Tiger 20th March 1976

This is a great issue for those who admire the time and effort, not to mention the talent, that goes into the artwork. Several stories have exceedingly good art, and I find myself commenting on the art throughout the issue. Even if a story is lacking, the artwork shines, making for a visual experience as much as a reading experience. I try to be even-handed when reading these stories, but sometimes a single panel steals my heart, and that is exactly what happened in this issue. I have always been a sucker for a pretty girl's smile, and it's the same when it comes to art - I am too easy to give my heart away.

Tiger 

20th March 1976

Martin's Marvellous Mini

Tiny and Martin are chasing down a couple of kidnappers. The twist is that the action is at sea, and the chase is in motorboats.

The sea is rough, and the pursuit is soon over as Tiny throws a length of rope in front of the other boat, tangling in its propellers and bringing the kidnappers to a halt.

Back on shore, the kidnappers are escorted away, and Tiny and Martin decide to go for a driver along the beach. While driving, they decide that they would like to enter a rally again, and later, while they are speaking with Mr Twastle, he tells them he knows a man who could get them into a motorsports club called the Castle Club. 

The boys are enthused by this, but their conversation is interrupted as a motorcycle speeds by. It is Henry, and it looks like he is out of control. Tiny and Martin race after him, and we end with Henry going over a sand dune and the lads about to follow him into the unknown. 

This is a rather random episode of Martins's Marvellous Mini with various plots thrown into the mix without any of them sticking. The kidnappers were caught as we expected, although, in the first panel, some of the drama was washed away as Martin commented that the sea had calmed a little. This was a step down from the wild seas we saw in the final panels of last week, although it was alluded to again later this week as the kidnappers were brought in feeling seasick. 

Interestingly, we had an image showing the kidnappers and Tiny and Martin all together, with one of the kidnappers looking remarkably like Tiny. The fact that they both have their heads at the same angle and are feeling seasick helps this illusion, and I did a double-take when I saw it.

The second page was disjointed. Tiny and Martin were speeding along the beach and talking about doing a rally again. We then cut to them talking to Mr Twastle, before the strip ends with them back in the car pursuing Henry. The scene with Mr Twastle broke up the momentum of the car action, and I would have preferred to see them talking about the rally with him earlier and finishing with them racing on the beach and then chasing Henry. It's only a small thing, but it did derail the flow of my reading. 

I'm giving this a lower score than one might expect from Martin's Marvellous Mini. It wasn't in colour, which detracted from my enjoyment, and paired with an uninspiring storyline, I just couldn't connect with it this week. I am happy to hear that we have some rally action coming up. I just wish we could wrap up this story with Henry and move quickly on to what comes next. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "We'll...take the tow! I-I'm feeling sea sick already!"

Johnny Cougar

When we last left Johnny Cougar, he was in a three-way match with The Pirate and the Masked Maniac. All three men had collided in a flying head butt, and we pick up this week's action with Johnny Cougar getting groggily to his feet.

The fight gets underway again as Johnny catches his two opponents with a flying dropkick to send them both back to the floor. 

With this, The Pirate and The Masked Maniac work together, and shortly after, Johnny finds himself trapped under both of them and suffers the first pinfall. 

In his corner, Splash Gorton tells Johnny that he needs to snap out of it quickly and get himself back in the match. This Johnny does, after catching The Pirate with a kick and a forearm smash, he follows up with a head butt that leaves The Pirate collapsed on the canvas.

Just like last week, the wilder shenanigans are put to one side, and we have a story purely focused on wrestling. No complaints at all on that front, as the story was fast-moving and gave us plenty of dynamic art. 

The only thing that perhaps counts against it is that we have seen The Masked Maniac and The Pirate for several months now, and the novelty value of both characters is wearing thin. Familarity breeds contempt, and we are quite familiar with these two charachters now. However, this is tempered by the fact that the story stayed firmly fixed on the wrestling, adding a balance that negated the overexposure of these two characters. 

I'm not sure how many more weeks we can get out of this story, however, it remains intriguing enough, and I am happy enough to follow for several more weeks. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Cougar thinks you need another rest, mighty quickly!"

Billy's Boots

Billy can't stop thinking about the damage his ball caused to a greenhouse last week, and that dominates the first half of the comic as he discusses his situation with Jimmy Dawson. 

Billy decides that the best course of action would be to find the man named Simpson who kicked his ball into the greenhouse and explain to him the damage done. 

The two boys drop by Mrs Brown and give her the money they have earned doing Mickey's paper round, before going to school where they find Mr Harris has named them in the team for the semifinal. As they leave, Mr Harris comments to Billy that he doesn't seem to have his mind on the game recently and asks if anything is troubling him. Billy denies any trouble, and as they walk home, Jimmy tells him not to worry so much and to try and get a good night's sleep. 

This Billy does, but only after he has read some of Dead-shot Keen's book. He reads that Keen once played on a pitch that was water logged and scored one of the most spectacular goals of his career. Billy awakes the next morning to find the rain pouring down, and he thinks the pitch will be just like the one he has been reading about. 

I think I could make a fair pitch for what comes. This week, the story didn't make any great leaps or bounds, but it did set us up nicely for next week's episode and a soggy field. It did what it had to do, with a minimum of fuss and some delightful artwork to keep the reader engaged.

The first page with the boys giving money to Mickey Brown's mother was sweet and helped compensate for the wordy first few panels when Billy and Jimmy were merely talking about what had happened and what they planned to do next.  

The final panels of Billy reading in bed was a mixture of the homely and the fantasy world he dips into when talking of Dead-shot Keen. Keen's spectacular goal didn't live up to the hype, and as important as this was to what comes next, I was far more interested in the real world of Billy. The panel of him reading in bed was good and only bettered by the final panel as he looked out at the rain. 

There wasn't a lot of drama throughout the story, but the art was worth every penny and gave the story an extra shine that it didn't really deserve.

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "I'll just read about Dead-shot Keen for half an hour. I might read something that'll be useful in the semi-final tomorrow..."

Nipper

Nipper is having nightmares about Jan Eyke, a keeper he just can't score against. His landlady, Amy Felcher, wakes him from his nightmare, and tells him that Jan Eyke is an ordinary human being. 

Nipper takes this on board and is further bolstered by a chance meeting with his old mentor, Bill Robinson. Bill offers Nipper some quiet advice, and by the time Nipper arrives at the ground, he has a plan to take on his foe. 

Nipper is hungry for the ball early on, and as Jan Eyke mocks him, he kicks it from a long range. Eyke points out that it wasn't a good shot as it curves away from the goal, however, Mike Bateson appears from nowhere and heads it home for the first goal of the match. 

While the crowd rejoices in Bateson turning Nipper's duff shot into a goal, Nipper quietly stares at Eyke. It was no duff shot, but rather it was part of his plan with Bill Robinson, and there promises to be plenty more where that one came from. 

The opening images of Nipper's nightmare were splendid and a real highlight of this week's comic. With the reappearance of Amy Felcher, this made for a strong start to Nipper's story, and the rest of the story struggled to make as much of an impression as this first page. 

I enjoyed seeing Nipper outfox Jan Eyke, although Eyke seems to become nastier issue by issue. I'm sure he wasn't this much of a villain when we first met him, but there was no doubt about it when we saw him glaring at Nipper after the goal was scored. 

The most evocative panel of the second page, and the game, was as the fans lined up to enter the stadium. In a single image, the artist captured the feeling of attending a big game and the anticipation as one enters the stadium. It is a great piece of work, and it is all the better in that it is just a small panel in the top left corner of the page. I have said it before, but I'll reiterate it here: some of these artworks deserve a much larger canvas and a wider audience. They are tiny works of art in their own right and deserve better recognition. 

This is another story progressing well, although I sense next week could see it all wrap up. I hope I'm wrong, as I am enjoying seeing Nipper battle Jan Eyke and his own mental block, and it is giving the creative team behind the comic a chance to flex their muscles in delivering this solid story. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Mike Bateson is going to cut it off! Watch him, Jan!" 

Roy Of The Rovers

Roy is about to explain to his team why he named Gerry as a substitute, despite him arriving late, but trouble is already brewing, and before Roy can explain, Cassidy throws his shirt in Roy's face and storms off. 

