Where's Striker gone? - Comics

JAS84 · 08-08-2009, 21:30

No Striker in today's Sun.

Anyone know why?

Wayne814 · 09-08-2009, 10:44

Don't know why it wasn't in yesterday, but i do know that the strip is ending as Pete Nash is moving on.

JAS84 · 09-08-2009, 16:40

I'll post that on Comics UK's forum, all that's been said there is that an article about Striker's future will be in the next issue of Crikey magazine. Thanks.

Wayne814 · 09-08-2009, 17:22

I should have added that the strip is supposed to be finishing before the new season starts so Friday's strip may have been the end.

Ive sent an email to Pete Nash, i will see what he says.

JAS84 · 09-08-2009, 19:24

Quote:

Dear Reader,

RE: MISSING STRIKER ON SATURDAY

Thank you for your email. Please forgive the non-personal response but there have been so many queries about the missing strip on Saturday that I shall have to reply to them in the form of a circular.

I have contacted The Sun and it seems the problem can be attributed to the fact that in a few weeks I shall sadly be bringing Striker’s long run as a newspaper strip to an end. I know my decision will disappoint Striker’s fans but I feel strongly that the saga has gone as far as it should go and I have always promised myself that I would end Striker on a high rather than risk seeing it become stale.

I would be happy to consider relaunching it in the future and have offered to produce a new strip for The Sun in the meanwhile. To date, I have not had a response.

My intention is to work on new creative projects but I also want to develop the Striker story into other formats, including a series of books and, hopefully, the first of a sequence of animated movies. I shall post updates about this on our website, www.striker3d.net, which will be relaunched in September.

Because Striker will be ending in around five weeks’ time, The Sun have decided not to run the full-page football strips on Saturdays. Unfortunately this decision led to Striker being left out completely on Saturday, which, as far as I am concerned, should not have happened.

I am sorry to give you such disappointing news but I hope you will understand my reasons.

With apologies and best wishes,

Pete Nash

Guess it's goodbye Warbury Warriors.

DJGM · 23-08-2009, 23:34

Well, if Pete Nash intends to bring Striker to a close on a high, I guess the owner (Li Ming) doesn't
manage to destroy Warbury Warriors FC as she vowed to, after getting seriouslky pissed at Nick
for turning down the chance to become the Head Coach of the national football team in China.

Although I do think he's ending the story a bit prematurely. If he were to keep it going in some
form at least until the end of the current premier league season, it'll have been going for just
short of 25 years. The first ever Striker cartoon strip was published back in November 1985.

I remember the last time the future of Striker was in doubt as a newspaper cartoon strip back
in 2003, when it was completely relaunched as a standalone weekly comic, with longer, and
grittier stories. There was a disagreement with The Sun over advertising and legal issues,
which led to The Sun axing Striker, replacing it with an inferior cartoon, The Premier.

The comic ran for (IIRC) 87 issues, but was closed due to a lack of funding, despite increasing
the cover price at one point by 50% to £1.50, and offering shares in Striker3D plc to readers.

Not long after the comic ended, Striker returned to The Sun, and The Premier was relegated
from the paper to The Sun's website. Even that cartoon was dropped nearly 2 years ago,
due to "licensing issues", and (AFAIK) there has been nothing since.

It seems the only football related cartoon strip that'll still be running after next month, in any
red-top tabloids is Scorer in the Mirror, which (IIRC) was launched sometime after The Sun
first started publishing episodes of Striker. Even though Striker has been CGI based for
over 10 years now, Scorer still seems to be using old style hand drawn artwork!

SC00BIE · 24-08-2009, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGM

Scorer still seems to be using old style hand drawn artwork!

Who draws Scorer? I've always assumed it was drawn by either John Gillat or Mike Western as the style was very familar to Billy's Boots. But just looking at it online and it says "Barrie Tomlinson, David Sque & David Pugh."

So, I'm totally confused.

tingramretro · 24-08-2009, 11:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by SC00BIE

Who draws Scorer? I've always assumed it was drawn by either John Gillat or Mike Western as the style was very familar to Billy's Boots. But just looking at it online and it says "Barrie Tomlinson, David Sque & David Pugh."

So, I'm totally confused.

It's always been Barrie Tomlinson. Mike Western died some time ago, and had no connection to Scorer.

tingramretro · 24-08-2009, 11:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGM

Well, if Pete Nash intends to bring Striker to a close on a high, I guess the owner (Li Ming) doesn't
manage to destroy Warbury Warriors FC as she vowed to, after getting seriouslky pissed at Nick
for turning down the chance to become the Head Coach of the national football team in China.

Although I do think he's ending the story a bit prematurely. If he were to keep it going in some
form at least until the end of the current premier league season, it'll have been going for just
short of 25 years. The first ever Striker cartoon strip was published back in November 1985.

I remember the last time the future of Striker was in doubt as a newspaper cartoon strip back
in 2003, when it was completely relaunched as a standalone weekly comic, with longer, and
grittier stories. There was a disagreement with The Sun over advertising and legal issues,
which led to The Sun axing Striker, replacing it with an inferior cartoon, The Premier.

Not quite true. The Sun didn't axe Striker-Pete himself elected to leave the paper since he had already been planning for some months to launch it as a standalone comic, as I recall. There is an interview with Pete in Crikey! #11, due out this Thursday, in which he goes into more detail over Striker's history and why he's ending it.

JAS84 · 24-08-2009, 12:53

DJGM, Scorer launched in 1992. The two Davids are the writers. Welcome to Digital Spy Tony.

SC00BIE · 24-08-2009, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAS84

DJGM, Scorer launched in 1992. The two Davids are the writers. Welcome to Digital Spy Tony.

I'd have assumed that 2 of those three guys were the writers, so thanks for clearing up that Barrie is the artist.

So, is it coincidence that the style is similar to Billy's Boots, or was there ghosting going on and then the style stuck? A bit like Tom Patterson adopting Baxendale, but ending up drawing like that all the time (if, in my opinion, just that little bit better).

Ta.

(Edit: apologies for going off-topic)

JAS84 · 24-08-2009, 14:39

The email Wayne and I both recieved and I quoted resolved my original question, so don't worry about it going off topic now.

I wonder if Scorer will soon also end? Dave Storry must be in his late 30s now, since the strip is 17 years old.

You can read Scorer without buying the paper: http://www.mirror.co.uk/fun-games/cartoons/

tingramretro · 24-08-2009, 15:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAS84

The email Wayne and I both recieved and I quoted resolved my original question, so don't worry about it going off topic now.

I wonder if Scorer will soon also end? Dave Storry must be in his late 30s now, since the strip is 17 years old.

You can read Scorer without buying the paper: http://www.mirror.co.uk/fun-games/cartoons/

You're assuming that Scorer, like Striker, occurs in real time. I think Striker was quite unusual in that regard. I doubt Dave Storry is out of his 20s or ever will be, anymore than George & Lynne will ever have to start covering up because they're getting a bit past it...

and thanks for the welcome.

DJGM · 24-08-2009, 15:22

Nick Jarvis must be well into his 40's by now, yet he's still looks like a 20-something!

JAS84 · 24-08-2009, 18:11

Nick is in his 40s. Even Eric Openshaw doesn't look wrinkly, and he's even older, I think it's just that the CGI isn't good enough to render realistic looking aging.

Wayne814 · 18-09-2009, 22:45

Well it looks like that was the end of the strip today.

Goodbye Striker, thanks for 20+ years of memories.

JAS84 · 19-09-2009, 13:53

At least smug Fabian got his comeuppance - he sold what he thought was useless farmland to Scrapper, only for an Arab Sheik to turn up and apparently buy the club! So it looks like that sets up a possible return for Warbury in a few years time. As for Eric and Nick, a here we go again ending. I knew it wouldn't be Newcastle United Eric had bought. "Next year we'll be in the Unibond League!" That's even lower than Warbury, who started in the Conference. No wonder Nick ran off.

tingramretro · 20-09-2009, 11:20

A fitting end to a great strip.

dapa · 20-09-2009, 18:29

It will be interesting to see where Striker goes from here - if they want, there's a lot of possibilities to deliver a regular comic strip it to a new generation of the eBook readers for ongoing, paid subscription i.e. 50p / week. Rumour was that Pete Nash way seriously bored of Striker and has wanted to work on other projects for a long time.

It will be interesting to see where The Sun goes from here. The last time Striker left them it coincided with big drop of readership, which of least some must of that have been down to Striker. We'll see tomorrow if they've got a strip to replace it - is it too far fetched to consider a return of The Premier?

JAS84 · 20-09-2009, 23:33

Yes it is, The Premier initially continued online, but it was axed two years ago. I'm expecting adverts for now. Wouldn't complain if they reprinted strip cartoons from the past though.

Striker won't be becoming a stand-alone comic - been there done it, it failed. According to the email (post 5), there's books, animations, and a new look website planned.

Wayne814 · 21-09-2009, 08:17

The books that are planned are reprints of the old strips from the start.

JAS84 · 21-09-2009, 09:53

Thanks for the info. I wonder what form the animation will take?

retrovertigo · 21-09-2009, 10:39

How the hell were readers supposed to know that was the end???? You'd think there would be some kind of message in the paper for people who have been following the stories.

I had to google today to find out what was going on. Yeah the club was sold, but they are always having dramas and finding their way out of them. How annoying.

WoodsMonk · 21-09-2009, 10:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by retrovertigo

How the hell were readers supposed to know that was the end???? You'd think there would be some kind of message in the paper for people who have been following the stories.

I had to google today to find out what was going on. Yeah the club was sold, but they are always having dramas and finding their way out of them. How annoying.

Yup, Not even a thank you or goodbye message! Virals has took it's place

JAS84 · 21-09-2009, 12:00

Good point, a simple THE END caption box at the bottom of Friday's episode would've sufficed.

By virals you mean advertising, right? Which is just what I expected, unfortunately. Why can't they reprint some comic strips from the past or something?

08-08-2009, 21:30	#1
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	Where's Striker gone? No Striker in today's Sun. Anyone know why?

09-08-2009, 10:44	#2
Wayne814 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Services: Sky Digital Posts: 508	Don't know why it wasn't in yesterday, but i do know that the strip is ending as Pete Nash is moving on.

09-08-2009, 16:40	#3
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	I'll post that on Comics UK's forum, all that's been said there is that an article about Striker's future will be in the next issue of Crikey magazine. Thanks.

09-08-2009, 17:22	#4
Wayne814 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Services: Sky Digital Posts: 508	I should have added that the strip is supposed to be finishing before the new season starts so Friday's strip may have been the end. Ive sent an email to Pete Nash, i will see what he says.

23-08-2009, 23:34	#6
DJGM Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Whitefield, Manchester Services: Freeview, Be*, and an XBox360 Posts: 1,485	Well, if Pete Nash intends to bring Striker to a close on a high, I guess the owner (Li Ming) doesn't manage to destroy Warbury Warriors FC as she vowed to, after getting seriouslky pissed at Nick for turning down the chance to become the Head Coach of the national football team in China. Although I do think he's ending the story a bit prematurely. If he were to keep it going in some form at least until the end of the current premier league season, it'll have been going for just short of 25 years. The first ever Striker cartoon strip was published back in November 1985. I remember the last time the future of Striker was in doubt as a newspaper cartoon strip back in 2003, when it was completely relaunched as a standalone weekly comic, with longer, and grittier stories. There was a disagreement with The Sun over advertising and legal issues, which led to The Sun axing Striker, replacing it with an inferior cartoon, The Premier. The comic ran for (IIRC) 87 issues, but was closed due to a lack of funding, despite increasing the cover price at one point by 50% to £1.50, and offering shares in Striker3D plc to readers. Not long after the comic ended, Striker returned to The Sun, and The Premier was relegated from the paper to The Sun's website. Even that cartoon was dropped nearly 2 years ago, due to "licensing issues", and (AFAIK) there has been nothing since. It seems the only football related cartoon strip that'll still be running after next month, in any red-top tabloids is Scorer in the Mirror, which (IIRC) was launched sometime after The Sun first started publishing episodes of Striker. Even though Striker has been CGI based for over 10 years now, Scorer still seems to be using old style hand drawn artwork!

