and Ben Willsher.
That was the 2018-2019 season, but now it’s time to get going with season 2 and with the publication of Roy of the Rovers – Transferred on 14 November things have changed both on and off the pitch and with the creative team.
So, time to catch up with Rob Williams and new graphic novel artist, Lisa Henke, to talk transfers and substitutions…
So far in the all-new footballing adventures of Roy of the Rovers we’ve seen young Roy get his chance, rising from new kid to star striker in the course of one season, but things behind the scenes haven’t been as smooth at Melchester.
Can you give us an idea of what’s been happening and what the new season holds for both Roy and for Melchester Rovers?
Rob Williams: Going into Season Two Melchester have been promoted via a thrilling playoffs win and Roy is now looking forward to starting a season for Melchester as their established centre-forward. But horrible money-grabbing team owner Barry ‘The Meat’ Cleaver has other plans.
Barry’s not only looking to sell the club he’s also looking to offload some of its best young players. And Roy finds himself potentially being ‘Transferred’ whether he likes it or not.
Having read Transferred, one thing that immediately struck me was how much more dense this was. Not in terms of storytelling, it’s still as flowing and wonderfully fun as always. But simply in terms of so much going on – having Roy and Paco move to Tynecaster, all the trials and tribulations with Melchester, the fates of Mighty Mouse and Johnny Dexter, even the checking in with Sowerby and Rocky for the women’s game…
RW: I think we built so many fun characters and plot threads into Season One that we have to follow them all and build on them somewhat in Season Two. It’s a fun ensemble cast and they’ve all got their arcs and personal journeys. Even if it’s a background character like struggling striker Patrick Nolan in mid-Season One who then pops up to score the winner in the Playoff final. You have to stay true to these characters.
And Rocky Race, Roy’s sister, is such a brilliant new character in her own right. We’re very committed to embracing women’s football in the Roy books. She and Sowerby deserve their own storylines. It’s a juggling act. But fortunately we have Tom Palmer’s novels along with the graphic novels.
Roy’s always been a soap opera. What’s going on in the characters’ lives is as much a part of the stories as what happens on the pitch. You need to care about these people. It’s always a balancing act and you can never forget that this IS a football comic. But will Mighty Mouse survive his heart-attack? Will Roy be able to afford to help his mum look after his wheelchair-bound father? How will a certain member of the Melchester squad deal with mental-health issues? That’s all the meat of the books, really? Roy hitting his Rocket into the top corner are the big broad beats. The icing on top.
Lisa Henke: I think season one was a lot about establishing Roy himself, what he’s about, and what kind of club he’s getting himself into. Also he pretty much entered this world from the outside, so the first season was all about him getting into Rovers and taking his first steps as a professional. However, the relaunch of Roy has been built up from the off to become a long running saga once more, so all the characters and initial conflicts were designed with a certain level of complexity in mind.
We’re now starting to be able to bring some things we planted in the first season full circle and as season two unfolds you’ll see the plot picking up quite a bit in between the books and graphic novels as well. I think it’s quite a natural process for the story to become bigger and branch out more as we keep going.
Why the change about of artists for this second season? Was Ben unable to do the graphic novels, or was this something that was planned all along to give the series a slightly different look for the new season?
LH: As far as I understand, Ben was about to be going strong on 2000AD again, so Rebellion chose to switch things up and make season two its own thing visually, and make both seasons really stand out from each other.
With me, having worked on season one, knowing all the characters and plot threads in depth, I think they just trusted me to smoothly pick things up where Ben had left off.
They also brought Dan onboard to take over on illustrations for Tom Palmer’s novels. I don’t think I could have handled both and, frankly, having access to another artistic perspective helps me keep things fresh and exciting. I used to draw quite a bit of inspiration from Ben’s work while we were on season one, so I’m happy that I’ve got Dan with me now.
RW: Oh it’s all down to scheduling. Ben did a terrific job on Season One and Lisa brings some amazingly vibrant new character to the second Season. She’s terrific.
Lisa, you’ve obviously been involved with the new ROTR for a long time with both illustrations for the first season of Tom Palmer novels and the Rocky Race strip in the Tammy & Jinty Special this year.
What does the change mean for you, going from illustration to full graphic novels?
LH: I definitely needed to rethink my approach. During season one I switched mediums a lot, starting on the short series of comic strips for Match Of The Day and then illustrating the novels. Moving on to the Rocky short story in the Tammy & Jinty Special and now the graphic novels, they allow for a lot more detail and suddenly there’s a lot more vertical space to organise, so that took some getting used to. But I enjoy the complexity of it. I can really get stuck in and that’s satisfying and fun for me.
Are you on board for the full season of three graphic novels across the 2019/2020 football season?
LH: Yep, I’ll be drawing all three GNs this season. We’re doing book – GN – book – GN – book – GN, all interlocking with each other, like last year.
What process do you use for your art for ROTR?
LH: I draw ROTR almost entirely digitally. The only exception are storyboards, sometimes I’ll draw those on paper. Usually I work on several pages at once and jump a lot between drawings to keep a fresh view.
One thing that’s essential in sports comics is getting the right mix of the on and off-field action and it’s something you seem particularly good at, with the action really jumping off the page at the reader. And just picking out a few things that really stood out…
In terms of off-pitch art, the first wow moment is right there on the first page, where you captured the crowd in a more abstract style, just a fluid mass of supporters, all dressed in Tynecaster Blue. A fabulous moment a little further on comes with a dejected Roy walking past Melchester’s stadium, alone, with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
And as for on the field action, the first we see of that also has a moment where you drop the reader’s eye to pitch level and stretch angles out, creating a really strange but wonderfully dynamic effect of ball and player.
Can you talk us through the difficulties of getting that mix of sporting action and the melodrama just right for ROTR?
LH: Cheers, Richard, I appreciate it! To be honest, I don’t find it too difficult. While I’m not a big football fan (I watch the World Cups, but that’s about it), I enjoy drawing it a lot because it’s so energetic.
There’s a couple of things to this, so this is going to be a bit longer…
Usually I break down a scene like this: Where does it start in terms of space, mood, character relationship and emotion, where does it end and how do we get there? This works for any scene, both action and character moments.
In general I use a lot of reference. Sometimes I watch tutorials on how to do volleys, various back flips and such, I’ve learned what “Rondos” are, what “off the laces” means or what a “Cruyff turn” is. I like to act stuff out, so I’ll try to pose in front of the mirror in a way that’s still safe for me to do, so that I can get a feeling for where the energy would go in my body. Same with all the melodramatic stuff so I get it to feel genuine.
Acting scenes out makes you more aware of what’s happening and that goes right into the drawing. Sometimes I grab one of my colleagues to pose for me or I’ll get reference photos from our ROTR design team at Rebellion posing with zombie head figurines for lack of a real football, so there’s some good fun involved 😀
Also, it really helps that I’m not alone. Keith (Richardson), our editor on the GNs, is a master at troubleshooting and whenever there’s a query he just pulls a solution out of his sleeve like it’s nothing and he’s on top of all the world building and plot lines. Also, there’s so much in Rob Williams’ scripts, he’s a brilliant director – always clear about what the characters’ motivations and feelings are. Even if we choose to not show these openly it still informs how the scene will play out and it makes for a denser story overall.
So when I start drawing the pages I always have a strong foundation that I can build onto and I always know exactly where we’re going.
It’s the 65th anniversary of ROTR this year and it’s you who have the responsibility on your shoulders to both keep that legacy going and bring in new readers to secure Roy’s future. How does that weight of responsibility sit?
RW: It’s huge. We’re fully aware of and love the legacy. When you write a comic like Roy of a Judge Dredd or Spider-Man, Batman, you know you’re standing on the shoulders of giants. You want to do their past work justice while also adding your own flavour to things.
LH: To be honest, I feel quite at home drawing Roy. I’ve been wanting to tackle a longer, more complex story, build some more muscle in terms of my artistic and storytelling abilities and I find that Roy is challenging me in a healthy way.
I suppose one question should be about your footballing involvement? How much do you follow the game?
RW: I’m an Arsenal fan. Started going to Highbury in George Graham’s days. Wondered ‘Wenger Who?’ when Arsene joined like everybody else. Used to go a lot prior to my having kids. Now I’m an armchair fan.
LH: Maybe this won’t be a proper footballing answer. Like I said, I’m not a footie fan as such, more about World Cups, men and women, than anything. But… I’m a bird person and I like great bird designs, so one day I stumbled upon Tottenham and now I kind of fancy them because their badge is so cool looking!?
Lisa, whatever gets you into a sport is always good!
In Transferred we get to see the return of Rocky Race at Melchester’s women’s team, along with an unexpected new coach. Any more plans for the best footballer in the Race family after her short appearance in the Tammy & Jinty Special?
RW: We have plans! Can’t say more yet but you will definitely be seeing Rocky taking centre-stage in the near future. Elbowing her brother out of the way. After all, she’s the best footballer in the family, right? (She thinks so anyway)
LH: She’s got so much potential, I think she’s becoming one of the major players in the story next to Roy and it’s happening almost automatically. She’s dead set on playing for England by the time the next World Cup rolls around, so we’ve got to get her and Sowerby into shape. Lots of stuff to do!
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You can pre-order Transferred right now before its release next week, or start your Roy of the Rovers journey here!
The first collection of classic Roy of the Rovers comics from Rebellion is out now!
On September 11th 1954 a new weekly sports anthology comic called Tiger was launched in the UK. It’s lead strip, Roy of the Rovers – a story starring a young footballer called Roy Race who played for Melchester Rovers – quickly became a fan favourite.
This incredible collection with never-before reprinted stories charts the early days of Roy’s association with Melchester Rovers, from the highs of signing for the club he supported as a boy to the lows of having his boots stolen before a big game!
Experience the first decade of Melchester’s greatest soccer sensation in this glorious hardcover collection filled with football action on and off the pitch!
One exciting feature of the new Tammy & Jinty Special, reflecting both the tradition of including sports comics in girls comics of the 70s and 80s and updating girls comics for today is the Rocky of the Rovers strip.
Yes, you read that right… ROCKY of the Rovers!
You’ve already seen young Rocky, Roy Race’s younger sister, in the pages of the new Roy of the Rovers graphic novel series from Rob Williams and Ben Willsher, but here it’s a chance for Rocky to shine on her own!
Rob Williams and Lisa Henke tell the tale of this young footballer finding her way out of her famous brother’s shadow – only in the new Tammy & Jinty Special, which is out now!
Rob, Lisa, I was so pleased to see that you managed to get Rocky of the Rovers into the Tammy & Jinty Special. Rocky, in so far as we’ve seen her in the new ROTR, is in a different place to Roy, the big superstar brother. What stage is she at?
Rob Williams: Rocky’s a little younger, but is really at a similar stage as Roy was when we first met him with the ‘Kick-Off’ graphic novel. She plays for her local amateur team in Melchester. Rocky’s got to deal with the younger sibling thing of having a big brother who’s now a fairly successful footballer, someone who’s known in the city. And Rocky is VERY competitive. Roy’s a star striker, so she wants to prove she’s better than him. Our story in the Tammy & Jinty Special is all about Rocky starting to find out that she has to play to her own strengths, and not compete with her brother (too much).
Lisa Henke: To add to that, I think the fact of Danny, the dad, being in a wheelchair now also shapes Rocky’s behaviour a lot. Her brother Roy is having all these amazing opportunities and puts his new resources to use to aid his family and I think Rocky wants to carry the family as well and never be a burden. She wants to appear strong and like she can handle things and wants people to see her excellence, so instead of communicating her fears and sorrows she turns to anger and confrontation much more readily. This story is also about her admitting to her feelings and opening up.
And what plans do you have for her in the future? Will we see her develop and find her team, turn pro, England women? That sort of thing? And on a related note, do you have her story mapped out at this early stage or is it something you’re going to be developing slowly?
RW: We’ve had conversations about Rocky’s future. The Roy of the Rovers ‘writer’s room’ is me, Tom Palmer, who writes the Roy novels, Keith Richardson, the editor, and Rob Power, the publisher. We knew from very early days that we wanted to have the womens’ game be a part of our journey. Tom’s the writer-in-residence for the England Lions team this summer in the World Cup, I believe. We’ve talked through aspects of Rocky’s journey, some of which you’ll see coming to the fore in Roy of the Rovers season 2.
How does Rocky’s story differ from a traditional ROTR tale, and how does it differ from the new ROTR that Rob and Ben are doing? I’m thinking more in terms of the storytelling, the structure of the story… is it different writing Rocky as a football tale to writing Roy as a football tale, is there that different focus when writing a girls’ football comic to writing a boys’ football comic?
RW: Not as such. It’s still a mix of on-the-field drama and the soap opera of these characters’ lives. That doesn’t change according to men or womens’ football. The only difference in terms of structure with this short Rocky tale is that it’s a five-pager, whereas the Roy graphic novels are 50 pages. But it’s all about character journeys, lessons learnt, making you care about these people. Gender doesn’t change that.
It’s great having Lisa draw this story. She’s extremely good and there’s a real energy and vitality about her pages, along with some lovely little character-defining expressions. The strip looks terrific. But also a Rocky story probably shouldn’t be an all male creative team.
Similarly, Lisa, you’ve already drawn Roy for the Tom Palmer book series and did the first new Roy comic strip that ran in Match of the Day magazine. Is there a different approach to drawing football action for a girls’ comic strip than for one aimed at, and featuring, boys?
LH: Same as what Rob said. If anything, I choose to portray Rocky as scrappy, less elegant and more aggressive compared to Roy because the direction is that she is a much more ruthless player. Roy likes to do things by the book while Rocky is more impulsive. And then she’s a midfielder which changes where a lot of the action on the pitch takes place and what exactly the action is. But again, these are choices made to suit the characters’ personalities and not gender specific.
How did you approach the design of the Rocky of the Rovers strip? I’ve talked to several people over the last year involved with sports strips and they all talk about how difficult it is to get the action on the pitch onto the comic page in a way that makes it seem natural, realistic, yet still deliver the necessary punch for the comic page. How do you approach this problem?
LH: To me balancing realism and action is not really a problem. I pick the cool moments and then I think about how I can make them even cooler. Often I get good input from the writers as well. Also, like Rob said, this story has five pages to get its point across, so you want to choose snappy and clear panels. I try to find interesting angles that a camera can’t show you (yet) in a real match. Animation, specifically action and sports anime is something I draw a lot of inspiration from as well. Sometimes it looks and feels better if you don’t stick too closely to reality.
Finally, future plans for Rocky?
RW: Big plans! She’s going to be the best footballer in the family. Rocky’s determined on that. And she’s going to play for England before Roy does. That’s what she says anyway.
Say hello to Melchester Rovers’ latest signing: Roy Race!
Rebellion Publishing is delighted to unveil the star of the highly anticipated Roy of the Rovers reboot, and hot new Melchester Rovers prospect: Roy Race.
The new-look Roy of the Rovers will make its debut in a serialised strip in BBC Match of the Day magazine – published by Immediate Media – running weekly from 5 June through to 21 August. It’s a glorious return to the pages of Match of the Day magazine, which was home to Roy of the Rovers from 1997 to 2001.
Roy’s been on the subs bench since then, but Rebellion is enormously excited to be launching a rebooted version of the world’s most famous football comic in 2018, first with this strip and then with more new material to follow in the Autumn.
The Match of the Day magazine strip is a self-contained story following Melchester Rovers as they partake in the Caridad Cup, a charity tournament taking place in Spain that pits them against local rivals Tynecaster, and Spanish teams Varagosa and Real Santana.
Rebellion is also to publish a series of graphic novels and illustrated children’s fiction in 2018, with the first books hitting shelves in the autumn.
The artist for the Match of the Day magazine strips is talented newcomer Lisa Henke, with Rebellion’s Rob Power and Keith Richardson on writing duties.
Character design of the new Roy Race was by acclaimed comics artist Ben Wilsher (2000 AD, Doctor Who magazine), who will also illustrate the graphic novels later in the year.
