Issue(s): Giant-Size Creatures #1
Published Date: Jul 74
Title: "Tigra the Were-Woman! / She stalks in beauty like the night / A warrior reborn! / Some say the world will die...!"
Credits:
Tony Isabella - Writer
Don Perlin - Penciler
Vincent Colletta - Inker

Review/plot:
Jack Russell runs into Greer Nelson on a moonlit beach. She's on the run from Hydra agents, and he gets knocked out by them. But she's got new powers now and she turns herself into Tigra and fights off the Hydra goons.

Then Russell turns into the Werewolf By Night and the two "were" creatures fight...

...until Hydra can regroup and knock out both of them.

Tigra is captured but the Werewolf is left behind. A Hydra agent pistols whips Tigra and says "Hail Hydra, baby!" but he is told that is not appropriate. Goons today, really.

Another agent remarks that with the defection of AIM and the Secret Empire, their ranks are depleted.

It turns out that Greer's mentor, Joanne Tumolo, is actually a member of a secret race of Cat People, and after a prior Hydra attack, Greer was wounded with radiation poisoning, so Tumolo brought Greer to her people, where they turned her into Tigra.

Now Hydra wants the Cat People secret to destroy the world or something so they've captured Tigra and the other Cat People.

Luckily the Werewolf wakes up feeling lusty for Tigra, so he hunts her down and attacks the Hydra agents, freeing her.

The Cat People wipe out the Hydra agents with germ warfare: they release the Black Plague onto them. No really.

Then the Werewolf remembers that he's a dog-person, not a cat-person, so he leaves.

There's a text piece where Roy Thomas makes sure to take credit for Werewolf By Night even though it was written by Gerry Conway and really defined by Mike Ploog's art. There's also text by Tony Isabella talking about the attempt to create a line of books with female heroines, including the Cat, and the fact that the books were all canceled within 5 issues. This revitalization of the Cat as Tigra is an attempt to revive at least one of those characters by tying her in, believe it or not, to the popularity of the current horror line and were-monsters.

The art in this book, especially the depiction of Tigra, is very simple and cartoony.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - The Cat becomes Tigra

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Greer Nelson was previously the Cat, as seen in Cat #1, Cat #2, Cat #3, and Cat #4 (and Marvel Team-Up #8).

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? N

Reprinted In: N/A

Roy Thomas has subesquently stated that he gave the idea of a werewolf book to Gerry Conway, and wanted to call it "I, Werewolf!".

Is she really called Pam Greer, like the "Black Mama" actress?

Nope, it's Greer Nelson. What an odd brain fart for me to have. I found like 5 places on the site where i made that mistake. Thanks for the catch; i've fixed it (hopefully i caught them all).

Secretly waiting for a Coffy/Tigra team-up...

In FOOM#9, Tony Isabella stated that Tigra(drawn by Mike Vosburg) would be the lead feature in the revived Giant-Size Chillers title, and she'd take on Jack the Ripper. I think that story eventually wound up in Marvel Preview.