24-08-2009, 12:53	#10
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	DJGM, Scorer launched in 1992. The two Davids are the writers. Welcome to Digital Spy Tony.

24-08-2009, 14:39	#12
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	The email Wayne and I both recieved and I quoted resolved my original question, so don't worry about it going off topic now. I wonder if Scorer will soon also end? Dave Storry must be in his late 30s now, since the strip is 17 years old. You can read Scorer without buying the paper: http://www.mirror.co.uk/fun-games/cartoons/

24-08-2009, 15:22	#14
DJGM Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Whitefield, Manchester Services: Freeview, Be*, and an XBox360 Posts: 1,485	Nick Jarvis must be well into his 40's by now, yet he's still looks like a 20-something!

24-08-2009, 18:11	#15
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	Nick is in his 40s. Even Eric Openshaw doesn't look wrinkly, and he's even older, I think it's just that the CGI isn't good enough to render realistic looking aging.

18-09-2009, 22:45	#16
Wayne814 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Services: Sky Digital Posts: 508	Well it looks like that was the end of the strip today. Goodbye Striker, thanks for 20+ years of memories.

19-09-2009, 13:53	#17
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	At least smug Fabian got his comeuppance - he sold what he thought was useless farmland to Scrapper, only for an Arab Sheik to turn up and apparently buy the club! So it looks like that sets up a possible return for Warbury in a few years time. As for Eric and Nick, a here we go again ending. I knew it wouldn't be Newcastle United Eric had bought. "Next year we'll be in the Unibond League!" That's even lower than Warbury, who started in the Conference. No wonder Nick ran off.

20-09-2009, 11:20	#18
tingramretro Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Gender: Male Location: Shotley, Suffolk Posts: 543	A fitting end to a great strip.

20-09-2009, 18:29	#19
dapa Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: London Services: Freeview, Sky, ADSL Posts: 417	It will be interesting to see where Striker goes from here - if they want, there's a lot of possibilities to deliver a regular comic strip it to a new generation of the eBook readers for ongoing, paid subscription i.e. 50p / week. Rumour was that Pete Nash way seriously bored of Striker and has wanted to work on other projects for a long time. It will be interesting to see where The Sun goes from here. The last time Striker left them it coincided with big drop of readership, which of least some must of that have been down to Striker. We'll see tomorrow if they've got a strip to replace it - is it too far fetched to consider a return of The Premier?

20-09-2009, 23:33	#20
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	Yes it is, The Premier initially continued online, but it was axed two years ago. I'm expecting adverts for now. Wouldn't complain if they reprinted strip cartoons from the past though. Striker won't be becoming a stand-alone comic - been there done it, it failed. According to the email (post 5), there's books, animations, and a new look website planned.

21-09-2009, 08:17	#21
Wayne814 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Services: Sky Digital Posts: 508	The books that are planned are reprints of the old strips from the start.

21-09-2009, 09:53	#22
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	Thanks for the info. I wonder what form the animation will take?

21-09-2009, 10:39	#23
retrovertigo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 32	How the hell were readers supposed to know that was the end???? You'd think there would be some kind of message in the paper for people who have been following the stories. I had to google today to find out what was going on. Yeah the club was sold, but they are always having dramas and finding their way out of them. How annoying.

21-09-2009, 12:00	#25
JAS84 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Gender: Male Location: Hull, UK Posts: 2,746	Good point, a simple THE END caption box at the bottom of Friday's episode would've sufficed. By virals you mean advertising, right? Which is just what I expected, unfortunately. Why can't they reprint some comic strips from the past or something?