Found this image by Henry Flint on the Comic scene website, anyone know anything about this.
https://comicscene.org/2023/05/29/what-is-this-a-treasury-of-british-comics-annual/
Looks like an Annual made up of various reprint strips, perhaps as a taster for books that are already (or soon) available, judging by Hookjaw, The Spider, Frankie Stein, etc on the cover.
Reprint of old annual & specials strips with three new stories according to Keith Richardson on FB.
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 30 May, 2023, 11:30:36 PMReprint of old annual & specials strips with three new stories according to Keith Richardson on FB.
Nice and that is an amazing cover.
Black Beth on the cover suggests that she may be one of the new strips. DaNi!
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 31 May, 2023, 08:47:22 AMBlack Beth on the cover suggests that she may be one of the new strips. DaNi!
Ohhh yes good call. Looking forward to that.
Now out for pre order in the shop for £25 paperback £30 hardback
For over a century, the comic book annual has been an essential Christmas stocking filler for British children. The Treasury of British Comics have dived deep into the archives, selecting slick and exciting stories from past annuals, specials and regular issues, including strips from such titles as Lion, Starlord, Misty, Action, Wham!, Scream!, Smash!, Battle and Valiant to name but a few. Including the best of British talent like Brian Bolland, Cam Kennedy, Leo Baxendale, Ken Reid, Mike Western, Brian Lewis, Joe Colquhoun and Pat Mills, there are also three brand new strips -
The Leopard from Lime Street Vs The Spider by Simon Furman, David Roach and Mike Collins
Black Beth by Alec Worley and DaNi
Gustav of the Bearmacht by Kek-W and Staz Johnson.
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/RCA-B0206?fbclid=IwAR3T1rH4eEt5gFKmx1s4X96aFMaZ5oiHl7tSRpBk0tkTKWllGHp7E7GPs7o
Spinball Wars by Brian Bolland!
Sounds like a winner.
Chances are I have read some of the reprint material, but definitely not all.
I think Alec Worley and Dani did a great job on their sporadic Black Beth collaborations over the last few years, so looking forward to more of that.
New material from Furman and Kek-W always welcome too, never mind the quality of artists lined up.
Price tag may be a bit ouch for a Christmas stocking filler though.
Treasury Of British Comics Annual - 2024 Webshop Exclusive Edition:
(https://images.rebellion.click/productVersion/88/af/00.large.jpg)
Here is the pre-order links as well: https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/RCA-B0206 (https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/RCA-B0206)
Ordered. I think this is a fantastic idea and am really looking forward to getting an annual for Christmas once again.
For the record, I would devour a 2000ad or Dredd Annual.
*I mean a new 2000ad/Dredd annual. But the comments applies to the old, too
I'm hoping this is thick and chunky with lots of pages, but the weight on the webshop (Flint 450g, B&W 630g) doesn't sound that much compared to some of the other 'normal' sized books listed on the site.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 May, 2023, 08:49:00 PMOrdered. I think this is a fantastic idea and am really looking forward to getting an annual for Christmas once again.
For the record, I would devour a 2000ad or Dredd Annual.
Me too.Sorely missed
Quote from: Swerty on 01 June, 2023, 07:21:13 AMQuote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 May, 2023, 08:49:00 PMOrdered. I think this is a fantastic idea and am really looking forward to getting an annual for Christmas once again.
For the record, I would devour a 2000ad or Dredd Annual.
Me too.Sorely missed
I think the hundred-page Christmas prog is supposed to fulfil that function, but it doesn't really. It's too much like a regular prog. I think they should suspend regular stories for an issue like they do with the regened progs, and make it more self-contained.
The end of year Prog is supposed to hook people back in again though. If it was self contained, that might result in fewer people buying the following issue.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 01 June, 2023, 12:48:17 PMThe end of year Prog is supposed to hook people back in again though. If it was self contained, that might result in fewer people buying the following issue.
Fair point.
Only a maximum of five stories can continue into the next prog, which is less than half the page count. The majority is still one-off stories.
The covers next to each other:
(https://i0.wp.com/www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/333ea0d1-8a4f-1989-7fd9-e0c76741b973-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1)
Quote from: Richard on 01 June, 2023, 08:41:51 PMOnly a maximum of five stories can continue into the next prog, which is less than half the page count. The majority is still one-off stories.
There's nothing to stop them releasing Annuals still and do an end of year bumper Prog.The annuals used to come out in August
I would like the return of the annuals as well but not at the cost of the xmas prog.
Quote from: Swerty on 02 June, 2023, 11:21:14 AMThere's nothing to stop them releasing Annuals still and do an end of year bumper Prog.The annuals used to come out in August
True. A couple of things are worth considering though. The quality of the contents could be highly variable at times. Some of the artwork was incredibly poor and the stories themselves weren't much better. Granted there were some absolute classics but both the annuals and summer specials generally suffered from that, particularly the last few.
Then there's the matter of the reprint material. As a rule a sizeable chunk was given over to this. Again, this was not always a bad thing and there were some real gems that we probably wouldn't have otherwise seen but there was also a lot of Tooth stuff too. These days a lot of that is already taken up with the Megazine plus the Treasury collection. Finding cost-effective material that hasn't been reprinted to death (is that actually possible, how many different versions of Cursed Earth / Apocalypse War do some of us have ...) might be a bit of a challenge potentially.
Times and tastes have changed. Maybe it is worth thinking about reviving this tradition. Annuals are still around albeit rather poorly designed these days. It's probably fair to say that anyone haunting these parts would snap one up in an instant but the bigger challenge is likely to be enticing a wider audience. Certainly plenty to ponder.
Most annuals are loss leaders. They are not profitable. If a 2000 AD one were to exist, it would likely be stuffed full of reprint and far more expensive than typical annuals, due to the target demographic and lack of mainstream appeal compared to, say, Lego or Paw Patrol.
There are some exceptions in this market. DCT's Dandy and Beano annuals remain excellent. But I also suspect the company ultimately makes naff-all from them and they're essentially a cunning way to tempt parents to subscribing their kids to The Beano. (Notably, The Phoenix does not do an annual, which says a lot about the nature of the market.)
It's certainly possible to pick some gems out of the old annuals: the 1982 2000 AD Annual contained Bax the Burner and The Alien Zoo - but those are the chief highlights and consist of 14pp out of 128.
Compare that to a seasonal Prog - the most recent of which had 78pp of new strip content (out of 100).
(To be fair to the Annual, it did have other new strip content, for a total of 40pp out of 128 - or 31%.)
Summary: the seasonal offerings from the current HOT are superior to the past.
But what about the next generation?
Don't they have a right to read Phantom Patrol?
And how will they learn about the space shuttle (which is going to change everything by the year 2000)?
Would you deny them the hours we spent trying to spot the differences between two almost identical pictures taken from a strip that ran before we started reading the prog?
And what about those out-of-continuity stories done by second-string artists and writers who weren't wholly familiar with the material?
Don't you want kids today to have Christmas stories in September?
I have been foolish and bow my head in shame. :-[
Quote from: Tyranno-Mek on 02 June, 2023, 05:22:04 PMIt's certainly possible to pick some gems out of the old annuals: the 1982 2000 AD Annual contained Bax the Burner and The Alien Zoo - but those are the chief highlights and consist of 14pp out of 128.
I always thought that the Judge Dredd annuals showed the way — they had significantly lower page counts, but from the outset had three long, full colour, high-quality Dredd strips. I mean,
really top drawer stuff. Some of the page count inbetween was undoubtedly filler, but there were some gems in there, too.
(That said, when Fleetway ditched the old annuals for the yearbooks, which were (IIRC) largely original material, those didn't sell, either.)
This is my point. There are some absolutely cracking strips in the old annuals and even the specials. There is also a lot of material that is not up to the same standard as the prog. The last few years of Fleetway were abysmal on pretty much every front. Perhaps that was a response to market conditions. Then again, given what we know about the Maxwell family, perhaps not ...
Oh and Ware ... Some of us had to wait longingly until Christmas Day for the privilege of those things ...
Would be great if they could start doing 2000ad annuals
Quote from: moly on 02 June, 2023, 08:51:58 PMWould be great if they could start doing 2000ad annuals
Depends on whether anything has changed since they stopped doing them the last time. Though I suppose if this annual sells well, it might show that there's a market for annuals aimed at an audience which probably overlaps considerably with 2000AD's readership.
I just want an annual.
I used to get a Beano, Cor! and Monster Fun - plus Dredd and 2000ad (and Rogue etc when there was an outlier.)
They were my most precious presents. Looking back, I realise my parents bought them and gave them to my grandparents to pass to me as gifts. They are therefore associated with family.
I still have every annual I got and I really love them. They're great reads if you need a poo quick read.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 02 June, 2023, 04:53:41 PMMost annuals are loss leaders. They are not profitable.
TPO says exactly the opposite: "These hardcover books were hugely lucrative for the company, selling large numbers at a high cover price. But the projects had such limited budgets a third of the pages had to be filled with reprints." (2007 edition, p76).
Quote from: J.Ware on 02 June, 2023, 05:42:14 PMBut what about the next generation?
Don't they have a right to read Phantom Patrol?
And how will they learn about the space shuttle (which is going to change everything by the year 2000)?
That's all covered. I'm sure they'll all be rushing out next week to buy the re-release of The Usborne Book of the Future (http://usborne%20book%20of%20the%20future).
Ahem, let's try that again.
I'm sure they'll all be rushing out next week to buy the re-release of The Usborne Book of the Future (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Future-Kenneth-Gatland/dp/1803709545)!
Futurep?
Aarrgh! Can we PLEASE get a longer edit window?
I'll take an accidental double-post if it generates a tiny bit more publicity! :lol:
This looks great! And it contains new material you say?
'The Leopard from Lime Street Vs The Spider by Simon Furman, David Roach and Mike Collins'
This sounds like it could be very cool...
'Black Beth by Alec Worley and DaNi'
Very excited by this...
'Gustav of the Bearmacht'
OMG AUTO BUY.
My copy arrived a couple of days ago, thus being with me in Australia before the release date! But now it goes away into hiding until Christmas.
The story Final Victim has triggered a memory of reading this as a child. Can anyone tell me where this is reprinted from?
Quote from: Doomlord66 on 12 January, 2024, 10:47:47 PMThe story Final Victim has triggered a memory of reading this as a child. Can anyone tell me where this is reprinted from?
QuoteTHE FINAL VICTIM – by Pat Mills, Derek Cribbling, and Joe Colquhoun. Originally published in Valiant Book of Mystery & Magic 1976
- from link (https://comicon.com/2023/10/06/preview-the-treasury-of-british-comics-annual-2024-something-special-for-xmas-from-the-past-and-present-of-brit-comics/).
I thought this annual was superb. If Rebellion can do this every year it's a surefire sale from me.
Excellent selection of reprints, and because the individiual stories were so short, I could be halfway through the book and it still felt like I had hundreds of stories to go, which for me recaptured a crucial bit of Christmas annual nostalgia - that feeling that the book could last forever, that almost unlimited reading stretched out before me. Some of the stories were a bit weak to the modern-in-his-40s reader but the wonderful artwork and pure nostalgia carries them.
Hugely enjoyed all three new strips: the Spider / Leopard story was an old school delight, whilst the other two didn't fit into the nostalgic theme, which made them feel quite special: Black Beth is too good to be relegated to annuals and specials imo - it looks incredible, and whilst each story is self contained, there's a real slow burn plot across them all. Gustav is also ridiculously fun and I hope it continues to pop up here and there, I can't really see enough nazis eaten by bears (although I did think it was slightly more adult pitched than the rest of the annual with its content).
Great stuff really, I hope we can get another one this year.
My sentiment as well, I would even extend it to ask if we can get a 2000AD, Judge Dredd, Battle/Action, Treasury annuals every year
I'd love to get more Annuals.This one now of stock I thought they might of tried shifting any remaining copies in a sale.
Had this on an Amazon wish list for ages, but only ever saw the Kindle version on sale.
What's the story - low print run or huge success?
Yeah, I wanted the Flinty cover so was waiting for it to turn up in Forbidden Planet, but no show and now sold out in the 2000AD Shop?
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 May, 2023, 08:50:02 PM*I mean a new 2000ad/Dredd annual. But the comments applies to the old, too
Ol' Green Bonce's ears must have been burning.
Brian Bolland on Facebook just then:
"There's a 2025 annual coming."
2000AD Annual?
Bolland posted that comment in a discussion about 2000AD annuals.
Make of that what you will.
I'll keep my fingers crossed.Thanks
Dare I hope?
Wow I wonder what form that will take... exciting!