Tiger ran for 1555 issues before joining the Eagle in 1985. Prior to that it had also been teamed with "Comet" in 1959, "Hurricane" in 1965, "Jag" in 1969, "Scorcher" on 12th October 1974 and finally "Speed" in 1980.

A copy of Tiger #1 with the beginning of the Roy of the Rovers story would cost around £60 today.

In the early '80s, my brother used to read Speed and then he started reading Tiger when Speed merged with it. When I was seven, my brother had still kept most of the Tiger comics he had collected between '81 and '82. My favourite story was Death Wish. It was a pretty original concept for a story about a famous sportstar, hideously disfigured in an air crash, who now wore a protective mask and participated in dangerous stunts in the hope that he can die. Most of the time, though, he survived, although there were times when he was very, very close to his demise. Skid Solo and File of Fame were standard time-fillers, but I loved the football stories, especially the humorous adventures of loveable Scottish giant 'Hot-Shot' Hamish, Billy's Boots and Nipper. Johnny Cougar was a fine character as well, a somewhat stereotypical Red Indian wrestler who had an accomplice called Splash Gorton (?!). In one story, Johnny, feeling disillusioned! , threw away the rulebook while fighting 'Pretty Boy' Baker and he even stood on the guy's face. He then took it out on his crooked boss, Bill McLean and soon after, he and Splash were behind bars! I remember in early '82 when Tiger went through some sort of a re-vamp. Out went File of Fame and Skid Solo. The new stories brought in were The Tough Game, about a young rugger player called Duggie Batson, Sintek, a Six Million Dollar Man-type actioner and another story about a boxer. - Rajia Ahmad

I too was a Speed fan who only started to read Tiger after the two were amalgamated.

It was never my favourite comic but the final few episodes of Skid Solo are worth remembering as they were pretty shocking and decidedly downbeat in what was otherwise a pretty lighthearted sports comic.

If I remember right, first Skid's close pal is killed in a crash during a race, then Skid starts to see him standing at the side of the track while he is racing.

A few weeks later, the final episode ended with Skid seeing his dead pal again as he practiced for a race then he, too, crashed and was killed.

Shocked me at the time and seemed out of whack with the rest of the comic. On the other hand, it obviously made an impact and has stuck in my mind all these years, when all the other storylines were forgotten almost as soon as I'd read them. - Liam Cairney

I was recently given a wonderful present of two original story boards drawn by the artist Sandy James. Unfortunately Sandy died two years ago, but his art work is still with us, as he was the artist behind Johnny Cougar. These lovely gifts will be passed on to my sons and his work will be appreciated for years to come. - Lisanne

Quoted from the Tiger comics comments page:
"A few weeks later, the final episode ended with Skid seeing his dead pal again as he practiced for a race then he, too, crashed and was killed." As I remember it, Solo crashed but ended up in a wheelchair, being pushed away from the reader. You never saw his face after the crash, and with the benefit of hindsight I now wonder whether the artist got the sack and someone else drew the cars & figures for the last story (couldn't do the faces ;-) Only stirring! It was definitely a harrowing end to the series. Cheers - Simon

I’d just like to share a few memories I have of the Tiger comic. When I was a kid, I had a standing order with my local newsagent for what began for me as Tiger and Scorcher (later becoming Tiger and Speed) and like other people’s notes I’ve read at this site, I too remember Skid Solo, Hot Shot Hamish, Johnny Cougar. But does anyone remember “Nipper” the world’s fastest footballer? The time when Nipper went to play in the USA and was confused by some weird “blue line” rule which was different to the offside rule used in his native UK? Or could someone please verify that Johnny Cougar’s battle cry was “Hook-A-Hey”? And surely other people must remember “Simtek” – the story of a motor racing driver named Bruce Tollman (I think) who was badly injured (sounds a bit like poor Skid Solo) and had his body reconstructed using bionic parts, which made him excel at every sport he attempted. Who could forget his victory in a golf tournament in which using his computer brain he managed to complete the entire round taking only 18 strokes – a hole in one on every hole. I can tell you that I thought this comic was exceptional – the stories, although totally far-fetched, were ideal fodder for a growing boy. It’s a pity there’s no such thing available these days. - Chris Elliott Lancaster, UK

In the early sixties, I was a cub scout and we would have to spend one week in the year going to local people's houses and offering to do some odd job for a "bob", or shilling. It was an annual charity fund-raising activity familar to anyone over about 45 years of age, I guess. When you had finished, they received a small yellow sticker for the door marked with a tick and the words "Job Done" and were presumably left in peace.

I went with a friend to a house in our street occupied by a single man with, as I remember, a Dutch-sounding name. We offered to do a job and he said he had some cleaning work. His sitting room was piled high with comics, sketch pads, model aircraft and half-drawn comic strips. In the corner was a large drawing desk. He asked us to clear as much of it away as we could.

We fetched a cart from my house and packed it with Tigers and Valiants. On the drawing board and scattered around were many, larger, sheets with half-finished Roy of the Rovers strips which he was working on. We took these too as he didn't want them and spent many hours reading them all. He seemed to be the regular "Roy" artist of the time to judge from his drawing style but I don't remember his name. - Richard

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