Tekno Comix is taking advantage of the newer technology to present characters created by famous names including Leonard Nimoy and Mickey Spillane.

Leonard Nimoy’s Primortals will be Tekno’s first release. The human race faces its first encounter with extraterrestrials who are not very alien at allthey are former inhabitants of Earth who dominated the planet before human existence. These beings were removed by an alien race to prevent their extinction from an impending ecological cataclysm.

These technologically-advanced beings known as Primortals have been returned to Earth. Some of them want to take over the planet from the lowly humans, some wish to return to their former home and others desire assimilation with their new neighbors.

Nimoy got the idea for his creation while conducting research with the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He wondered how global society would react to the news that aliens are hurdling toward Earth.

To make sure the events occurring in Primortals could logically happen, Tekno hired Dr. Charles Sheffield, a mathematician and physicist. Sheffield has served as a consultant to NASA and both houses of Congress.

Primortals invades Earth’s comic racks in November.

Other planned titles include the last project of the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Lost Universe; Mr. Herothe Newmatic Man, spawned by three-time Comic’s Buyer’s Guide favorite writer fan award winner Neil Gaiman; and Mickey Spillane’s return to comics, Mike Danger.

Tekno’s new approach to the comic universe will allow fans to dial up Tekno on their computers through the Prodigy on-line service to preview upcoming plots and character backgrounds. CD-ROM discs, produced by IBM, will allow interaction with the characters of the Tekno universe.

Brian Ek, director of communications at Prodigy, said that while other comic book companies have on-line services elsewhere, Tekno is the first on Prodigy, the largest on-line system in the world.

Given the amount of kids on our service, it (Tekno’s venture) should be successful, he said, estimating the number of children subscribers at 300,000.

Mark Herr, purchasing manager of Diamond Comics Distributors in Sparta, said his company is very confident of the success of Tekno. Primortals and Mr. Hero-The Newmatic Man placed in Diamond’s top 30 most ordered titles recently, out of over 1,500.

They’ve definitely been courting our market, Herr said, explaining how Tekno began its advertising six months before the order date. The retailers feel there’s something there.

We’re definitely standing behind them, Herr said. Diamond used a Tekno cover on the cover of its catalog recently.

Dave Marquis, manager of Campus Comics, 821 S. Illinois Ave., is not betting on Tekno’s ascension just yet.

It depends on how good the art and stories are and how much media hype they get, Marquis said.

He doesn’t believe the celebrity involvement will help the comic beyond its initial release.

If it’s a bad product, it doesn’t matter who’s name is behind it, he said. If people are reading it, it’s got to be something worth reading.