I haven't been well this week, and read this week's issue of Tiger through heavy eyelids. Perhaps because of that, I have rated some stories lower than I should have, but I found it hard to rouse the energy, and if a story didn't grab me and carry me away, then it wasn't the story for me this week. I should be back to full health next week, and hopefully more energy, so I look forward to rereading some of these stories then. Until then, here's my take on the latest issue of Tiger.
Tiger
20th July 1974
Johnny Cougar and Splash Gorton
Johnny and Splash were looking on in shock at the assault course when we left them last week. This week there is little time to consider what they have seen, and we are dropped into the action as they are already halfway around the course. Johnny is a lot more adept at the course than Splash and finishes in just under record time.
Assault course out of the way, Staff Sergeant Martin suggests that perhaps now are now ready for a practice bout. Johnny agrees, and they prepare that night at the gym to wrestle.
Backstage, Splash tells Johnny to go easy on the guy, and Johnny agrees that he doesn't want to see anyone get hurt in this fight. However, things don't go according to plan as Johnny slips while fighting and ends up being knocked out by Staff Sergeant Martin. With the count reaching eight, it looks like the bout might already be over for Johnny Cougar.
I would have liked to have seen much more of the assault course. It was built up late last week to be a massive challenge, but Johnny conquered it rather easily in the first half page of this week's issue. It looked fun and could have easily been stretched to much more. As for the bout in the second half of the story, it hasn't had much time to do much yet. We have seen a quick grabble, and now Johnny is knocked out on the canvas. I hope next week this story will be given more time to breathe and we will have some time to dwell on some of these plot points rather than rushing through. A nice first page, but the rest of the pages disappointed me.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "Nnnnk! That's my first and last assault course! You can keep 'em!"
Roy Of The Rovers
With Roy and Blackie still trapped in the castle, San Palos must start their crucial game without them. San Palos isn't totally helpless though, Penny is on hand to help guide them tactically. Some San Palos players look doubtful, but Penny remains strong and points out that she has spent most of her life watching professional football. Under her guidance, the team play to keep the ball away from the opposition as much as they can, a tactic that succeeds in the early part of the game.
Meanwhile, Roy and Blackie fashion an escape. Using Blackie's souvenir penknife (that's lucky) they prise out the bars of the window. They still face a five-hundred-foot drop to the canyon below, but Roy skillfully climbs upwards to the top of the castle. With Blackie dutifully following afterwards, they quickly escape the castle before managing to acquire a couple of donkeys to get them back to the game.
Back at the game, San Palos is down one nil. The opposing manager, Senior Benetiz, is grinning from ear to ear. His joy is shortlived, however, as suddenly the two donkeys bearing Roy and Blackie appear. Both Roy and Blackie are exhausted, but they have made it. If they can make a difference or not, we'll have to wait until next week to find out.
OK, so some aspects of this week's story were a little unbelievable. That didn't detract from my enjoyment of it, although I did raise my eyebrows a couple of times. The thrill of the escape was stronger than my disbelief of Roy scaling the castle wall, and I did give a silent cheer when he reached the top. I also gave a cheer when Penny took control of the team early on. I thought perhaps she was going to play, but I was equally happy to see her run the team tactically. This story didn't reach the same level of joy as previous weeks, but there were a lot of positives across its two pages and overall I was satisfied with what I read.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "It's lucky...there's plenty of hand-holds in this...crumbling stonework..."
Martin's Marvellous Mini
The race to decide who wins the Treasure Hunt, and the cars are approaching the final bend. It's down to the wire in Martin's Marvellous Mini. Throwing caution to the wind, Martin somehow finds a way through on the inside, and with that, the race is won.
With this part of the story over, their next adventure appears on the horizon in the form of a Fred Carlton, of Carlton Cars, making a speech just outside of London. He is entering Carlton Cars in the London to Sydney rally, and making boastful claims that no other cars will come close to them.
This is called into question by a journalist who shows Fred Carlton the report of Martin and Tiny winning the treasure hunt. Carlton tells him that it's rubbish and that his team is much better. He then ups the stakes by boldly claiming that he will give Martin and Tiny five thousand pounds if they beat his cars.
The journalist returns to Martin and Tiny with this news, although at first, they aren't interested as they have no money to compete. However, The Daily News offers to pay their expenses and they quickly change their minds.
While Martin and Tiny get decked out in new race gear, Fred Carlton takes measures to make sure they won't win, arranging for two thugs to make sure they are taken out of the rally as soon as possible.
I was pleased to see the back of the treasure hunt storyline, and doubly pleased by the appearance of this London to Sydney race. There is potential for all sorts of shenanigans in all manner of places in the coming months and played right this story could get us through to the end of the year. The Carlton team are always worthy foes, and there is an extra element of danger in the thugs that have been hired to deal with Martin and Tiny. Nothing has happened yet, but all the key elements have been put in place and the future looks very good indeed for this story.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "You'll pay? Well, that's different!"
A Horse Called Ugly
Tiger is getting international with Roy Of The Rovers in Spain, Johnny Cougar in Germany, Tiny and Martin heading to Sydney, and A Horse Called Ugly taking up residence in Italy. Joe and Ugly seem quite comfortable in Italy already, with a grinning Joe waterskiing across the first half page.
Angela does warn him not to do anything foolish, but Joe just can't help himself and his waterskiing ends in a big splash and a very wet Joe. Of course, the boat is piloted by two handsome Italian men, who also happen to be competing against Joe and Ugly - we'll be seeing plenty more of them in the coming pages.
The following day at the show jumping and we find things are difficult for the riders. Despite their confidence, the Italians fail to have a clear round, and Angela too finds herself having a hazardous round.
Joe and Ugly manage to charm the crowd when it is their turn to ride, and they ride well to be the only ones to have a clear round. However, storm clouds are on the horizon as some shady characters are watching from the crowd, and planning to involve Joe and Angela in their crime.
What that crime is, we'll have to wait until next week, but already I am curious. It's hard to imagine with the information we have so far what will come next. The new characters in this story are making a strong impression, the Italian riders did indeed look handsome, as Angela rightfully pointed out, and the villains in the crowd raised a lot of questions. Like the previous story, there's a lot of set-up going on here, but also enough hooks that I am already invested in what happens next. With some exquisite horse artwork to boot, this is a strong issue that promises much for the future.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "Magnificant! The British boy and his spotted horse are charming!"
Football Family Robinson
The family are still putting together their respective teams for the football match between the two resorts where they are staying. A lot of tourists have come out of the woodwork to play for Viv's team, but a trial proves that most of them are not much good. However, there is a couple of useful players who Titch invites to join the team.
Viv and Ma decide that some rest and relaxation on the beach is in order, and the two of them make themselves comfortable in the sun. Soon enough Ma spies through her binoculars Fred floating towards their beach on a raft. She and Viv take a pedal boat out to see what he wants and it's not good news.
Fred tells them that the other resort intends to beat them at all costs and they don't stand a chance because.... well, we never find out because Fred is cut short by a boat fast approaching with the resort owner. From the other direction comes the other resort owner, also on a speedboat. Both threaten to ram each other, but it is the family that ends up in the water as the wake from the speedboats washes over them.
The first part of the story didn't do much for me, but things improved considerably in the second half once Ma and Viv took to the beach. The storylines expanded, and it finally felt like something was happening. Viv had some fantastic facial expressions, and they were deployed at just the right moments within the story. I'm still not convinced I need to see this much-promised football match, although I am enjoying the surrounding drama. Still an improvement from when they were in the jungle and this week certainly ended on a high.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "Enemy? That's my wife and daughter!"
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Skid Solo
The British Grand Prix and we are at Brands Hatch this week. Skid is still eighteen points behind on the championship table, but his practice laps are fast and he secures pole position.
Their bad luck is still dogging them though, and Skid finishes his practice lap pushing his car into the pits. It has a cracked sump, and it is up to Sandy to try and find one and replace it overnight. Poor Sandy, it's not the first time we have seen him faced with such a task.
The following day and Skid's car is ready to go, just in time to take his place at the front of the grid. He's fast, but not fast enough as Corbonne gets off to a flier. Already with a ten-yard lead, Corbonne comes unstuck at the very first corner, driving off the track and crashing hard into the hoardings.
With Corbonne out of the race, Skid has no serious opposition and the rest of the race is a procession with Skid winning easily. With Corbonne's overall lead cut in half, Sparrow thinks their luck has changed at last, while Skid thinks there's still a chance to win the championship.
Not quite the Grand Prix action I have come to expect from Skid Solo. The win came easily to him, although he did have a lot of luck, and for me that sucked a lot of the fun out of the story. I did appreciate seeing Sandy pulling another all-nighter, I really feel sorry for him sometimes, and he was the only character that had a strong part aside from Skid. Carbonne was merely a cameo, non of the other racers made an appearance and even Sparrow was low-key. A nice story, but it failed to grip me in any way, and I walked away with barely a second thought of it.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "If it's not ready now, Sandy...forget it. We'll be too late!"
Tallon Of The Track
Jo has been hit in the face by an oil-soaked rag, and she's far from happy about it. Jo confronts the Hunsford Hawks mechanic that threw it, but he claims it was an accident and apologises.
There is no time to take things further, as Jo rushes to the race referee to complain that the Hawls are using a fuel addictive. The referee takes this matter seriously and calls on an expert to test the fuel in both teams' tanks.
The results come back negative, much to Jo's chagrin, but there is still a race meeting and little time to dwell on the outcome. Dave promises he will get the team back into the race, and he makes good on his promise, riding hard and pulling out a victory for the Ospreys.
Dave is cheered by the crowds, and Jo waves him over with her thoughts on why the results came back negative. She is convinced that the rag-throwing incident gave them time to cover up and doctor the fuel in the tanks. This is where we leave the strip, we will have to continue this next week.
Not a lot of joy in this story at the moment. The last few weeks have been disappointing, and this is more of the same. The best part of the story was the three panels where Dave was racing, the rest of it was endless talk of the fuel addictive and watching the fuel being tested. I love looking at this story each week, but the storyline isn't working for me at the moment, and the artwork alone isn't enough for me. The sooner this storyline finishes the better, and we can move onto something faster moving and fun.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "Relax, I'm riding this one with Tom Lawler! Forget about the fuel additives and watch us go!"
The Tigers
Finally, Chunky has taken to the crease as The Tigers continue to play as part of the Digby cricket team.
What follows is classic Chunky action. He hasn't a clue as to what's happening, and it's only through his blind luck that he manages to score runs. Smithy tries to keep him away from the strike, but Chunky runs him out. Ron Burton joins him in the middle, but Chunky's luck holds as he manages to hit a four, much to the dismay of Burton and his chums. We finish this week's strip with an angry Burton vowing to get Chunky out quick before he can do it again.
Not much plot to this week's story, but there never is in The Tigers. Instead, it's all about the action, and we had plenty of that this week, even if I didn't appreciate it. Sure, Chunky was scoring runs and looking good, but it was the ball hitting the bat rather than the bat hitting the ball, and he had very little say in the matter. I didn't like the fact that he didn't have any agency, and the humour wasn't enough to paper over it. I smiled, several times, but I couldn't quite get to a laugh, and that is a weakness for a humourous story. For all that though, I found it to be not too bad, and by the time I finished, I wasn't filled with negative feelings. Still could be better, but it did its job this week.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "Hmm! That was careless of Smithy! He's got himself run out. I'll speak sharply to him later on"
Issue final ratings:
Overall: 6/10
Best Story: A Horse Called Ugly
Best Line: "More than you think, young man! I haven't been watching the best team in the world for most of my life, without learning something...so, let's get weaving!"
Best Panel:
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