News on 'STRIP Magazine' UK

British comics publisher Print Media Productions (Lancaster, England) is still very much a new kid on the block, introducing the first of presumably several comics and graphic novels this past spring season. But in a healthy effort to widen the eyes of UK comics enthusiasts, the publisher is readying the soft launch of its monthly omnibus, STRIP Magazine, for October 2011. The magazine is slated to host a dense collection of action, adventure, and fantasy comics written and drawn by a number of veteran artists of the UK, Ireland, and U.S. cartoon business.

The premiere for STRIP Magazine casts a fairly wide net, dragging with it a rugged tale of urban decay, the futuristic woes of a chronicler of war, and the kinetic adventures of a multi-talented runaway who goes into business for herself. Print Media Productions has had an eye on October 2011 as the month-of-launch for quite a while now. The latest news indicates a limited launch in October 2011, with a wide/full newsstand rollout come 2012. STRIP Magazine is under the guidance of experienced editor John Freeman, and Print Media publisher Ivo Milicevic.

Comics appearing in the monthly magazine will include Warpaint, the realism-infused struggle of a homeless girl against mythological creatures and a cycle of urban violence; Savant, which tracks Lode, chronicling the lives of dying civilizations; and Black Ops Extreme, a straightforward wartime, guns-for-hire story about non-uniformed soldiers.

Warpaint -- by Phil Hester (story), John McCrea (art), and Andrew Elder (coloring) -- blends dystopian sci-fi, Native American mythos, and other super heroics when Mia Tsatoke inherits the perilous task of balancing her ill-at-ease earthly reality with various elemental monsters now at play. Tsatoke is aided by a trickster god and has an indestructible second skin, but "only by donning her warpaint, can she bring peace."

Additional items slotted for STRIP Magazine include Recovery, Inc., following an acrobatic and well-traveled runaway in business for herself; Hook Jaw, a colored and re-lettered version of the 1970s shark attack serial that "offered no moral judgment in dispatching human[s]"; and Age of Heroes, which sends readers in the direction of a fantasy epic, full of warriors, sorcerers, and endless lands of unknowable mythology.

In Recovery, Inc. -- by Dean Deckard (story) and Michael Penick (story, art) -- a gal named Mia promises to retrieve stolen valuables of all sorts (for a hefty price). The young woman's traveled all over the place (and gained innumerable language, martial arts, and culture skills in the process). Now, after living a life without rules, she's returned home to give a little back, in more ways than one.

According to Print Media Productions, the first issue of STRIP Magazine will have sixty-eight pages and run with the price GBP 2.99 / EUR 3.50 / USD $5.00. The publisher also plans to include the first winners of its entry-driven strip challenge, meant to lend exposure to undiscovered comics and comics talent. The magazine's Issue #0 is now available online, containing a brief preview of each of the debut issue's printed comics. Future plans include an as of yet undetermined subscription model and an online, digital version as well.