Tiger 28th June 1975

The football season has ended and the next sixty-six days are all mine. Well, OURS, according to my wife. To fill the void of the off-season I intend to read plenty of football comics, so I will still be getting my fix one way or another. Suddenly the cricket stories of Billy's Boots and Nipper are far more appealing, and I can empathise with them already. I shall be reading them with fresh eyes this week, and no doubt rating them higher than I have in previous weeks. Another bonus of the football season finishing is that I no longer have to get up at 3 a.m. on Sunday mornings to watch my team play (it's tough to follow the Premier League when you live in New Zealand!). I shall be far less grumpy on Sundays, and less likely to fall asleep on the couch when I should be writing my blog. Expect a refreshed me back next week, and an extra thousand words on the blog!     

Tiger

28th June 1975

Roy Of The Rovers

The cover image is the one I was hoping we'd see at the end of last week's story. All the Melchester Rovers team are together for a team photo holding the cup. The new story begins almost immediately as the team splits up from the team photo. Roy is approached by a reporter who congratulates Roy on making the England team scheduled to take on France at Wembley. 

Roy is surprised and delighted to be taking on the French. The French team are in great form heading into the European Nations Cup, and Roy looks forward to playing them and his old friend Jules Bernard. 

The rest of the Rovers quickly congratulate Roy, and he tells them it is just as well he has entered them in a competition to keep them sharp. The competition he speaks of is a global five-a-side tournament and he has entered two Melchester teams in the competition.  

Three days later they arrive in London where they find miserable weather waiting for them. Roy thinks this is a good thing, the Wembley pitch will be heavy, and the French won't have kicked a ball since arriving. 

However, they arrive at the five-a-side tournament and find that the French have also entered a team. In the corridor, Roy sees his old friend Jules, but when he approaches him Jules runs away down the corridor. Roy has little time to consider this for at that moment Blackie arrives and tells him that their first game is about to start. 

An interesting start to this story, and already we have several threads coming together. I was immensely pleased to see the European Cup Winners Cup given its due on the cover. I thought that the winning of it was underplayed last week, but on the cover, it is given its rightful importance and moment to shine. Speaking of which, Roy making the England squad did seem rather low-key. Of course, it was in the era when players found out along with the rest of the public, a different time from now when the manager contacts the players directly. I liked this throwback to football past, and I am quietly salivating at the prospect of seeing Roy taking on the French team. There is also the small matter of this 5-a-side tournament, along with the fact that Roy's old friend Jules is avoiding him. A lot of good things to look forward to, and I am lured in by this bait already. Not much football this week, but the new storylines have been jump-started. I'm very tempted to pick up the next issue immediately, but I shall wait. I promise...

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "There's Jules...but why hasn't he changed? I thought he'd be certain to play..."

Skid Solo

The French Grand Prix is a week away, and this week we are on the water in Power Boats for Skid Solo. 

Skid has borrowed a boat and is entering a local motor-boat race,. With Tommy as his co-driver, Skid states slowly in the race to a bouy about twenty miles away and back. However, by the time they reach the bouy Roy has taken the lead and is soon speeding back to the start. 

It is now that disaster strikes, with a submerged log causing the boat to flip and throw both Skid and Tommy into the water. They are rescued, although Tommy has taken a bit of a knock and soon has several bandages on his face. 

The story ends with Sandy returning from the hospital, where he ended up last week, and finding Tommy working on the car despite his obvious injuries. Sandy tells him that he deserves a day off, and perhaps Sandy could take him and Skid down to the coast to see the power boats, and maybe even race one themselves.

Tommy respectfully declines, and in the final panel Sandy tells Skid that sacking Tommy did him a lot of good - he is now putting the car before pleasure. However, he is ignorant of all that has come before with Tommy and the boat. 

A likeable story, despite taking place on the water. I enjoyed seeing Sandy stumble ignorantly in at the end of the strip and confidently telling Skid that his sacking of Tommy did all the good, without knowing anything about Skid and the accident with the power boat. Ignorance is bliss as they say. The race was told simply, with each panel dedicated to a beautiful shot of the boats. There were no close-up actions or facial expressions, just boats racing on the water. It was refreshing to see and it gave the strip a new dimension that we don't usually see in motor cars. It looks like the troubles with Tommy are over and next week's Grand Prix should see the characters start from a clean slate.   

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "You deserve a bit of time off, Tommy - come with me this afternoon...Sandy won't know. He'll be at the hospital all day. They're taking the plaster off his leg..." 

Martin's Marvellous Mini

Tiny and Martin have won the Scandinavian rally and are now in pursuit of Vedgic, manager of the Ravnian team, who has absconded with the five thousand pounds he owes them.

This pursuit has seen them stray onto an airport runway, where a giant jetliner is about to land on top of them. A quick stop sees them avoiding disaster, and they quickly make their way into the airport buildings. They are just in time to catch Mister Vedgic, and after receiving the money they are owed the story quickly moves onto fresh territory. 

Tiny and Martin drive through Germany and France, and when we next see them they are driving over the mountains into Spain. Spain brings them sun, sand, and a relaxing few days. However, they are soon bored and decide to pack up and drive home. 

While driving both comment on how peaceful it is, only to be suddenly stopped by a policeman who insists on jumping in with them and ordering them to follow the acre ahead. 

While chasing the car, the policeman fills them in on the back story. The car ahead has two dangerous criminals, armed and desperate. A flurry of bullets hitting the windshield emphasises this point, and we end the story with boredom far from the minds of Tiny and Martin. 

Last week's story was quickly wrapped up, a few gentle days in Spain, and then we are thrown in at the deep end with this thrilling pursuit. I can't help but like it. I had my moments of the two pals bonding on holiday, some spectacular opening panels of the giant jet landing, and then the final half page which thrust us into something entirely new. All of it came in easily digestible bites, and this made for a story that continued to move forward, even when they're wasn't really anything happening. The art has to be praised for its colourful dynamism, and the way it makes the words redundant. It was a case of a picture being worth a thousand words. a point emphasised to me as I tried to quickly sum it up. A spectacular issue, and made all the better for the colour choices on the page. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Are you sure you haven't been reading too many adventure stories?" 

Billy's Boots

Billy and Jimmy may be dropped from the school cricket team, but they have managed to get a game with the local village team playing against their own school.

Needing 143 runs to win, the village team has scored no runs for the loss of three wickets when Jimmy Dawson takes his turn to bat. His partner is an older man who reassuringly tells him not to rush, they'll be OK. He also tells him no quick singles, as he can't run fast.

It's good advice, and they form a good partnership, scoring more than fifty runs. Eventually, Jimmy's mentor is caught, and Billy joins Jimmy at the crease. 

The captain of the village team doesn't think much of the new partnership, and heads inside for a cup of tea. Out in the middle, Billy and Jimmy begin to enjoy themselves as they play against the school team, and both score freely. Jimmy soon reaches sixty, while at the other end, Billy makes an easy thirty.

This comes to an end as Jimmy is stumped, and needing nine more runs to win a new batter comes to join Billy. This batter is nowhere near as good as Jimmy, and soon he is out, and the village team is in trouble as more wickets fall., As the last batsman joins him at the crease, Billy decides that he must take things into his own hands. He strikes the next ball for a four, before launching the next one over the boundary for six runs and the win. 

Colonel Cannon is finally impressed with his two young players, and thinking he has discovered a couple of future test players, he tells them to come to the county ground on Tuesday for a trial. Billy and Jimmy are excited by the prospect, although a glaring Mister Renton, the sports master, is far from impressed by what he has just seen and tells them both to see him first thing on Monday morning to explain why they played for the village team against their own school.

Of course, the village captain's name is Captain Cannon. It's all too perfect. Last week he was my favourite character and he cemented that position again this week with his condescending attitude and old-fashioned lines. He was what held this story together, and kept my interest up asides from when Jimmy and Billy were batting. They have won this battle, but the war is still raging, and by the look on Mister Renton's face they are in for some fairly stiff times come Monday. The homeliness and warm feel of the early village cricket dissipated under the stern gaze of Mister Renton as any warmth I felt from the comic earlier rapidly disappeared. It was a good way to bring the curtain down on an interesting part of the story and brought a balance to the comic that I appreciated and approved of. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Aaargh! Wh-what's going on? It-it's an assassination attempt!"

Hot Shot Hamish 

Hamish is still competing to be champion of the island, and things have taken a violent turn as Big John hit Hamish's Daddie over the head with a golf club. 

This provokes an equally violent response from Hamish who hammers Big John over the head with a whole bag of clubs, thus ending things once and for all.

Hamish is proclaimed champion of the island and sails back to the mainland where he meets Mister McWhacker and the rest of the Princes Park team who are about to fly to Austria. 

Upon landing we find it to be a stereotypical Austria, with mountains and quant houses, along with men in their national costume. While the team heads off to their hotel, Hamish surveys the mountains and is intrigued by the ski-jump. A local explains that in winter young me ski down the jump before flying through the air. Hamish is taken to the top of the jump and imagines what it must be like,. He is snapped out of this reverie as one of his footballs gets loose and rolls down the ramp. Hamish does his best to catch up with it, and unsurprisingly finds himself slipping over and flying off the edge of the ramp. 

We don't see his landing, but later at the team hotel, he arrives on a stretcher, much to the dismay of Mister McWhacker and the rest of the team who are only an hour away from their game. 

I enjoyed the fun in the second half of the strip, although I was disappointed to see the Island Games come to such a rapid conclusion. It was wrapped up in only a few panels with Hamish hitting Big John over the head and being handed the trophy. I would have preferred a little more on the page before we took off to Austria. That said, the Austrian part of the story is good so far, and the sight of Hamish flying off the edge of the ski jump was the highlight of this week's issue. A humorous sight, one would have to be pretty cold-hearted indeed not to smile at it. This is the Hamish that we have become accustomed to seeing, and the exaggerated silliness of it is all part of its charm. We get some football action next week, the first time in a month, and the final tagline of the strip has me intrigued. Just who will be playing in goal when Princes Park's keeper is injured?

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Hoots! So You want to try some sword-fencing...with gold clubs! Right, ye asked for it!"

Johnny Cougar

Johnny is boxing against Golden Boy and has discovered the hard way the Golden Boy has been having secret lessons for over a year. 

Johnny manages to regain his feet by the eight count, and all he can do is try and avoid the flurry of punches coming his way for the rest of the round. He does manage to get a shot of his own on target, but some surreptitious cheating by Golden Boy has Johnny on the back foot and lucky to reach the end of the round still on his feet. 

Round two is more of the same, with Johnny doing his best to avoid the worst of it while managing to land a blow or two of his own. The round ends with Golden Boy on top, and with the wrestling still to come all are waiting to see which way the referee will call the boxing match. 

Good in-ring action, but not as good as the wrestling normally is. The boxing lacks the dynamism of the wrestling, and as such I could never quite get into it as much as a wrestling match. Given that this week's strip was entirely boxing, I could never warm to it as much as I tried to. Both fighters looked good on the page, and the facial expression of the announcer on the final page was superb, but with Johnny just hanging on, the story didn't carry the heavy drama it could have. Johnny was always going to make it through to the wrestling portion of the match-up, and as much as we saw him struggle here, the ending was never in doubt. Hopefully, next week gives us a sense of drama and the high stakes they are fighting for, but until then I walk away from this issue with little to say about this week. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Wah, not time to make heap un-funny jokes!"

Tallon Of The Track

Jo Tallon had been looking for a new rider to join the Ospreys, but she has bitten off more than she can chew as she is surrounded by a group of rogue riders in the countryside. 

Buster Green is the leader of the group, and as Jo does her best to avoid the group she finds that Buster is the only one who can keep up with her and her riding. 

Eventually, the numbers win out, and Jo finds herself off the bike and facing down the mob. The mob means business, but there is a surprise as Jo finds Buster Green stepping in to defend her. As he puts it to his gang, any girl that can outride him must be something. 

With the brawl over, Jo offers Buster a trial ride with the Ospreys, which he readily accepts.  The trial goes well, and Jo is happy to accept him into the team. However, Bill Ritchie, who had been previously dropped from the team for dangerous riding, is most unhappy and determined to lodge a complaint. The story finishes this week with Buster Green about to ride in his first race, while Bill Ritchie threatens to go to the chairman. 

I think we all knew that it would end like this, with Buster Green joining the team. Jo's joyride through the country was a pleasant distraction, although in the larger scheme of things, fairly lightweight. I do like the fact that Buster has gone from an anti-hero to a hero in a single week, while Bill Ritchie continues a downward slide. The two men's contrasting fortunes work well on the page and bring a nice sense of balance to the strip. The last two weeks do feel a little meandering, but now the pieces have been moved into place we should get a few weeks of dramatic action as the two main antagonists clash. I will be here for it, and lapping up every panel of the brilliant art that accompanies the story.    

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Beat it, you creeps! Any doll that out-motor-cycle me is something! There'll be no throwing in ponds!" 

Nipper

Grove Lane Cricket Club are the easy beats of the local competition, but Nipper and his young batting partner are doing well against the local factory side. Nipper is encouraging his young partner to greater heights

Eventually, the innings ends, and Nipper and young Roger leave the field to the applause of their teammates. Nipper is keen to have a bowl, but he is banished to the boundary for fielding duty. Not much is happening, although Nipper does pull off a spectacular diving catch.

Things change with the appearance of Sir Henry, the club secretary, who calls the captain over for a chat. After this, the captain immediately calls Nipper in and hands him the ball to bowl. 

Nipper sets a wide field, but there's no need as he snatches a wicket with his first ball. His bowling may look innocuous, but he manages to put a wicked spin on the ball, and soon the opposition team is all out for ninety-seven - and Grove Lane has their very first victory. 

Although the team is happy, Nipper is worried about the future as he finds that Sir Henry's son was his young batting partner Roger, and now Sir Henry expects similar results every week. 

The cricket in this strip was far more enjoyable than it had any right to be, and I never imagined that I would enjoy seeing Nipper playing cricket as much as I did here. Any panel that saw him at full stretch captures the energy of Nipper, and we saw this both when he was diving for catches and when he was diving to prevent a run-out. The team still hasn't accepted him, but we are seeing small steps being taken. I can see that this story is well-paced, and we won't be rushing through anything too quickly - which is about right for a story about cricket. Not spectacular, it was a solid issue and it rounds out this week's issue with a sense of warmth that lures me back as much as any action on the page.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I can't believe it! Grove Lane have actually won a game!" 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Martin's Marvellous Mini 

Best Line: "Okay, Johnny...I think you've got him worried...he thought he'd killed you!" 

Best Panel: 

Roy's Sports Quiz: