Hamish's Hotshot Tiger Blog: February 2025

You cannot beat the anticipation of the big game. The swell of the crowd as the teams emerge from the tunnel, and the roar as they come onto the field. The cover of this week's comic plugs directly into that, and we are greeted with the sight of Billy and Jimmy leading a team out. It not only creates anticipation for the game over the page but also for the entire comic that will follow. I'm not cheering as I see the front cover, but I am ready for whatever comes next. Let's kick off and see what will follow.

21st February 1976

Billy's Boots

This week's cover is surprising. We see Billy and Jimmy leading out Walbury Town, kitted out and ready to play the second half.

Although Billy doesn't have his boots, he has his luck, and one of his miskicks has an unexpected outcome as Walbury scores their first goal.

Buoyed by this Billy plays with much more confidence. He and Jimmy combine well and almost score a second goal which a full-stretch keeper just saves.

After the game, Billy and Jimmy earn the praise of their teammates, although as they walk home their thoughts again turn to the school team. They run into a school friend and learn that the school team struggled without them. They have high hopes of getting back into the team, but these are dashed in the final panel as their friend tells them that Mister Harris was furious that they weren't there to support the team.

The exact words Mister Harris used were "Let the team down" so I don't expect to see Billy and Jimmy back in the team anytime soon. A shame as their performance at the charity match was particularly good.

The charity match delivered on many fronts. It gave us a lovely cover, with Billy and Jimmy leading the team out, and this primed the reader for what was to come. The team in red was eye-catching, and paired with the yellow of the tunnel they were running out of it neatly matched the red and yellow Tiger title above. I was once told by a marketing man that red and yellow together was the most pleasing colour combination on the eye and from what I see here there was some truth in his statement.

Despite not having his old boots, Billy played remarkably well. I recently read an article that suggested that Billy's Boots weren't magical at all. It is ambiguous, and perhaps the old boots only give Billy the confidence to play well rather than being magical. Now I cannot help but think of them as "Billy's Placebo Boot's" It is never explicitly stated on the page that they have powers, we only have Billy's thoughts on the matter. The article made a great point, and seeing Billy play well in this week's strip with regular boots suggests that he plays alright. In particular, Billy's strike from the edge of the box was magnificent, and only some fine keeping kept it out.

Billy is obviously a confidence player, and chances are with Mr Harris dropping him from the team his confidence will be shaken. He will need his placebo boots near at hand for the next few games, no matter who he ends up playing for.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Don't worry, son...we all miss our kick at times. Just keep trying, that's the important thing!"

Skid Solo

Skid is at the track and looking longingly at his car that Sandy has rebuilt. Still in his wheelchair, Skid cannot drive, and Tommy takes it for a run around the track.

Tommy stops after twenty laps, telling Skid and Sandy that he is taking his driving examination today. Sandy goes with him, and soon Tommy is taking the test with a driving instructor.

The test goes well, especially the emergency stop as Tommy's reflexes prove worthy of a racing driver. The instructor commends him on his driving, and Tommy passes. There is one more final surprise for the instructor as Tommy is greeted by fans wanting his autographed and the instructor learns that Tommy is already a famous racing driver.

He tells Tommy that his son is a fan, and Tommy offers him free tickets, if he'll just come back to the track with him he will give them to him. The instructor obliges, and on the way they pass a car crashed into a fence. The instructor tells Tommy that such drivers should be banned, and they soon reach the track.

There Skid greets them both and Tommy tells him that he passed the test. Skid confesses that he tried driving today, but was less successful than Tommy as he crashed into a fence. The driving instructor hears all this, and seeing it was Skid Solo who crashed apologises to Tommy about the comment that such drivers should be banned. Sandy tells him not to worry, while Tommy brushes it off and gets the free tickets.

The plot was mildly amusing and did just enough to keep the story moving along. Although the story focused on Tommy, it was the secondary plot with Skid that had me enthralled. The art depicting Skid in his wheelchair was evocative, and the sight of him looking at the new car and thinking about his life in motor racing overshadowed anything else we saw from Tommy and the driving instructor.

This part of the story was laid out early, with the first panel showing Skid in his wheelchair looking over the car with Sandy and Tommy. Although talking positively to his teammates, we get some insight to Skid's mind as the following two panels see him replaying the crash over in his mind. I read quickly past it the first time, but a second look had me reconsidering the story, and realising that underlying darkness. It was all humour and hi-jinks for Tommy and the driving instructor, but Skid is struggling with his own battle - a battle far more interesting than Tommy is embarking on.

The humour with Tommy contrasted with the heaviness of Skid's story. It helped balance out the story, but I can't help but think it also felt frivolous and misplaced. It was jarring seeing it straight after Skid replaying the crash in his mind, although it was helped by the fact that Tommy's story mostly took place once we had turned the page. Out of sight, out of mind as they say.

Both Skid's and Tommy's stories are moving rapidly. In the next few weeks, we should see Tommy get onto the track proper, and after six months of talking about his licence, we can now shut the gate on that story. The path is clear and little remains between him and his dream. Skid still has a long way to go, but from today's issue, we can see that he has the drive to get back to where he belongs. He has the willpower and it's only a matter of time before he trades in the wheelchair for a faster set of wheels. It may be some months, but I am here for the journey and will be with Skid every mile of his journey.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "That's okay, mon...ye didna ken..."

Martin's Marvellous Mini

Tiny and Martin are sailing toward Mr Twastle's holiday island, with horrible Henry still in tow. Henry plays several tricks on them while they are sailing, and it is with great relief that they reach the island and are reacquainted with Mr Twastle.

George is delivered to the island, and Tiny and Martin set off for a little peace and quiet. They are only five minutes on the road when a blue saloon car roars past them. In the back seat is Henry, holding a sign that says "Help, being kidnapped." Following behind, Tiny and Martin assume it's another practical joke, although the sign is just enough to plant the seed of doubt.

There has been a kidnapping, so it feels strange to say this was a relatively low-key issue of Martin's Marvellous Mini. It was the friendship of Martin and Tiny that filled two-thirds of the comic, and the drama of the kidnapping only appeared in the final panels.

Henry may have been playing pranks on Martin and Tiny, but mercifully he wasn't on the page much. In the first prank, we didn't see him at all, merely Tiny suffering while Martin laughed. This was reversed a panel later, and I enjoyed seeing the boys laughing at each other. We had another couple of small-scale pranks from Henry, before seeing Tiny and Martin enjoying a drink with Mr Twastle. It seems they have easily forgotten how much trouble he caused them. They have also forgotten how much he owes them, and I was surprised when Tiny told him not to worry about it, a holiday on the island would be enough.

There was an injection of warmth in the comic as we saw Tiny and Martin reunited with their vehicle and speeding down the road together. These were my favourite panels of the story, and I especially liked the panel of the mini being overtaken by the blue BMW. One could sense the speed of the much larger car, and we again saw a natural interaction between Tiny and Martin. Only a line from each, but it told us plenty.

I don't care much for Henry or the kidnapping. Martin's Marvellous Mini is the fastest-moving of all the Tiger stories, and situations like this are usually quickly wrapped up in the next issue. In this case, I wouldn't mind at all if they catch the kidnappers in the first panels, return Henry home, and start their next adventure, all by the end of next week's strip.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "It...it's Henry's electric hand-shaker!"

Roy Of The Rovers

Trevor Cassidy is out to prove that his energetic style of play is better than the lethargic performance that Gerry Holloway put in during the last game. This has backfired, and his impulsiveness gives away an early goal before he makes another hasty mistake and surrenders a second.

Roy tells him to cool it and slow down, but there is further trouble at halftime when Roy is forced to play another reserve with the injured Jimmy Slade coming off the field. Having two reserves in the first team throws off the balance, and Hansfield score a third goal.

When Roy is roughly tackled just outside the box he is awarded a free kick rather than a penalty that many fans think he deserves. With this, the fans take matters into their own hands and the strip ends with a pitch invasion imminent.

Roy is everywhere in this strip, yet for all his industrious activity, he has very little agency and events swirl around him under the influence of others. Roy was depowered in this issue. Too often we see him swing a match with his own performance, or score a match-winning goal in the last minute, but there was none of that this week. He was a member of a team, a team that let him down and failed all over the field.

There were moments when Roy could have had an influence. We saw him hit the post with one shot, and then late in the strip he took it upon himself to dribble at the goal and won a free kick. Another week, and this could have been the point when the game swung back in Rover's favour, but with the fans spilling onto the field that is unlikely to happen.

The fans are always a crucial part of the Rovers story, and to see them take a larger role here is an interesting choice. We have seen them come onto the field of play before (The Spangler story comes to mind) but here it is an overt choice. Fans injecting themselves into the game adds another wrinkle to the story and another aspect of the game that Roy has no control over. How he will navigate this next week remains to be seen. Right now Roy Race has a lot on his plate and any of the multiple storylines could take centre stage.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Save it for the dressing room, Trevor! The whole team needs sorting out!"

Hot Shot Hamish

Hamish has taken Jock McBell home with him, but this has caused a problem as McBell recognises Hamish's landlord as McCash, a man he has sworn to take revenge against.

McBell quickly explains the back story of how when they were young men, he and McCash owned a sweet shop together. One day McBell went to play football, and when he came back he found McCash was gone, as was all the money from the till. He never saw him again.

Seeing McCash, McBell chases him, threatening violence. A well-placed hot shot from Hamish sees the two men bang heads, and they both fall to the ground dazed.

With peace restored, McCash suddenly recognises McBell. He tells a story of how McBell went off to play football, leaving him working at the shop. While McBell was gone, he fell from a ladder, banging his head, and when he awoke he found himself on a boat for Canada.

McBell doesn't believe a word of it, but Hamish quietens him, telling him that McCash has regained his memory and he should let him tell him what happened next.

Not so much a Hot Shot Hamish story as a McBell and McCash story. Hamish was merely an observer here, and most of the strip was given over to McBell and McCash explaining their own side of the same story.

Despite Hamish being a passenger, I found I liked the story a lot. It was a nice change of pace, and once again the art delivered some splendid images, The sight of McCash falling as he reached for some sweets stood out, as did the panel showing McCash and McBell being hit by the hotshot. It was a story that leaned into the humour without going too far over the top.

This fine balance made for a faster read, yet a rewarding one as the humour and art went hand in hand. I often complain when Hot Shot Hamish strays too far from football, but on this occasion, I enjoyed the change and the story feels refreshed as we turn toward next week's issue.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "For fifteen years I've waited to put ma fist on yere nose, McCash...and now I'm going to do it!"

Johnny Cougar

It's the last match of the international wrestling tournament and Johnny Cougar is fighting against The Pirate.

The Pirate talks big and is fast in the ring, but Johnny is faster. After the bout goes back and forth, it is eventually Johnny who hits The Pirate with a dropkick to win the match by a knockout.

The tournament ends in a three-way tie between Johnny, The Masked Maniac, and The Pirate, and in a sensational finish, the organisers announce that the tournament will be decided by a three-way fight between the three men. All three men will be in the ring at once, and the last one left standing will be declared the winner.

Johnny Cougar differs greatly from Martin's Marvellous Mini. This tournament feels like it has been running for months, although this was only Johnny's fourth fight. The fights themselves often stretch for more than an issue, and there is always plenty happening in between. If this was Martin Marvellous Mini, the fight would be over in the first quarter of the strip, and by the final panels, we would be halfway through the next one.

That is not a criticism of either strip and their different styles work for the respective stories. I do enjoy seeing Johnny's fights laid out over several pages. I thought this one may have given too much to the gimmicks of each wrestler, especially after seeing the opening last week with the plank and the flags. However, that wasn't the case, and apart from the Pirate speaking in character, the story stayed tightly focused on two big men wrestling hard against each other. Dropkicks and forearm smashes dominated the page, and the strong art was a good match for the strong characters.

The excitement of the audience at the prospect of three men in the ring wrestling speaks of the times the comic was written. They did have multi-wrester matches, but without them reaching a large TV audience, not a lot of people would have seen one. Nowadays it's common to see matches with different stipulations, and not at all unusual to see the ring littered with big men. Seeing their excited faces, one can only wonder how they would react to seeing a Royal Rumble. Mind-blowing indeed.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best Line: "Fantastic Daddy-O...just fantastic! But do you know what this means? It's a triple-tie at the top of the table!"

Nipper

Nipper is off on his motorbike to meet up with the rest of the England under-twenty-three team to play against the Netherlands. Nipper still hasn't regained his memory and is apprehensive that he won't remember the previous training sessions or the tactics.

Stopping at a cafe to ask for directions, he finds himself involved in a scuffle with a man he doesn't recognise. The situation is defused, but Nipper is aware that he has to watch his reactions in future.

Joining up with the team, Nipper's worst fears are realised, and his play at training is completely disjointed from the rest of the team. The manager tells him that he will probably play him as a sub, but in the final panel Nipper's attention is caught by the arrival of the Dutch team and one player in particular - the very man he had a fight with in the cafe earlier.

The artwork of Nipper continues to delight, and I am enjoying it much more than a year ago. It is lighter, easier to digest, and lets the characters and story shine without getting in the way. The story seems to have become a lot more entertaining on the back of this, and although it's just as heavy in places, it's never a chore to read.

This week's story is still dealing with the fallout of Nipper's memory loss, and although he is getting better, we can see that he still has a long way to go. Last week we learnt that he was in the England under-twenty-three team, and this week that story escalated with the introduction of Nipper's Dutch foes.

The cafe scene was wonderful in every way possible. It was heartwarming to see Nipoper asking for directions and ordering a cheese roll. Seeing the simple things in life depicted on the page always helps make these characters all the more real.

While in the cafe he also crossed paths with one of the Dutch players, although he didn't realise it at the time. This is common for a Nipper story, and we often see him competing one-on-one against various opposing players. Last week it was Zampia, and now this week it's the Dutch number one. It's an interesting choice and not something we see in the other football strips in Tiger. Nipper always seems to play better when he has a man to play against, and these one-on-one battles are often the main focus of Nipper's story. Like Batman and the Joker, Nipper is defined by the characters he comes up against, and without a great villain, he would be just another regular team player.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Just watch who you are thumping, mate! You almost spilt my tea!"

Tornado Jones

Tornado Jones designed a rocket car to leap the Avon Gorge, but the night it was completed he passed out.

Professor Caine drags him out, and they realise there's a gas leak in the car somewhere. That night they do an investigation, but come the day of the jump, no leak can be found anywhere.

Jones sits in his car at the top of the ramp, and we learn that not only is his jump being televised, but Jones also has a microphone on him.

The take-off goes well enough, but seconds after Jones can smell gas and becomes delirious. He begins to sing, while his car begins to loop the loop. The strip ends with Jones's car upside down and heading back to where it came from.

Tiger has saved the best for last. Nipper and Tornado Jones are the best stories in this week's comic and this was just the finish we needed. Tornado Jones promised much last week, and it has delivered here with a story neatly laid out in two halves.

In the first half, we saw the problem arrive, and Jones and the professor tried to discover its source. This built up the second half of the strip nicely. The ending was inevitable and made all the more delicious by the work put in the first half of the strip.

Despite being a dangerous and life-threatening moment, it was still fun, and having Jones sing as the stunt went wrong added some levity to the moment. It did undermine the peril he was in and gave the feeling that he would survive whatever came next, no bad thing for the end of the comic. Nobody likes a tragic ending, at least not me.

Tornado Jones is often the last strip of the comic. I am sure it would be far more appreciated if it were to appear earlier in the comic. I am often fatigued by the time I reach the story, and it suffers in my estimation because of this. Some of these stunts deserve the front cover at least, and I would love to see some colour thrown around. Track listening for any album is crucial, and so too for comics. It seems to be neglected here and Tornado Jones deserves better than he gets. This week's story was a beauty, and as such it deserves all the attention it can get. Sadly that doesn't always happen for the last strip in the comic.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Fumes again...funny smell! Ha, ha, ha, I-I don't know what's wrong with me, but I feel like singing!"