Tiger 29th June 1974

Happy Easter! I have decided to forgo the chocolate today, lest I get chocolate fingerprints all over my beloved comics. So here I am, no chocolate high, just the high of some good old-fashioned storytelling from back in the day.

Tiger

29th June 1974

Johnny Cougar and Splash Gorton

Last week's issue of Johnny Cougar was a barnstormer, with his contest against Mighty Man proving just as mighty as his opponent's moniker. 

We kick off with Johnny gaining first pinfall over Mighty Man, an event that deserves the front page cover treatment it gets. 

Inside the comic, they continue their ferocious battle and it is just as bone-crunching as last time with both wrestlers having their moments in a back-and-forth fight. Neither gains an upper hand, but it matters little as the fight is the spectacle and each panel contains pure wrestling action.

It is only on the final page that Splash makes an appearance, dosing Johnny with a bucket of cold water in an attempt to revive his flagging energy. It initially works, with Johnny hitting Mighty Man with a dropkick before Mighty Man responds with one of his own that leaves Johnny on the canvas. Rising to his feet, Johnny realises that he needs to start using his head to out-think Mighty Man. 

Johnny Cougar was outstanding last week, and this week is just as good as we stay firmly focused on the wrestling match. The artwork is close up and takes us right into the heart of the action. It is intense, just like the match itself, and serves the story throughout. I can't speak highly enough of the Johnny Cougar story at the moment, and reading it here I wonder if this is where my love of wrestling began, not on TV, but from the pages of the Tiger. Better than the real thing, this is again a highlight. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Forget about forearm smashes, Indian...my chin's a lot tougher than your arm!" 

Roy Of The Rovers

Roy is floored by a heavy tackle playing for a village team, and things look bad on every front. Bad for Roy, bad for his team, and potentially bad for Melchester next year. 

Roy regains his feet, and the opposition goes on attack sensing that the San Palo team is weakened, However, the San Palo keeper pulls off a save as Blackie yells at him to kick it out to the left where a limping Roy is waiting. 

In a sudden turn of pace, he explodes into action, rapidly bearing down on the opposition keeper before duly slotting the ball in the back of the net. The San Palo players surround Roy, admiring his crafty play, Roy had been injured, but not as bad as he made out and has outfoxed his opponents. 

He is still struggling with his tight boots though, and sees out the rest of the game in goal, making several crucial saves in the process. 

The game is won, and Roy is convinced to stay on and play again in the tournament, although he is concerned that he and Blackie will be marked men for the rest of the tournament. This assessment proves correct, as we see some locals plotting to kidnap Roy and Blackie just as the story concludes. 

A fitting finish to the game, this is the result we all knew we would get. The on-field action was good, as always, but the real meat of the story was in the final panel and the kidnapping plot. Playing a game in tight boots is child's play compared with fighting off kidnappers. I appreciated seeing Roy's gamesmanship at play, it's always nice to see him out-think his opponents rather than beat them on skill alone. The story didn't have any negatives as far as I could see, although it never quite engaged me as I would have wanted. Again, I think it is well done, but not running at its full potential just yet. Once again I will wait and see if next week brings the story to fruition. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "He explodes into life like an express train!" 

Martin's Marvellous Mini

Tinty and Martin are driving straight into danger this week, hurtling down a slope towards the Enny Tunnel. Driving into the tunnel they little suspect that their rivals are about the close the doors behind them. 

The doors are slammed shut on the tunnel, and the roof begins to cave in. There is no time to waste and Martin reverses the car through the doors and back into the open air. They don't see that Percy and Algy are there as they immediately drive off after the next clue. 

Percy is blind with rage, and won't listen as Algy tries to pacify him. Driving recklessly, he overtakes Tiny and Martin, and several miles down the road pulls over. Setting up an ambush, he pulls out a rifle, with the intention of shooting out the tires of Tiny and Martin when they appear. 

My, how things have escalated. We begin the story with a bit of life-or-death action with the collapse of the Enny Tunnel and ended with this out-of-control Percy looking extremely dangerous with a rifle in hand. We are a long way from a simple treasure hunt adventure now. Not as strong as some previous issues, but still a page-turner, and as always the artwork looks divine, especially the panels of Percy speeding around the roads. Like the previous Roy of the Rovers, next week promises much, and this is a fine setup for what comes next. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Be careful, Percy! There's no need to go mad!" 

A Horse Called Ugly

We are finally getting to the bottom of all the shenanigans taking place in A Horse Called Ugly. Ugly has been loaded into Mannering's truck, but things are not sitting well with the villains. Mannering still refuses to pay Mungro, and as he drives off he yells at Mungro to keep his mouth shut.

Of course, Mungro is unhappy with not being paid and immediately confesses to Joe what's been happening through the race, and how he had been duped. Angela takes Mugro to the race officials, where he confessed, while Joe sets off in pursuit of the truck and Ugly. 

Joe catches the truck and forces it off the road, but Mannering emerges from the cab, telling Joe it's too late, and Ugly is going to disappear and Jow with him.

 Things are beginning to move quickly here, and I enjoyed the fast-flowing action. It did feel a little simplistic, perhaps my only complaint, yet it all happened so quickly that I barely had time to register this thought. The highlights were definitely seeing Joe chasing the truck, and the artwork for these panels stood out far beyond everything else., I was disappointed about how quickly Mungro changed sides but overall found the story highly entertaining as we accelerate towards a conclusion. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "But you promised me fifty quid, for doing yer dirty work!"  

Football Family Robinson

Titch, Alf and Crash are still missing, and they remain missing for this entire episode. The family are at a loss of what to do, and although they make a kite from one of Ma's dresses, in the hope the others will see it and make their way back, it comes to nothing.

Later in the story, night falls and they build a fire, again hoping the others will see it and come to them as well as providing them with warmth. The story ends this week with some crashing approaching them, and the family wondering who or what it could be.

Almost nothing happened this week. The kite building and flying took up a page of action and were a mere diversion. The only thing of note to happen was late on the final page when they built a fire, and some noises from the jungle came towards them. I did like that we saw plenty of Viv on the pages, although this barely compensated for the lack of direction and progress in the story. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, and if things don't pick up soon I may never come back to fully loving the story in the way I did in the past.

Rating: 4/10

Best line:  "If we don't get back to civilisation soon I'll have nothing to wear but rags" 

Tallon Of The Track

Tallon Of The Track is a story of two halves this week. In the first half, we have Jo still in a coma and the Ospreys racing around the hospital on their bikes in an attempt to awaken her. It works well enough and by the end of the first page, Jo is released from the hospital and back at the track to train her beloved Ospreys.

The second half of the story sees Richard Caxton, the film director, apologize to Jo and offering to make amends. Jo asks if he could come to the track and film the Hunsford Hawks before they compete against them in the second leg of the Speedway Silver Cup. 

He does as she requests, but while they are there Jo times the heats on her stopwatch and finds something is not quite right. What that might be, we'll have to wait until next week, as this is the final act of this week's issue. 

A surprisingly weak issue of Tallon Of The Track. One of my favourite stories, this week it never makes the high standard that I come to expect. The first part of the story was boring, and although the second half was better, it was hardly the high-stakes drama I have come to expect. I am intrigued by what it is that Jo finds strange about the heat times, but I'm not convinced it was the cliffhanger that this story needs right now. Not what I expect from Tallon of the Track, and as my father said to me many times over the years, "I'm not angry, just disappointed" 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Hey, fellas, our number one slave-driver is back!" 

Skid Solo

The Skid Solo team are in a small central European country as begin this week's issue. With Sandy, the "dour Scotsman" as he is referred to in the opening caption, working on their cars, Sparrow and Skid prepare to go for a ride on their bikes. 

They are urged to take it easy and relax by Sandy, and begin well enough, cruising the hills and stopping to take in the view. Sparrow takes out his binoculars and spots a couple of shady characters setting up a machine gun. Skid surmises that it's probably just the army setting for manoeuvers and they cruise on down to a village.

At the village, the story widens to its full scope, with us learning that it's a carnival day in the village and that the minister is visiting. We also learn that it is dangerous at the moment, because of the local bandit, whose face on the wanted poster looks very familiar to Sparrow. Indeed, it is the very man he saw setting up the machine gun. 

With the minister in danger, Skid and Sparrow speed a cross country to warn him, and we get the happy ending we deserve, with the bandit being captured without a shot being fired and Skid and Sparrow returning to Sandy. Sandy asks about their day, and they tell him that they took his advice, visited the village, and played on the dodgems. We finish the story with Sandy looking directly at us and saying how pleased he is that they followed his advice and visited the village, after all, it could be dangerous riding the bikes around the countryside. Oh Sandy, if only you knew. 

Skid Solo loves these little adventures in made-up central European countries, and we have encountered similar stories in the past. I did have a quiet laugh to myself when Skid said nothing seems to happen - Skid, something always happens! I liked the story for its humble ambition and easygoing style. Skid saw something bad about to happen, told the right people, and returned to Sandy for the story to come full circle. It never felt intense or rushed, and as such as one of the easiest-to-read stories this week. It was pleasant, but not essential, Skid Solo and was a gentle story after some heavy hitters early on. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Lovely day, Sparrow... I like this quiet countryside. Nothing ever seems to happen!"

The Tigers

Chunky Clark has been selected as wicketkeeper for the Digby Cricket Club and the bulk of this week's story is dedicated to his training for the match. It isn't anything we haven't seen before, with Chunky making a poor showing of it, and his long-suffering neighbour once again receiving a ball through his greenhouse. 

Over the page, and things aren't much better at the park as Chunky trips over himself and upsets the park keeper. Chased from the park, they finally arrive at the game, and the final few panels of the strip show Chunky in complete disarray as a wicketkeeper, much to the dismay of the other plays for Digby Cricket Club. 

This story took too long to get to the game, and in the first page and a half, we saw the same things occur twice, clumsy Clark and his friends. It felt like padding, and I was desperate for them to get to the game and begin the story. The humour was unambitious and merely brushed my funny bone. I had such high hopes for this story after the last couple of weeks, but overall found it interesting and a flat spot to end this week's issue. 

Rating: 4/10

Best line: "Where did Digby find the clown?" 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 6/10

Best Story: Johnny Cougar and Splash Gorton

Best Line: "If we hear that machine-gun open up...then we'll know we're too late!"

Best Panel:

Roy's Sports Quiz: