Tiger 10th January 1976

This week's issue is a cracker and we have a splendid mix of intriguing plotlines and eye-catching art. I have even rated one of the stories 10/10, a noteworthy occasion in itself. I had a good feeling about 1976, and after some silliness over the Christmas period we have hot the ground running. It's hard to pinpoint what has changed, but the art seems more confident, and the stories lines have taken on a new clarity. It all makes a for a fantastic read, and this week I was well and truly transported off into these fictional worlds as my two pet loves, sport and comics, came together to ease the work stress and worries on my mind. 

10th January 1976

Roy Of The Rovers

Roy is in goal and pulling off a series of brave saves against Kingsbay.

With a bit of skill, and a lot of luck, he makes it through the game without conceding and Rovers steal a point. 

After the game, all eyes remain on Roy as he struggles with the exhausting task of managing the team through three games in eight days. Tubby Morton is brought in to replace the injured Charlie Carter, and the doctor presses Roy to also get himself medically checked. Roy doesn't have time and is visibly tired as the team prepares for the cup game. Walking onto the field Roy sees double as his head begins swimming.

I wanted to roll my eyes at the sight of Roy in goal, but the truth is I enjoyed every moment of it. His save on the cover of the comic set a high standard for what was to follow, and was bettered by some of the panels that followed. The pick of these was the montage panel showing Roy pulling off a variety of saves in different situations. We also had an almost own goal from Lofty Peak, and the dialogue between Roy and Lofty was nice and added to the overall storyline. I do look forward to seeing Tubby Morton back between the sticks. It's a couple of years now since we last saw him, and he brings a sense of history to the club and the story. I didn't expect this week's story to be as good as it was, and with the plot moving quickly and the art delivering on every page, we should be in for a good run over the next few weeks. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Pheeeew! Everyone looking forward to our third game in eight days?"

Skid Solo

Sandy has designed a new car for the forthcoming race season. Skid has doubts that it will ever be built in time, but Sandy surprises him by revealing that it has already been built.

The car looks fast, and the test drive by Skid shows that it is as fast as it looks, getting up to speeds of one hundred and eighty miles per hour on the straight. 

Not long after this, things go bad as a dog runs onto the track. Skid puts the car into full lock to try and avoid it, and the car spins off the track in a horrific accident.

Skid is thrown from the car, and Sandy and Tommy rush to him and find he is in a bad way. This is reinforced by the arrival of an ambulance, and at the hospital, Skid is rushed through for surgery, with the surgeon telling Sandy and Tommy that Skid has multiple injuries and it's going to be a long job to save him.

I thought we saw some great panels in the opening Roy of the Rovers story, but Skid Solo tops them all in every way possible. I quietly sighed at the opening and Skid testing a new car in a scene that felt all too familiar. That changed over the page with the crash, and even on the comic page, it looked shocking. The panels of Skid's face as the dog ran onto the track were intense, and the close-up images added to the drama. The sight of the car crashing off the track was dynamic, and seeing Skid thrown from the car was particularly impactful. Even more shocking was seeing Skid lying still on the grass verge, and Sandy and Tommy running toward him. Things look grim for Skid, very grim indeed, and next week's issue will be a must-read. I still feel shocked, and this story will stick with me for the next few days. This week's story is the best we have seen for a long time, and as such I rate it highly. 

Rating: 10/10

Best line: "A dog on the track!"

Martin's Marvellous Mini

In France, George has been stolen by two mysterious men, and Tiny and Martin are rushing toward them as they attempt to push George into the lake. 

The men escape in a Citreon (what else?) and the pursuit is on.  After some wild driving, it all comes to an end as the Citreon crashes into a stone fence. 

The two men take to their heels, leaving Tiny and Martin to clean up the mess. In the back of the Citreon, they find a variety of items, all stolen from the chateau they visited earlier. Not wanting to lose time in the rally, they carry the items to the French-German border and hand them over to the guards, quickly explaining what happened. 

They continue racing across Germany, making up time as they go, and soon they arrive in Berlin. They are quickly waved through into the Russian section, but there they are surprised when three burly Russian soldiers demand that they come with them. 

This was a great reminder of a different time. A divided Germany and a Russian sector gave me serious flashbacks, and it's hard to believe that I lived through such times. The story moved quickly, and although last week I had hoped we would spend more time with the chateau and the mysterious men that didn't happen - although I suspect the Russian interest in Martin and Tiny is related to their French adventures. This was a comedown from the previous two stories we read today, but it did gain some extra shine from being in colour. The car chase was fun, and, although short-lived, it did give us the wonderful image of the Citreon crashing into the stone wall. Luckily no one was hurt, and it was lighter than the Skid Solo story that preceded it. There is enough here to make it a compelling read next week, and despite not loving everything in this issue, I still walk away pretty happy with what we have seen.    

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "What gives with those guys? Do we follow them?" 

Hot Shot Hamish 

Hamish has been working on his speed training and it's paying off as he scores two quick goals against Fullford Town. In the second half, Fullford Town marks Hamish closely but Hamish manages to slip his marker and looks as though he will score a third goal. However, he is hacked down from behind and earns a free kick. We all know what's coming, and with a hot shot, Hamish scores his third. 

With the game won, the team celebrates in the dressing room. Mister McWhacker has further good news for Hamish - he has found him lodgings that will allow McMutton to stay. 

Hamish is buoyed by this, but when he eventually finds the address he is shocked to see it is not a cottage, but rather a wee boat. The master of the boat is one Captain McSail, and although he is friendly enough, Hamish frets as McMutton doesn't like water.  

Despite some good art moments and some outstanding football action, the story felt a little flat. The final half page let it down, and although it set the scene for what comes next, it didn't match the promise laid out by the exciting football we saw. The football gave us some good Hamish moments, with the hot shot providing some of the best dialogue of the strip as the opposing players all offered excuses of why they dived out of the way. The best panel however was the tackle on Hamish, and this gave the story the impactful image it needed earlier on and set us up for the humorous hot shot that followed. There was some joy to be salvaged from the final panels, and I did like the quiet way in which McMutton showed his displeasure. I'm not sure how I feel about the Captain being named McSail, it's a little on the nose, but then again so is 90% of all the characters, so it is par for the course. At least it wasn't Boatie McBoatface.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I didn't duck...I bent to tie my shoelace!"

Johnny Cougar

Johnny is still wrestling against the Footballer, and the Footballer has the upper hand as he locks Johnny in a submission hold. Johnny fights his way out of this hold, throwing the Footballer headfirst into the ring post, leaving him groggy.

The match continues in this heavy style before both wrestlers cannon off the ropes and rush toward each other. Johnny flips into a handstand, catching the Footballer full in the face with his feet and knocking him out 

Johnny has won his first match and now faces the Masked Maniac. The Masked Maniac delivers a message in the final panel, telling Johnny that he's about to face the toughest match of his career. 

I have heard this plenty of times before over Johnnys career, and although I have no doubt that the Masker Maniac will give Johnny a tough fight, I don't think it will be the toughest of his career. The fight we have just seen started slowly, before finally delivering in this week's comic. The action was hard and heavy, and although there was a moment of lightness with Johnny's humour, it stayed focused on the wrestling itself. This played well to my sensibilities, and despite thinking the Footballer was silly, I enjoyed seeing the fight unfold. The blows looked fearsome, and the final kick by Johnny was both inventive and devastating. The Masked Maniac looks serious in the last panel, and I assume he will deliver a match as good as this one. Hopefully, there won't be too much silliness along the way and I can rejoice in the sight of two wrestlers hammering each other, all delivered with some of the best art in the comic. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Someone's going to get hurt...and soon!"

Nipper

Nipper has been ambushed by a bunch of masked figures and this week's story gets off to a fast start as he attempts to fight them off. 

He is unsuccessful and later comes around to see that his kidnappers have removed their masks. They are a bunch of university students, and they tell Nipper that they have kidnapped him as a stunt to raise funds for University Rag Week. Nipper is angry that he has been kidnapped, and he is even angrier about the fact that they are only asking for one hundred pounds in ransom. 

The students decide to change hideouts, and load Nipper into the back of their van. Nipper manages to cut through the ropes holding him and angrily confronts the students driving the van. The driver loses control of the van briefly, and Nipper falls out the back door. As Nipper lies on the road the students run to check on him, but flee as a car approaches. The driver of the car helps Nipper to his feet and offers to drive him home - but Nipper can't remember where he lives, or even his own name. 

I like where this is going. The opening panels of Nipper being kidnapped were good, but then when the wider plot of the University Rag Week was revealed the story seemed to stall. This new angle of Nipper losing his memory restored the energy to the story, and we should get some mileage from this plot line. Already I am hoping that it's not resolved in a week, as it has the potential to be stretched for several months. We shall see. Like the plot, the artwork was at its best early in the strip, and on the final panels. The look of the masked kidnappers was spot on, and the sight of Nipper lying on the road on the final page gave me the same vibe as the Skid Solo story. It's serious, although not to the same degree, and it was given the sober treatment it deserved. We still need to tidy up the student storyline, but that remains secondary for now as the memory loss storyline dominates my thoughts going forward, and it feels that Nipper is finally getting a heavy and dramatic story worth of his tough character.

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "You...crazy chumps! Let me out of this! I...I'll give tiy the hundred pounds myself!" 

Billy's Boots

Billy is playing for the English school boys team against West Germany school boys. After tripping over his own laces in the German box, Billy is awarded a penalty, but he speaks to the referee and explains he tripped over his own laces. The penalty is waved off, and Billy earns the respect of the German players for his sportsmanship, and the praise of his own manager. 

At half time the English school's team is down one-nil and the manager has Billy swap positions with another lad who was struggling with the player marking him.

Billy has the same trouble with his marker, but later in the half, some quick passing sees Billy slip his marker and break down the wing. Billy sweeps in a low and hard cross and one of his teammates is on hand to score the equaliser.  

With only minutes remaining, Billy finds his old boots suddenly making him run toward the German goal. He is in the right spot as the German player makes a poor backpass, and Billy scores the winning goal with only a minute remaining. 

Two hours later at the airport, a snowstorm has the players worried about the flight home. Walking through the snow toward the plane, all talk of the weather and Billy has the thought that Dead-shot Keen never travelled by aeroplane, he always used to go by train and boat in his day. 

Surely this isn't going to end up like the Munich air disaster of 1956? The Munich air disaster occurred on 6th February 1956, which would make it almost exactly twenty years before this issue of Tiger. Given that Billy is in Munich, this can't just be a coincidence. I am surprised that the comic would draw from such source material, especially now that I know that twenty years isn't very long at all. I'm only speculating, and we won't know until the next issues, but everything seems to signpost some trouble in the snow in Munich. The rest of the story was sturdy enough and gave me entertaining moments throughout. I liked the crispness of the artwork, and this matched the crispness of the play on the field, making for some fast movement in both the football and the story. Billy's play on the field wasn't overdone, and although the boots played a part, it wasn't over the top. A nice cross from Billy, and then running down a loose backpass was about right and gave the story the right outcome without fate taking too much of a hand. The final panel of the boys boarding the flight was my favourite, not for the impact of the image, but for the quiet menace it presented and the nod to what may come. Understated yet evocative, it was just the ending we needed to take us to the next story. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Well done, Dane...you did quite right to tell the referee what really happened! Now, lads...we're one down...but you can still win..."

Tornado Jones

Tornado Jones is about to set off to break the record time to cross the Pennines and hopefully win ten thousand pounds.

The fact that several riders have gone missing while attempting the same hasn't deterred him, and after Sir Gerald Fitzroy-Parker helps him set up his bike, he sets off. 

He makes good time across the moor early on, but as he begins his journey over the mountain a snowstorm hits. He seeks shelter and waits out the storm, before again starting across the snowy peaks. 

He crashes into an object buried in the snow, and pulling it up he finds that it is a motorcycle, presumably of one of the riders that has gone missing. Riding on, Jones wonders where the rider might be, but is sapped out of his thoughts as his own bike suddenly drops into a hole opening up beneath him. 

Tornado Jones continues to go from strength to strength, and I am well and truly invested in everything we see here. We have some good motorbike action, a mystery at play, and some peril for Jones as the strip ends. With Jim Bleach providing intricate yet easy-to-digest artwork, we get a lot of information from the art itself, and his art is just as important as the words on the page. I'm not a stuntman type of guy, nor am I a bike guy, but I do like the sight of Tornado Jones moving through the landscape and this is helped by the personality imbued in his face. I could feel the cold chill as the snowstorm hit and lived his struggles as he pushed his bike through the snow. We feel a long way from the Tornado Jones who attempted to jump his bike off the ship when he first arrived in the UK. This character isn't as frivolous, and his battles against nature are far more relatable as the character takes in a serious tone for this week, and hopefully future episodes.   

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Wow-ee! My bike's half-frozen and I'm three-quarters frozen! Maybe this ride isn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be!"    

 

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story:  Skid Solo 

Best Line: "Och, Skids got to be all right...He's just got to be!"

Best Panel:

Roy's Sports Quiz: