2000 AD Online Forum

2000 AD => General => Topic started by: Colin YNWA on 20 April, 2018, 05:51:21 PM

Title: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 April, 2018, 05:51:21 PM
Well this could be interesting!

http://royoftheroversofficial.com/news/6 (http://royoftheroversofficial.com/news/6)

Found via Rob Williams Facebook feed.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 April, 2018, 07:16:41 PM
Can't wait for the first post-match bath scene to see what sort of manscaping Mr Willsher has planned for Poor old Roy.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: sheridan on 21 April, 2018, 12:59:51 AM
Yep - RoboKeef said that the RotR acquisition generated a fair bit of press interest (memory may be playing tricks on me, but I got the impression it probably garnered the biggest reaction from the media at large as anything else had for Rebellion.  Caveats in case computer game releases got more enquiries).
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: BPP on 21 April, 2018, 11:00:05 AM
If they could get Roy syndicated into football match day programs that would be a coup and great PR for any GN.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 May, 2018, 06:34:06 PM
The relaunch of RotR is getting some attention

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-44239757 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-44239757)

Have to say that redesign is tops.

Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2018, 08:01:34 PM
Not that I am saying that football fans or fans of UK comics are in any way insular fandoms, you understand, but I presumed they'd skew more traditional until the brand was firmly established.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: glassstanley on 26 May, 2018, 11:34:57 AM
His leg appears to have grown back.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Frank on 26 May, 2018, 04:26:11 PM
Quote from: glassstanley on 26 May, 2018, 11:34:57 AM
His leg appears to have grown back.

So have his telomeres!

Mr Wilsher, who has also drawn for Doctor Who Magazine, continued: "Of course, our new Roy is only 16, and in the years to come I'm sure he'll have many a change of haircut - just like the original."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-44239757



Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 27 May, 2018, 11:23:39 AM
Well, I for one had to look up telomeres...

I really hope this does well, even though my knowledge of football doesn't extend far beyond Billy the Fish.  And I like the new look. Ben Willsher is a fat more versatile artist than I'd realised, and the old Jeffrey-out-of-Rainbow 'do would never work for da kidz these days.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: The Amstor Computer on 27 May, 2018, 12:00:25 PM
Looking at the credits, the Roy illos here are actually by Lisa Henke (who I hadn't heard of, but who appears to be a German artist) working off Willsher's designs.

I rather like the new look, and Henke's interpretation of it, and while I suspect it might rankle with some older fans who still expect Roy to look like he fell out of a mid-'70s hairdresser, Roy has (unlike Dredd) always changed somewhat with the times and new artists.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Pete Wells on 27 May, 2018, 12:01:28 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 27 May, 2018, 11:23:39 AM
Ben Willsher is a fat more versatile artist than I'd realised.

Harsh, he's let himself go a bit but I've seen bigger!  :lol:
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 27 May, 2018, 12:35:17 PM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 27 May, 2018, 12:01:28 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 27 May, 2018, 11:23:39 AM
Ben Willsher is a fat more versatile artist than I'd realised.

Harsh, he's let himself go a bit but I've seen bigger!  :lol:

Oops  :lol:
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 01:13:27 PM
I'm kind of curious how the marketing meeting went for this.
"We don't want to market the property into a niche where the only readers are men in their fifties so we're updating his look and setting it in the modern day and it will be published in Match of the Day magazine."
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: IndigoPrime on 27 May, 2018, 01:46:47 PM
Football mag seems the ideal place to put it. Readers may welcome it, and feel nostalgic. Then they see graphic novels are coming up and buy it for their kids – or themselves. Seems smart to me. (The other option I'd have looked at is the Atomic Robo model – free online, followed by print editions. But that's risky.)
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Frank on 27 May, 2018, 02:10:26 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 01:13:27 PM
I'm kind of curious how the marketing meeting went for this. "We don't want to market the property into a niche where the only readers are men in their fifties so we're updating his look and setting it in the modern day and it will be published in Match of the Day magazine."

I'm guessing you, like me*, are spectacularly unqualified to speak on behalf of little boys who like football.

What getting picked last at games does qualify me to do is look-up stuff on the internet while it's 22° outside, and that tells me Match Of The Day Magazine is aimed at 8-14 year olds (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/feb/21/bbc.pressandpublishing), gives away free posters and Yu-Gi-Oh!-style game cards, and most covers (https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1534&bih=791&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=T6QKW5-PM4qUgQaR3JG4Cw&q=match+of+the+day+magazine+&oq=match+of+the+day+magazine+&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i30k1l5j0i24k1l2.4666.4666.0.5182.1.1.0.0.0.0.124.124.0j1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.1.123....0.LiCtYVeqSxo#imgrc=r36TZDJkaBtnZM:) feature minions, meerkats, and/or Big-Head versions of football personalities.

The 2017 ABCs (http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/uk-magazine-abcs-winners-losers-and-full-breakdown-as-circulation-declines-average-6-per-cent/) say it sold 38,000 copies per week, around the same as LEGO Friends and Disney Princess, and almost twice as many as its nearest rival, Match.


* and most others here
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 04:30:39 PM
"You can have one thing from Tesco, Jimmy, and no sweets or toys."
(child points to this week's Big Farts Magazine)
"You can have Match Of The Day."
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Frank on 27 May, 2018, 04:50:50 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 04:30:39 PM
"You can have one thing from Tesco, Jimmy, and no sweets or toys."
(child points to this week's Big Farts Magazine)
"You can have Match Of The Day."

:lol:

I dropped Big Farts in the nineties.  Turned to shite.


Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 05:17:28 PM
Quote from: Frank on 27 May, 2018, 02:10:26 PMI'm guessing you, like me*, are spectacularly unqualified to speak on behalf of little boys who like football.

I support Chelsea, so no, I don't like football.
Title: Re: Roy of the Rovers making a come back at Rebellion
Post by: CalHab on 28 May, 2018, 01:02:45 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 01:13:27 PM
I'm kind of curious how the marketing meeting went for this.
"We don't want to market the property into a niche where the only readers are men in their fifties so we're updating his look and setting it in the modern day and it will be published in Match of the Day magazine."

I'm shocked that they didn't put it in "Shoot" magazine, where it would sit nicely in between the full page photo of Tony Cottee and a "flops of the season" article debating whether Robert Fleck or Neil Webb deserved that accolade.

It has been some time since I was the target market, though.