1974: BUSTER BOOK OF SPOOKY STORIES 1975 (IPC)

From 1974: Not the sort of thing you'd expect from BUSTER...

In what must constitute one of the oddest brand extensions from the IPC stable, Kings Reach Tower issued this not-quite-like-the-weekly BUSTER BOOK OF SPOOKY STORIES (described as an "annual" but actually more akin to a softback album) in late 1974 for the Halloween/ gifting season.  

Does Skinn (him again) put this (and the following year's second and final outing) together after his pitch for a new IPC horror weekly (to be called CHILLER... a name he finally revived as one of the MARVEL UK POCKET BOOKS in 1980) was staked by the publisher's higher echelons. Apparently they didn't see the potential/ didn't fancy the backlash (delete as applicable) of a horror comic but thought they would get away with it... and shift more copies... by making it into a spin-off from one of their venerable humour weeklies (Buster turned out to be a good choice... it eventually became the once mighty humour group's last-man-standing title... before eventually succumbing as well). Despite the association, the links with the weekly were actually few and far between with the normal Fleetway mix of new commissions and vintage already-paid-for reprints residing in the Fleetway vaults. 

Copies of these two books don't seem to surface very often. I found this in a secondhand bookstore last year for a couple of pounds. 

1981: MARVEL UK ANNUALS

From September 1981: MARVEL UK's bumper bundle of annuals for the impending festive season... including the now-final RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK design, superseding the placeholder seen back in August (see here). 

1981: MARVEL UK ANNUALS HOUSE AD

From August 1981: A MARVEL UK House Ad for that year's ANNUALS, published in association with fellow Jadwin House residents Grandreams.

It's notable for using a couple of mock-up covers (for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK) that vary a lot from the final, published, versions.

The RAIDERS cover uses some Sterenko pre-production art (or mood boards) that were apparently created long before Harrison Ford was cast and were intended to evoke the pulpy adventure paperbacks of yesteryear. 

1987: MARVEL UK ANNUALS House Ad

From 1987: a cavalcade of MARVEL UK ANNUALS.

It says a lot that there's no SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL in the bunch... that's how far the mighty had fallen in the second half of the eighties.  The MARVEL SUPERHEROES edition was, however, an excellent alternative and must rank as one of the very best single annuals of the Star Age.

The rest are a motley bunch of licensed titles... and equally good indicator of the direction of travel for the Annex of Ideas... and the state of the annuals business.

The ACTION FORCE edition was the first from Marvel UK... and also the first time the Force had gone solo in a yearbook.  The previous three years had (logically enough) seen them sharing the pages of the BATTLE ANNUAL from Fleetway.  Unlike the previous years, this was (with the exception of a new text story) an all-reprint affair, drawing on the US G.I. JOE strips.  

THE TRANSFORMERS ANNUAL was the third, and the first year that the movie characters had featured.  For some... this marked the end of the golden age of the Robots in Disguise.

THE THUNDERCATS edition was the second, spun-off from the popular weekly, toys and animated series (aired on the BBC). 

The seldom seen DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS book, presumably (like the one-shot special I've covered before), reprinted the Spanish strips based on the Marvel Productions TV show. 

The rest, pitched at younger readers, are all based on toy or animated (or both) characters.  I think the INSPECTOR GADGET (who I'm sure also had a slot in LOOK-IN... although I don't know if the two licenses overlapped) strips also came from Europe.  ACORN GREEN was a toy line that also had it's own Eco-themed comic from the British Bullpen.  POPPLES, CARE BEARS and MADBALLS all had Star Comics in the States.  MY PET MONSTER was another toy tie-in which spawned an animated series (and straight-to-tape movie). 

1979: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE ANNUAL (Marvel UK)

This is the only classic-era STAR TREK ANNUAL published by Marvel UK in late 1979 to coincide with the film's Christmas release.  It reprinted Marvel's adaptation of THE MOTION PICTURE, published in the States in MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL and the first three issues of the ongoing Trek monthly.

In the UK, it was serialised in FUTURE TENSE a year later.

The Trek annuals had previously been published by World Distributors who licensed reprints of the notoriously off-message US Gold Key comics.

Marvel UK published one more Trek annual: a companion to their short-lived STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION comic which, like the title that spawned it, took its contents from DC Comics and the licensed Starlog magazines.  

1986: IPC/ FLEETWAY 1987 ANNUALS HOUSE AD

We're deep into "annual season" now so I thought it would be fun to run another of IPC/ Fleetway's ambitious advertising campaigns for their yearly offering.

This four-page feature took over the centre pages of the EAGLE (and, presumably, all the other weeklies) cover-dated 29 November 1986, just as kids across the UK were drawing-up their Christmas lists ("cut this out and give it to your parents").

Of the annuals featured here, I had 2000AD, Judge Dredd, Eagle, Dan Dare (the first time the new Eagle had spun their most bankable character into a separate book) and Battle Action Force.

By the time the annual saw print, the defunct TIGER had already been squeezed off the Eagle masthead but Fleetway were maintaining the old tradition of not allowing the cancellation of the comic to end the lifespan of the annual.  Presumably the logic was that previous readers would welcome the chance to be reunited with a former favourite and - more likely - it assumed that parents would be unfamiliar with the ebb-and-flow of the comics business and - when selecting a gift - they would go with a brand name they at least recognised.  Especially one with the longevity of Tiger.

1989: MARVEL UK ANNUALS HOUSE AD

As I've mentioned in previous posts, we're into what I call "Annual Season", the last four-odd months of the year when - once upon a time - the book shops, newsagents and department stores (and Woolies) were deluged with annuals spun-off from any conceivable subject that might appeal to kids.

Up until sometime in the late eighties (I can work it out... but I don't have the information to hand at the moment), Marvel UK published their annuals in association with other publishers.  IPC/ Fleetway in the early seventies, someone else mid-decade and Grandreams by the late seventies and into the eighties (Grandreams appeared to share not only the same Jadwin House address as the Annex of Ideas but also the same management team somehow).

Towards the end of the eighties, M-UK took the annuals in-house and issued them under the Marvel brand.  As you can see, they offered a bumper range for Christmas 1989.

Most are fairly self-explanitry but here's a quick romp through the offering:

A QUESTION OF SPORT - A TV tie-in to the perennial BBC quiz show (still going strong today, as far as I know).

AMERICAN FOOTBALL - Channel Four were, presumably, still carrying coverage which - at the time - was still a novel taste of Americana.

WILLIAM TELL - I've covered this TV tie-in in previous posts.  Marvel UK clearly had high hopes for the show (even announcing a fortnightly comic version) but it failed to make any impact.  The strips prepared for the aborted fortnightly ran in THE BUMPER COMIC and there was also a graphic novel collected edition and a one-shot special.

INDIANA JONES - This Further Adventures of Indiana Jones reprint was - presumably - released to capitalise on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Oddly, there was also a softback version (which I have somewhere).  Indy was also appearing in the extremely short-lived THE INCREDIBLE HULK PRESENTS at the same time.

MARVEL SUPERHEROES - The modern equivalent of the Marvel annuals that had been doing the rounds - under a number of different titles - since the seventies.

ACTION FORCE - The Hasbro toy tie-in.  The lead times required by annuals meant it wasn't able to reflect the toy line's relaunch as G.I. JOE: THE ACTION FORCE which officially happened - as far as Marvel was concerned - in December 1989.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN - A hardy perennial although I have a hunch that no editions had been published the previous two years, a sad reflection of how far out of favour the character had fallen in the UK.

FLINTSTONES AND FRIENDS - This Hanna Barbara tie-in was pegged to a current Marvel UK comic.

SCOOBY-DOO - More HB animation antics.

DINO RIDERS - This was a Tyco Toys tie-in and - as far as I know - the only thing Marvel (on either side of the Atlantic) did with the property.

