Tiger 18th October 1975

 I'm a day late with the blog this week. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the excitement of the arrival of Spring and spent the weekend in the garden rather than with my comics. It's true what they say, a man does need balance in his life. It's now Sunday evening, and with a sore back, and the dread of the approaching Monday morning, I have a couple of hours of solitary time to catch up with all my friends on the pages of Tiger. A lovely way to cap off a busy weekend, and one last chance to lose myself in the fantasy world before I return to work tomorrow. 

18th October 1975

Roy Of The Rovers

Duncan McKay is having a tough time playing against his old club Portdean, and not only is he receiving a hostile reception from his former teammates, but he is also facing a barrage of abuse from thirty-thousand Portdean supporters. Roy is worried about his temper, and rightly so, as McKay gives away a penalty and Portdean goes one-nil up. 

Roy shows some sympathy for McKay, and the rest of the team rallies around him, giving him plenty of support on the field. However, McKay shrugs this off, and as Roy scores an equaliser McKay tells him that he should have looked to pass to him. 

As Melchester are coming off at halftime, Portdean supporters spill onto the field, forcing Rovers to surround McKay in a protective ring as they walk off. In the dressing room, McKay is ungrateful, telling the team he doesn't need babysitting. This angry mood carries over the second half as McKay's footballing becomes as wild as his mood, leading to him giving away another goal that gives Portdean a two-one advantage. 

This story is beginning to blossom, and I am finding this conflict with Duncan McKay and the rest of the world quite entertaining. He seems to have trouble with everyone and it is going to take a lot of diplomacy from Roy to get him back into the fold. The football action was standard for Roy Of The Rovers, with Roy scoring with the inevitable Roy's Rocket (not yet Race's Rocket I notice). The rest of the action mainly consisted of Duncan McKay's angry face or numerous players coming at him from various angles. The panel of him giving away a penalty is a firm favourite, but the colour cover of the story got us off to a great start and laid out a lot of the groundwork for what was to follow.  The very first image captured the speed of the opposing players, and the trouble McKay was about to face with several signs of "Traitor" in the crowd clearly visible. This story is improving week by week and with plenty of conflict, it remains one of the dramatic stories in the comic. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "The ungrateful perisher! Doesn't he realise that we're trying to help him?"

Skid Solo

After an argument with a Hollywood stuntman, Skid now finds himself challenged to a race through a deserted film set (and NOT a desert film set as I first read).

The cars are old-fashioned but fast and soon the pair are off with the stuntman, Karl Hartz, taking an early lead. A broken fire hydrant sees Skid sliding off the track and towards a building. However, it's only part of the film set and Skid smashes easily through and back into the race. 

Skid catches up and takes the lead, only for Hartz to take a shortcut and regain first place. The rest of the race continues like this until Hartz attempts a jump that doesn't come off and he crashes into the water.  Skid stops to offer a lift, but Hartz is a poor loser and tells him to beat it. The story ends with the friends all smiling, and Tommy telling Skid they won't be seeing Hartz again. 

The story wasn't much, but the cars and the racing looked fantastic. Two old cars smashing their way around a film set with jumps and cars bursting through buildings appealed just as much to my middle-aged eyes as it would have when I was ten years old. I quietly parked the storyline and just indulged myself in this fun romp, and I was rewarded with dynamic art and a story that flew by in a flash. I previously hoped that this would go longer, but I'm satisfied with what we have here. The story was exactly what it should have been. We had a few laughs and some fantastic art, and we are a week closer to the new Grand Prix season. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "This is going to be rough! At this speed...hitting that wall...this car is going to disintegrate!" 

Martin's Marvellous Mini

Tiny and Martin are preparing to go to Haiwaii, but first, they have the small problem of some squatters taking over their caravan. The squatters are adamant that they won't move on, leaving the boys to hit upon an ingenious solution. Hooking the caravan behind their car, they tow the squatters away and take them for a ride. The ride is high speed and rough before they eventually park outside a smelly glue factory. This is all too much for the squatters, and they abandon the caravan. 

Taking the caravan back home, Martin tells his Dad that they are off to Hawaii next week, but first they have to raise some money. Once again the good people of Buxton Street rally around the two lads, and with some fundraising initiatives, Martin and Tiny find they have money in their pockets as they wave farewell to their friends and family. As they drive away they have dreams in their heads of what might await them in Haiwaii, although we will have to wait until next week to see if their expectations meet reality. 

