British comics editor Barrie Tomlinson dies at 88

The BBC announced that Barrie Tomlinson, editor of the sports comic Roy of the Rovers has passed on at the age of 88:

Tributes have been paid to the editor of classic British football comic Roy of the Rovers.

Barrie Tomlinson, who was born and lived most of his life in St Albans, died on Tuesday, aged 88, his daughter Jennifer Tomlinson said.

He "absolutely loved doing the comics" and was known for portraying the character of Roy Race as a real person who was "his best friend", she added.

Race, a star striker for the fictional team of Melchester Rovers, initially appeared in the comic Tiger in 1954, and later in his own standalone title until its closure in February 1993.

The Roy of the Rovers strip then featured in the BBC's Match of the Day magazine until its closure in 2001.

Tomlinson, who was also editor of Tiger, wrote the Scorer football strip, which appeared in the Daily Mirror for 22 years, and authored two books, Real Roy of the Rovers Stuff and Comic Book Hero.

He had a great idea to produce sports comics, something I don't think the USA's mainstream has ever seriously capitalized on till this day. The news also tells, interestingly enough:

Book publisher Simon & Schuster UK said Tomlinson was a comics writer and former group editor at IPC Magazines, who wrote strips including Death Wish and Turbo Jones for Wildcat.

He was also involved with Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and Scream! comics.

Curious they use the "hero" substitute for "ninja", recalling that's what the UK government under Margaret Thatcher imposed when the merchandise based on Ninja Turtles was first sold in Britain nearly 4 decades ago. If that restriction was eventually abandoned under later governments, isn't it rather silly to continue its use when most people today know the word "ninja" is part of the original title, even in the UK? But, I won't be surprised if Mr. Tomlinson had to make use of the PC retitling years before when he was a comics editor.

Anyway, it's a shame he's gone, but his contributions to sports comics are appreciated, and perhaps the mainstream of the USA should consider putting more emphasis on sports like soccer too in the future.