Roy of the Rovers (comic) Argentine international of the same name. The 1980s saw a slew of popular strips run in the comic, including The Apprentices (1983–84), a short-lived strip detailing the exploits of Melchester's apprentice professionals (effectively acting as the Melchester Rovers story in the comic as Roy was managing Walford for much of its run)—and Harker's War (1985), a strip that took an unconventional angle by showing a former policeman's one-man war on football hooliganism. The mid-1980s also saw reprints of Nipper, a popular strip originally appearing in "Score 'n' Roar" and "Scorcher and Score", that featured Nipper Lawrence, a plucky working class
Roy of the Rovers (comic) of the Rovers and Hot Shot", but reverted to its original title shortly afterwards. The comic was relaunched as a monthly in September 1993, but finally closed in March 1995, after a further 19 issues. On 19 March 2012 The Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history. As well as "Roy of the Rovers", the collection also featured "The Beano", "The Dandy", "Eagle", "The Topper", "Bunty", "Buster", "Valiant", "Twinkle" and "2000 AD". The magazine's circulation for the six months ending June 1981 was 122,118. A readership survey carried out in 1982 revealed that