THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS

lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles

- lan Wheeler

The 1950s through to the early 1980s was a golden age for British comics. Eagle introduced the world to the science fiction hero Dan Dare, The Victor and Battle catered for those who enjoyed war stories, titles such as Girl and Judy delighted female readers and The Beano, The Dandy and others provided fun and humour for readers of all ages. For sports fans, there was a comic which was without rival - Tiger, which ran from September 1954 to March 1985.

Originally published by Amalgamated Press, and later by Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines, Tiger initially featured a mix of sport and more adventure-orientated comic strips. The first issue cost the princely sum of 3d and included a free "space gun novelty".

The cover story of this first issue was a football strip called Roy of the Rovers.

Initially written by Frank S Pepper and illustrated by Joe Colquhoun (who would famously go on to draw the World War One story Charley's War for Battle), the story featured teenage football striker Roy Race who played for fictional club Melchester Rovers. Other early stories in the comic included The Speedster from Blakemoor (about a racing driver, Les Dyson, who was wrongly sent to prison), the school-based Dodger Caine, and the historical tale of a medieval archer, Will Strongbow.

The first editor of Tiger was Derek Birnage, who had previously edited The Champion and would go on to edit the humour comics Smash! and Buster. Birnage would himself write for the comic under the pseudonym Frank Winsor. As the title continued into the 1960s, other popular characters were introduced such as Johnny Cougar, a story about a Native American wrestler from the alligator swamps of Florida.

In 1963, Birnage was succeeded by David Gregory (later to edit the football magazine Shoot!) who stayed on the title until 1969. He was in turn followed by Barrie Tomlinson, who had begun his career as a subeditor on the adventure comic Lion.