p200-201 Roy of the Rovers_muk.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 13/09/2018 15:03 Page 200
REBELLION’S SUPERSUB PLANS
Since making his debut in 1954, the exploits of Roy Race and Melchester Rovers have thrilled generations of football-mad readers. With 481 goals over 522 appearances, winning 10 league titles, 10 FA cups and 4 European Cups, Roy has certainly had quite the career. Now, Roy of the Rovers is all set for a comeback and LSB spoke to Rebellion Publishing’s Rob Power to see what licensing goals the star striker is shooting for.
Rovers’ Return “We’re great believers in the power of Roy of the Rovers,” says Rob Power, brand manager at Rebellion Publishing. Rob notes that the comic inspired entire generations of fans to read, to follow careers in football and the media and to believe in football as a force for good. Roy made his debut for Melchester Rovers in the pages of the comic Tiger in 1954. His exploits quickly gained a huge following among footballmad readers, with Roy of the Rovers soon becoming the leading strip in Tiger throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s. At the height of his popularity in 1977, Roy of the Rovers was so popular that it became a comic in its own right, selling over half a million copies a week at the height of its popularity. Footballers clamoured to appear in its pages, celebrity appearances were a regular occurrence, and storylines made the news – such as when Roy was famously shot. By the ‘90s interest in boys comics waned and Roy of the Rovers closed as a title in its own right. Roy could still be found in the pages of Match of the Day
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LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2018
Above: Retro appeal from COPA. Above: Half a million copies per week! Centre left: Football legend Roy Race.
magazine until 2001, when the final whistle on an illustrious career was blown. Effectively, Roy of the Rovers has been defunct since. Rebellion, an independent games developer and owner of the comic 2000AD franchise with a cast of characters including Judge Dredd, gained the rights to the character in 2016, as part of its acquisition of the Fleetway and IPC Youth Group comics archive from Egmont (as well as titles including Tiger, Valiant and Whizzer and Chips). Recognising the enormous potential of bringing Roy of the Rovers back to a football-mad public, Rebellion has been working on getting Roy match fit. Rob thinks now is the perfect time to start licensing Roy: “The World Cup has reinvigorated many fans’ love for football and our licensing strategy with classic Roy of the Rovers material will tap into that energy and keep it alive.” Picking up on this point, Rebellion’s licensing strategy with Roy is two-fold: reboot the