The write thing to do?

By Striker creator PETE NASH

It’s four months since Striker came to an end in The Sun and as a comic after 34 years – so what’s been happening? Aside from the release of Volume 9 of the Striker Collection, the answer is not a lot.

I mentioned in the final comic that I was thinking of writing a Striker novel (starting from the Warbury years) that could form the premise for a possible film or TV series. But after taking the time to weigh up all the options, I no longer see this as the right priority.

Striker thrived as a comic strip, with an epic story arc stretching from 1985 to 2019. To retell the story as a novel from Nick’s arrival in Warbury would please some Striker fans but not all. And, though I could be wrong, I’m not convinced that literary or film and TV agents would see a Striker novel appealing to a new and wider audience.

I do want to write – but I don’t think Striker should be my first project when I’ve accumulated so many other ideas over the years.

After taking the time to consider my options over the last few months, I’ve pretty much decided on the project I want to start with. It’s not something I can put into the public domain yet, but I will do as soon as I can.

So what’s left for Striker? The good news is that the books of the complete collection will continue, with Volume 10 due to be released towards the end of next month. I’ve calculated that there will be 22 books in all, so Volume 11 – due in May – will take us to the halfway stage. If I can release four books a year, the last volume will be released at the end of 2022.

There’s also the possibility of creating a commemorative Striker poster. I made a start on this in November but put it on ice when it became clear that capturing the essence of Striker’s 34-year history in one montage was trickier than I thought. I haven’t given up on it though, and I’m optimistic it will happen.

Thanks for staying tuned – and don’t forget you can also keep up to date with all things Striker via the Strikerworld page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/130222753805319/