Tiger 21st September 1974

Last week back in 1974 Tiger celebrated its twentieth birthday. This week is also a week of milestones, one in 1974 and one in the present day. September 1974 and I was just about to celebrate my first birthday. Well, perhaps not me, but certainly my parents. I recall nothing of it, although I have been told many times that September of 1973 was the hottest on record, but no one ever mentions the weather of September 1974. Perhaps they were all too distracted by a new presence in their life, namely me. The second milestone worth noting is this blog has now been running for a year. I had a couple of speed bumps early on, but have been good at keeping to my weekly schedule since. At this rate, I hope to wrap this up in about ten years' time. Come retirement I shall be taking on new hobbies, and no doubt joining a bowling club. 

On the pages of Tiger this week, no A Horse Called Ugly, I must go back and see if we were told that last week was the final. I don't think so, but I want to check for my own peace of mind. Tiger has been running on a high recently, although two or three of the stories have been dragging the chain. That will change in a couple of weeks, and I look forward to seeing some of the stories refreshed.

Still, that's in the future, for now here's Tiger from September 21st, 1974. 

Tiger 

21st September 1974

Johnny Cougar with Splash Gorton 

Johnny Cougar's Germany sojourn is over and he's back in Britain on the front cover of this week's edition. He is also on the front page of The Echo newspaper, where his return has an unknown figure most interested. 

This character has plans to create the greatest set-up the wrestling world's ever seen, starting with Johnny Cougar. 

The trouble starts over the page as a gang of thugs attempt to grab Cougar off the street. Cougar is caught unaware, and with Gorton quickly pushed to one side, Cougar is pushed into a car that looks suspiciously like a Morris Marina that my mother used to drive when I was a child. 

Cougar is not one to take such kidnappings lightly, and as the car drives he begins his fight back. Clubbing the guns out of the kidnapper's hands, he then chops the front passenger before grabbing the driver in a headlock. 

The fight is over, and Cougar emerges from the car and sends the kidnappers on their way, just as a breathless Gorton, who has been chasing the car, turns up. 

A fast start to this new story, and although we have seen Cougar fight countless villains over the years, it is still a thrill to see him punching and chopping his way to victory. Even more exciting for me was seeing my dear Mum's old car. The best of British engineering is represented right here on the pages of Johnny Cougar which adds to the 1970s feel of these stories. Things bode well for the future of this story, with Cougar's final comment that he feels he hasn't seen the last of these evil ones pointing to a storyline that may run for some time. We haven't broken any new ground here, and there isn't anything we haven't seen before in the previous year, but already it feels like an improvement on Cougar's Australia and Germany adventures. The future looks bright and I'll be curious to see what comes next.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Listen, you creeps, this is Britain...this sort of thing doesn't happen here!"

Roy Of The Rovers

Rovers are a goal down and it looks as though Tubby Morton has lost his nerve in goal. It is up to Roy to provide leadership and steady the team. 

Another shaky save from Tubby and Roy has seen enough. He decides to play in goal himself (is there anything Roy can't do?) and although he isn't spectacular he does keep a clean sheet for the rest of the match. Not only that, but when Rovers earn a penalty at the other end of the pitch it is Roy who steps up to take it - coolly slotting it home to tie the scores at one-one. 

Game over, and all eyes turn to their European match against the Dutch Chhampoions, Zeeden. There is debate about Tubby, but Tony Storme decides to risk him in goal for the match. 

Roy is doubtful, and on match day as the Dutch team comes onto the pitch, Blackie and Roy make the quick assessment that they look pretty useful, and the Rovers will have to play like world beaters to hold them. 

I did roll my eyes when Roy went into goal, I can't deny it. He is a football superhero once he dons Rover's colours, and without being flashy he did a professional job as a goalkeeper. I did wonder how many times has Roy played in goal over the years, and the next rainy day I shall probably make it my mission to find out - until then, I'm stuck with this story.  The other superhuman ability Roy has is judging a team merely on the way they walk on the pitch. His comment on the level of Zeeden, based purely on the players emerging, was another moment that had me rolling my eyes. A lot of eye-rolling today, maybe Roy has caught me before my cup of tea, and later in the day I would be more accepting, but right now it bothers me. I understand they've scouted their opposition, but the dialogue on the field looks like an instant judgement, and Roy reminded me of a captain I used to play under who would eye the opposition and say "We're definitely losing this one boys." Hardly a comment to inspire a team, and I'm saddened to see Roy go down that same path. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Pheeeew! They look pretty useful, Roy!"

Martin's Marvellous Mini

On the run for Kubah Kaln's horsemen, Martin and Tiny find themselves back on the road with the horsemen right behind. 

They find themselves in a village and quickly drive under one of the houses which sit on poles. It's a tight fit but they just squeeze under. Surrounded by the horsemen they are trapped, but some quick thinking from Martin has Tiny tie a rope around some of the hut's struts. As the guards close in, Martin accelerates away, the rope pulling the struts away and the house collapsing on the horsemen. 

Back on track, the boys drive on, eventually reaching a sign for Rangoon, a mere twenty miles away. It seems that this diversion hasn't cost them at all, and thoughts are that they'll be there in half an hour, and in the lead. 

This London to Sydney race has thrown up some great issues. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them. The horsemen chasing Martin and Tiny was fine, but once we reached the village things went downhill in my opinion. The scheme to escape was unbelievable, and the horsemen ineffective - even when they had Martin and Tiny surrounded. Usually, I read these stories with joy in my heart, and perhaps I still have negative feelings from the previous Roy of the Rovers story, but today I found the story flat and joyless. I'm sure this is just an aberration, and I have high hopes that things will pick up next week once our pals reach Rangoon.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Stone me...they were waiting for us!"

Skid Solo

Only two races theft in the 1974 World Motor Racing Championship, and Skid Solo has a slight lead as we head into the Canadian Grand Prix. 

Practising for the race, Skid is cut off by an old race car emerging from the pits. He narrowly avoids a collision, but this sets the scene for the race and the rest of the story.

Sandy tells Skid that the old-fashioned race car has been entered in the Grand Prix, and despite protests from all the drivers who have been victims of its lousy driver, the car is allowed to race as it has the required lap times.

Race day unfolds as expected. The old-fashioned car is fast but causes havoc on the track. Several cars are caught up in a collision, Skid avoids all the trouble as he has already built a handy lead.

However, he eventually comes behind this old car and prepares to lap it. It is then that disaster strikes, the driver moves the wrong way and Skid is forced off the track.

The driver of the car is black-flagged and removed from the race, but it is little consolation for Skid, who finishes never makes up the time and finishes fifth.

The race is over, and there is no sign of the reckless driver. He has left an apology note, but with only eight points between the top four drivers, he may have cost Skid the championship.

A strange story. We never learn the identity of the mysterious driver, and there is no explanation of why he has entered an old car in the race, or why he drove so recklessly. It's unsatisfying, although, on the positive side, it does set us up for the final race. Next week will be the build-up for that race, and I assume there will be some rising tensions in the lead-up. This story had Grand Prix action, but for the first time this season, I am disappointed with what I see. Like Martin's Marvellous Mini, this feels out of character, and I can only hope for redemption in the next issue. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Get that idiot off th' track...before he breaks every car in sight!"

Tallon Of The Track

Pop star Sven Jansson performed well when he tried out for the Ospreys team, but at the race meeting, he has disappointed thus far.

Jo is furious and confronts him about this lack of speed in the first race, and all he can do is meekly apologise and promise to do better. 

The rest of the team rides well, with Dave Trent doing particularly well in his race, and by the time it comes to Sven's second race, Ospreys have an overall lead. 

This time he is much faster, and for the first two laps looks good. Later in the race though he slows down and all of the opposition go by him. 

Once again Jo confronts him, and after some weak excuses, Sven finally admits that he has found a note on his bike, threatening him to give up on speedway and stick to his pop career. 

This story is similar to the story of Charlie Carter in Roy Of The Rovers, as both characters struggle to straddle the worlds of pop and sport. I have suspicions that there may be a manager pulling strings in the background of this story, but we shall see in the coming weeks as things progress. It was nice to see some on-track action, and although I'm not currently thrilled with the story I do enjoy that aspect of it. Next week shapes up to be make or break, fingers crossed we get a strong issue.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Okay, mister fancy-pants, let's have some real effort this time!"

Football Family Robinson

The saga of the cursed pagan head continues in The Football Family Robinson. The family thought they had seen the last of the statue's head as they tossed it from the van in the last issue, but on the first page of this week's story, it reappears, carried into the stadium by faithful fans.

It's not a smooth return, one of the fans takes a tumble the head falls forward onto the field where Giraffe accidentally kicks it. As the family gathers around the injured Giraffe the fans surround them expecting a reward. Ma provides the rewards, but once the fans leave Fred shows the family's true feelings, throwing the head as far as it can, only for it to ricochet off a fence and back through a window. 

With a steam roller in the foreground, Fred picks up the head with the idea to get rid of it for good. 

I think we all know what this idea will be, I believe they call this foreshadowing. It seems too obvious, but anything to get rid of this head and surrounding storyline would be welcome right now. I want to say this story has outstayed its welcome, but the truth is it was never welcome as far as I'm concerned. A year ago Football Family was excellent, now it is plodding along from one dull story to another. The appearance of Digger didn't excite me, and neither did their subsequent adventures heading to Australia. This pagan head story is a new low, even compared to those stories. It may be fifty years on, but as I read my way through 1974 I long for the glory days of the family in '73.

Rating: 4/10

Best line: "You clumsy great clot!" 

The Tigers

Was last week's A Horse Called Ugly the final for that strip? I have reached The Tigers, the final story in this week's comic, and there has been no sign of Joe and Ugly. Perhaps they will be back next week, but if not I wish them a fond farewell - we had some good times together. 

With cricket behind him, Chunky and his two fellow members of the Tigers turn their attention to fell running. 

Beginning in an area cleared for development, Chunky immediately displays his luck. Strolling down a slope towards Biff and Smitthy he trods on an oil-drum, somehow keeping his balance as it rolls down the slope.

An extra burst of luck at the bottom sees Chunky showering his nemesis Burton in mud and rubble, before wiping them all out with the rolling drum. 

With this humourous situation put behind them, Chunky and his pals meet up with the other youth clubs taking part in the fell running event. Ten miles across country, armed with a map and compass, there is plenty of scope for Chunky to get in trouble. Quite what that trouble will be, we will have to wait to find out as he starts slowly, while out in front Burton instructs his cronies to stay at the back and may sure that Chunky stays last. 

I enjoyed the first page more than I care to admit. I'm not normally one for slapstick, but little happened in the second half of the story and the first page was as good as it got. One wonders how much trouble Chunky can get into in the fell race, but with Burton's pals with him, I'm sure there will be plenty of occasions for him to ride his luck. I have never cared too much for The Tigers, but in this mediocre issue of Tiger, it is as good as anything else and can look anyone of these other stories in the eye. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I'm only last while I'm still behind. I bet it's because I plan it this way." 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 5/10

Best Story: Johnny Cougar 

Best Line: "Now, o weak one...you stop car heap fast...or you feel the strength of the Cougar!"

Best Panel: 

Roy's Sports Quiz: