We are sad to report the death of Barrie Tomlinson, who as Group Editor for Boys' Sports and Adventure publications for I.P.C. magazines was instrumental in the revival of EAGLE in the 1980s, which he had read as a boy and had long campaigned for its return. He later edited the publication and also wrote several 'Dan Dare' adventures and other strips, including 'Death Wish' and some 'Wildcat' stories.
His career began in 1961, when he worked as a writer and then copy editor on Lion. From 1967 he worked on Tiger, becoming editor in 1969. He was founding editor of Roy of the Rovers weekly in 1976. He also created Speed (1980), Scream! (1984), Wildcat (1988) and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (1990). He wrote the 'Scorer' strip for the Daily Mirror for twenty two years.
His enthusiasm for the original EAGLE informed much of his work in comics. He engaged with readers through his editorials, competitions and reader participation features and he recruited famous celebrities to write for his papers. The 1980s EAGLE ran a sports page by the Olympic athlete Daley Thompson and a column by the disc jockey and TV presenter Mike Read. Among other features, he reintroduced the popular 'Cutaway Drawings' from the original EAGLE into the new version.
Barrie was always happy to answer questions for my articles on the 1980s EAGLE for EAGLE Times and he was always enthusiastic and encouraging. He will be greatly missed.
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