Tiger 4th January 1975

Hello, 1975! It seems like I had only just greeted 1974, and here we are a year on. I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath, and neither have the characters of Tiger.  As I thumb my way back over the last twelve months I see that we have all come a long way together. Despite that, we still have a long way to go. The pile of comics next to the bed hasn't got any small (as my wife so thoughtfully reminds me) and we still have plenty of years ahead of us. Let's slow down for a bit and enjoy 1975 while we can, I know for a fact the future isn't all it's cracked up to be.    

Tiger

4th January 1975

Johnny Cougar and Splash Gorton

Johnny Cougar is on the front cover and about to take on the Stoneage Man as we pick up this week's issue. There is little time to dwell on the colourful opening, for as Johnny enters the ring the Stoneage Man picks up a club and attempts to catch him off guard.

Johnny is displeased, and while the Stoneage man is restrained by the referee and some of the audience, Johnny tells Splash that while his opponent is strong, he is also slow thinking, a trait that Johnny is hoping to use to his advantage. 

A chop from Johnny has little effect, and he is soon on the back foot as Stoneage Man grabs his hair. A warning from the referee is ineffective as the brute hits Johnny with a punch, before delivering a similar blow to the referee. 

Wild wrestling action was what I was hoping to see after last week's tepid episode, and I got that in spades across the three pages of Johnny Cougar. We have seen Johnny take on numerous heavy-set opponents in the past, and Stoneage Man is the latest in that long line. We have seen it before, but I love seeing two big bodies coming together and hearty blows exchanged. Every page stayed tightly on the action in the ring, with the story boiled down to the essentials - two large men fighting each other with one of them bending the rules to breaking point. It's not complicated, but it works and I rate this issue highly on the sheer physicality alone. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Watch out, Mister...that thing in there is a killer!"

Roy Of The Rovers

Sammy Spangler is missing, and the Rovers have a game in the afternoon. Setting out in a very cool car, Tony Storme and Roy Race set out to find Sammy, first heading to the circus tent where they first met him. 

Disappointment awaits them, the circus has moved on to Kendale, sixty miles away. All they can do is return to Melchester Stadium, where as luck would have it, they walk in just in time to receive a call from Sammy Spangler himself. It seems that he has promised his family one final show, a matinee, and he promises Roy that he will return as soon as it has finished.

That is not the only problem Roy is facing, the rest of his team is weary after partying with the circus folk the night before. Roy takes drastic action, forcing them all into a cold bath before the match begins. It pays off, the revived team makes a fast start and scores their first goal after ninety seconds. 

It looks as if this week's story will end on a high, but in the final panels, Roy takes a knock to the head, leaving him laid out on the ground while Tony Storme frets that he may be out for the season. 

Fear not, Tony, I'm pretty confident that Roy will be back in business soon, after all, it is his name that is emblazoned across the top of the strip. A delicate balance played out this week and we tread the line between football action and the distractions off the field. I enjoyed the first half of the story as Roy and Tony looked for Sammy, especially the wild-looking car they were driving. The switch to football was handled well, with some nice transition panels as Roy perked up his team. All in all, a fine instalment, and a good recovery after last week's Christmas story. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Oh, no...it's gone, the whole perishing outfit!" 

Martin's Marvellous Mini 

Tiny and Martin are looking for an old banger so they can race together in the relay race. The first page of the story is dedicated to one such car, a banger in every way. Falling apart in front of their eyes, the car salesman is adamant that it's fine, only for him to finally admit that it is a worthless piece of junk. They can have it for free, but he never wants to see it again. 

Over the page, the pals get to work on the vehicle, and soon enough they have it up and running. A quick practice of passing the baton is in order, and this is where everything once again goes wrong. The baton gets hooked in the door frame of the car, pulling Tiny from the vehicle. We end with the car just about to disappear over a hill while Martin and Tiny desperately chase after it, hoping they can stop it before it hits something. 

As Martin rightly says, what a way to start the new year. The first half of the story was gently amusing, but things accelerated over the page and we were back into the full swing of things by the time the story closed.  I liked both sections of the story, and although I gravitated more to the final section, I still could have happily read several pages of the boys trying to find a new car, such was the light humour and easy friendship between the two. We have yet to reach the start of the relay race, but things bode well, especially given how much fun this issue was. A long way to go, and it all looks very promising. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "But this car is a super little job! Take a trial run, sir...you'll enjoy every minute!' 

Billy's Boots

Christmas is over, leaving Billy to reflect on all the lovely gifts he has received. Foremost of these is a book by Jimmy Collins, Dead-shot Keen's former manager. In it, Billy finds a training method that greatly helped Keen, the heavy ball. 

It was exactly as it sounds, Keen had trained with a heavy ball, so when the time came to play with a regular ball he had developed incredible strength and accuracy. Digging out an old ball himself, Billy sets out to make his own heavy ball. 

He is a little too successful, and trying it at the local grounds he finds it is too heavy to kick. However, it is ideal to practice throw-ins, and he dedicates himself to this task. 

He is interrupted by a group of boys on bikes, who set about stealing his ball. They get a rude awakening when they try to kick it, it is far too heavy, and their leader takes a spill off his bike, 

We finish with Billy on the run, the group of angry boys on bicycles chasing him and threatening to beat him up. 

Not the best Billy's Boots this week, but the artwork remains of its usual high standard. The opening images of Billy and his Gran, and of Billy reading his book, bring us straight into Billy's home and add an authentic feel to a story about magic boots. The final panels of the biker boys chasing Billy are also realistic and took me back to when I was a youth. The biggest problem I had with this issue was there was too much messing about with a heavy ball, and not a lot else. We saw Deadshot Keen play with a heavy ball, Billy making a similar ball, and then Billy playing at the park with the ball. None of it was particularly thrilling and the story slumped from where it was a couple of weeks ago. I liked some of the key elements here, but it never really came together and left me thinking this is a flat spot for Billy's Boots.   

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Look at that kid messing about. Let's nip over and nick his football for a lark..."

Skid Solo

Speed is the name of the game this week, although we are on skis rather than in motorcars in this issue of Skid Solo.

Skid and his team are celebrating in the Swiss Alps for the new year, with all three on the slopes following Sandy's New Year's resolution to ski better than Skid and Sparrow. 

He is not off to a good start for his resolution and in the first panels we can see that Skid and Sparrow are much better skiers. Heading to the top of the mountain Sandy regrets his resolution as they ride the chairlift. 

At the top, they are greeted with the news that there has been an avalanche warning, and they are the last ones to come up on the chair lift. Advised to get down as fast as they can, they hear a rumble of an avalanche soon after they set off. With the avalanche coming right at them, it's imperative they stay ahead of it. It is Sandy who leads the way, suddenly finding that he can ski very fast when he has to.

The avalanche does catch them, but only the tail end of it, and emerging from the snow Skid and Sparrow find that Sandy has managed to out ski both of them and the avalanche. 

We end with a happy scene as they toast the new year and the hope that they will go faster in their motor cars than they did on skis. 

Avalanches are serious business, and Skid Solo got off far too lightly in this story. I appreciated that we didn't have a car storyline, but that also meant that a lot of the drama was missing. You might think that an avalanche is plenty of danger, but it only appeared in the latter part of the story and the bulk of the story was the chaps larking about on skis. The highlight was easily the friendship between the three main characters and their interaction. A half step behind was that artwork, which although pretty, wasn't as scintillating as when cars are involved. A pleasant winter story, but far from essential in the Skid Solo canon.

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "I think you're right about skiing Sandy...it's a bit of a dodgy game!"

Hot-Shot Hamish

Hot-shot Hamish gives us a feel-good New Year's Eve story, while still managing to make it all about football and the team. 

With Princes Park struggling, Mr McWhacker has called for an extra training session for the team on New Year's Eve, with no exceptions. While the team sweat it out on the field under the watchful eye of Mr McWhacker, Hamish suddenly emerges from the tunnel, telling his manager that he has come to say goodbye. It's New Year's Eve, and the Balfours always have a party. Hamish's Daddy is expecting him home, no matter what. 

McWhacker tells Hamish he must train, and Hamish obliges, although someone will have to call his Daddy to explain. It is McBrain the trainer who makes the call, and after taking an earbashing from Daddy decides that perhaps it would be better if Hamish went home. 

McWhacker agrees, adding that the whole team will attend. After an eventful journey, and a stormy boat crossing, the Princes Park team and the Balfour Clan celebrate in the snowy highlands. Everyone is happy, and McWhacker concedes that the journey was ten times tougher than any training session. 

The final images of the Balfours and Princes Park team around a hearty fire and raising a toast warned my heart beyond description. It was delightful, and came on the back of a well-paced and interestingly told story. It may look simple on paper, but every part of the story made sense and it was greater than the sum of its parts. Hamish's Daddy lived up to expectations and remained as fiery as ever in the face of the rules imposed by Hamish's manager. Football was a key part of the story, it may not have intruded on the page, but it remained at the centre of all that happening to the team. Hamish's innocence and simple nature warmed the colder edges of the story, and coupled with some expressive artwork, made this the most inviting strip of the issue. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "If ye cut oot the bad words, Mr McWhacker...he says if Hamish doesna come game for New Year....he'll come down here and pull Princes Park to pieces!"

Tallon Of The Track 

Jo Tallon and her team are still in the Soviet Union and just about to move on from Leningrad and head off to Moscow. First, there is one small piece of business for Jo to take care of. 

Leaving the rest of the team, she drives deep into the countryside, eventually arriving at a secluded location where the car can travel no further and she must walk up a hill to her final destination.

Her final destination is Vladimir Debenko's log cabin, and here she finds him in the snow chopping up firewood. She gets to the point quickly, she would like to take Debenko back with her to Britain to ride for the Ospreys and he immediately agrees.

There is just the small matter of getting back to Moscow, and an avalanche has just cut off the road. Debenko is unfazed, he has a couple of ski bikes in his shed, and soon he and Jo are making good time.

The final wrinkle in the story comes as they approach a bridge that has been destroyed by the avalanche. Debenko calls to Jo to slow down, but she is going too fast to stop and we finish with her heading towards the drop. 

I love the idea of Debenko, but his accent throughout this story was distracting and didn't add anything to his character. In fact, it was downright annoying, and the best panels of the story were the ones when Debenko didn't speak at all. That is not to say I didn't like this week's strip, and I like this new direction we are moving in. I can already see how Debenko will fit into the team, and it will bring balance to have another strong male character besides Dave Trent. With outstanding art, especially the final panel, Tallon Of The Track remains a favourite and although we have been uneven of late, I expect it to kick into high gear very soon. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "You're one of the best speedway riders I've ever seen, and I'd like to sign you on as a regular member of the Ospreys' team!" 

Nipper

With his foster parents away, Nipper has thrown a house party only for them to return at an inopportune moment. Now facing their wrath, Nipper's friends leave and it is Nipper alone who must suffer through Mrs Watkin's anger. 

She lets him know exactly how she feels, and it is all too much for Nipper who packs his bags and goes. After a hasty exit, Nipper realises that he has no place to go, and he soon finds himself drifting back to the old abandoned house where he used to live with his Uncle Charlie.

With a game scheduled for the following day, Nipper tries to get to sleep on the wooden floor. He manages to sleep and is still out to it the following day when some Blackport fans stop outside and begin to kick a ball around. One hits the ball a little too well and we finish with the ball and a shower of bricks and glass crashing into the just-waken Nipper. 

It was the artwork that carried this story, and all the drama of the story was beautifully rendered in black and white silhouette as Nipper left the house. It looked wonderful on the page and I could only wish that the second half of the story was strong enough to deserve the art lavished upon it. Sadly it wasn't, and by the final panels, I could feel my interest already beginning to wane.  I liked the party Nipper was throwing, and the fallout as his foster parents came home, however when the local fans accidentally kicked the ball to where Nipper was sleeping I could feel all the air go out of the ballon. After some solid heavy drama, we were back to some lightweight fluff, and even the high-quality art couldn't paper over that. I'm still hopeful that next week will see the story return to an even keel, and if we can get back to the quality of the first page of this week's strip I will certainly be giving it a much higher rating. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "Stone me, it's still in one piece, isn't it? If the kids have caused any damage, I'll flippin' well pay for it myself!"

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Hot-shot Hamish  

Best Line: "...canna come game? Dinna talk to me like that, ye jumped up lump o' rotten cheese!"

Best Panel:

Roy's Sports Quiz: