Preview: He Shoots, He Scores In ‘Roy Of The Rovers Summer Special’ From Rebellion

by Richard Bruton

Remember football/soccer? Well, it’s coming back this summer in the shape of the Roy of the Rovers Summer Special… join us for a preview

As they say in the introduction, 2020 should have been a special summer of sport, with the biggest European Championships taking place across 12 cities in Europe. Sadly, it’s yet another victim of the Coronavirus pandemic and we’re going to have to wait until 2021 instead.
But we can imagine what it would have been like here in the ROTR Summer Special, with 48 pages of strips and features – out from Rebellion and the Treasury of British Comics.
Inside your’ll find the comic bookended by two great strips and extra features that include Q&As with writers Rob Williams and Tom Palmer, plus classic Roy artist David Sque. You’ll read about Roy Race’s England exploits, get a Tom Palmer Rocky Race prose tale, and see some of Ken Reid‘s Football Funnies with ‘Sub’ and ‘Football Forum’ (and look for the Football Funnies collection coming out in 2021). 48 pages of fabulous footy action await… with the highlights being the two main strips opening and ending a great comic…

Roy of the Rovers: Euro Adventure written by Rob Williams, art by Elkys Nova, colours by John Charles & Guilherme Lindemberg Mendes, letters by Jim Campbell.
New Chairperson of Melchester Rovers, Penny Layne, alongside new managerial and coaching team of Mighty Mouse, Hotshot Hamish and Johnny ‘Hard Man’ Dexter, has seen the team into the Championship, England’s second tier, and she’s announcing a pre-season Euro tournament against some of European football’s giants; Real Santana, Stahlberg, and Dynamo Bresden.

So it’s off to Russia, Germany, and Spain for Roy and the team on a gruelling set of games that sees the boys of Melchester face the men of Europe.
Alongside the plentiful footballing action on the pitch, there’s a good dose of football business going on behind the scenes, with player transfers and new opportunities. And it’s all handled beautifully by the team of Williams and Nova, the latest artist to join the likes of Ben Willsher, Lisa Henke, and Dan Cornwell in Elkys Nova.
I love the characterisation that Nova puts into the faces you see in the art – you can see a little of it in the little bits of art I’ve included here. The exaggeration of Hamish, the oh so familiar smugness of Voronin, and the ever so pissed off looks of Lofty and Roy – perfect stuff.
And then there’s the wonderful way Nova does the on-pitch stuff. There’s a real art to drawing sport, one that’s so difficult to pull off, yet ROTR has been incredibly fortunate to have so many artists over the years who manage it so wonderfully well.
And we can add Nova to the list, the kinetic lines, the action captured in snapshot yet done in such a way that you automatically live the experience alongside the panels. Excellent, great looking artwork.

Roy of the Rovers: Old School – written by Rob Williams, art by David Sque, letters by Jim Campbell
Now, this is a fine treat, with classic ROTR artist, David Sque, returning for a new tale, his art tweaked a little to fit in with the modern style, yet still rather recognisably the classic look you’ll see through the pages of any 70s and 80s collection.

And it’s a tale of classics as well, with Hotshot Hamish organising a veteran’s 5-a-side Super-League, meaning we get to see the likes of Hamish, Mighty Mouse, and Johnny Dexter take the field alongside such famous old names as Charlie ‘The Cat’ Carter, Gerry Holloway, and Roger Dixon.
Sweet, sentimental stuff…