Sad to learn that Barrie Tomlinson died on Tuesday 21st, aged 88. Barrie, as Boys' Sport And Adventure Group Editor for IPC Magazines, was the man responsible for launching the Roy Of The Rovers comic in 1976, the new Eagle in 1982, and Scream! in 1984, plus loads of other stuff. On at least a couple of occasions on my weekly jaunts down to London, I visited Barrie in his office to talk about the Death Wish strip he wrote under the name of D. Horton (though it was Eagle editor Dave Hunt who supplied me with the scripts and art), and which I lettered under the name of... o-er, can't quite remember as I used a few pseudonyms in my time. Anyway, sad to hear he's passed away and I feel proud to have interacted with him on occasion and worked on one of his strips. He probably wouldn't have remembered me, but I'll sure remember him. Rest In Peace, Barrie, and condolences to family, friends, and fans.
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Incidentally, Barrie wrote two autobiographical books, Real Roy Of The Rovers Stuff (2016) and Comic Book Hero (2017), which are yet available via eBay and Amazon. I've just bought them, and if you ever read any of the comics Barrie was responsible for when you were a kid, I'd suggest you might want to consider doing so too.
On Saturday (April 26th) it will be 50 years since the death of Carry On legend Sid James. He was born in South Africa in 1913 and didn't move to Britain until 1946.
ReplyDeleteSaw him in an old b&w American movie once, CJ - with an American accent. Shame about Barrie, eh?
DeleteI wasn't really reading a lot of UK comics in 1976 but I did pick up a few early Roy of the Rovers comics which I enjoyed and would have loved if I had been a bit younger. So it was good to put a face ,(and name) to the man behind the book. I picked a few issues of Eagle in back issue bins in the early 2000s and they were also a lot a fun. End of an era.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't really a fan of Roy, though I picked up a few later issues as the comic was nearing its end, McS, but I was aware of what comics were around then, even if I was ignorant of the man behind them until much later. Like you say, end of an era.
DeleteI loved the "Hotshot Hamish" in Royal of the Rovers which I still think was one of UK comics funniest strips under Julio Schiaffino's art.
ReplyDeleteI saw a Hotshot Hamish collected edition in a charity shop once and considered buying it, but the condition wasn't good enough for me. Fred Baker wrote the scripts. Might buy one at some stage down the line.
DeleteKid, there was a documentary about Sid James on Radio 4-Extra yesterday which included a clip of him doing an American accent in that film you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteSee? And some people say I just make things up. Showed them, didn't I ?!
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