TOM & JERRY - 'nuff said.

THE TRANSFORMERS - By this point in the eighties, well on the way to becoming a Christmas institution.

THUNDERCATS - The other big toy tie-in of the era.

CARE BEARS - By this point, Marvel had been publishing a regular CB comic for several years as part of the overall merchandising blitz that accompanied the toys.

THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS - Another animation/ toy tie-in.  This franchise became something of a cash-cow for M-UK at the turn of the decade, spawning several spin-off comics.

SYLVANIAN FAMILIES - I walked past a toy store the other day which had a window display devoted to these critters so they must still be going strong.  Marvel also published a regular comic based on the property.

1974: MARVEL 1975 ANNUALS HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

As I posted last week, this is the beginning of "ANNUAL SEASON", that time of year when no visit to a larger newsagent or bookshop wasn't complete without perusing the copious number of annuals on sale.

Today's house ad, from November 1974, plugs MARVEL UK's three 1975 cover-dated offerings: MARVEL, THE AVENGERS and SPIDER-MAN.

1985: IPC-FLEETWAY 1986 ANNUALS HOUSE AD

Late August/ early September would always mean the first sightings of the following year's annuals (for late-comers: British annuals, despite being pitched firmly at the Christmas market, would always be dated - if dated at all - for the following year so, in 1985, you would expect to find 1986 annuals on sale) in WH Smith, Martins, Woolworths and other newsagents/ booksellers.

The line-up would generally be spin-offs from existing (and often long-since defunct) comics, flavour-of-the-month media characters from TV and film, pop stars and more general (and, to be, duller) gender-specific slightly-worthy tomes which you'd never get excited about but - presumably - unsure older relatives would consider a safe bet gift.

Having a September birthday had one advantage: the ability to draw-up a first-round wish list long before Christmas.  In those days, annuals were still a big deal (the margins were probably massive for retailers) and any half-way decent retailer would give them a large display fixture (normally a table of some sort) which could then be scanned eagerly for any likely candidates.

Christmas was the second-round of the gift-list.  Scooping up anything not available... or at the bottom of the birthday list... a few months earlier.

Round-three was the post-Christmas sales when retailer would often hastily reduce their remaining stock to get shot of them ASAP.

Round-four was when overstocks and unsolds hit discount booksellers and market stalls.  That was often a chance to snaffle-up editions that had suffered from remarkably poor distribution in proper retailers.  I recall being able to pick up STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, MISSION GALACTICA: THE CYLON ATTACK and SECRET WARS from those outlets.

Then - of course - there was the less reliable - but often rewarding - secondhand and charity shops.  DOCTOR WHO and MARVEL annuals seemed to be a specialism of such outlets and a canny shopper could - over time - accumulate quite a collection.

This is an IPC house ad, from November 1985, plugging some of the Fleetway wares for the following year.  They churned-out dozens of annuals each year so this would only be a male-friendly sampling (the ad appeared, after all, in the EAGLE).  I know, from the covers featured, I had the EAGLE, 2000AD, JUDGE DREDD and BATTLE ACTION FORCE books that year.

1998: TEAM KNIGHT RIDER ANNUAL (Grandreams)

Pity poor Universal (or NBC Universal now), they just can't catch a break reviving KNIGHT RIDER.  There's no doubt that the old adage "The car's the star" always applied here but - it seems - without the Hoff permanently ensconced behind the steering wheel, the punters just ain't interested.

CODE OF VENGEANCE was the only spin-off show that (however briefly) went into production alongside the original show.  The two-part episode Mouth of the Snake was a back-door pilot for a new series, originally titled All that Glitters, built around the character David Dalton.  The original plan was that Dalton (played by Charles Taylor) was going to be a government agent in the James Bond tradition (surprisingly, knowing Larson's fetish for the character, the uber-producer had already moved across to 20th Century Fox and his only ongoing involvement with KR was cashing the royalty cheques) but - when the concept was retooled for COV - he became a drifter.  The original 1985 COV tele-flick scored well and the character returned in a second TV movie and two one-hour shows before cancellation.  The KR episodes are on DVD but COV never crossed the Atlantic and has now vanished without trace.

KNIGHT RIDER 2000 was the futuristic 1991 TV movie which reunited the Hoff with Edward Mulhare in the hopes of spinning-off a new KR weekly series with a new cast and a new car - the Knight 4000.  It's not a bad tele-flick and scored highly but the planned series didn't materialise.  It aired on British TV and features - as a most welcome bonus feature - on the KR season one DVD set. 

KNIGHT RIDER 2010 was - despite the title - almost entirely unrelated to either the previous movie or the original weekly series.  None of the previous cast reprised their roles and the only connection to the franchise was the idea of a sentiment car being used in the fight against injustice.  I watched this futuristic flick - originally shot for Universal's syndicated Action Pack TV movie package in 1994 - again recently and it still made a minimal impression.  Even whilst I was watching.  It's not available on DVD but has aired on British TV on Channel Five (which is where my copy comes from). 

TEAM KNIGHT RIDER was Universal's 1997-98 single-season syndicated show which applied the (flawed) logic that more high-tech hardware (five talking vehicles!) would pull in the punters.  This did (loosely) follow the continuity of the original series (but not KR 2000) and Michael Knight is mentioned... but never appears.  This show did cross the Atlantic and - briefly - appeared on ITV's Saturday evening schedules... before vanishing without trace after only a couple of episodes.  As far as I know, it was never rescheduled in ANY timeslot and - presumably - the rights were allowed to quietly expire.  Grandreams (who, I'm surprised to note, were still in business in the late nineties) obviously thought ITV would treat the show better and dutifully issued the annual pictured below in 1998.  As far as I know, this was one of the few pieces of merchandise pegged to the show.  

KNIGHT RIDER - Jump forward to 2008 and its time for another TV movie reboot, this time *briefly* featuring an uncomfortable-looking Hoff (he's been banging-on for years - even on the DVD commentary for the original pilot movie - about a feature film revival and, possibly, saw the chances diminishing before his eyes) in yet another attempt to get a weekly series commission.  This time, with the Hoff-factor applied, they got the green light although the new weekly series managed only a single (short) season.  It's notably for featuring a homage to - of all things - Captain Jack and TORCHWOOD. Really. It's not a great show but - like the BIONIC WOMEN revival - not really deserving of its tepid reputation.  

1975: ADVERT FOR MARVEL'S 1976 ANNUALS (Marvel UK)

Christmas is coming... so here's some stocking-stuffers of yore: the 1976 roster of MARVEL ANNUALS, as published (and plugged) in the last-quarter of 1975.

This Marvel UK house ad appeared in the British weeklies during October 1975.

1988: MARVEL UK ANNUALS HOUSE AD

To get you in the Christmas spirit, here's a house ad for Marvel UK's range of ANNUALS for Christmas 1988.

It's notable that only one actually features Marvel characters (a reprint of the one-shot SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS TV adaptation), the rest are all based on licensed properties.  Spidey didn't even get his own solo book.  

CAPTAIN POWER AND THE SOLDIERS OF THE FUTURE was an all-British production based on the Mattel toys and TV show.  Both became mired in controversy and barely made a dent in the UK.  The interactive live-action TV show eventually turned-up, if memory serves, on WH Smith's LIFESTYLE TV channel (yup, the cards'n'mags retailer briefly dabbled in the satellite TV business).

THE ADVENTURES OF THE GALAXY RANGERS has been covered in another post.  Marvel launched a regular fortnightly based on the animated SF western, and swiftly merged it with THUNDERCATS.

THUNDERCATS.  Speak of the devil.  Marvel's tie-in with the toys and animated series was a (far) greater success, despite the fact that the BBC didn't even air the whole series.

ACTION FORCE and THE TRANSFORMERS.  'Nuff said.  

VISIONARIES was (yet) another Hasbro toy tie-in, which made comparatively little impact.  The BBC aired the TV show and Marvel UK joined the associated merchandising push with a short-lived monthly (five issues), two stints as supporting feature in THE TRANSFORMERS and a one-shot special.

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH reprinted Marvel's Star Comics adaptation of the opening TV adventure.  It's notable for having Stan Lee's name on the credits and also for explicitly identifying Flash Gordon's (soon to snuff-it) wife as Dale Arden, something the TV version conspicuously doesn't do.  Marvel US pulled the plug on this one (based on their own animated TV show which teamed Flash with fellow King Feature strip stars The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician) after only four issues.  Marvel UK reprinted the later two as a couple of specials, as well as serialising the strips in the pages of THE MARVEL BUMPER COMIC.  

1977: THE FIRST 2000AD ANNUAL (IPC/ Fleetway)

This - believe it or not - is Dan Dare, as visualised by Gerry Woods.  Confusingly, he looked nothing like either the classic Frank Hampson original or Tharg The Mighty's flawed reinterpretation.  

This is the first 2000AD ANNUAL, published in September 1977 (mere months after Tharg launched his stellar new weekly in February '77) for the Christmas market.  As is the industry convention, the date on the cover is for the following year.

Because of the inevitable publishing lead-times and deadlines, work must have begun on this hefty 128-page spin-off much earlier in the year (or even late 1976), just when the weekly was just hitting newsagents for the first time.  That said, most of the early prog-stars are present: Judge Dredd, Tharg's Future Shocks, Flesh, the Harlem Heroes, Invasion, M.A.C.H 1 and - of course - the pilot of the future himself.  

The 2000AD ANNUAL appeared every year until the 1991 edition, published in 1990.  From the following year (cover-dated 1992) it morphed into the soft-cover 2000AD YEARBOOK.  Four more volumes followed, the last published in September 1994.

The first (of two) 2000AD-era DAN DARE ANNUALS appeared in 1978 (cover-dated 1979) with the second released the following year.

Dare lost his place in Fleetway's publishing schedule to JUDGE DREDD in 1980 (cover-dated 1981).  The Lawman's book appeared alongside the main 2000AD Annual for 11 editions, also bowing-out in 1990 (with a 1991 cover-date).  Four further softcover Yearbooks appeared through the early 1990s.

The 2000AD/ Judge Dredd annuals/ yearbooks were cancelled after the 1994 editions, ironically the year before Fleetway believed the Judge Dredd movie would unleash a torrent of merchandising.  The end of an era.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA UK ANNUALS

These are the two hardback UK annuals, published in the UK, based on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

Annual 1

Annual 2

Both are, technically, based on the faux feature films rather than the TV show (which didn't reach British shores until 1980) itself.

These contained all-new material (a mix of strips, text stories and articles) which make them the THIRD contemporary strip interpretation (after Marvel's and LOOK-IN) of the show. 

The second annual, as the title suggests, ties-in with the second Battlestar movie, released in the UK in 1980.  There's actually very little inside specifically related to the film.  For some reason, CONQUEST OF THE EARTH was never deemed worthy of a third edition.  

For the benefit of overseas readers: annuals were (and still are: after going through a slump during the nineties, they seem to be revitalised today, albeit mostly aimed at a younger and - apparently - less demanding readership) hardback children's books published around this time of year and pitched mainly at the Christmas gift market.*  

By the 1970s/ 1980s, the majority were based on media properties (film, television and comic books) and - occasionally - the latest pop star of the moment.

Many of the annuals based on licensed properties demonstrated a most tenuous grasp of the source material, either because it hadn't reached the UK yet (deals had to be signed, and books produced, months in advance.  Publishers didn't always know much about what they were publishing... or whether it would actually sell) or because the creative team assigned to the book didn't care much.  The DOCTOR WHO ANNUALS, from World Distributors, were notorious for this sloppy quality control (and they were produced by a UK published and based on a well-established TV show.  Sigh).  

*My birthday is this month so my wish-list always included as many annuals as I knew were available in early September (WH Smith and larger branches of Martins would always allocate a whole table, from the end of August onwards, to that year's wares) with a mop-up operation (for late arrivals and anything outstanding) at Christmas.  Typical fare on any given year would include EAGLE, BATTLE ACTION FORCE, STAR WARS, 2000AD, JUDGE DREDD, TRANSFORMERS and anything that tickled my geeky fancy.  

Most retailers, desperate to ditch stock, would heavily discount any remaining stock straight after Christmas which was the third (and final) chance to stock-up on left-overs.  I have a strong memory of scouring the local branch of WOOLWORTHS (R.I.P) on the first trading day after Christmas looking for that year's elusive STAR TREK ANNUAL (assembled from creaky Gold Key reprints)... and finally finding it in a stack of about-to-be-reduced books in the corner.  I went home happy that day.

I acquired my copy of the first BG annual years after it was published, but I distinctly remember where I found my copy of the MG:TCA edition.  There was a run-down shop, on the corner, of Chelmsford High Street which (amongst other things... mostly books, stationary and - maybe - pocket money type toys) had direct-from-the-printer boxes of remaindered annuals.  I got, although possible not at the same time, this one and the STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Marvel/ Grandreams annual.  That shop disappeared decades ago: the dilapidated building was renovated and (for many years) housed a large branch of newsagent/ bookseller John Menzies (so many a geek purchase was made there) before the chain was taken over by rival WH Smith and surplus branches (including that one) closed.  Now, as far as I know, its a branch of Next.

1984: GRANDREAMS ANNUALS

Here's an advert, from one of Marvel's weeklies, for Grandreams' Christmas 1984 offering of Pop Culture goodies.

The Perfect Mailing Company handled Marvel UK subscriptions and back issues.  As a kid (and an adult too) I always imagined their Maldon warehouse (actually not too many towns removed from where I lived... curses for not going to have a look around!) to be a cornucopia of cool stuff in the RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK tradition.

1983: MARVEL UK/ GRANDREAMS ADVERTS

Here are two adverts for Grandreams 1984 annuals, published in the autumn of 1983.  The spots appeared in the pages of Marvel UK's weeklies in the later part of '83.

There's a few fun things to note:

- The action/ adventure shows we were watching at the time: it looks like an ideal action/ adventure route-to-midnight today.  Boxleitner's BRING 'EM BACK ALIVE (another show, like TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY, keen to recreate the success of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK) has largely been forgotten by history (it aired on ITV here in the UK) and really deserves a belated box set release.

- The RETURN OF THE JEDI annual in the advert has a different cover than the published one and the image is presumably (unless you know better) a pre-press mock-up.  The 1984 annual featured Marvel's movie adaptation and actually used the familiar cover artwork which also graced the US SUPER SPECIAL and issue one of the UK weekly.  

- THUNDERBIRDS 2086, a Japanese animated series loosely based on Gerry Anderson's classic (ITC couldn't sue, their Tokyo office made it!), was something of a premature release.  Grandreams obviously expected a UK broadcast to coincide with the annual's release but BBC ONE didn't run the show until 1986!  The annual, especially the copious amounts of geek-friendly hardware, was still cool enough to go on the Christmas list... especially as it teased televisual treats to come.

- SPIDER-WOMAN was basking in the success of her 1979 animated show which, belatedly, reached the  UK in early 1983.

-  Readers to lazy to wander down to their local John Menzies or W.H. Smith were encouraged to mail-away for their goodies.  Marvel were still using their Jadwin House address (shared with.... Grandreams!) as their publishing and editorial address but Redan Place, their new home, was already their mail-order base.

- Marvel and Grandreams were thick-as-thieves but only some of the annuals (the obvious ones.. plus Return of the Jedi) were official co-productions.