striker to publish war of the worlds

[maryanddavid]

here is a bit of good news i came across for the comic
industry in the u.k.hope its true.




''The ink is now dry on a deal that represents a truly astonishing coup for Striker 3D - we have acquired the exclusive worldwide comic and graphic novel publishing rights to The War Of The Worlds, the classic novel written by H.G. Wells in 1895 about a terrifying Martian invasion of Earth.

The first in a series of monthly 3d-generated comics will be launched next summer to coincide with the planned release of Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds movie, starring Tom Cruise. With an anticipated budget of more than ?300million, it will easily eclipse Titanic as the most expensive movie ever made.

We have acquired the rights from Jeff Wayne, the New York-born composer, now living in Hertfordshire, who released the legendary War Of The Worlds musical album in 1978 and which has hardly been out of the charts since.

Negotiations with Jeff had been taking place since early September when I first approached him. He has awarded the rights to us over other interested publishers because he was so impressed with our enterprise, vision and innovative style of 3D computer-generated comics. It really is a fantastic opportunity.

The deal means we can license our comics to other publishers around the world, including Dark Horse Entertainment in the U.S, who have first option on all our material. This could open the door to collaboration with Dark Horse on further projects.

Our comics - which will be dramatic, atmospheric and genuinely terrifying - will also tie in with Sony's multi-million worldwide relaunch of Jeff's remastered album next year. He is also planning a worldwide stage tour.

This deal will in no way mean a diversion of resources from Striker. On the contrary, there is the possibility that we may even be able to recruit a whole new team of 3D artists, but that's another story.

All of our supporters should be delighted, especially our shareholders.''


will you be buying it? i have applauded the efforts of striker from afar, i dislike the 3d art(nothing wrong with it i just dont like it)and dont follow soccor that much(if it was football it might be a different matter!) but will definatly pick up the first of this, coul;d be good.
david

[DavidXBrunt]

Blimey. Well done them. And Striker is now reprinting old Football comics as well. Billys Boots and stuff like that. Seriously, well done.

[maryanddavid]

didnt know they were reprinting billys boots, is this in striker?

[IndigoPrime]

So... they acquired the rights to the MUSICAL version of a book, in order to create something to tie in to an expensive movie version of a book, which will bear no resemblance whatsoever to the original source material. Well, colour me excited!

[Tu-plang]

Why the fuck did they get rights off Jeff Wayne?  Are they printing sheet music?

[starscape]

didnt know they were reprinting billys boots, is this in striker?

Yes.

[James]

They offered me a job once. Turned it down due to relocation and stuff.

[paulvonscott]

Well, I'll give the blokes a chance!  It's certainly an interesting move.

[Bico]

Aw, I loved Billy's Boots when I were wee - but I'm still not buying Striker.

Seriously, though, there must be a market for all those old British strips from Battle, Eagle and the like - but apart from Rebellion, no-one seems to be taking advantage.
There was talk of reprinting old Steel Claw stuff at one point, is that still happening?

[CraveNoir]

I don't understand. I thought War of the Worlds became public domain in the mid-nineties. Obviously Jeff Wayne's thing is still in copyright but why pay to derive a comic from it?

[Eric Plumrose]

For 'tie in', read 'cash in'. I am, however, no less intrigued. Should be worth a look at least.

[starscape]

Seriously, though, there must be a market for all those old British strips from Battle, Eagle and the like - but apart from Rebellion, no-one seems to be taking advantage

Well, there's us at Starscape!  Leopard from Lime Street from Buster.  Maybe something else next year. Your suggestions please!

There was talk of reprinting old Steel Claw stuff at one point, is that still happening?

Yup, The Spider is already pre-ordered.  Steel Claw to follow.

[IndigoPrime]

The book isn't PD, because the rights rest with the Wells Foundation. I guess getting the rights to the musical is a back door, because they failed to get the actual rights to the source. Something similar happened in the 1980s when CRL tried to get the computer game rights to Blade Runner. After being laughed out of the room, the company instead got the rights to the Vangelis soundtrack (thereby providing them with legal rights to the name and any included concepts). In the case of WotW, the comic company will have rights to create a story based on Wayne's version only.

[House of Usher]

So I guess Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen gets round the rights question by not mentioning any characters from War of the Worlds, and by not using the name of the book?

[starscape]

Likewise having AN invisible man but not The Invisible Man - and no Tarzan either (who was originally to be included).