In the dressing room, Cassidy apologises, but it's too late, and the damage has already been done. The following day, the newspapers are full of the story of Cassidy throwing his shirt at his manager, and Roy is under pressure as he faces the media. 

Roy angrily tells the media that there is no mutiny within Melchester Rovers, and Gerry Holloway had a legitimate excuse for being late. Holloway had gone off on an archaeological dig because he was embarrassed about the uproar his arrival had created. It was all blown up by the irresponsible chit-chat of players who should have known better. 

The atmosphere is unsettled, and Roy and Ben Galloway decide to exclude Cassidy and Peters from the league cup squad. The following Tuesday, Roy leads a very strange-looking team onto the field for the next leg of the cup, with three young players filling in. 

Roy thinks an early goal will settle their nerves and takes it upon himself to dribble through the opposing team. He weaves his way through the players, and as he enters the box, the keeper runs at him. There is a three-way collision, but somehow, Roy squeezes the ball over the line. However, this goal has come at a cost, and Roy is down and clutching his knee in pain. 

No one likes to see a player suffer an injury, but I did like the way that this issue ended. For all his troubles as a manager and with various players, it is on-field that Roy suffers the most personally. He is doing his best to control the drama around him, but it is his own drama that ends the strip and carries us through to next week. 

The first half of the strip wasn't as exciting as the second, although ostensibly, this was where the drama that drove all this originated. Cassidy throwing his shirt was the inciting incident, and although it looked good on the page, the artwork didn't quite capture the drama of the moment. 

For all that, though, the angry face of Roy is always worth the price of admission, and we had a couple of fine examples this week. His face when he confronted Cassidy was the better of the two, although seeing him angry with the media was just as satisfying. 

This was a very Roy-centric episode, although that may not continue next week if he is seriously injured. There is plenty else happening in the story to carry the load if he does face an injury break, but this week's strip is a timely reminder of how important Roy is to his own story and how much he is involved with every aspect of his club. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "...Plus a score of pressmen...and the television cameras! You couldn't have given us more bad publicity if you'd stolen the F.A. Cup!"  

Skid Solo 

It's Skid's birthday, but in preparing Tommy to race in the masters' sports car race, Tommy and Sandy have forgotten. 

Skid reminds them, and after earlier reminiscing about when he won the masters' race ten years earlier, he now casts his mind back twelve months ago. A year ago, he had received sacks of cards and letters wishing him a happy birthday, as well as competing in the masters'. He had won the masters' with the crowd wishing him a happy birthday. No one had forgotten then, yet now he is yesterday's man. 

Skid decides that it's no good dwelling on the past and tells Tommy and Sandy they best be getting back home. On the way home, Sandy makes a small detour to the local village. He tells Skid he has to visit the village hall and insists that Skid accompany him. 

The trio enter the hall, and Skid is surprised to find twelve sacks of mail waiting for him. Tommy tells him that they had them sent there, and there are further surprises as first Sandy enters with a large cake, and then the curtain is pulled back on the stage to reveal a chorus of top Grand Prix drivers singing Happy Birthday to Skid.

Skid is overwhelmed by all of this, and the strip ends with Skid turning his face from Sandy, overcome by all the events.

A serious Skid Solo story, keeping with the path we have been treading the last couple of months. There was pathos in the final panel that put an exclamation point on all that had come before, emphasising the downbeat tone the story had carried throughout. 

From the very start, we had Skid in a reflective mood, and with his thoughts becoming increasingly depressed, the story did a good job of moving forward while allowing Skid to wallow in his misery. It isn't the tone we usually get in a boys' comic, especially a comic focused on sports, but it felt right for the character, and it felt right for the story being told. 

We have seen a lot of Tommy in the last few months, and the writer has done a good job of moving between his journey and Skid's. The balance is right, with the highs of Tommy tempered by the lows Skid is experiencing. It's not always comfortable reading, but it is true to life and to the story being told. 

The final panel of Skid said more than could ever be expressed by words, and if not for its pessimistic tone, I would have made it the best panel of the strip. Even in another comic surrounded by different types of stories, this still would have stood out as an outstanding piece of art, and it accented the talents behind the Tiger comic. It is art in the truest sense of the word, and something I will remember long after I put the comic down.    

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "These cards...they're from all over the world! And there's one here from the editor of Tiger and Scorcher, and from the readers."     

Hot Shot Hamish 

Hamish is lost in the moors when a man emerges from the mists, telling him that he is Mister McKirky, sworn enemy of the Balfours. The McKirkys and Balfours haven't talked for five hundred years, and Hamish walks away wondering about this powerful feud.  

Reaching a house, Hamish is struck in the face by a football. The boys who kicked the football invite Hamish in for some local hospitality, but this is short-lived when the owner of the house is revealed to be McKirky. 

Hamish walks away, but as he leaves, one of the lads, Jamie, asks for a trial with Princes Park. Hamish agrees and tells him to come along the next day. 

At training the next day, Hamish and the team are stunned when Mister McKirky appears at the ground, incensed that Hamish has offered Jamie a trial. Throwing a sword at Hamish's feet, McKirky tells of the treachous Balfours and how they kidnapped Rufus McKirky's son in 1575. Waving his sword above his head, McKirky tells Hamish to pick up the claymore and defend himself.

An excellent high-spirited story that helped sweep away some of the melancholia from the previous Skid Solo story. There was a touch of football, some humour, and, of course, the underlying drama of Scottish heritage. A five-hundred-year feud plays well to my sensibilities, and as someone who holds a grudge, I found I related well to Mister McKirky. 

It was a coincidence that McKirky's boy was good enough for a trial with Princes Park, but such things are bread and butter for the Hot Shot Hamish comic. It stretches belief, and the comic only gets away with it due to the humble nature of Hamish himself. While other characters around him are larger than life and the situations they find themselves in are ridiculous, the simple nature of Hamish grounds the comic and keeps it on just the right side of real. 

The scene of McKirky arriving at the Princes Park ground is a good example. While the sight of McKirky brandishing a sword above his head seems incongruous with his surroundings, the simple utterance of Hamish that he's not good with fighting with swords brings us back to earth, and the story returns to its humble beginnings. Like Skid Solo, there is a natural balance to the story as it straddles two worlds, giving us the best of both while delivering a story with heart and fantasy in equal measure. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "I-I'm no' very good at fighting with the sword, Mister McKirky...could we no' talk?"

Tornado Jones 

Tornado Jones has upset a fellow stuntman on the movie set where he is working and is now facing the wrath of Wild Bill Brannon. 

To prove who is best suited to work on the movie, the pair decide to settle the argument with a motorcycle race - the prize being the job on the movie set. 

It's decided to race five laps of the fifteen-kilometer perimeter fence, and they both get off to a fast start. Jones decides to follow Brannon for the first couple of laps, and on the third lap, he makes his move. However, Brannon reaches under his seat and releases a smoke flare. This blinds Jones, who crashes through a gate and ends up speeding down the main street of Dodge City, where a cowboy movie is being filmed. 

The final image helped restore this story in my estimation, and while it had been rather low-key (at least by Tornado Jones standards) to this point, it suddenly got a whole lot more interesting as Jones crashes onto a different movie set. 

The chaos this causes is far more interesting than anything else in the strip and bodes well for the next issue. Until this panel, the story had been by the numbers, and the drama sedate on the page. It was a simple enough motorcycle race, and even the nefarious undertakings by Bill Brannon didn't give us anything we hadn't seen before. Neither did it feel particularly threatening, and the story lacked a sizzle throughout. The most dangerous moments were when Jones first met Brannon and once the race was decided the drama seeped out of the comic. 

However, the final image made amends, and I'm happy to give the story a high rating. It entertained without being silly, and there is enough drama left unwritten that I am excited to pick up next week's story to see what happens next. It may not live up to my expectations, but at least I'll be here to see it.  

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Hey, there's no admittance to studio property without a pass! Come back here, you crazy fool..."

Issue final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Skid Solo 

Best Line: "Don't worry, Roy! I know a manager's blue-eyed boy when I see one..."

Best Panel:

Roy's Sports Quiz: