Platinum Grit hitting the books

I know we're living in a digital age and all, but I'm still torn on the whole webcomic phenomenon. Yeah its a natural progression for comics, and yeah, it is pretty cool to be able to read a comic virtually. But are they really called comic "books" anymore if they're not really printed? Quite the dilemma indeed. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, you have to be excited when a traditional webcomic jumps the divide and goes to print. A webcomic such as Platinum Grit. For those not in the know, Platinum Grit is a webcomic published by Shadowline that features Nils and Jeremy taking on the Zodiac. Mix in Jer's insane Scottish relatives, a 1940s private dick and two sets of alien matchmakers and you have the perfect recipe for a crazy sci-fi romp. The series is written by Trudy Cooper and Danny Murphy, with Cooper pulling double duties with illustrating. Platinum Grit Vol. 1 features the first five issues of the series and will be in stores March 11 as a 184-page B&W trade paperback for $14.99. Full press release below.

PRESS RELEASE - SHADOWLINE BRINGS WEB COMIC SENSATION PLATINUM GRIT TO PRINT!

Illustrator/writer Trudy Cooper and co-writer Danny Murphy release their hilarious sci-fi web comic through Shadowline! 22 January 2009 (Berkeley, CA) - For years, web comics fans the world over have thrilled to Trudy Cooper and Danny Murphy's science fiction romp, PLATINUM GRIT, and now Image Comics' Shadowline brings it to print! "PLATINUM GRIT being published by Shadowline is a dream come true for me," Shadowline Editor Kristen Simon said. "I've been a fan of the web comic for many years now and was thrilled when we were able to bring it over to Shadowline’s website as well. Publisher Jim Valentino enjoyed it so much he agreed we needed to print the collections! Fellow fans of PLATINUM GRIT are going to be very happy with this edition." PLATINUM GRIT VOL. 1 collects the first five chapters of the hit web comics series, in which the fearless Nils and the timid-but-still-surprisingly-together Jeremy take on the Zodiac (they win), Jer's insane Scottish relatives (they sort of win) a 1940s private dick (they draw when poor light stops play) and two sets of alien matchmakers (they... almost). PLATINUM GRIT VOL. 1 (JAN092411), a 184-page B&W tradepaperback for $14.99, will be in-stores March 11th, 2009. Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently five partners in Image Comics (Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com.