Tiger 31st August 1974

I'll admit it - winter isn't my favourite time of year. Sure, I love the football, but as for those cold mornings and miserable wet days, no thanks you can keep 'em. Luckily the sun always shines on the pages of Tiger where this week we have Martins Marvellous Mini speeding its way across temperate South East Asia, and Skid Solo taking some time out in the south of France. It warms the cockles of my heart, and for the next half hour I will be basking in the glow of some classic 1974 Tiger action.  

Tiger

31st August 1974

Johnny Cougar with Splash Gorton

Johnny's drink has been drugged by his former opponent, the K.O. Kid, and it's apparent from the very first panel how the spiked drink is badly affecting Johnny Cougar. As he sits on the edge of the ring we can see how out of it he is as he tells Splash that his whole body is heavy and all he wants to do is sleep.

In the ring his partner, Martin, is doing the best he can despite being outmuscled by the other team. He is knocked down, but somehow manages to regain his feet, although it is made clear that he can't keep this up forever. 

Johnny manages to clear his thoughts and tells Splash that he thinks he has been poisoned. He also tells him that he remembers an ancient Indian medicine that might help. Reeling off a list of ingredients, Johnny sends Splash off on a mission to procure what he can. 

Splash finds the store he needs, and then realises that he may have a problem with the language barrier here in Germany. However, the German education system comes through, and the store owner can speak English. 

Back at the ring, Johnny's condition is deteriorating, while poor Martin continues to take a beating at the hands of their opponents. 

This wasn't all about the action and was well told, especially with respect to Johnny's condition. The panels where we see things from his perspective were evocative and captured my imagination. Splash brought a humourous element to the strip, but it wasn't overplayed and touched on in just a couple of panels. In the ring, one felt for Staff Sergeant Martin, and the artwork showing him fighting against the other wrestlers caught the scale of what he was up against. Lovely to look at and lovely to read, this is a fine start to this week's comic.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "G-gosh, sometimes this cat forgets he's in Germany. Er... sprechen sie English?"

Roy Of The Rovers

At the end of last week's issue, Tony Storme delivered an ultimatum to Charlie Carter - make a decision between being a pop star or continuing playing for Rovers. 

We dial back from this in the first panels this week as Roy talks Tony into giving Charlie forty-eight hours to make his decision. Charlie is appreciative of the extra time given and speaks to Roy privately about the decision he is facing. His agent is offering a tour of top-line nightclubs in the North. He could potentially make fifty thousand pounds over two years which, as Roy points out, could set him up for life.   

Roy, Tony Storme, and Ben Galloway hold a private conference about their position, with Ben deciding that Charlie will be rested until the matter is settled. This means that Tubby Morton will return to the first team, whether he's ready or not.

At training Tubby is confident, but Roy has doubts about his recovery from a broken leg. We finish the strip with Roy steaming in towards the ball, about to give Tubby a test. 

It had looked like Charlie was going to wrap up this pop star business, but that storyline looks like it still has some way to go. The appearance of Tubby Morton, and Roy's doubt about his leg, add an extra impetus to the story, and I must admit I am once again involved and curious to see what happens next. The most interesting part of the story for me was when Charlie tells Roy he could earn fifty thousand pounds over two years. In an era when plays earn four times that in a week, it does give a stark demonstration of how much football has changed over the last thirty years.  This story has been a little uneven recently, but this issue was consistently strong, and we are well set for what comes next. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I mean, how could I leave all this? How could I turn my back on the greatest club in the world..!" 

Martin's Marvellous Mini 

Sheltering in an old temple, Martin and Tiny were facing a glowing stone figure when we left them last week. This figure scares off the two other rally drivers, but Martin and Tiny are made of sterner stuff and move forward to investigate. 

They discover that the glow seems to be coming from behind the idol, and looking beyond it they discover a fire, and two other rally drivers taking shelter in the temple. 

All four sleep the night at the temple, although when Martin and Tiny awake at ten am, they discover the other drivers are long gone. They have, however,  left a note saying they didn't want to wake them up and they bet they won't be able to catch them now. 

Back on the road again, the boys make good time. We learn that other drivers are having their own troubles through a radio broadcast that tells us that ten cars have already pulled out. We also see a car crash, the occupants unharmed, but facing a long oxen road to the nearest help. 

We then take a jump through time, and the two pals arrive in South East Asia. A crowd of people point them in the right direction and eventually they are forced down a track that leads them to the start of a race day. They try to explain that they aren't here to race, but an officer on a horse appears, sword in hand, and tells them that his master, Kubah Kaln, has invited them to take part and now he is ordering them to. 

Fun to read, but nowhere near as good as the previous two weeks. I found the resolution to the glowing idol to be unsatisfying, and having two more drivers spending the night at the temple didn't add anything noteworthy to the story. We could have gotten one more issue out of our time in the desert, but I do like the start of our South East Asian adventure. It's nice to see some greenery on the page again. Not as exotic or thrilling as the previous two weeks, but there was enough here for me to come back for more. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "No garage here, Sahib! You ride my oxen...I take you to village...only three hours' ride!"  

Skid Solo

Skid takes a breather from motor racing this week, with a holiday in France. But, Skid being Skid, it isn't much of a break. 

Things turn bad early on in the strip as Skid swerves to avoid a dog and ends up damaging his car. Par for the course, it is poor old Sandy who is left in the village to fix it while Skid and Sparrow enjoy coffee and sandwiches at the Villa Hotel a mile down the road.

Returning later to collect Sandy and the car, Sparrow walks into an intense situation. An escaped convict is holding Sandy at gunpoint and demanding that Sparrow drive him to the border.

Sparrow drives the convict as he has little choice in the matter while Sandy, who has been left behind, calls Skid to inform him of the situation. Skid makes a quick decision and takes to the roads himself in an attempt to intercept them before Marseilles.  

Sparrow and the convict smash through a police barricade and the action intensifies as Skid catches up to them. 

The convict has no intention of being easily captured, and pointing his pistol back at Skid he takes a shot. 

With his windshield shot out, Skid crashes into a lake. Sparrow can only look on as the convict reiterates that he is to stop for nothing. 

A fantastic story and I was pleased to see that it is spilling over to the next issue. With the car chase given a chance to marinate across two pages, the tension is ratcheted up and this is only heightened by the artwork which captures the grizzled face of the convict. There are several intense panels that feel almost cinematic, and the overall feel throughout the strip is one of intense danger. Skid wasn't the focus of all that was happening, but even so, this is one of the best Skid Siolo stories since my blog began. We did see a similar story a year ago, but it didn't capture the imagination like this one, and that one failed to build tension in the way this issue did. Excellent, and the image of the convict about to take a shot at Skid is one that stays with me long after I have put the comic down. 

Rating: 10/10

Best line: "Escaped convict has just gone through our road block, heading for Marseilles. All units close in..."  

Tallon Of The Track

The world of pop music and sport collide for the second time in this week's Tiger as Jo Tallon scouts some talent in the form of Sven Jansson, a fifteen-year-old speedway prospect who also happens to be a very popular singer. 

Jo isn't very impressed by her first sighting of Sven, he seems all glitz and glamour, and she wonders if her old pal Greaseball is right about this rider. 

Speaking to Jansson, she tells him to be at the track at ten am the following day so she can see what he's made of.

Jo has a look of surprise the following day as not only does he arrive in a chauffeured limo, but also with a retinue of assistants. There is one more surprise for Jo and Dave, he also has his bike with him - plated in solid silver. 

It didn't feel like the story moved far this week. Jo met Jansson, told him to try out for the team, and he arrived at the track. That's about all that happened. We are clear where Jo stands in regard to him so far with her unimpressed face glaring out at us in every panel. He will undoubtedly win her over with his riding, but right now I can't see how that will be turned into a dramatic plot line. Once again the most impressive thing about this strip was its artwork, but it is a definite flat spot in the comic so far. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Y-you mean thats' Sven Jansson? The sequined screeched up on the stage?"  

Football Family Robinson 

The twisted pagan head of an ancient God continues to curse the family throughout this issue. 

Ma planned to get rid of it once and for all, but events conspire against her. Putting it in the dustbin, the dustman knocks on her door and returns it to her, concerned that it might damage the grinding machinery of the truck. 

Once again lumbered with the head, Ma hides it in the kitchen hoping that the family won't see it until she decides what to do next. She is almost rumbled as Fred fossicks around the kitchen but a few stern words sends him on his way. 

Later that evening Ma retrieves the head, deciding it might be safer to hide it in the van. It seems a sound idea, but on Saturday the family take the van to their next game. They have the misfortune to have a flat tire and then discover that the spare wheel is also soft.   

There is the comment that if they didn't know better, they would swear that the head was still cursing them despite being disposed of. It is then that Ma realises she's forgotten all about the head and it is still in the van. 

I had mentally checked out of this storyline when the family decided to throw away the head at the end of last week. I had to adjust my expectations for this week, and I found I was able to re-engage with the story, although not to the same level as previously. With the family on the road, we are once again in the wider world. The previous panels at the house were becoming claustrophobic and I found the wider spaces made the whole storyline feel more open. Pagan gods cursing people is never going to be my favourite subject for a story, but I am enjoying this well enough despite myself.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Did you put this in the bin, lady? It's as 'ard as rock. It should have been put separately! Putting stuff like that in your rubbish could damage the grinding machinery."

A Horse Called Ugly

Joe needs the stolen painting to save Angela, but he's on the back foot from the start as he finds that it is missing from the wall where he left it. 

Luckily Farmer Coker has an idea of who may have taken it - old Charlie the tramp who he let sleep in the stable earlier in the morning. From here on in the story will be about Joe's search for Charlie. 

He has some luck though - Ugly can smell an apple a mile away, and it is this greed for apples that inadvertently leads to them finding Charlie sheltering beside a hedge with a bag of apples. Joe asks if he has the painting, and he is delighted to find that Charlie does have it, although it is wrapped around his middle in an attempt to keep warm. 

Painting in hand, Joe charges back to the farmhouse where he finds a note telling him to come to the crossroads at Chipweir. This is where we leave the story for now, with Joe and Ugly approaching the crossroads while the crooks watch from a distance. 

No sign of Angela this week, but Joe's motivation to save her was very much the driving force of the storyline. The villains of the piece only appear on a few panels, and the bulk of the story was Joe and Charlie. Charlie was a curious addition. He didn't add anything of substance to the story and merely padded it out for an extra week. After starting well, it's beginning to feel as if this storyline has stalled. Next week will be make or break, and a strong finish will greatly colour my overall view of the story. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Is this the painting you're after? I took it to use as an extra vest. It gets cold sleeping out at nights!" 

The Tigers 

When we last left the cricketing action, Biff was batting and was just about to be caught in the field. In the first panel of this week's strip, Chunky's luck takes a hand as the bottle of pop in his hand blows its top, shooting the cork into the backside of the player about to make the catch. Needless to say, the catch is dropped and Biff survives at the crease. 

His relief is short-lived as the village bowlers deliver a ball that is more of a throw and leaves him scrambling for safety. He is bowled out, a decision he accepts rather than face any more of this rough play. 

As Desmond Digby, captain of the team, strides towards the crease he gives Chunky a stern warning - if they lose then Chunky will be out of the side. That looks highly likely as Chunky decides it might be best if he throws away his bottle of pop before he causes any more trouble, only for it to smash against a stone - startling Desmond Digby and leading him to offer a soft chance to the fielders. 

This brings an overly confident Chunkly to the crease as he tells the team to relax as he'll probably score a century. 

One expects Chunky to face the same obstacles as the rest of the team, however, it seems the locals have taken a shine to Chunky and on the sidelines there is a scheme discussed. The villagers send a message to the team on the park, telling them to take it easy on Chunky. They do so, giving him an easy delivery for his first face of the ball. Even this is too much for Chunky and like the previous issue, we end with the ball in the air and about to be caught. 

I have been up and down with my enjoyment of this story. This week is the middle of the road for me. Some parts I greatly enjoyed, while others fell completely flat for me. With Chunky batting at number seven, there can't be too much left in the tank for this story, and all that remains to be seen is how many more weeks that can stretch out this game. A betting man, I'm putting my money on two more weeks, but we shall see. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "He's dropped it! How corkingly lucky..." 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Skid Solo 

Best Line: "We will change direction. Head for the airport. I 'ave hi-jacked a car and a driver...I will hi-jack an aircraft, with you as hostage!"

Best Panel: 

Roy's Sports Quiz: