Tiger (Fleetway)

This article is about the British comic magazine. For the American comic strip, see Tiger (comic strip).

Tiger
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Publication information
Publisher	IPC Magazines Ltd Fleetway
Schedule	Weekly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	September 11 1954 – March 30 1985
Number of issues	1555
Main character(s)	Roy of the Rovers
Editor(s)	Derek Birnage

Tiger was a British comic magazine published from 1954 to 1985. The comic was launched under the editorship of Derek Birnage on 11 September 1954, under the name Tiger – The Sport and Adventure Picture Story Weekly, and featured predominantly sporting strips. Its most popular strip was Roy of the Rovers, a football-based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers. This strip proved so successful it was spun out of Tiger and into its own comic. The next Editor was Barrie Tomlinson. Barrie became Group Editor in 1976, with Paul Gettens as Editor. Following successive mergers with other Fleetway publications in the 1960s the comic was known as Tiger and Hurricane, then Tiger and Jag, then it was coupled with the football magazine Scorcher in 1974, resulting in Tiger and Scorcher appearing for more than 6 years. Later there was a further, less successful, merger with another comic called Speed, in 1980. The end finally came on 30 March 1985, with some strips moving to The Eagle. In all, 1,555 issues were published, as well as a number of hard-cover annuals. Editorial Assistants have included Tony Peagam, Paul Gettens, Terence Magee Art Editors included Mike Swanson, Trish Gordon-Pugh Art Assistant: Maurice Dolphin Letterers: Stanley Richardson, Paul Bensberg, Peter Knight, John Aldrich

List of strips

This list is incomplete. You can help to complete it.

• Billy's Boots(writer Fred Baker artist John Gilliat) – moved to Eagle, then Roy of the Rovers
• Death Wish(writer Barrie Tomlinson artist Vano) – moved to Eagle
• Fairs Please!
• File of Fame(writer Terence Magee artist Jim Bleach)
• Fisty Flynn
• Football Family Robinson(writer Fred Baker artist Joe Colquhoun) about a lower division side called Thatchem United. All players had to be Robinson family members under the tutelage of Grandma Robinson. Team members included Crash Robinson (goalie), Alf Robinson, Fred Robinson, Grizzly Bear Robinson, Ron Robinson and Tich Robinson. Their biggest moment was when they got to Wembley and won the League Cup, in a manner similar to Swindon Town's 1969 victory over Arsenal in the same competition. The story resumed in Roy of the Rovers in the late 1970s.
• Golden Boy – moved to Eagle
• Hot Shot Hamish(writer Fred Baker artist Julio Schiaffino) – moved to Roy of the Rovers
• Jet-Ace Logan
• Johnny Cougar(writer Barrie Tomlinson artist Sandy James) – A native American wrestler who grappled with a number of colourful opponents.
• King Of The Track(writer Paul Gettens artist?)
• Martin's Marvellous Mini(writer Fred Baker artist ?)
• Nipper(writer Tom Tully artist Roylance)
• Olac the Gladiator
• Paceman
• Rod And Line(writer Paul Gettens artist ?)
• Roy of the Rovers(writer Tom Tully artists David Sque and Yvonne Hutton) – spun off into its own comic in 1976 (but continued to have stories in Tiger for a couple of years after this)
• Skid Solo(writer Fred Baker artist John Vernon) – a British Formula 1 Driver in the 70s/80s
• Sintek
• The Strong Guy
• Star Rider – moved to Eagle
• The Suicide Six
• Tallon of the Track – tomboy Jo Tallon runs the Flying Ospreys speedway team
• Topps On Two Wheels (title later changed to Topps)
• The Tough Game – a rugby league story involving the exploits of three friends, Duggie Batson, Big Ernie Barnes and Ape Man.
• Typhoon Tracy, Trouble-shooter

In addition, sports stars such as Tony Greig, Geoff Boycott, Trevor Francis, Ian Botham and Charlie Nicholas wrote columns for Tiger. Also many TV stars such as Morecambe and Wise appeared in Christmas issues, usually dressed up as Santa Claus!

External links

• Roy of the Rovers official website

File:Tiger1.jpg

Tiger featuring "Skid Solo", 1977

Tiger was a boys' weekly published by the Amalgamated Press, later Fleetway and IPC, launched by editor Derek Birnage on 11 September 1954, subtitled "The Sport and Adventure Picture Story Weekly", and featuring predominantly sporting strips. Sports stars such as Geoff Boycott, Trevor Francis, Ian Botham and Charlie Nicholas wrote columns. Its lead strip was football series "Roy of the Rovers", created by Frank S. Pepper and Joe Colquhoun, which eventually spun-off into its own title in 1976, and continued in Tiger until 1978.

It absorbed The Comet (1959), hurricane (1965), Jag (1969), Scorcher (1974) and Speed (1980), and was merged into Eagle in 1985. In the latter half of 1961 it spawned Tiger Sports Picture Library.

Strips included:

• "Billy's Boots" (written by Fred Baker, drawn by John Gillat, Mike Western, Ron Turner; moved to Eagle, then Roy of the Rovers)
• "Custer" (drawn by Geoff Campion, imported from Jag)
• "Death Wish" (drawn by Eduard Vaño; imported from Speed, moved to Eagle)
• "Fairs Please!"
• "File of Fame" (drawn by James Bleach)
• "Fisty Flynn"
• "Football Family Robinson" (by Tom Tully and Joe Colquhoun; imported from Speed, moved to Roy of the Rovers)
• "Golden Boy" (moved to Eagle; drawn by Mike Western)
• "Hot Shot Hamish" (by Fred Baker and Julio Schiaffino; imported from Scorcher, moved to Roy of the Rovers)
• "The Inquisitors" (drawn by James Bleach)
• "Jet-Ace Logan" (written by Frank S. Pepper, Ken Bulmer; drawn by John Gillat; imported from The Comet)
• "Johnny Cougar" (drawn by Geoff Campion; moved to Roy of the Rovers)
• "King Of The Track"
• "Martin's Marvellous Mini" (by Fred Baker and Angelo Todaro)
• "Nipper" (drawn by Eric Bradbury; imported from Scorcher, moved to Roy of the Rovers)
• "Olac the Gladiator" (written by Frank S. Pepper, drawn by Brian Leigh, Don Lawrence)
• "Paceman"
• "Road Race Roughriders" (drawn by Graham Coton)
• "Rod And Line" (written by Scott Goodall)
• "Saber, King of the Jungle" (by Ted Cowan and Denis McLoughlin)
• "Skid Solo" (written by Fred Baker, drawn by John Vernon, Mike Western)
• "Sintek"
• "Spike and Dusty" (drawn by John Chester)
• "Splash Gorton" (Scott Goodall and Joe Colquhoun)
• "Steadfast McStaunch (drawn by Denis Gifford, also appeared in The Knock-Out and Whizzer and Chips)
• "The Strong Guy"
• "Star Rider" (moved to Eagle)
• "The Suicide Six"
• "Tallon of the Track" (written by Scott Goodall, drawn by James Bleach)
• "Topps On Two Wheels" (imported from Speed; drawn by Mike Western)
• "Tornado Jones" (written by Scott Goodall)
• "The Tough Game" (drawn by James Bleach)
• "The Toughest Race in the World" (written by Ted Cowan)
• "Typhoon Tracy"

External links

• Roy of the Rovers official website

References

Online reference

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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Tiger (comic). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Hey Kids Comics, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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