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 certainly 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.
