Roy of the Rovers in Newsagents again This Week

By John Freeman on March 30, 2009

A quick reminder that this week sees the release of the first of four collections of classic British comic strip in newsagents, starting with Roy of the Rovers.

As we previously reported, Egmont UK and WH Smith have teamed up to publish four “Classic Collections” — special titles featuring archive material from Roy of the Rovers, Battle, girls comic Misty and Buster, bringing adventures from these classic comics back to the newsstand.

Compiled by former 2000AD editor Steve McManus, the Specials are bound to bring back many fond memories for today’s grown-ups who can relive the time when they waited eagerly for each new issue of these comics to go on sale.

The Roy of the Rovers special is published this week (Wednesday 1st April), with specials dedicated to the war comic Battle, humour title Buster and girls comic Misty currently planned for release on 24th June, 16th September and 9th December respectively.

• Priced at £3.99 each, the 52 page Classic Collections featuring all the best-loved characters and stories, will only be available from WHSmith. Note that later publication dates may change

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.