Tiger 28th September 1974

Although there is no Tiger character on the cover of 28th September 1974, it is still an eye-catching opening to the Roy Of The Rovers story within. With a Zeeden player running at full stretch, one wonders what will happen over the page, a mystery that can only be solved by turning the page. So, I'm going to do it, I'm turning the page and going in. 

Tiger 

28th September 1974

Roy Of The Rovers

Melchester Rovers are up against Dutch team Zeeden, a team that has adopted the total football style of the great Dutch teams of the 1970s. With Tubby still showing signs of having lost his nerve, it's not just Roy who is concerned, but the whole Rovers management team watching on the sideline. 

Zeeden attacks strongly, and a long-range strike with plenty of swerve on it has Roy worried. He is right to be worried as Tubby only makes a half-hearted dive to save the shot and it is only a goal-line clearance by Roy himself that saves the day. 

With Tubby frightened to dive on his right knee, the Zeeden team senses weakness and launches attack after attack. As halftime is called, Tony Storme is prepared to pull Tubby from the match but Roy has another idea, one that could save the match and Tubby's career, 

As the second half gets underway, the Dutch team attacks again and once again it is up to Roy to save the day with a great tackle. There's more to this tackle than meets the eye, and as Roy follows through he crashes full speed into Tubby Morton, leaving them both sprawled on the ground. 

Tubby's first impulse is to scream "My leg, my leg" but Roy chastises him and points out that he is perfectly fine, and his body can easily take such a knock. This revelation is timely, and Tubby is back on his feet as the ball comes across from a quick throw as Roy urges him to prove the old Tubby Morton is back in business. 

An excellent instalment, and perhaps the best we have seen from this storyline. Where previously the story has meandered, here it is sharp and to the point, and moved rapidly forward. We aren't out of the woods yet, it remains to see if Roy's approach with Tubby has worked, but as a longtime reader, I am confident that this story is nearing an end. I am again impressed with Roy's fitness levels, last week he played in goal, and this week he was twice fast enough to get back and cover the goal, truly a man for every part of the field. It looks like Tubby Morton is back on track, now all that remains is for Charlie Carter to sort his part of the story out. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Your leg is perfectly alright you silly great noodle..." 

Johnny Cougar with Splash Gorton 

After an attempted kidnapping last week, Johnny Cougar and his pal Splash Gorton are now sunning themselves at an unnamed British seaside resort. All seems well as the deck chair attendant approaches but this takes a turn as he points a pistol in his pocket at them and tells them to do exactly what he says. 

Dressing quickly, Johnny and Splash are hustled into the same car we saw last week and whisked away. A luxury hotel is their destination, and there they meet the man behind all this thuggery. 

Only referred to as the boss, he outlines his plan of creating a wrestling circus to tour the world. Featuring all the world's top matmen, he plans to start with the great Johnny Cougar. There are promises of fame and fortune, but Johnny isn't having a bar of it and he turns nasty - swiping the contracts from the boss's hands. 

He may be outnumbered four to one, but Johnny is up for a fight. Cracking some heads together he looks to have gained the upper hand, but the strip closes out with the boss telling Johnny that nobody crosses him, and calls for his men to finish Johnny. 

Just as strong as the Roy Of The Rovers story that preceded it, this story went up several notches from last week. Being forced into the car at gunpoint was a replay from last week, but this time the story moved on with Johnny meeting the man behind it all. It makes me wonder if last week was a false start, and if this week could have just as easily occurred earlier. We had Johnny fighting the thugs, but as we ended he still faced trouble and the story moves quickly into next week's episode.  There is intrigue with the boss behind it still unnamed (Vince McMahon?) although we know what he looks like and have a good idea of his character. And of course, I have to once again mention the highlight of the strip, seeing my Mums old car from the 1970s!

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Cougar not act like squaw...Cougar Seminole...take orders from no-one!"

Martin's Marvellous Mini

We are in Rangoon as Mister Cartlon and a crowd of hundreds expectantly wait for the leading cars of the London to Sydney race. All expect to see a Carlton car arrive first, but it is instead Tiny and Martin who come down the street to great fanfare. 

With an hour lead over the Carlton team, Tiny and Martin are in a strong position as the cars are shipping towards Australia. There is skullduggery afoot though, and the two Carlton drivers, Grimble and Perch, head below decks with spanners in hand and ill intent in their hearts. They are quickly foiled, a surprise planted by Tiny and Martin scares them off and they are sternly warned by our two heroes to stay well clear of their car. 

Mister Cartlon is furious at the inadequacies of his men and vows to deal with the problem himself, booking a flight to Australia at once. There he enlists the help of a cattle herder in the outback who promises to stampede the cattle right into the boys when he sees them. There is just one small snag in his plan - the Carlton car has overtaken George, and it is now his own team that is speeding towards the cattle stampede. 

I was never fussed by the South East Asian portion of this race, and I feel the story is on firmer ground with the reappearance of Gimble and Perch, and their arrival in Australia. With the teams in Australia, the end can't be too far away, but there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had from the story. Mister Carlton is always a worthy villain, and seeing him watching the approaching cars with his binoculars was a treat, as was seeing his livid expression as George crossed the line first in Rangoon. Not much racing this week, but still visually stimulating as we speed towards the conclusion of the London to Sydney race. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Bah! Those drivers of mine are useless! They say they can't wreck Martin's mini! Get me a seat on a place to Australia...I'll do the job myself!" 

The Tigers 

The Tigers are competing in a fell running contest, although the word 'competing' may be overselling it - Chunky is dead last by a long way. 

Burton intends on keeping it that way and instructs the rest of his team to move the stepping stones used to cross a river before Chunky can get there. But with his usual luck, Chunky stumbles across them (literally) and makes it to the other side with not a single wet foot.

This luck continues as Chunky is pursued by Burton's two pals, and all three of them head up the mountain via a different route than the rest of the teams. There is another incident which sees Chunky jump a ditch while Burton's pals fall into it, but things take a turn as clouds and mist begin to roll in.

This changes the complexion of the race, and the teams now need to use maps and compasses to find their way. This is beyond Chunky, who decides that he will just follow his nose instead. This pays off for him, and while Burton is the first to read the top of Wolf Peak, Chunky is only a minute behind him.

A little bland, this week's issue didn't lean into the humour as strongly as it normally does, nor did it crank up the drama. I would have gladly taken either. I felt no ill will towards the story, but it failed to give me anything to sink my teeth into and slid by all too easily. I think next week may well be the same, but I can only hope for something substantial from a story that all too often isn't. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "The best way to get across is to look straight ahead...or is that for tight-robe walking..?" 

Skid Solo

We have reached the last Grand Prix of the 1974 racing season, a season that has gone by all too fast. It seems like only yesterday Skid was in Australia trialling a new car, and now here we are with the top four drivers all within eight points of each other and only the US Grand Prix left. 

That race won't be seen until next week, this week is all about setting the scene. We see Skid arriving in New York and the crowd of photographers there for all the drivers. It's a little overwhelming for some of the newer drivers, and Skid explains that it only gets worse once you become world champ - there are dinners, meetings, functions, and having to make speeches. 

At the track, all four drivers are putting in fast times, but Sparrow Smith can't help but think about what Skid said and the possibility that he'll have to make speeches if he wins. This prays on his mind, and even once the race practice is over he is still dwelling on it. 

That night he is unable to sleep and heads down to the lobby. There he is surprised to see Skid, Jean Corbonne and Mike Elton all still up. It seems that he's not the only one nervous about the race tomorrow.

No racing, no drama, and not a lot happening, and yet I liked all of it. It was a very pleasant way to set out the feelings behind the scenes. The best part of the story was Sparrow Smith fretting about having to make speeches, we had some humourous panels of his dreams of such situations, and they were key to this soft story. It is all on the line for next week, and this was a chance for us to draw a collective breath before the high-stakes drama of the final race of the season next week,. 

Rating:  6/10

Best line:  "Och, it's a marvellous wee city! No' as good as Glasgow, mind ye... but no' so bad..." 

Football Family Robinson.

I hope this is the end of the pagan head, I really do. We begin well enough, with the team grabbing a steam roller and driving over the head, but all it succeeds in doing is breaking up the car park, and breaking a gas main, which leads to an explosion that destroys the steam roller, but not the pagan head. 

Always on the lookout for a good story, Viv's journalist boyfriend Kevin writes about the head in the local newspaper. He also offers the family a way to get rid of it once and for all. On Saturday he will be in a helicopter taking aerial photos of Thatchem and will drop it into Thatchem reservoir for them. 

With this trouble looking like it will soon be behind them, Fred and Ma head off to see the bank manager. With a big building contract on the horizon, they'll need a big loan to match and are keen to make a good impression. The meeting goes well, with the manager promising the money, and a grateful Fred offers him complimentary tickets for Saturday's game. 

Both strands of the story come together for the final part of this week's strip. The bank manager arrives at the game and happens to see the local paper with the article about the head. He recognises it at once and rushes to speak to the family. Bursting into the room he tells them that he made the head himself, it's not an ancient relic at all, but rather something he made when he was a lad.

While the family are relieved to know that their bad luck hasn't been from an ancient evil god, they face a new problem. The bank manager wants to be reunited with the head, but at that very moment, it is in the helicopter overhead and on its way to being dropped into Thatchem reservoir. 

I saw none of this coming, and I'm pleased about that. It's a great swerve from the story, and much more in line with what I would expect. The expressions on the faces are again key to the story and we have several notable panels here in that regard. The face of the bank manager bursting in, with the newspaper in hand, sells his excitement at the discovery of his head, while just a few panels on we have the very intense face of Fred showing us that it's all still on the line. A timely return to form, I shall wait expectantly all week for the next issue. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "You mean to say that old sour-chops wasn't an ancient evil god, after all, and that we were just fooling ourselves when we thought he was bringing us bad luck? 

Tallon Of The Track

Young Sven has failed to live up to expectations so far at this race meeting, but after showing Jo the threatening note he has received one can understand why. It threatens big trouble if he takes speedway seriously, but Jo is having none of it. She tells Sven that she will contact the stadium security officer, and he has nothing to worry about. 

On the track the racing is close. After nine heats, the Ospreys hold a slender lead over the Lions, twenty-three points to twenty-one. Heat ten will be crucial, and riding for the Ospreys is Sven and Dave Trent. With his mind free from worry, Sven finally delivers, and a one-two finish for the Ospreys puts them in a commanding position with only three heats to go. 

Sven is relaxed as he goes to freshen up in the changing rooms, but a voice calls to him from a store room. Looking back, a hand snatches him and he is pulled into the darkened room, setting us up nicely for next week. 

This a strong issue, with the on-track drama taking priority over the problems of Sven. Sure, it was these Sven problems that bookended the racing, but without the strong race action in between it would amount to nothing. I enjoyed the balance of the story, with Jo, Dave and Sven all getting their share of page time, and an equally fine balance of time on track and time dedicated to Sven. This story is still improving each week, and next week we should be back to something all too familiar, people being kidnapped on the pages of Tallon Of The Track, something we have seen at least three times as far as I can recall. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Look at that kid go! He's opened up a ten-yard gap and is still pulling away!"

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Johnny Cougar 

Best Line: "I--I sort of hope I don't win! I belong behind the wheel...not at some dinner, making a speech!"

Best Panel: 

Roy's Sports Quiz: