Rebellion to reboot Roy of the Rovers comic

Rebellion Publishing is to reboot football comic, Roy of the Rovers, 23 years after it was last published.

The new Roy of the Rovers will launch next year starring a young striker Roy Race as he starts his career at Melchester Rovers, featuring “all of the drama, goals and glory of the modern game”.

Last year, the Oxford-based publisher and video games developer acquired the title from Egmont UK, along with other titles in the archive of Fleetway, a now defunct magazine company.  

Rebellion will publish three hardback graphic novels per football season, launching in September 2018, January 2019 and April 2019, with accompanying middle-grade illustrated fiction titles.

A digital version is in development as well as a “comprehensive licensing programme” with partners in various markets. Roy of the Rovers began as a comic in 1976 and ran until 1995.

Ben Smith, head of books and publishing at the company, said that he is hoping to address the "dearth" of football-related fiction.

He said: “There are only a handful of truly iconic characters in British comics, and Roy Race is surely one of them. We look forward to bringing Roy to modern audiences in a completely fresh incarnation that honours the extraordinary legacy of the character."

He added: "There is a dearth of football-related fiction on the shelves, and we’re looking forward to correcting that, whilst giving a classic British comic character a new lease of life in the process.”