Tiger 14th June 1975

I have just realized that we are in the final weeks of the football season. On the one hand, I'm sad that I won't be able to waste away my weekend drinking beer and watching the games, although on a positive note, that will free up my time and allow me to read my comics at a more leisurely and considered pace. And with no football on the TV, my entire football fix is going to be satiated by Tiger comic. It is a shame then that all these stories are currently beginning their run through the cricket season and football is taking a back seat in many of the stories. Still, Roy of the Rovers and Rovers playing in the Cup Winner Cup should give me a goal or two and a chance to yell encouragement from the sideline, even if I am 50 years too late and sitting on my couch.  

Tiger

14th June 1975

Johnny Cougar

A new challenge for Johnny Cougar this week, and we learn of this new adventure on the front over the same time as Johnny does. 

Johnny is still at the school where we left him last week when an old bi-plane appears in the sky. Behind this plane trails a banner offering a new challenge to Johnny Cougar, Johnny and the watching school boys are curious as to what is behind this, and we find out soon enough as the bi-plane swoops low a flurry of leaflets falls from the aircraft. These leaflets are a challenge to Johnny Cougar from the Golden Boy, a challenge of three rounds of boxing followed by three rounds of wrestling. 

There is little time for Cougar to consider this before the plane lands, and the Golden Boy quickly makes his way to Cougar to make this challenge in person. 

With a nearby camera recording the events, Johnny Cougar is put on the spot and we all wait to see if he accepts the Golden Boy's provocation.

A new challenge for Johnny Cougar this week, and we learn of this new adventure on the front over the same time as Johnny does. 

Johnny is still at the school where we left him last week when an old bi-plane appears in the sky. Behind this plane trails a banner offering a new challenge to Johnny Cougar, Johnny and the watching school boys are curious as to what is behind this, and we find out soon enough as the bi-plane swoops low a flurry of leaflets falls from the aircraft. These leaflets are a challenge to Johnny Cougar from the Golden Boy, a challenge of three rounds of boxing followed by three rounds of wrestling. 

There is little time for Cougar to consider this before the plane lands, and the Golden Boy quickly makes his way to Cougar to make this challenge in person. 

With a nearby camera recording the events, Johnny Cougar is put on the spot and we all wait to see if he accepts the Golden Boy's provocation.

Having the plane deliver the message from the Golden Boy was a good way to start this story, and the images on the front cover were more than enough to arouse my interest. I presume Golden Boy previously appeared before I started my current read-through, and my first impression of him is positive. He looks good on the page and has all the arrogance of a good Johnny Cougar villain. With his golden locks, he stands out, as highlighted by his arrival by plane. He is certainly a bold figure early on, and with his challenge including boxing, he brings another angle to the strip. A slow start, but a positive one, and all bodes well for the upcoming issues.   

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "No foolishness, Johnny Cougar...many years ago, you beat me in the wrestling ring...now I challenge you to a real contest...to find the true champion!"

Roy Of The Rovers

It's the final of the Cup Winner Cup and the mighty Melchester Rovers are taking on the minnows of the competition Niarkos. Although Rovers know little of how Niarkos will play, Roy has done some pre-match research - speaking with the Niarkos fans about the various strengths of their team. 

He has done a good job, and the early Niarkos attacks are blunted by the counter moves Roy puts in place. There are also some attacking opportunities for the Rovers, although Roy's first shot that looks like it will be a certain goal is cleared from the line by a Niarkos player covering the keeper. 

This was one aspect of Niarkos' play that Roy was unaware of, and the two teams cancel each other out for the next few minutes. However, Roy has a plan, and soon after he replaces Lofty Peak with a forward, a move the rest of the team question as it makes no sense to replace one of their best defenders with a striker.

I'm not sure what Roy is playing at here, which means I'm itching to pick up the next issue and see what's going to happen. The unpredictable is what keeps the strip interesting, and if Roy were to win the game every week with a hat-trick I would soon become bored and interested. That is what makes stories like this shine for me, and my mind is working as much as my eyes as I read the strip. I still haven't sussed out what Roy's plan is, and as tempted as I am to pick up the next issue and find out, I will have to wait a week to see it all unfold. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "That's the strength of Niarkos! They're so fast, they can afford to pull a man out of the game to take on a special task, and rely on their speed to fill the gap!"

Martin's Marvellous Mini

After losing an hour on the timed sections of the Scandinavian rally, Tiny and Martin make up time with a shortcut during the speed section. 

Careening down a narrow alley, they are bounced down a series of steps before they find themselves back on some smooth road and surprisingly just behind the race leaders. 

The cars in front have no intent of letting the boys pass, and Martin is following them so closely that he misses the next turn-off in the rally. Another shortcut across the grass, and bursting through a hedge, they are back on the tail of the leaders with only four laps of the track ahead of them 

Some aggressive driving from Martin has them snatching the lead, and at the end of the stage, they are only one minute behind. Going to bed that night, there is only one stage left in the rally - the cross country.

This would normally be a strength for the pair but heavy rain overnight has Tiny worried that it will be a mud bath the following day. However, they start the stage well and are wheel-to-wheel with the leaders as they reach the downhill section of the course. Speeding toward a gap in a fence, there is only room for one car at a time and we have a cliffhanger of who will get there first.  

We saw a similar cliffhanger in Tallon Of The Track just a month ago, and with that in mind, some of the air is let out of the balloon with this final panel. It's only a minor irritation in what was otherwise another brilliant entry for Martin's Marvellous Mini. It was superb car action throughout the strip, starting with Tiny and Martin pushing to get past the other team, and ending with the cross-country race. I was pleased to see a brief pause in the action to see Tiny and Martin spending time at the hotel talking about the nest day. Any regular reader of this blog will know that I love these little interactions between the two of them, usually involving a cup of tea. No cup of tea this time, but still just as homely as they discuss the state of play. Next week I know the race for the gap in the fence will be quickly resolved and we can move on to greater challenges for the two boys, and their marvellous mini. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Not another short cut!"

Tallon Of The Track

A thrill-packed new speedway story this week, and we are off in grand style as the first panel shows a speedway race getting underway. 

Jo is watching on, and she is far from happy with what she sees. She has her reserve riders taking part in the race with the riders needing to step up in the face of a growing injury list. 

Bill Ritchie is the fastest of the reserves, but he still has much to learn. Jo is taking note and  Bill Ritchie is showing his inexperience from the start with a poor takeoff followed by some reckless riding on the track. 

Later Jo informs him that he just isn't good enough for the team and she and Dave decide to go out and scout some new riders. While Jo sends Dave off to a grass track meeting at Embleton, she heads toward Risely Way. We close out this week's issue with a group of riders seeing Jo ahead of them and threatening to run her off the road. 

A slow start to this story, but it got us to where we needed to go. We are now poised to see some real action next week, and I have a sneaky suspicion that this group of riders promising trouble to Jo may prove to be the solution to her problem. I'm getting ahead of myself, and looking closely at this weels issue, it is again the artwork that is the main draw. The new bunch of riders approaching Jo look suitably dangerous, with the little details in their clothing giving us clues to what type of characters they are. It's early days, but I like this story already and I think I'll be warming to it much more in the coming weeks. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Pull over, Bill! We're partners -- not on opposite sides."

Skid Solo

Tommy Carter has only been in with Skid Solo a couple of months, and already he has a bevy of beauties swarming around him. The young ladies are fascinated by the medal he earned for his bravery in the previous issue, and Tommy fields several questions about it, along with an invitation to a party that night. 

Leaving his fans for a minute, Tommy returns to Sandy and Skid who are preparing the car for a practice. Sandy asks Tommy if he has made all the checks of the car as he was asked, and Tommy assures him that he has. However, once on the track Skid encounters trouble with steam coming out of the engine. In the pits, Sandy pulls the engine apart and finds that Tommy has not tightened all the cooling system connections correctly. 

Tommy admits that it has slipped his mind, and Sandy lets him know how disappointed he is about this. Tommy is given a chance to redeem himself when Sandy tells him he has to leave and Tommy offers to stay and fix the car. 

As Tommy works late into the night he is interrupted by the girls from earlier in the strip, offering to take him to the party. Tommy can't resist and is soon dancing up a storm at the party. Unfortunately, when he gets back to the car he finds that someone has already fixed it and Sandy appears and tells him that he took it upon himself to fix it. Sandy tells him that he's sacked - Skid needs someone he can rely upon and that's obviously not Tommy. 

The following morning, Tommy takes one last look at the pits. With his medal in his hand, he considers that it is the medal that has caused all his problems and he tosses it aside before leaving. 

Skid and Sandy arrive and Skid finds the medal. Sandy explains that he has fired Tommy, and is surprised when Skid unexpectedly stands up for Tommy. The strip ends as Sandy tells Skid that he will quit if he calls Tommy back. 

Not much motor racing, but a brilliant Skid Solo strip. Again, all the action is driven by Tommy Carter, and he is your typical teenage boy throughout the story here. It was very relatable and the situation he was in was familiar with his friends luring him away from his work. Skid is the level-headed one of the situation, although I recognized Sandy's point of view. Sandy sounded just like my father, while Skid came across as a kindly uncle. The Skid Solo stories have gone up a notch since the arrival of Tommy Carter, and this is perhaps the best one we have had since he first appeared. The best thing is, this story is far from over, and we still have to check back next week to see the outcome of Sandy rashly firing Tommy.  

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "I said I fired him, Skid! Ye call him back now...and I go! I told ye...he's no' to be trusted!"

Hot Shot Hamish

Hot Shot Hamish is about to take on Big John in a boxing match, and in preparation, he is fighting against wee Horace. Hamish is a peaceful man and tells his Daddie that he can't hurt anyone as he dances around Horace. Hamish's plan is to avoid being hit by Big John and hoping to exhaust him. 

As Hamish arrives in the ring for his big fight he is handed a telegram that tells him that he's wanted for a big match and to be at the harbour at 8 o'clock - a mere two minutes away.

Hamish is determined to make it to this big match and strikes Big John with two fearsome punches that lay John out on the floor. Quickly leaving the ring, Hamish runs to the harbour. Here the final scene plays out as he finds his Daddie there waiting for him. Hamish's Daddie has tricked him into quickly wrapping up the fight, and when Hamish asks where is the big match, his Daddie hands him a giant match. 

The last thing we see in the strip is Hamish chasing his Daddie and striking him over the head with the match. 

This week's story was all humour, and the peaked with the visual gag of Hamish's Daddie and his giant match. I may have smiled earlier in the strip, but this image made me laugh out loud. We still have a caber tossing competition ahead of us, and no doubt this will be just as humorous. Any time Hamish's Daddie is in the comic, the humour side of the stories is emphasised, and this is a fine example of the humour Hamish and his Daddie generate together. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Och, someone had to give the stupid great lump of haggis something to fight for! Did ye no' see how he bashed Big John? It was a treat to watch!"

Billy's Boots

Billy and Jimmy are in trouble after being caught playing football during a break in their school's cricket match. Quickly called back into action, Billy opens the bowling, and his first two balls have him treading deeper water as they go astray. 

However, he comes right by the end of the over and manages to get a wicket with his final ball. At the other end, the spin bowling of Fatty Ramsbottom is proving to be a game-changer, and while Billy ties up his end, it is Fatty who claims the bulk of the wickets, 

Groundwood wins the game, but Billy and Jimmy still have to face the repercussions of their actions between innings. The pair are dropped for the next game, and they practice by themselves at home in the days leading up to the game. This practice causes some damage to Billy's Gran's sheets, and when they take them in to be repaired they are offered a chance to play cricket for the Groundwood Village team on the weekend. The pair are very happy with this outcome, although they are unaware that the team they will be playing against is their very own school team.  

Trouble ahead for the boys, it was a good way of upping the ante after the trouble they had already found themselves in. I can't see this ending well, and after a fine start to the cricket season, it seems Billy and Jimmy may be on a downward spiral for the next few weeks. The simple homely feeling of the comic was the most appealing part for me, and seeing the two boys playing cricket in the yard with Gran's sheet was a low-key highlight for me. With its familiar setting and the usual school drama, Billy's Boots again appeals to the young boy within me and will always be readable, even if it doesn't reach the same heights as previous issues.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "It's ripped a great hole in your Gran's sheet! Can you sew it up? Do it neatly...and perhaps she won't notice!"

Nipper 

Nipper is playing for the Grove Lane cricket team, where the captain has put Nipper down last on the batting order. Nipper isn't going to let this slide by, and while the skipper is batting, Nipper takes it upon himself to rewrite the list - with Nipper coming in next.

When his time comes, Nipper strides confidently to the pitch, ready to swing his bat. The ball comes faster than expected, and after missing the first ball, Nipper manages a flukey shot off the second before an aggressive strike at the third goes for four.

The local factory side they are playing against recognises Nipper, and between overs, they tell him that Grove Lane is useless and everyone looks forward to giving them a thrashing. This plays into Nipper's competitive spirit and as his partner prepares to face the next ball, Nipper yells encouragement - spoiling his teammate's concentration and resulting in him being bowled. 

This week the story meandered a little. Nipper injected himself into the cricketing action, but by the time the strip ended, he had only faced three balls. The story is still in its early stages, and we are still in first gear. There wasn't much that caught my eye in the artwork, and I didn't feel myself involved with anything happening on the page. Maybe cricketing Nipper isn't for me, I still have hopes, but for now, I preferred it when he was playing football. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "No he isn't...he's number eleven! Take a look at the batting order if you don't believe me!"

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Skid Solo

Best Line: "It's cost me my job...everything. I've let my friends down. I---I wish I'd never seen the medal..." 

Best Panel:

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