With the death of the traditional Summer Specials a few years ago publishers began experimenting with a new format. If newsagents were no longer interested in the relatively low returns on glossy comic specials then perhaps bookshops could be targeted with a format tailored to their needs instead? It seemed an area worth trying and now D.C. Thomson have adopted the format with the launch of two Summer Annuals this week. A bit early for Summer? Perhaps, but these books are intended to be available for a few months, or at least until the Christmas annuals come out in, er, August. Such is the nature of comic publishing.
Both The Beano 3D Summer Annual and The Broons/Oor Wullie Summer Annual are 128 page softbacks retailing at £5.99 each. (Although they're considerably cheaper on Amazon at present.) Both books also feature free gifts. There's a Whoopee Cushion and 3D Specs with The Beano and a set of Playing Cards with The Broons.
Anyone who's been collecting The Beano avidly for the past several years may be a little disappointed to hear that most of the content in this book is reprint. There are some new pages, but apart from a very nice Ivy the Terrible four-pager drawn by Diego Jourdan I'm not sure which other pages are new. However, for anyone new to the comic (and every Beano is someone's first issue) or for those of us who haven't held onto copies, this is a great collection, packed with full colour strips and puzzles. The 3D gimmick is only used on a few pages (mostly the puzzles) but it works, and it's the modern 3D method using full colour rather than the old red/green technique.
The Broons/Oor Wullie book will probably be the better attraction for older collectors (as is its intention of course). A busy collection of classic strips, the majority of which are by the great Dudley Watkins, holiday-related historical features and puzzles. Plenty of summer reading indeed.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Broons-Wullie-Summer-Annual-2011/dp/1845354478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301666564&sr=8-1
8 comments:
The cover of the broons and oor wullie annual is the same as the 1944 annual. Dudley was brilliant! I shall certanly look out for them
:)
That's impossible. There was no 1944 annual, due to paper rationing!
Very true James. I don't think that painting has ever been the cover of a Broons Annual.
Whoops! Sorry - I meant the 1944 jigsaw :D
whoops :D I meant to say 1944 jigsaw puzzle
Wasn't it a painting used for one of 2 Jigsaws which were produced during the war instead of Annuals (I think it was mentioned in the celebration supplement a few weeks ago)
I'm not quite sure on my view on Summer Specials.. My best experince would more just be with the Sonic ones as, well, i'm a major sonic guy ^_^. STC did basicly 4 specials. In 1994, the first Summer Special was okay (No writer or artist credits are a pain) and mostly set up the style of them doing a 'Two-part' story and some loose ones, and it gave the first Knuckles.. The next years special was a bit of a cheat.. Instead of new content, it was reprinting all (but 1) sonic style from the Poster Mag.. Good for me, cause i never got the Poster Mag, though there was also one new story.. (Lew did 4 of the 5 storys by the way). 1996 was weird.. 2 Specials.. a sonic one and a Knuckles one, both around the same time.. back to new content (Lew did 2 of the 4 in the Sonic one and none of the knuckles).. After the three year run, Specials stopped until 1999 which was a bad point in the comic's life.. the Special was 100% reprints and i just didn't bother with it.. Lack of money and will power to buy what i already had basicly.. So.. from that point of view.. Summer Specials are okay but companys don't seam to know what to do with them, do they?
and hang on.. have two people admited making that first 'anonymous' comment?
Thanks for the kind comments Lew... i hope i get a copy of the annual to finally see the story in print!
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