The new Melchester Rovers kit, seen here for the first time, is supplied by hummel®, and sponsored by leading football podcast The Totally Football Show.
Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley OBE commented:
“Roy of the Rovers is a legend of British comics, a national icon that has been in the public consciousness since 1954. Re-imagining a character as beloved as Roy Race is an opportunity that doesn’t come around too often, and we’re delighted to begin the next chapter in Roy of the Rovershistory. The ‘new’ Roy Race might look different to his predecessors, but rest assured the core of the character – from his talent through to his sportsmanship and, of course, his blonde mop, remain.”
Match of the Day magazine editor Ian Foster commented:
“We’re delighted to be serialising Roy of the Rovers: the new designs are stunning and with a World Cup around the corner it’s the perfect time to bring the adventures of Roy Race to a new generation of young football fans. From buying the comic as a kid myself in the 80s I know our readers will be really excited to follow the storylines every week.”
Rebellion Publishing is proud to reveal its latest set of signings: the creative team for the highly anticipated 2018 reboot of Roy of the Rovers!
Internationally acclaimed comics writer Rob Williams (Amazing Spider-Man, Adventures of Superman) and artist Ben Willsher (2000 AD, Doctor Who Magazine) are the team behind the brand new Roy of the Rovers graphic novels, beginning with Roy of the Rovers: Kick-Off, to be released 6 September 2018.
Best-selling children’s author Tom Palmer (Football Academy, Foul Play) takes the lead on Roy of the Rovers: Scouted, Rebellion’s first foray into middle grade fiction, to be released 4 October 2018.
Also on the Roy of the Rovers team sheet is graphic novel editor Keith Richardson, and Rob Power, who will be editing the middle grade fiction alongside his role as Roy of the Rovers Brand Manager.
KEY POINTS • Rebellion to launch a brand new, rebooted Roy of the Rovers in 2018. • Leading British comic talent Rob Williams and Ben Willsher are the creative team behind new Roy of the Rovers graphic novels. • Best-selling British children’s author Tom Palmer to write Roy of the Rovers middle grade fiction. • Publishing plan includes three 56 page hardback graphic novels per football season, launching in September 2018, January 2019 and April 2019. • Middle grade illustrated fiction titles to be released alongside the graphic novels, launching in October 2018 and following on in February 2019 and May 2019.
Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley OBE commented: “Roy of the Rovers is an enormously exciting project for us, and we’ve been working hard to ensure that we respect the legacy of this iconic British character. We’ve assembled an incredibly strong team to bring Roy Race back for the 21st century, and I look forward to following Roy’s journey through the always exciting world of modern football.”
Rebellion Head of Publishing Ben Smith commented: “We’re delighted to have such a high calibre of creative talent on board for our reboot of Roy of the Rovers. Rob, Ben and Tom’s stories are bursting with all the excitement, drama and football fervour of the classic Roy of the Rovers comics, while giving us a thoroughly modern take on the character. We can’t wait for a new generation of fans to read them.”
Rob Williams commented: “I read and loved Roy of the Rovers as a boy – I even had the old Gola Melchester Rovers kit – and I have very fond memories of the Roy annuals arriving on Christmas Day with wonderful David Sque art on their covers. Roy’s a British football icon. Even now, a ‘rocket’-like goal is a Roy of the Rovers moment. So I’m delighted to be part of the passionate team bringing Roy’s adventures to a new era of football fan.”
Tom Palmer commented: “Millions of girls and boys dream about being their favourite football player and being scouted and playing for their favourite team. I had that dream. Sadly it didn’t come true for me. But, being scouted and succeeding in my trial to write Roy of the Rovers fiction is a dream that has come true. There is no other fictional footballer I would rather be and write. And I intend to write these books with the same passion and commitment Roy shows when he pulls on the red and yellow of Melchester Rovers.”
Ben Willsher commented: “Roy of the Rovers was a big part of my childhood. The annuals stacked up in my bookshelf, and the comics burst out of my cupboards. Growing up I dreamed of helping Roy score goals and lead Melchester to the top…. I finally get to do that- result!”
