Release date for final edition

By Striker creator PETE NASH

Fans were understandably disappointed with my announcement last week that Striker is to end as a comic and newspaper strip after an amazing 34 years – but if you think the game’s all over, it most definitely isn’t.

Firstly, there’s the commemorative final edition of the comic to publish. Orders can be made from the shop on our website from Monday, July 1, with an expected publication date of July 17. Sporting a gloss card cover, it will be a bumper issue of at least 52 pages, bringing the epic Striker saga to a fitting conclusion.

Those buying the comic from our website will have their issues delivered by mail. I am hoping that the comics will also be available in as many newsagents as possible – but the safest bet will be to buy online. The comics are likely to sell out and there will not be a second print run.

For fans who have been asking if the Complete Collection books will continue, the answer is yes - as long as the demand continues. And in the absence of new strips to produce, I should be able to publish a new volume every three months.

Volume 8 will hopefully be on sale before the end of July.

In the meanwhile I will be publishing a very different book – a 300-page volume of all my Psycops comic strips that ran in The Sun from mid-1994 to the end of 1998. There will be two purchasing options – a cheaper softback edition and a signed hardback edition. Estimated on-sale date is the end of June. More on this in a separate update in a week or two.

Also on the agenda is a commemorative Striker poster in A3, A2 or A1 sizes that would feature all the principal characters from 1985 to date.

Finally, I’m giving a lot of thought to the best approach to the re-telling of the Striker saga. I mentioned in my last update of my intention to write a pilot screenplay for a possible adaption into a TV series. That would involve sending the finished script to an agent or production company in the hope that it would be commissioned and developed.

But there may be a better way forward. I’m thinking about pre-empting the screenplay by writing a series of Striker novels that would start with Nick’s move to Warbury in 1994. The advantage of this is that the fans would be able to enjoy the re-telling of Striker in a new format of ebooks and paperbacks that I would write in the style of the envisaged TV series.

The stories would have the same essential ingredients of comedy and drama, but with a more realistic feel - and clear variations to the plots.

These books in themselves could lead to a film or TV series being optioned, while simultaneously keeping Striker going for the fans in a brand new format. If I go ahead, the first book could be ready by the end of the year.

I’d love to know what you think and look forward to your views on the Strikerworld Facebook and forum.