Annual publication

Last updated

Annual publications, more often simply called annuals, are periodical publications appearing regularly once per year. [1] Although exact definitions may vary, types of annuals include: calendars and almanacs, directories, yearbooks, annual reports, proceedings and transactions and literary annuals. [1] A weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication. Some encyclopedias have published annual supplements that essentially summarize the news of the past year, similar to some newspaper yearbooks.

Contents

To libraries and collectors, annuals present challenges of size (tens or hundreds of volumes) and completeness (acquiring a sequence with no missing volumes). They are handled similar to serial publications, which typically means a single library catalog record for the title, not for individual years. The single record must then indicate which volumes (years) are held.

The mid- and late 20th century saw a sharp increase in the publication of annuals to report scientific results and provide overview, both in ever more specialized topics and in popular summary. [1]

History

A hand watercolored etching etched by William Henry Mote of Ada Lovelace Ada Lovelace 1838.jpg
A hand watercolored etching etched by William Henry Mote of Ada Lovelace

A new form of literary work called the "Annual" was a fad from about 1823 through 1857 and became so popular that they were soon published up to 17 times a year. British royalty increased their popularity. They closely resemble many college literary "books" just produced for college campus today, except they contained many etchings of beautiful women from steel plates. They were the fashion magazines of the day. Later it became fashionable to watercolor the etchings and the "Annuals" became early coloring books. There was later a backlash against "beauty" and the fad ended, as did steel plate etchings for books.

"The Annual" was a long-running fad from 1824 until 1857 which started in England, but spilled over into the U.S. Steel plates of the 1820s allowed book publishers to mass-produce pictures. What started out as an "annual book" or a gift for the holidays turned into something that had up to 17 editions through the year (yet were still called annuals). Countess Blessington and other royal women contributed to the works and altered fashion. This fad was sometimes referred to as "beauty", as books with plates of women defined the content.

An early annual from 1822/3 Forget Me Not 1823 Boards.jpg
An early annual from 1822/3

In one book, the steel plate was damaged and another picture of a woman was simply used as a replacement. The illustrations often had nothing to do with the text content. The content of the text was often of poor quality and "The American Book of Beauty" contained a story of prison torture with an illustration of a pretty woman with a lapdog. "The American Book of Beauty" also has several copies of the books with portraits in different orders. One edition of the "Heath's Book of Beauty" was a college project and contained poems, short stories, etc. 1826 was not a good year for the annuals, because of the Panic of 1825. Thomas Hood's sarcastic poem "The Battle of the Annuals" was published in the 1830s. Watercolor became popular in the 1830s and the black and white etchings were the coloring books of the day. In 1842, Volume 1, page 521 of the Illustrated London News , there are sarcastic pictures poking fun at the annuals. In 1844 there was an article referring to it as imbecilic mania and finally the "Obituary for the Annual" appeared in the Art Journal of 1857. The death of the annuals and new photo techniques replacing etching ended most engravers' careers. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Yearbooks

A yearbook is a volume that summarizes events of the past year. [1] One of the earliest is The Annual Register , published in London since 1758. A forerunner is Abel Boyer's The Political State of Great Britain (38 volumes, 1711–29). Later examples include The Statesman's Yearbook (since 1864) and the Daily Mail Year Book (since 1901). Two early German titles are Europäischer Geschichtskalender, founded in 1861 by Heinrich Schulthess and Gottlob Egelhaaf's Historisch-politische Jahresübersicht (28 volumes, 1908–1936).

Comic books

In the case of comic books, an annual is an extra issue that corresponds with an ongoing series, providing story material in addition to the customary 12 issues per year of a monthly series and filling "holes in a publishing schedule that are usually created when a fifth release day falls in a month. Instead of publishing nothing that particular week or shuffling schedules around to accommodate, a popular series or character will get an annual special". [7] A comic book annual customarily has a larger page count than its monthly counterpart, leaving room for longer single stories, multiple stories in a single annual and/or "extra" material that the monthly series lacks the space to publish. These "extras" may include biographical information on featured characters, full-page pin-ups of characters, reprints of previously published material, or all-new short stories (often called "back-up" stories). [7] [8] [9] Chase Magnett, for ComicBook.com, highlighted that "annuals are ultimately best defined by being what the monthly issues are not" and that "the only consistency surrounding the concept of these special sorts of issues is that they have been around in some form or another just about as long as superhero comics have been published". [9] An annual is considered a separate series for purposes of numbering and collectability; a particular periodical's Annual will thus have its own numbering series, or alternately be referred to by the year of its publication. [7] For example, between 1963 and 2012, Fantastic Four has had 33 annuals. When IDW published a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles annual in 2020, it was titled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2020. [7]

Comic book annuals originally were little more than reprint albums (for example Superman Annual #1, August 1960), representing stories that had first seen publication in their monthly counterparts, but eventually, this changed to annuals featuring primarily all-new material (the first example being Fantastic Four Annual #1, July 1963 [9] ). Later annuals often featured stories with greater import to the characters featured than in the monthly publications, reflecting the "special" status of their once-yearly publication. Annuals also, on occasion, featured the finale of a multi-issue storyline running in the monthly series; conversely, many annuals would showcase standalone stories that did not fit in with the then-current thrust of the monthly series' storyline. [7] [9]

In the late 1980s and much of the 1990s, annuals published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics were usually released in the summer of the year and often had a unifying theme, either a similar theme that individual stories were written around, or a crossover storyline bringing many of the characters in the individual publishers' continuities together for a single overall event. In the case of the "crossover" annuals, the number of characters and annuals involved in a crossover story varied. Some were company-wide, incorporating virtually every character in the publisher's shared universe whose series received an annual edition. [7] Others used smaller groups of characters whose series had some sort of in-story connection, such as series featuring members of teams or "extended families" of characters.

Annuals published by DC and particularly Marvel became fewer and far between by the late 1990s, mainly due to the near-collapse of the comic book industry in the wake of the speculator boom; annuals were seen as an unnecessary risk in a climate where many monthly publications were in danger of cancellation for lack of sales (especially at Marvel, which filed for bankruptcy at this time). When the industry began to recover from the "bust", annuals began re-appearing on occasion, but by no means as regularly as before the "bust", when numbered series of annuals had reached the tens or twenties, indicating over a decade of regular publication.

Currently, the comic book annual is still something of a rarity, its purpose in presenting "extra" material often served by Special Editions that are released at random intervals rather than the set yearly schedule of an annual. Annuals often allow new talent to develop a story for A-list characters which "creates an opportunity for a rising star to encounter the dedicated fanbase associated with these series, developing overlap that can expand the audience for talented new voices and grow the publisher's concept of who should be part of their top tier of creators". [8] In 2017, Katie Schenkel, for Book Riot, highlighted that annuals are "less common that they were 20 or 30 years ago, but when companies decide to put them out for specific series the annuals are often out towards the end of summer. Comic story arcs tend to be around six issues long, and annuals fit in between one arc and the next". [8]

United Kingdom

Rupert Bear Annuals Rupert Bear Annuals.jpg
Rupert Bear Annuals

In the U.K., a large number of annuals are published shortly before the end of each year by companies such as D. C. Thomson, Egmont (formerly IPC/Fleetway), and Rebellion Developments, aimed at the Christmas market. These annuals are generally large-sized hardcover books with over 100 pages and a high color content. They are normally cover-dated with the following year's date to ensure that stockists do not remove them from their shelves immediately after the new year.

One of the earliest annuals was issued in 1822. Frederic Shoberl was the founding editor of Ackermann 's The Forget-me-not , which was an early annual, a then-new type of publication in England. [10] Shoberl continued to edit the annual until 1834. A junior version called The Juvenile Forget-me-not was published from 1828 onward.

For many years until the near-collapse of the British children's comics market, an annual would be published each year for each of the comic titles published by Thomson and IPC/Fleetway, featuring extra adventures of the comic's current and former characters, plus additional material in the form of puzzles, text articles, etc. Annuals were often even published for comics which had themselves ceased publication or been absorbed into other titles; for example, Scorcher annuals were still being published 10 years after the comic itself had been absorbed into Tiger . Today, this section of the market has been reduced to just a couple of surviving titles.

In addition, annuals are often published centered on sports, toys, currently-popular celebrities, recently released films, and popular TV series. In the period of the 1950s to the 1980s, companies like World Distributors, Brown Watson, and Grandreams were known for publishing annuals based on licensed characters and properties. British annuals are also published featuring American characters such as Spider-Man, often with simplified content aimed at younger readers. As tastes in these areas change, so does the line-up of annuals released each year. The increasing emphasis in recent years on annuals of this type (as opposed to the "classic" line-up of annuals based on comics) means that sales remain strong, and, in fact, they doubled between 1998 and 2005. [11] Some annuals have become extremely collectible, especially The Beano , The Dandy , Rupert and Eagle .

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comic book</span> Publication of comics art

A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually, dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DC Comics</span> American comic book publisher

DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlton Comics</span> Defunct American comic books publisher

Charlton Comics was an American comic-book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T. W. O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton Publications, which published magazines, puzzle books, and briefly, books. It had its own distribution company.

Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American comic book</span> Comic book originating in the US

An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics, which included the debut of the superhero Superman. This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II. After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority. The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century.

The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvel UK</span> Imprint of Marvel Comics that has become defunct since 1995

Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon, and Grant Morrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Age of Comic Books</span> Mid-1980s to present era of American superhero comic books

The Modern Age of Comic Books is a period in the history of American superhero comic books which began in the mid-1980s and continues through the present day. During approximately the first 15 years of this period, many comic book characters were redesigned, creators gained prominence in the industry, independent comics flourished, and larger publishing houses became more commercialized.

In comics in the United States, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually presenting either a complete miniseries, a story arc from a single title, or a series of stories with an arc or common theme.

DC Archive Editions is a line of hardcovers that was published from 1989–2014, reprinting early, often rare comic book series, titles, and stories. They include more than 160 Golden Age and Silver Age comic properties currently owned by DC Comics, regardless of whether DC Comics was the original publisher. The series first published Superman Archives Vol. 1 in 1989. Most of the restoration work to make the pages suitable for quality printing has been done by Rick Keene, who has restored more than 2,500 pages.

There have been four main publishers of the comic book series bearing the name Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, which ran for 80 issues and produced four spin-off miniseries. This was followed by a second volume titled Transformers: Generation 2, which ran for 12 issues starting in 1993. The second major series was produced by Dreamwave Productions from 2002 to 2004 with multiple limited series as well, and within multiple story continuities, until the company became bankrupt in 2005. The third and fourth series have been published by IDW Publishing with the third series starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006 to November 2018. The fourth series started in March 2019 with issue #1 and concluded in June 2022. There are also several limited series being produced by IDW as well. Skybound Entertainment began publishing Transformers comics starting in June 2023, kicking off the Energon Universe. In addition to these four main publishers, there have also been several other smaller publishers with varying degrees of success.

Marvel Masterworks is an American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics, with the main goal of republishing classic Marvel Comics storylines in a hardcover, premium edition, often with restored artwork and better graphical quality when compared to other Marvel collected editions. The collection started in 1987, with volumes reprinting the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and The Avengers. The Masterworks line has expanded from such reprints of the 1960s period that fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books to include the 1930s–1940s Golden Age; comics of Marvel's 1950s pre-Code forerunner, Atlas Comics; and even some reprints from the 1970s period called the Bronze Age of Comic Books.

<i>G.I. Joe</i> (comics) Comics

G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro, G.I. Joe comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year. As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero has been covered by three separate publishers and four main-title series, all of which have been based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name.

This is a list of comics regarding the Star Trek media franchise.

<i>Kalle Anka & C:o</i> Swedish Disney comics magazine

Kalle Anka & C:o is a Swedish weekly Disney comics magazine, published by Egmont. The 52-page comic, launched in September 1948, is the overall best-selling Swedish comic magazine. In the early years, the comic printed translated stories from the United States, including Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Four Color and other Dell Comics Disney titles. As Disney comics production waned in the United States in the 1960s, Kalle Anka began printing more European-produced content, from Scandinavia and Italy. Now, Kalle Anka & C:o and its Scandinavian sister editions Anders And & Co. (Denmark) and Donald Duck & Co (Norway) are identical, apart from the language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarzan in comics</span>

Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gift book</span> Type of 19th-century book

Gift books, literary annuals, or keepsakes were 19th-century books, often lavishly decorated, which collected essays, short fiction, and poetry. They were primarily published in the autumn, in time for the holiday season and were intended to be given away rather than read by the purchaser. They were often printed with the date of the coming new year, but copyrighted with the actual year of publication.

<i>The Real Ghostbusters</i> (comics)

The Real Ghostbusters is a comic series spun off from The Real Ghostbusters animated series. Versions were published by Marvel UK and NOW Comics. Publication of the series began on March 28, 1988.

<i>Ghostbusters</i> (comics) Comic book series

The Ghostbusters franchise spawned various comic books published by various comic book companies through the years starting in 1988 and continuing to the present day. These comics have ranged from being based on The Real Ghostbusters animated series, to the 1984 film.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Annuals", in Encyclopedia of library and information science (1968), vol. 1, pp. 434–447.
  2. ↑ Engraved On Steel, Ashgate, Basil Hunnisett, ISBN   0-87923-322-2
  3. ↑ Steel Engraved Book Illustration in England, Ashgate, Basil Hunnisett, ISBN   0-85967-971-3
  4. ↑ Lady (1845). The American Book of Beauty. Wilson. American Book of Beauty.
  5. ↑ World Noted Women by Mary Cowden Clarke, published 1858.
  6. ↑ Gems of Beauty 1840, Publisher: Longman, Rees, Orme, Green, Brown, & Longman, Editor: Countess of Blessington
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "What Are Comic Book Annuals?". How To Love Comics. 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  8. 1 2 3 Schenkel, Katie (2017-08-31). "Jumping into Comics through Annuals". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Why Annual Comics at DC and Marvel Still Matter". ComicBook.com. September 26, 2018. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  10. ↑ Contributions to annuals and gift-books, James Hogg, Janette Currie, Gillian Hughes, p.xiv, 2006, accessed June 2010
  11. ↑ Derbyshire, David (November 11, 2006). "Dr Who exterminates Beano as Christmas No 1". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.