The squatters issue took a page and a half to resolve, which I found commendable. All too often the issues of the previous week are dealt with in the first panel or two, so to see it spun out into something more substantial was satisfying and gave the story an extra heft. The final part of the story was lightweight in comparison, yet heartwarming as the lads were once again welcomed into the bosom of their local community. Buxton Street and the community there help root the story, and no matter where they go or what they do, Tiny and Martin will always have a home to return to. The panel showing the fund-raising pushed the story along swiftly in a single image and propelled us to the trip to Hawaii. Tiny and Martin look very pleased in the final panel as they dream of what awaits them, and I can only hope it lives up to their expectations. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "You can't beat the Buxton Street folk! They really try to help us!"

Nipper 

Andy Stewart has ordered Nipper to leave his caravan and move into one of the club lodging houses. Nipper is unhappy with this situation, and as he talks to Mike he becomes angrier and angrier, eventually deciding that he won't go to the lodging house and will not report to his new landlady, Amy Felcher, as required.

It doesn't matter what Nipper thinks about the situation, for just after six pm Amy Felcher arrives at his caravan and drags him out by the ear. She's one tough lady, and a minute later she has Nipper in the car with a small kit bag and is driving off. Nipper is concerned about his dog Stumpy, but Amy tells him that dogs aren't allowed and that Stumpy can look after himself. Nipper yells at Stumpy to follow that car, but as they drive away he has the thought that it might be better that Stumpy find a new master as life isn't going to be worth living now, not even for a dog. 

Amy Felcher was everything I expected and more. What a wonderful character and I anticipate plenty of good interaction between here and Nipper. This adds another layer to Nipper's ongoing saga with Danny Marvin, and although we are moving away from the football pitch, the drama remains high and just as interesting. I wouldn't mind if we didn't return to the field for several weeks, as right now all I want to see is more of Nipper and his new situation. This is an opening salvo as the story moves in a new direction, and the barrage that follows should be worth every penny as Nipper prepares for war with Amy Felcher. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "What are you doing skulking in this horrible caravan? You were supposed to report to my residence at six o'clock sharp!"

Johnny Cougar

Johnny Cougar has come out of his self-imposed retirement to fight the dirty wrester, Hardy Steele. So far Steele has steered away from his dirty tactics, but as the bout becomes fiercer he comes dangerously close to returning to his former ways. A tough call from the referee sees Steele eventually snap, and he once again resorts to dirty tactics with the strip ending with Steele catching Cougar in a headlock and about to deliver a sneaky punch. 

I was hoping that we would get to this point, and although it took most of the strip we got there in the end. Steele did his best to fight fair, and it was only through unfortunate circumstances that he was pushed to become his former self. The fight is on now, and after a month of set-up, we have finally got Johnny Cougar fighting Steele as he encountered in the past. This extra work in the build-up is paying off as we are far more invested in this fight than if Cougar had just fought Steele as his next opponent. We have a solid backstory, the drama of Cougar retiring, and the manipulation of Splash to get them here, all adding a new dimension to what is essentially a fight between good and bad. A common story, but one elevated by all the hard work that went in before. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Listen people, I'm fighting this contest fair...and what thanks do I get...none at all! It's Cougar who's forgetting the rules!" 

Hot Shot Hamish

Hamish has got young Alfie McPhee into the Princes' team, but Alfie's pal Tommy is causing trouble and roping Alfie into robbing the club's safe. Hamish catches Tommy in the act, but Tommy quickly fingers Alfie, telling Hamish that he helped get him in. 

Hamish ignores Tommy's accusations and picking him up by the neck, he hands him over to the police in a very public display. 

With the troublesome Tommy dealt with, Alfie resumes the game, this time playing freely without any worries on his mind. The result is obvious and after some fine play on the field, he sets Hamish up for the hot shot, before scoring the match-winning goal.

Although carried from the field on the shoulders of his team, Alfie still has worries, telling Hamish that he lives with Tommy and there's bound to be trouble when he returns. Hamish is never one to back away from trouble and he offers to walk Alfie back to collect his things. However, in the final panel, we see that Alfie wasn't exaggerating, and there is quite a crowd of toughs ready to sort out the Princes Park players. 

I am relieved for Alfie and equally pleased to see that we still have trouble brewing at the end of the strip. The complications of being implicated in stealing from the safe were quickly dealt with and with a sense of fairness and humanity. We didn't linger too long on the ins and outs of the situation, and Hamish moved quickly to dispense justice. This was a highlight, and the moment he dragged Tommy out onto the pitch while calling for the police was a striking image that focused the story and neatly wrapped up the halftime theft. The drama of the story is restored in the final panels, and the tense situation that Hamish and Alfie are now facing is captured well in the intensity of the faces of the thugs watching them. The artist has done a superb job of adding an air of menace to the situation, and with this final image, the story becomes a must-read for next week. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "It's a rough area, Hamish. The people won't like Tommy being taken by the police because o' me!"

Billy's Boots

Mr Harris has arrived at Groundwood school and is making an early statement by dropping all the boys who played in the first eleven who lost the previous game. This puts Billy in an awkward position, as he wasn't selected for that game, but he did end up playing as a sub. He tries to explain this to Mr Harris, but he comes across as trying to be smart. However, Mr Harris throws a ball at him, offering him a chance to win a place in the team, only for Billy to miskick the ball and have ricochet back into his head. 

Arriving home later, Billy is shocked to see an ambulance outside his house, and he fears the worst for his Gran. Approaching, he finds that she's OK, but his Aunt Kate is being rushed to hospital. This has repercussions for Billy and his Gran, as the house they live in belongs to his Aunt and she wants to sell it. Billy goes with his Gran as they search for a house to buy, and after finding one good prospect Billy runs into some local boys practicing for a game against the local council estate. As they look around the house, Billy thinks that he might play for the local boys if he doesn't make the school team, although this idea is put on the back burner when he returns to school and finds himself surprisingly picked for the school team.

A great issue with further insight to Billy's home life. Although it is a story about a schoolboy playing football with magical boots, it is these home dramas that keep me turning up week after week. They are often more interesting than the football, and a nice break from seeing Billy losing his boots in a variety of ways. I never thought a comic showing a boy and his Gran shopping for a house could be so good, but we are in an era of wall-to-wall real estate shows, so perhaps I have become conditioned to such things. I wouldn't have batted an eye if Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer suddenly appeared and asked Billy's Gran what she thought of the place. All good, humble, down-to-earth stuff, and surprisingly enjoyable. We have also had some seeds sown for a game against the local council estate, although my only thoughts were I hoped Billy lived in a better part of town than I did. If he lived near the estate I did when I lived in the UK he would more likely get shanked than score a goal. Plenty to look forward to here on several levels, and I am continually surprised by which parts of the story excite me. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "This is a nice house. Five bedrooms... twenty-five thousand pounds! And this...a bargain at twenty thousand..." 

Tornado Jones 

Tornado Jones is about to be shot from a cannon and over Wembley Stadium as we join the action this week. 

After the obligatory countdown, the cannon is fired, and Tornado Jones is shot over the stadium. The flight goes well, although his landing is rough. Hitting the safety net on the other side, Jones finds it collapsing under him and he falls onto the roof of a car below before bouncing off and crashing to the ground. He's unconscious but alive, and the next day the newspapers are full of his exploits. Propped up in his hospital bed, Jones takes it all in and considers what he might do next. 

A big stunt that didn't come across on the page as thrilling as it might have. The first page was all countdown and the safe firing of the cannon, and it was only on the second page that things became interesting. The fact that Tornado Jones only has three lines of dialogue, in the first panel and in the last couple, gives you some idea of how much the story relied on the thrill of the shot to carry the plot rather than the characters themselves. Hopefully, this introduction to Tornado will be expanded on in future issues and he becomes more interesting. As things stand now this is all a bit bland and not even the thought of a man being fired out of a cannon and over Wembley Stadium wasn't enough for me to invest more than a couple of minutes reading it.     

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Wish me luck folks...I'm gonna need it!" 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story:  Billy's Boots 

Best Line: "Melchester's welcome to him! He's rubbish!" 

Best Panel:

Roy's Sports Quiz: