Tiger 13th July 1974

 The last issue had a couple of stinkers. As much as I love this comic and the story within, sometimes I feel disappointed. This week is an improvement, and I rate several of the stories highly. There is still a couple that isn't pulling their weight, but even they are improving, making this week a more enjoyable experience. A little unbalanced, sure, but we're seeing things turn around. 

Tiger

13th July 1974

Skid Solo

With a fancy-looking hotrod on the front cover, my expectations are sky high for the Skid Solo story within. The story shapes up to be something we have seen before, a new car design and a test track. The difference, in this case, is the car is designed and built by a teenager, and it is a concerned father who introduces the car and the boy to Skid. 

Worried about the harm that he may do to himself, the father asks Skid to ride with the boy as they take a test run around the track. With Skid in the passenger seat, I wonder how this will go, and from the outset, it is apparent that the car is fast, very fast.

Skid encourages the teenager to go faster, exhorting him to put his foot down and push the car to the max. He dutifully obeys, although the ride gets a little hairy from here on as the car leaves the track several times, as well as takes a spin through some hay bales.

Skid takes the wheel, and things become even faster, with Skid keeping the car on the track and the speedo pushed to the limit. It has the desired effect, and the teenager is scared straight by the end of the ride, promising his father that in future he will only design cars and has no further interest in racing them. 

Ok, so the story didn't quite live up to that first image of the hotrod, but it came close enough to leave me satisfied. I was quietly pleased that this wasn't Skid simply test-driving another unique car like we have seen so many times before, and the story offered a little more. Not a lot more, but enough that it carried its own weight. The scene with Skid in the passenger seat exhorting the driver to go faster was fun, as were the final pages when he was behind the wheel.  Fun, and not too taking, this is a gentle entrance into this week's comic.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Nothing wrong, is there? You look a bit pale. Have you eaten something that's disagreed with you?"

Roy Of The Rovers

Not much football in Roy Of The Rovers, but it's a cracking story and I savour every moment of it. 

Roy and Blackie are enjoying the carnival, especially the people wearing large funny heads. This proves key in the story, as Roy and Blackie find themselves suddenly having two of these heads placed over their own heads, disguising who they are and more importantly landing them right in a pivotal moment of the carnival. 

Wearing the heads of the bulls, they are the ones chosen to be chased by the fighting bulls when they are released. Taking to their heels they do their best to outrun the bulls and are eventually hauled to safety by some helping hands on a bridge. 

This is not the end of their troubles though, and after having some refreshing lemonade they become drowsy and dizzy and are escorted to a wagon where they are promised a lift home. 

It is not the ride they expect, and they awake as prisoners high in a clifftop castle, while many miles away their team prepares to kick off without them in the crucial match. 

More like this please. This was a great story from beginning to end. The artwork was eye-catching, especially the carnival goers with the large heads and Roy and Blackie when they are similarly attired. The story was unexpected and new, and I devoured every page. No football, yet I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it twice. Easily the best story this week.

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Blackie, I've just remembered what 'Maletilla' means! It's someone who volunteers to get chased by fighting-bulls at carnivals!"

Matin's Marvellous Mini

With four cars racing to be champion of the treasure hunt, it's all on the line for Tiny and Martin. However, with their nemesis Percy still out on the track, anything could happen, and so it proves on the first page as he rolls a barrel of oil onto the track.

Martin and Tiny take evasive action, and in doing so hit the shed where Percy is hiding with a glancing blow. It's enough to send them back onto the track, but it destroys the shed, leaving Percy unharmed in the wreckage. 

Although unharmed, Percy's race is run as the officials promise to hand him over to the police. With that said, all eyes turn to the track where the race is wide open and it is still anyone's race. 

Percy has been put in his place, and we are back to racing on the track, normal service has resumed in Martin's Marvellous Mini. I liked the story well enough, but it wasn't quite as gripping as previous issues. Percy was dealt with easily, and although the oil drum he rolled out was a potential hazard it never really came to much. With the story plateauing, all that was left to admire was the fine artwork, always a joy to my eye. With that in mind, I rate the story higher than I should, but it looks so jolly good I just can't help myself. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "There doesn't seem much harm done...except to that shed!" 

The Tigers 

Chunky Clark did the business in the field, now it's time to see how he goes with his batting. We have to wait for most of the story before he gets out to the middle. There are a few high jinxes off-field between Burton and Chunky, before having a page showing the game and putting Chunky's place into context. It is only then that he takes to the middle, bat in hand. 

A couple of incidents between Chunky and Ron early on was the only thing of note to occur in this story. Like cricket itself, there was a lot of waiting around as the game gradually evolved. It was pleasant to look at, but it barely raised my pulse, and I found it finishing just as it was promising to get good. Low and slow, fingers are crossed for some batting action next week.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I'll just brush up on my batting strokes...now how can I do a square cut with a round ball...?"

Football Family Robinson

With the family fighting among themselves to decide which of the two exhibition matches to accept, it is down to Ma to bring peace to the situation. She does this the best way possible, with her frypan put into action against several hard skulls. As the chaos quietens, Ma explains a plan to satisfy everyone. Half the team will go and play for Pacific Paradise and half will play for Coral Wonderland. As for the game itself, they can play the two teams against each other, with the numbers made up of tourists at the respective resorts.

It's a sound plan, and soon the family is split and whisked off to the resorts. Both are a far cry from the forest conditions the family had been staying in, and there is a whiff of luxury in the air. This luxury doesn't come for free, and the owners of the resort are hoping to leverage their football guests as a promotional tool for their resorts. 

Ma and Viv have their photos taken, ready to be shown around the world as a boost for the resort, but before they can be properly interviewed, the camera crew are off to the other resort to interview the other half of the family. As Viv muses, the family has let itself in for more than it bargained. 

Taking the match seriously, the family begin training. However, this training is interrupted by Viv. The family ask her if anyone has signed up yet, to which she replies "Just wait until you see what's happened" What that might be, I will have to wait a week to find out in the next issue. 

Finally, we are back in civilization and the Robinsons are back on a football pitch. I haven't enjoyed this strip for a couple of months now, but this one showed improvement. You may think that is because my girl Viv made a strong appearance, but it's more than that. The family dynamic is in full play, and having them separated into two resorts makes it much easier to follow the individual characters. I am intrigued by Viv's news in the final panel, and on the back of that alone I have high hopes for the coming weeks. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line:  "You've got to be joking! Just wait until you see what's happened!" 

A Horse Called Ugly

So it's all come down to this, a single race across a two-mile course. 

The race is simple enough, Joe and Lord Humprey are neck and neck, but once out of sight of the crowd, Lord Humphrey is up to his old tricks. As they take a jump, he strikes Ugly with his riding crop. It is the first time that Ugly has felt the sting of the whip, and he doesn't like it one bit.

With his blood boiling, UgIy races like never before, overtaking Lord Humphrey before the mile is up and then extending his lead comfortably over the second mile.

The race is easily won, and all that remains is for Joe to receive his prizes, five hundred pounds from Clive Mannering and a week living in Lord Humphrey's castle from Lord Humphrey himself. Neither man is very happy about it, but begrudging concedes. 

The story wraps up with Joe dancing a jig outside the Scottish castle after his month-long stay, while Angela brings news that they have been invited to ride for Britain in Italy. A whole new adventure awaits us. 

This was the short sharp finish that I had hoped for over the longer story. There were some nefarious going ons, but they didn't derail Joe and Ugly too much from winning the race. Although it lacked drama, the story did all it had to and I walked away from it with a satisfied smile. Not every story has to be life or death, and overall this week's issue of A Horse Called Ugly put me in mind of the very best Martin's Marvellous Mini stories which have an immense feel-good factor. How Italy will play out, who knows, but it is a nice location and no doubt the artist will have plenty to sink his teeth into. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "There are no rules in this race, Larcombe!"

Johnny Cougar and Splash Gorton

Their time in Australia is over, and Johnny and Splash fly out to Germany where their next adventure awaits them. 

That next adventure will involve Johnny fighting as a tag team, and he is driven to a nearby military base to meet his new partner. His new partner is a British soldier, Staff Sergeant Martin, a physical training instructor. With that sort of background, it's no surprise that he wants Johnny to take on the assault course. We don't get to see this assault course, it's only introduced in the final panel, but we do get to see the look on Johnny's face, and from his expression, he may well be in for a tough time. 

A stepping stone issue here for Johnny Cougar, Nothing happened in the story, but it laid out all the groundwork for his next adventure. We saw him fly to Germany and travel to the army base, and it was in only the final six panels, he met his partner and saw the assault course. Not a lot for me to hang my hat on there. I like the premise, it is up to the story now to reel me in on the back of such promise. No flash to speak of, but a steady introduction.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Left-right-left-right! Get in step, waddle-baby! This cat would have made a real swinging soldier"  

Tallon Of The Track

I wasn't a great fan of Tallon Of The Track last week, and although this week is a little better, it's still far from its previous heights. 

We last saw Jo Tallon standing up and pointing out that she had worked out what was making the Hunsford Hawks so fast. She lets us know in the first panels of this issue what it is she has seen - a secret addictive being added to their fuel, strictly against the rules. 

Jo encourages her boys to ride as fast as they can at the next race meeting. They do so, and after three heats they have a slender lead and no sign of the previous speed from the Hawks. 

That changes in the fourth heat as the Hawks riders take off like they're jet-propelled. Jo is infuriated and immediately goes off to seek out the race official, only to be hit in the face by an oily rag thrown by persons unknown. 

The second page of this story was a lot stronger than the first page. The first page saw the story again treading water as Jo and her team watched the footage of the Hawks and this felt much the same as what we saw last week. Seeing some action on the track over the page helped to kickstart the story and we finally felt like we were moving again. As for being hit in the face with an oily rag, it is hardly the deadliest situation Jo has been in, but it does lend an air of intrigue to the story, and that alone is enough to convince me to give it another chance next week. Far from vintage Tallon Of The Track, but a gradual improvement.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Glooaagh!" 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Roy Of The Rovers

Best Line: "Stop it! Stop the car! Stop it!"

Best Panel:

Roy's Sports Quiz: