Annual publication
Annual publications, more often simply called annuals, are
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 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).
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
Yearbooks
A yearbook is a volume that summarizes events of the past year.
Comic books
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2021) |
In the case of
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
In the late 1980s and much of the 1990s, annuals published by
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
In the
One of the earliest annuals was issued in 1822.
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,
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
See also
- Annual Cyclopedia
- Annual Reviews (publisher), and other publications titled Annual Review…
- D. Appleton & Company
References
- ^ Encyclopedia of library and information science(1968), vol. 1, pp. 434–447.
- ISBN 0-87923-322-2
- ISBN 0-85967-971-3
- ^ Lady (1845). The American Book of Beauty. Wilson.
American Book of Beauty.
- ^ World Noted Women by Mary Cowden Clarke, published 1858.
- ^ Gems of Beauty 1840, Publisher: Longman, Rees, Orme, Green, Brown, & Longman, Editor: Countess of Blessington
- ^ a b c d e f "What Are Comic Book Annuals?". How To Love Comics. 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
- ^ a b c Schenkel, Katie (2017-08-31). "Jumping into Comics through Annuals". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
- ^ a b c d "Why Annual Comics at DC and Marvel Still Matter". ComicBook.com. September 26, 2018. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
- ^ Contributions to annuals and gift-books, James Hogg, Janette Currie, Gillian Hughes, p.xiv, 2006, accessed June 2010
- ^ 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.