Wouldn't it be great if Annuals were kept in print in the same way as most other books? Just imagine going into a bookshop and being able to buy the latest printing of the 1958 EAGLE Annual for boys, or the 1968 FANTASTIC Annual - or any Annual you please, in fact. I don't know if he was joking at the time (or merely being optimistic), but LEO BAXENDALE once claimed in the pages of one of his WILLIE The KID Books (second, I think) that they were going to be kept in print forever. If this was indeed the intention, it must've been dependent on the books being a huge success, which, sadly, didn't seem to be the case as there were only three of them. (Must've had a three-book deal, I guess, which would've been renewed at regular intervals had they been bestsellers. It was not to be.)
A cascading cornucopia of cool comics, crazy cartoons, & classic collectables - plus other completely captivating & occasionally controversial contents. With nostalgic notions, sentimental sighings, wistful wonderings, remorseful ruminations, melancholy musings, rueful reflections, poignant ponderings, & yearnings for yesteryear. (And a few profound perplexities, puzzling paradoxes, & a bevy of big, beautiful, bedazzling, buxom Babes to round it all off.)
Friday, 31 January 2014
WHAM!, POW!, & MARVEL - AN ANNUAL EVENT...
Wouldn't it be great if Annuals were kept in print in the same way as most other books? Just imagine going into a bookshop and being able to buy the latest printing of the 1958 EAGLE Annual for boys, or the 1968 FANTASTIC Annual - or any Annual you please, in fact. I don't know if he was joking at the time (or merely being optimistic), but LEO BAXENDALE once claimed in the pages of one of his WILLIE The KID Books (second, I think) that they were going to be kept in print forever. If this was indeed the intention, it must've been dependent on the books being a huge success, which, sadly, didn't seem to be the case as there were only three of them. (Must've had a three-book deal, I guess, which would've been renewed at regular intervals had they been bestsellers. It was not to be.)
5 comments:
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Gerald Duckworth had a pretty dismissive attitude to the Willy books even as early as 1980, when the six year old me wrote to them to get copies of the first and third books, having picked up the second one in a discount shop. "We only have a few copies left and we have no plans at present to keep them in print" was the gist of their letter. Shame really.
ReplyDeleteI wrote to them in the early to mid-'80s to try and buy Book 3 and a Willie badge, but they had none left. They didn't really seem interested, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that we nearly had the Wonderful World of Marvel - 'Mighty' does indeed sound better. I've always regretted that I didn't discover Marvel comics until November '74 so I missed the first two years but thank god for the Apes TV show or I might never have gotten into Marvel. As for annuals, I was never much interested in the Marvel annuals for some reason - maybe because I was already a big fan of the weeklies and the annuals seemed a bit pointless. The annuals I got were things like The Beano, Dr. Who, Star Trek and Space 1999. It would be fun to read them again, it had never occurred to me until you said it, Kid !
ReplyDeleteGreat storylines and amazing artwork.
ReplyDeleteOh`for the days of pre-mobile phones,smart tvs,computers and all the rest of the electronic paraphenelia that fill our daily lives with much nothingness.
Having said that,i would`nt be typing this to you now,would i?
Hmmm...
Colin, that's what eBay was invented for - re-acquiring the Annuals of your youth (and toys and comics). Happy hunting.
ReplyDelete******
Not only wouldn't you be typing a comment to me, Moony, you'd have no reason to, as I wouldn't have a blog for you to respond to. And as we all know, my blog is a boon to humanity. Now excuse me while I have my reality pill.