Publication history
Tiger debuted with the 11 September 1954 issue.
As was common with British comics during this period, Tiger absorbed a number of other comics magazines during its run; six in all. Following successive mergers with other AP publications in the 1950s, the comic was known as Tiger Incorporating the Champion (from 1955) and then (from 1959) Tiger and Comet .
Amalgamated Press was acquired by the Mirror Group in 1959, and renamed Fleetway Publications. [3] Following successive mergers with other Fleetway publications in the 1960s, the comic was known as Tiger and Hurricane (from May 1965), then (from 1969) Tiger and Jag for many years. It was coupled with the football magazine Scorcher in 1974, resulting in Tiger and Scorcher appearing for more than six years. In 1980, there was a further, less successful, merger with another comic called Speed.
The end finally came on 30 March 1985, with Tiger merging into The Eagle [4] from issue #159 of that comic, dated 6 April 1985, which was temporarily titled Eagle and Tiger (with some strips from Tiger coming to the merged publications).
In all, 1,573 issues were published, as well as a number of hardcover annuals. [5]
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic magazine. As a comics anthology it serialises stories in each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. Since 2000 it has been published by Rebellion Developments.
A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper.
Krazy was a British comic book magazine published every Monday by IPC Magazines Ltd. It ran from 16 October 1976 to 15 April 1978, when it merged with stable-mate Whizzer and Chips. In 1977, one of the characters in the comic, Cheeky, proved popular enough to get his own comic, Cheeky, which was later merged into Whoopee!. The comic included a "disguise" back-cover, such as the cover of a diary or brochure, which allowed readers to hide the comic from parents or teachers.
Roy of the Rovers is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the Tiger in 1954, before giving its name to a weekly comic, published by IPC and Fleetway from 1976 until 1995, in which it was the main feature.
Judge Dredd: The Megazine is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in September 1990. It is a sister publication to 2000 AD. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Judge Dredd's locale Mega-City One.
Tom Tully was a noted British comic writer, mostly of sports and action-adventure stories. He was the longest-running writer of the popular football-themed strip Roy of the Rovers, which he wrote for much of Roy Race's playing career until the weekly comic closed in 1993. Other notable strips penned by Tully included The Steel Claw, The House of Dolmann, The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark, The Leopard from Lime Street, The Robo Machines, and Harlem Heroes. During his three-decade career, Tully wrote exclusively for what became known as the IPC line of publishers: Amalgamated Press/Odhams/Longacre Press/Fleetway/IPC Magazines.
Lion was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press/Fleetway Publications from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. A boys' adventure comic, Lion was originally designed to compete with Eagle, the popular weekly comic published by Hulton Press that had introduced Dan Dare.. Lion lasted for 1,156 issues.
Billy's Boots was a popular British comic strip by writer Fred Baker and artist John Gillatt, later continued by Mike Western. The original Billy's Boots was an earlier humorous series, written and drawn by Frank Purcell, which appeared in Tiger from December 23rd 1961 until July 13th 1963, with a similar premise to this later series. The later more serious Billy appeared in the first issue of Scorcher in 1970, and later moved to Tiger when the two comics merged in 1974. In 1985, Tiger in turn merged with Eagle and the strip moved again. Just a year later, Billy's adventures relocated once more, this time to Roy of the Rovers. New adventures were included in the weekly comic until May 1990, before he switched to Best of Roy of the Rovers Monthly. The strip also appeared in annuals, including annuals for comics which had themselves ceased publication. The strip is still fondly remembered by fans of the "golden age" of British boys' comics. In Finland and Sweden, Billy's Boots was published in Buster magazine. In the UK, stories based on Billy's earliest adventures appeared in Total Football magazine until it closed in 2001, and Billy's story was also reprinted for a few months in the defunct Striker comic.
Scorcher was the name of a football-themed British comic magazine published by IPC between January 1970 and October 1974. Scorcher featured various well-known comic strips, such as Billy's Boots, Bobby of the Blues and Lags Eleven, a story about a prison football team. In addition, the Nipper strip was absorbed from the Score comic, and Hot Shot Hamish made its first appearance after that. Some of these stories later found homes in Roy of the Rovers and in Tiger.
Hot Shot Hamish and Mighty Mouse were two popular British football-themed comic strips, which later merged and appeared in various publications from the 1970s to the 1990s. Both are amongst the best remembered football characters from the "golden age" of British boys' comics.
Ted Cowan, being the best known familiar name of Edward George Cowan, was a British comic book writer.
Vulcan was a weekly British anthology reprint comic book magazine published by IPC Magazines from 1975 to 1976, with a heavy emphasis on superhero and action-adventure material.
Roy of the Rovers comic magazine was launched as a weekly on 25 September 1976, named after the established comic strip of the same name that first appeared as weekly feature in the Tiger on 11 September 1954. The title ran for 853 issues, until 20 March 1993, and included other football strips and features. In February 1989, the magazine merged with the similarly themed Hot Shot, and was known for a brief time as Roy of the Rovers and Hot Shot, but reverted to its original title shortly afterwards.
Derek Arthur William Birnage was a British comics editor and writer and newspaper editor, best known as the founding editor of the weekly sports comic Tiger and as a writer of Roy of the Rovers.
Rob Davis is a British comics artist, writer, and editorial illustrator located in Blandford Forum, Dorset. He has contributed to Roy of the Rovers, Judge Dredd, Doctor Who Magazine and Doctor Who Adventures. He has also created the graphic novels Don Quixote and a trilogy of original graphic novels, beginning with The Motherless Oven.
Anthony John "Tony" Harding was a British illustrator of boys' action comics specialising in football stories. He worked for D. C. Thomson & Co. and IPC Magazines in a career that spanned over 30 years, on comics such as Bullet, Scorcher, Hornet, Action, Roy of the Rovers, Victor and Scoop, amongst others.
Wildcat was a short-lived British comic which ran fortnightly from 1988 to 1989. It was a science fiction comic about colonists fleeing Earth in a spaceship called Wildcat just before the planet is destroyed in the year 2500. It featured five stories in each issue: one continuing series for each of the four main characters as they explore an alien planet to see if it is fit for habitation, and a fifth story set on board the ship, which was a single-episode story each week.
Barrie Tomlinson is a former editor and writer of British comics in the 1970s and '80s.
Battler Britton is a British comics character created by Mike Butterworth and Geoff Campion. He first appeared in Amalgamated Press' Sun in 1956, and later was featured in Knockout, and the long-running digest titles Thriller Picture Library, Air Ace Picture Library, and War Picture Library.
