{"id":34597,"date":"2025-12-24T09:01:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T09:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=34597"},"modified":"2025-12-23T11:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T11:57:16","slug":"the-treasury-of-british-comics-annual-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/12\/24\/the-treasury-of-british-comics-annual-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The Treasury of British Comics Annual 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Simon Furman<\/strong>, Tom Tully<\/strong>, Alec Worley<\/strong>, Alf Wallace<\/strong>, Leo Baxendale<\/strong>, Pat Mills<\/strong>, Mike Brown<\/strong>, Kek-W<\/strong>, Walter Thorburn<\/strong>, E. George Cowan<\/strong>, Derek Cribbling<\/strong>, Leo Baxendale<\/strong>, Ken Armstrong<\/strong>, Mike Collins<\/strong>, David Roach<\/strong>, Enric Badia Romero<\/strong>, Dave Gibbons<\/strong>, Garry Leach<\/strong>, Ken Reid<\/strong>, Brian Bolland<\/strong>, Joe Colquhoun<\/strong>, Steve Dillon<\/strong>, DaNi<\/strong>, Cam Kennedy<\/strong>, Brian Lewis<\/strong>, Mike Western<\/strong>, Staz Johnson<\/strong>, Tom Paterson<\/strong>, Carlos Guirado<\/strong>, Juan Arancio<\/strong>, Henry Flint<\/strong> & various (Rebellion Studios)
\nDigital only eISBN: 978-1-83786-025-8 (Kindle); 978-183786-133-0 (Webshop Exclusive)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: True Brit Comics Class\u2026 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve repeated ad infinitum, British comics always enjoyed an extended love affair with unconventional (for which feel free to substitute \u201cweird\u201d or \u201ccreepy\u201d) heroes. Many stars and notional role models in our strips might have been outrageous or just plain \u201coff\u201d, but we also handled traditional stuff in a more appropriate manner… one less likely to have outraged parents and censorious moral stickybeaks gunning for editors and publishers<\/p>\n

Until the 1980s, UK periodicals employed an anthological model, offering a large variety of genre, theme and characters. Humour comics like The Beano<\/strong> were leavened by action-adventures like The Q-Bikes <\/em>or General Jumbo<\/em> whilst dramatic fare papers like Lion<\/strong>, Eagle<\/strong>, Hotspur <\/strong>or Valiant<\/strong> always offered palate-cleansing gagsters… and there was no reason to rock that boat in end-of-year bumper annuals<\/p>\n

Prior to game-changers Action<\/strong>, Misty<\/strong> and 2000AD<\/strong>, British comics fell into fairly ironclad categories. Back then, you had genial and\/or fantastic preschool fantasy; a large selection of licensed entertainment properties; action; adventure; war; school dramas, sports and conventional comedy strands. Closer examination would confirm there was always a subversive merging, mixing undertone, especially in such antihero series as Dennis the Menace<\/strong> or our rather strained interpretation of superheroes. Just check out The Spider<\/strong>, Kelly\u2019s Eye<\/strong> or early Steel Claw<\/strong> stories\u2026<\/p>\n

The glory days of Christmas Annuals have ended but thanks to Rebellion and their superb Treasury of British Comics<\/strong> project, a touch of that grand legacy has been delighting old and new readers with modern versions of the good old days for a few years now. A little slice of the future of nostalgia comes with a limited Hardback edition and general-release digital compilations of seasonal comics fun and thrills. Moreover – just like the bonanza hardbacks they celebrate – these Annuals are a blend of all-new material and old classics.<\/p>\n

In this first release from November 2023 the recovered, remastered delights stem from Smash!<\/strong> April 2nd<\/sup> – May 14th<\/sup> 1966; Wham! Annual 1966: Wham!<\/strong> November 25th<\/sup> 1967 and January 15th<\/sup> 1968; Lion & Valiant Holiday Extra 1969<\/strong>; Pow! Annual 1971<\/strong>; Buster Book of Scary Stories 1975<\/strong>; Action Summer Special 1976<\/strong>; Valiant Book of Mystery & Magic 1976<\/strong>; Action Annual 1979<\/strong>; Battle Holiday Special 1979<\/strong>; Misty Annual 1980<\/strong>; Starlord Annual 1982<\/strong>; Scream!<\/strong> May 12th<\/sup> 1984 and Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular 2021 <\/strong>and opens with a modern-day team up clash by Simon Furman, Mike Collins & David Roach, coloured by Gary Caldwell and lettered by Annie Parkhouse.
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\n\u2018The Spider Vs The Leopard from Lime Street\u2019<\/em> pits the wild and wary misunderstood heroes against each other until time-bending true malign manipulators The Infernal Gadgeteer<\/em> and Dr Mysterioso<\/em> are exposed and expelled, after which true evil genius Leo Baxendale depicts in full colour how \u2018Grimly Feendish\u2019<\/em> staged his own Great Train Robbery in Wham!<\/strong> November 25th<\/sup> 1967.<\/p>\n

Reproduced from actual artboards as \u201cOriginal Art Archive Scans – with erasings, white out and all…\u201d and as seen in weekly Smash!<\/strong> from April 2nd<\/sup> – May 14th<\/sup> 1966, \u2018Moon Madness\u2019<\/em> was written by Alf Wallace and illustrated by Brian Lewis, and revealed how a Russian lunar mission resulted in a bizarre jigsaw monster terrorising Britain…<\/p>\n

Another multi-hued Baxendale \u2018Grimly Feendish\u2019<\/em> (from Wham!<\/strong> January 15th<\/sup> 1968) depicting another banditry bungle segues into a sci fi classic from an unknown author and Garry Leach as seen in Starlord Annual 1982<\/strong> wherein an all-consuming bio-terror on a cargo freighter demands the expert attention of \u2018The Exterminator\u2019<\/em>, after which an equally anonymous yarn from The Buster Book of Scary Stories 1975<\/strong> limned by Dave Gibbons sees a keen trainee aviator used by \u2018The Ghost Pilot\u2019<\/em> to save a person on peril and pay off a debt…
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\nWham! Annual 1966 <\/strong>provided a wry extended \u2018Frankie Stein\u2019<\/em> tale by Walter Thorburn & Ken Reid regarding the excesses of the tabloid press before Tom Tully & Brian Bolland detail the terrors and rewards of modern sport sensation \u2018Spinball\u2019<\/em> as originally covered in Action Annual 1979<\/strong>, prior to another new tale as \u2018Black Beth\u2019<\/em> faces arcane peril from tarot terrors courtesy of Alec Worley, DaNi & Oz Osbourne. Pat Mills, Derek Cribbling & Joe Colquhoun keep up the mystic menace with a craven cartoonist\u2019s cautionary tale and fate as \u2018The Final Victim\u2019 <\/em>as seen in the Valiant Book of Mystery & Magic 1976<\/strong> prior to Misty Annual 1980<\/strong>, an unknown author and Carlos Guirado exposing a young heiress to ancient heirloom \u2018The Hand of Vengeance!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Supernatural mystery continues with Furman, Steve Dillon & Jay Cobb\u2019s \u2018Beware the Werewolf!\u2019<\/em> from Scream!<\/strong> May 12th<\/sup> 1984 before the scene shifts to true horror as Cam Kennedy and the Unknown Scripter deliver a lost episode of \u2018Charleys\u2019 War\u2019<\/em> first found in Battle Holiday Special 1979<\/strong>, prior to time-travelling \u2018Robot Archie\u2019<\/em> and pals facing pirates in the Caribbean thanks to E. George Cowan & Mike Western and Lion & Valiant Holiday Extra 1969<\/strong>…
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\n\u2018Esper Commandos\u2019<\/em> was published in Pow! Annual 1971<\/strong>, limned by future Modesty Blaise<\/strong> and Axa<\/strong> illustrator Enric Badia Romero and reappears here as another smudges \u2018n\u2019 all \u201cOriginal Art Archive Scan\u201d. It features a future and fascinating psionic super-squad as they infiltrate and eliminate the Britain\u2019s future enemies, and precedes a full colour origin for one of UK comics\u2019 strangest stars. Thanks to Ken Armstrong & Juan Arancio in Action Summer Special 1976<\/strong>,\u2018Great White Death\u2019<\/em> revealed how Shark superstar Hookjaw<\/strong> got his bloody start…
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\nOne last original yarn – by Kek-W, Staz Johnson, Barbara Nosnzo & Simon Bowland – maintains the tone but transfers time and place to Leningrad in 1944 for saucy savage combat fable \u2018Gustav of the Bearmacht\u2019<\/em> before Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular 2021 <\/strong>revives \u2018Gah! The Gobblin\u2019 Goblin\u2019<\/em> and his astounding appetite thanks to Keith Richardson, Tom Paterson & Bowland.<\/p>\n

Daft, thrilling, beautifully rendered, devastatingly nostalgic and truly fun, these are all you need to complete your Crimbo celebrations and since we\u2019re all messing about with electrons and what-nots, if you want YOU CAN GET IT IMMEDIATELY THANKS TO DIGITAL RUDOLF THE RED BUTTON REINDEER AND THEM INTERWEB TUBES!!<\/p>\n

The same applies to the follow up tome…
\n\u00a9 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 2021 & 2023 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Simon Furman, Tom Tully, Alec Worley, Alf Wallace, Leo Baxendale, Pat Mills, Mike Brown, Kek-W, Walter Thorburn, E. George Cowan, Derek Cribbling, Leo Baxendale, Ken Armstrong, Mike Collins, David Roach, Enric Badia Romero, Dave Gibbons, Garry Leach, Ken Reid, Brian Bolland, Joe Colquhoun, Steve Dillon, DaNi, Cam Kennedy, Brian Lewis, Mike Western, Staz Johnson, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Treasury of British Comics Annual 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[335,191,351,173,255,102,66,108,396,107,169,93,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-adventure","category-apes-monkeys","category-british-annuals-and-albums","category-environmentalism","category-fantasy","category-horror-stories","category-miscellaneous-superhero","category-monsters","category-science-fiction","category-spy-stories","category-war-stories","category-westerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-901","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34604,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34597\/revisions\/34604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}