Striker: The Final Whistle special announced, ending strip’s 34-year run

Striker - The Final Whistle MontageThe final episode of the long-running comic strip Striker will be featured in a commemorative 52-page collectors’ edition of the comic, Striker: The Final Whistle.

Striker Issue 1 - 2018

Striker: The Final Whistle will end the storylines featured in the recently-published Striker comic, which ran for 24 crowdfunded issues

At least 33 pages of The Final Whistle will be all-new comic strips, picking up from where Issue 24 of the recently-published Striker comic left off and bringing the story so far to a fitting finale, after 34 memorable years in print.

There will also be a frank and revealing interview with the original ‘Mr Striker’ Nick Jarvis, plus a special “Nashy’s News” column from Striker creator Pete Nash who explains that while Striker is coming to an end as a comic and newspaper strip, there will hopefully be a new future for the story in a different format.

I’m delighted to confirm I’m writing an item about Striker and the state of the UK comic industry for this comic – and there will be a special Fanzone section, too.

Although the recent revival of a weekly Striker comic attracted huge support from fans of the strip through two crowdfunding campaigns, the practicalities of producing the title at such a frequency overwhelmed the small Striker editorial team.

The Sun is currently running a reprint story, and Pete tells us he has informed the paper he will be producing a final storyline, which he has given them the option of running.

Pete Nash says the Striker team are working with distributors to make the comic available in as many newsagents as possible – but the quickest and easiest way to ensure you don’t miss out is to buy from our shop and have it mailed to you direct from the printing house.

A digital edition will also be offered, price £3.95

Psycops by Pete Nash - art by John M. Burns

Psycops by Pete Nash - art by John M. Burns

Psycops by Pete Nash - art by John M. Burns

Psycops by Pete Nash - art by John M. Burns

Psycops by Pete Nash – art by John M. Burns

ALL THIS, AND Psycops, TOO!

This was to have been the cover for a

This was to have been the cover for a “Psycops” album by John M. Burns, who drew many episodes of the strip, which eventually never happened… but might now. With thanks to Colin Brown

It’s going to be a busy July for the Striker publisher, because this month also sees the release of a complete collection of another of Pete Nash’s newspaper strips, Psycops, as we’ve previously reported.

It’s no secret that Pete, under the pseudonym, Wilbur, created Psycops, which ran in The Sun alongside Striker from July 1994, to the start of 1999. The adventures are being reprinted in their entirety for the very first time, in a 304-page book available as a softcover version and a limited edition of 250 signed hardbacks. Prices will be announced shortly.

An outlandish mix of The Fugitive, The X-Files and Starman, Psycops follows the adventures of feisty British private eye Charity Wilde who is forced to go on the run from the CIA with a human-like alien she nicknames Gabriel. Using Gabriel’s unique mental ability called Psysight, the odd couple travel the world incognito as private eyes investigating strange mysteries.

As the cases they investigate become ever more bizarre, Charity is tormented by a burning question: why did Gabriel come to earth  – and can she really trust him?

All 18 stories were written by Pete Nash, who also drew the strip for the first 18 months. It was then, briefly, drawn by the late British comic artist John Cooper, who also drew some early episodes of Striker, before the artwork was passed on to John M Burns, one of Britain’s most talented comic artists.

The collection has been assembled from Pete’s own files and with the help of fans of the strip when it ran in The Sun, including Alan Jeffries, who has loaned the Striker team his collection.

STRIKER: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION – VOLUME 8 AND BEYOND

Striker Issue 1 - Cover

Issue One of the original Striker weekly

With a scheduled release date around the end of July, Volume 8 of the complete Striker collection is giving creator Pete Nash a major headache. This book covers the start of the first comic era – and he’s grappling with what to include from those first comics and what to leave out.

The most likely outcome is that the period covering the 87 weekly comics that were published between 2003 and 2005 will be compiled into at least three volumes. All the Striker comic stories will be included, along with some of the football action strips and selected comic covers. But there’s unlikely to be any room for the features and interviews, other than the odd stand-out few.

“Once the last comic and the Psycops book is out of the way – and with no more new Striker strips to work on after mid-July – I’m hoping I’ll have the time to fully focus on Volume 8,” Pete says. “It’s possible we could miss the end-of-July target by a week or two, but the lighter workload means subsequent books will be able to come out more regularly – about every three months or so.

“As long as the demand is there, I will continue to publish the books until the last volume, which would take us to where we are now.”

Striker: The Final Whistle, priced at £4.95 with a perfect bound gloss cover, will go on sale from the Planet Striker online shop from Thursday 4th July and will be printed around the middle of July (exact date to be confirmed shortly). A digital version version is is also being offered, price £3.95

Psycops will be available to buy exclusively from the Planet Striker online shop from early July

• If you haven’t done so already, sign up and register at the bottom of the Planet Striker home page to make sure you receive email notifications from Striker HQ about new projects such as future collections

Striker and Psycops © Pete Nash

With thanks to Colin Brown of The Art of John M. Burns Facebook Group



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