On this day, 25 April 1970: Tiger and Jag
Cover artwork: Yvonne Hutton
On this day, 25 April 1970 … ‘It is the dream of every top wrestler in Britain to one day come up against television’s most famous wrestling personality … Mick McManus! For Seminole matman Johnny Cougar, that moment had arrived …’. Televised wrestling was at its peak in 1970, atop the man-mountain that was Mick McManus – fighter, promoter, fixer and charismatic showman around whom the ‘sport’ flourished for many years. It was perhaps inevitable that he would at some point be matched against Tiger’s own hero of the ring Johnny Cougar, presumably with promotional benefit to both the comic and McManus himself. In this story there appears to be no inclination by the proud native American to follow a fight script, which is unusual in itself as I thought all McManus’s fights (those he fought in and those he organised) were fixed, but the oddest aspect of the strip is its casual acknowledgment that this is a meeting of the comic world and the real world. ‘I’ve seen Mick McManus before … He’s real good,’ remarks a dad to his son as they settle down to watch the match on telly. ‘But what about this Redskin?’ ‘Dad, you should read my copy of Tiger … He’s in there every week!’
Roy of the Rovers: Tom Tully (writer), Yvonne Hutton (artist)
Johnny Cougar: Barrie Tomlinson (writer), Sandy James (artist)
Johnny Cougar: Barrie Tomlinson (writer), Sandy James (artist)
Splash Gorton: Scott Goodall (writer), Joe Colquhoun (artist)
Skid Solo: Fred Baker (writer), John Vernon (artist)
Football Family Robinson: Fred Baker (writer), John Gillatt (artist)
Big Hit Swift: Denis McLoughlin (artist)
The Barbed-wire XI: James Bleach (artist)
Fairs Please!: Robert McGillivray? (artist)
