Hamish's Hotshot Tiger Blog: Tiger 27th December 1975

The annual Christmas issue is never my favourite issue of Tiger. Christmas stories are shoehorned in, disrupting the natural flow of the stories with only the odd one managing to weave Christmas day naturally into the plot. This year, Billy's Boots is the most successful to do this, while all the other Christmas storylines feel jarring in the wider context of each story. It's hard to believe that the next issue will be from 1976, this year has gone by so fast, and this Christmas issue isn't quite the exclamation point I would like to put on the year. It does what it has to do, but 1976 will be a whole lot better and I can't wait to pick up all the threads next week.

27th December 1975

Billy's Boots

You know it's going to be a good issue when the first thing you see is Billy at home with Gran. In a warm scene, Billy's Gran decorates the Christmas tree while the two talk of Billy's forthcoming trip to Germany. Billy's Gran is worried about the prospect of spending Christmas alone, but Billy assures her that he won't be leaving until the day after Christmas day.

Raiding his piggy bank, Billy goes Christmas shopping with Jimmy. It's a fruitful trip, and Billy gets a gift for his Gran,

On Christmas day, Billy's Gran is delighted with her gift, as is Billy with the gift he gets in return - a new sports bag he had desired.

Festivities over, Billy goes to the airport alone. He is sent to the gate, and as he wanders out to his plane he begins to worry about what awaits him a Munich.

A lovely little story with Billy and Gran at the centre of all that's happening. The opening dialogue helped cement the reasoning behind Billy suddenly making the Schools Team to visit Germany and helped appease some of my complaints last week. It was heartwarming to see the boy help his Gran prepare for Christmas, and although the shopping expedition briefly became silly, order was restored as we saw Billy and his Gran celebrate Christmas day. Billy's fears about travelling abroad alone were nicely highlighted, and I did have a giggle at his Gran referring to his "passport thing that the man gave you." This was easily the best Christmas story this week, with Billy's main footballing story continuing to move forward, while we had time to celebrate Christmas with his lovely Gran. Perfectly pitched, it caught the tone of the season just right and left me looking forward to Christmas myself.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Now you've got your ticket...and that passport thing the man gave you! And remember to behave yourself out there!"

Tornado Jones

Tornado Jones has agreed to play the part of Santa Claus and distribute toys at a local hospital. However it is with a twist, and Jones jumps his motorbike onto a see-saw, sending a box of gifts flying into the air and the awaiting arms of the children.

It looks like trouble for Tornado Jones as a police car comes through the gate and asks who was riding the motorbike, They tell Jones that all riders must wear a crash helmet at all times, but Jones is in the clear as he pulls back his Santa hood to reveal his helmet underneath.

The police recognise him as the famous stunt rider and ask if he could help with their motorbike display that afternoon since they are a man short.

Jones agrees, and the story ends with Joens playing a key part in the motorcycle pyramid display that the police team put on.

In contrast to Billy's Boots, this story focused solely on Christmas and Tornado Jones part in it. There was no overarching storyline, and there was nothing more to be inferred than what we saw on the page. Tornado Jones gave out gifts, Tornado Jones helped the Police riding team. A basic idea, simply told. The art looked great, and once again it was far better than the story being told. This week's issue is full of Childrens Hospitals and orphanages, and this story sets the tone for what will follow. It's all very commendable, but not always the most exciting thing to read. The final tagline promises a new adventure next week, and we can only hope it will be as good as the recent Welsh storyline, and we can quickly forget what we saw here.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Yikes...these cops are all stuntmen... every one of them!"

Martin's Marvellous Mini

With their mini dangling over a cliff tied to a rope, and the tree it is tied to about to give way, things are desperate for Martin and Tiny. They aren't helped by the appearance of a photographer sent by Mr Twastle, who takes photos of their predicament for publicity.

However, help is at hand, and a local farmer helps them save their car, and soon they are back in the race.

They have a further stroke of luck as they approach Paris and find all the other competitors have been stopped by the police and are being fined for speeding. With no one in front of them, Martin and Tinty arrive first in Paris and have the lead.

They celebrate in typical style, buying a load of Christmas gifts and driving to the nearest children's hospital. Mr Twaste doesn't see how he can get publicity for this, but in the final panel, Tiny tells him he can advertise this with the caption "Give yourself a present! Take a holiday at Twastle's Island"

The first half of the story was highly enjoyable and I liked the idea of an idiot photographer following them around. In some regards, this story is ahead of its time, and being followed by a photographer speaks far more to this current generation than it does to someone in 1975. We are still twenty years away from the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the idea of being pursued by photographers who offer no help is a novel idea. This would read very differently in 1997, and wouldn't be as much fun. The second half of the story, although well-intentioned, wasn't as good, and seeing Martin and Tiny giving gifts to Children in a hospital didn't fill me with seasonal joy. I am sounding like a Grinch here, but the truth is I love Christmas. It's just that I love these stories so much, and I want to cram as much of what each story does best on the page, rather than get distracted by gift-giving and other children. A little selfish, I know, and Christmas does come but once a year. Rest assured, my loved ones will reap the rewards of my generosity when Christmas Day comes, but until then I wish it was a little more low-key in the comics I am reading.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I wonder where that idiot photographer is?"

Roy Of The Rovers

England is one-nil down as in the closing minutes Roy attempts to get onto the end of an incoming free kick, His shirt is pulled by a Mulvanian player, but despite being thrown off balance Roy scores with a dynamic overhead kick.

It's real Roy Of The Rovers stuff, and the England players celebrate the end of the match and Roy's incredible goal. However, in the dressing room, Roy receives a shock when Penny tells him that Melchester Robvers squandered their two-goal lead and the game ended as a two-all draw.

In the car on the way home, Roy tells Penny that he is shattered and all he wants to do is rest. Penny reminds him that they have one more thing to do - a television broadcast from the Children's Hospital.

Roy makes his appearance, and with the cameras rolling he delights the children with some gifts and a display of his footballing skills. Things take a turn as he falls while kicking the ball. A doctor comes to see him and tells Roy he needs to get a complete medical checkup as soon as possible, leaving Roy worried about what could possibly be wrong.

Roy Of The Rovers successfully manages to weave Christmas into its main story, and having Roy take a tumble at the hospital was timely. It sets up well for a medical examination, and pulling back a little I can see how we were manoeuvred into this position. It was very well done, and almost seamless in execution. The highlight of the story has to be another appearance of Penny. Once again she looks dazzling and I love her fresh look. Her cute hat is very of the time, but it adds to her allure, giving her a fashionable look suitable for a WAG. Nowadays she would be a social media influencer, flaunting a new look every week on Instagram. As she is, stuck in the seventies, she remains untainted by modern technology, and she is all the better for it. I want to see what is the cause of Roy's troubles, but more than that I want to see Penny by his side, supporting him all the way. She's that type of girl, so expect to see plenty more of her as Roy's troubles continue to escalate.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "All this pressure is giving me nightmares! Thank the stars it's nearly Christmas, Penny! All I'm going to do is flake out in front of the telly!"

Skid Solo

Skid and half a dozen top racing drivers have decided to put on a free show for the boys and girls of a local orphanage. Snow ruins this plan, and instead, they meet the children in a big hall where Al Ledstock tells them the story of how he first became a racing car driver.

Using flashbacks, Al tells of his poor upbringing on a farm in America. Saving hard he got his first car when he was eighteen, an old banger that he drove fast.

His mother receives two expensive tickets to the Grand Ball in New York. She would love to go, but she can't afford to buy a dress grand enough for the ball.

Al decides that he will give up his dream of being a racing car driver, and sells the car to get enough funds to buy a fancy dress for his mother. He visits a dress shop and selects a beautiful dress which he later surprises his mother with when he gets home.

Unfortunately, his mother has sold her expensive tickets to the ball so the family will have extra money for food. This is no problem for Al, he still has some money left over from selling his car, and he uses this to buy two more tickets for his mother.

At the ball, there is a prize draw, and luckily it's Al who wins it. The prize is a new sports car and a thousand-dollar check. With that, Al's dream of becoming a racecar driver is reignited and leads him to where he is now. The strip ends with Al telling Skid that he hopes one of the youngsters in the orphanage has a fairy tale like his come true.

A nice story about Al, and it left me wanting to know more about the other drivers Skid races against. It had the usual Christmas themes but came at it from a new angle, and gave us something we hadn't seen before on the page, making it an interesting read. It's hard to see how other drivers could be presented with a back story, Skid Solo doesn't normally lend itself to other drivers and flashbacks, which makes this one all the more curious. A great Cinderella story reworked for the times, I rejoiced in seeing Al Ledstock's humble beginnings, and it left me hungry for more. I never thought I would enjoy a story without Skid Solo the main character so much, but I did and now I'm open to seeing much more of the same.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I guess I've got to grow up one day...and stop dreaming of being a racing car driver. It just isn't the sort of thing that happens to a boy like me..."

Hot Shot Hamish

When we last left Hot Shot Hamish, it had just been discovered that his pet sheep, McMutton, had eaten the player's wages. That is quickly put to rest this week as in the first panel Alistair McBrain tells the gathered team the wages are safe as he had locked them in the safe.

With that, the team disperse for Christmas. Hamish would like to invite them all to his home island to spend Christmas with him, but they quickly disappear, leaving him alone with his thoughts as he does Christmas shopping.

Returning to his island, Hamish finds that the house is empty and even his Daddie is gone, leaving Hamish alone for Christmas.

Depressed, Hamish sits alone watching the TV. On TV we see a column of guests about to surprise someone for Christmas, and at that moment Hamish receives a knock on the door.

Opening the door he is surprised to see a TV crew, and the Princes Park players there to celebrate Christmas with him. It is a wonderful surprise, and Hamish celebrates Christmas with his teammates, his Daddie, and of course, his pet sheep McMutton.

Despite being another Christmas story, I couldn't help but love all I read here. The artwork was splendid, and the images of Hamish alone on his island were evocative and gave the story a great feel. The plot itself was fairly predictable, but it was elevated by the morose face of Hamish, and the way that McMutton stuck by his side. In a nice twist, it wasn't Hamish helping out other people or visiting a hospital, but rather his friends and family coming to him. It wasn't overplayed in the final panels, and I felt it was pitched just right for the story it was telling. I first read Hamish because he was my namesake, but after all these years I am finding the story to be deeper than I first thought as we dip into Hamish's loneliness regularly. This is a theme that has surfaced several times in the last couple of years, and there have been many instances where we see Hamish outcast and alone. He deserves better, and it usually ends well for the big man, but still, it's an interesting choice to take with the character. This story isn't the best of the week, Billy's Boots just pips it, but it is a close second, and if I was basing it on art alone it would easily be the best.

Rating 8/10

Best line: "Och, ma Daddie's awa', too! Maybe he's had an invitation to stay with friends. No-one wants us, McMutton!"

Johnny Cougar

Despite fighting against The Footballer, the Christmas theme is strong throughout Johnny Cougar. The bout begins with some football shenanigans, but soon Johnny COugar has broken out Santa outfits,m and he and the Footballer are suitably clad for the season.

After throwing gits to the crowd, Cougar surprises his opponent with a spring-loaded Christmas tree. Not to be outdone, the Footballer responds with a cream cake aimed at Cougar's face. However, this cake is misdirected, catching Soplash Gorton in yeh face, leaving him to deliver the last line wishing everyone a merry Christmas.

This was silly through and through - and not in a good way. Last week I thought the Footballer might be a worthy opponent for Cougar, but this week both are portrayed as cartoon characters fooling around in the ring. The art looked good, but one look at the word balloons made it clear that nothing here was to be taken seriously. I thought the fight could have been portrayed as more serious than it was, and although I expected some Christmas silliness from Cougar, I didn't expect the whole strip to be devoted to it. Nor did I expect the Footballer to take part in it. Presenting the Footballer as a serious threat was already an uphill battle, and this Christmas issue has done him no favours. All we can hope for now is that he is quickly defeated and we can move on to a far more serious opponent. Somewhat of a wasted opportunity, I appreciated the Christmas angle of the story, but it failed to do much more than present a series of slapstick events that left me wishing the next issue would quickly come.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Cougar declare a truce. Right now, put on Father Christmas outfit...we have heap pleasant work to do..."

Nipper

Nipper's marathon twenty-four-hour fundraising game continues this week, and as we pick up the action, Nipper and his pal Mike Bateson are almost out on their feet.

Help is at hand, and just as they are about to collapse the rest of the Blackport team arrives to raise the flagging energy levels.

The game ends later on Christmas Eve as Nipper scores his one-hundredth goal. With the supporters club offering their venue for free, and a healthy sum raised by the match, the party for the kids goes ahead on Christmas day. The highlight of the party comes as a giant football decorated like a Christmas pudding is wheeled out. The children are delighted as Nipper bursts from this ball, and with new strips for all, he is the hero of the moment. Despite all this good cheer, Nipper is worried about the game the following day, especially as every part of his body has cramps.

Come at the end of the comic, Nipper often suffers in my eyes from reading fatigue. this week it's not me that fatigued, but rather him, and I enjoyed the first half of the story immensely. Seeing Nipper and Mike struggle with their marathon game looked great on the page, and there were several memorable images of them both almost out on their feet. We had the predictable outcome of the game, with Nipper scoring the final goal and the money raised for the worthy cause, and the rest of the story merely put a bow on all that came before. I was surprised to see Nipper with a Martini glass in his hand in the penultimate panel, but the final panel does show a bottle of fizz nearby so I guess we are to make the assumption that he's drinking something non-alcoholic. The final party I could have done without, I feel partied out by all the other parties scattered through the comic, but it was right for the story and did give Nipper a chance to mention what is coming next. A European game next week, and it looks like we will be straight into the action in 1976. Get a good night's sleep Nipper, you're going to need it.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Wakey, wakey, Nipper! The lads are here!"