First Issue: 28th August 2003
Last Issue: 12th May 2005
Copyright: Striker 3D
Not to be confused with the Striker comic of the early 1970s, Striker produced by Striker3D was an entirely different proposition to the comics that had preceded it. Creator Pete Nash’s inspirational new style comic hit the news stands in August 2003. Striker was different because it used state of the art computer generated images instead of the traditional pen and ink drawings. The new style had its fans and also its critics.
The origins of Striker comic lay much earlier in a British newspaper called ‘The Sun’. The first Striker strip, which was drawn by hand, appeared on November 11, 1985. The strip told the story of apprentice engineer Nick Jarvis who played football for a non league side who had been drawn against the mighty Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup. Nick’s team lost but he was spotted and signed by the manager of First Division club Thamesford, Jim Cassidy.
After a number of experiments with computer generated imagery, Pete Nash finally found a CGI style that he was happy with and on January 4th 1999 the new Striker format appeared.
Buoyed by the success of the new look strip, Pete Nash took the bold step of forming his own company called Striker3D Ltd and in August 2002 gave the publishers of ‘The Sun’ newspaper 12 months notice. After the twelve months notice had elapsed Striker comic was born in August 2003.
Despite producing a quality product and desperate attempts by the readership and owners which included turning Striker3D Ltd into Striker3D PLC in order to sell shares to its fans, with weekly sales of only 20,000 Striker’s days were numbered and after 87 memorable issues Striker comic came to an end.
The story doesn’t end there though, like any plucky football team Striker survived and returned home to the pages of ‘The Sun’ newspaper where the fans continue to read about the spills and thrills of Warbury Warriors and their manager Nick Jarvis.
‘Striker 3D’ – First Issue
28th August 2003
