2017 Annuals Revealed

Covers for next years D.C Thomson annuals have been released, with the exception of The Beano. Above is the cover of The Dandy annual, priced at £7.99 on Amazon.

There is of course another classic comics collection, this time with an Indiana Jones themed cover. Raiders of the Lost Archive will cost £12.99.

There's a similar Broons and Oor Wullie collection, this one entitled 'Cooking Up Laughs!'. £12.99

Next year will have both a Broons and an Oor Wullie annual. Both are priced at £6.99.

And their respective calendars will each cost £7.

The calendars are due to come out on the 28th July, but the annuals have a slightly later release date of 1st August. But that still gives you plenty of time to get them before Christmas, so there can be no excuses.

The Broons and Oor Wullie Reproductions

Any fans of The Broons, Oor Wullie or Dudley Watkins will surely be interested in reproductions of the first Broons and Oor Wullie annuals. Originally published in 1938 and 1939 and dated for the following years, the originals are worth a considerable sum and it isn't rare to see them fetching £1000 at auction. That makes these two reprints, published in 2007 by D.C Thomson and Aurum Press, a good affordable alternative. They are a high quality reproduction of the original books, bar the covers and Oor Wullie's title page all the artwork has been restored to how it would have looked originally on bright white paper, so it is pleasing to read and Dudley's artwork is nice and clear.

Asides the date for the copyright information the only other change I noticed was that the reprints are hardbacks whereas the originals were softbacks. I suppose the reason for this change is that the books are made to be more durable, and at £20 for the two of them you'd expect them to be of a high standard. D.C Thomson did produce a few hardback versions of each book originally but these went to Robert Duncan Low, possibly Dudley Watkins and their own files, so were never sold to the general public. 

My copies come in a combined box set but they were also available in individual sleeves, of which The Broons one is still available from D.C Thomson's website for £6. You can pick up a box set, which I would recommend, from ebay - the lowest price currently is £13.63.

The Latest Phil Comics Auctions (May 2013)

200 separate auctions have been put up on ebay by comics dealer Phil Shrimpton, better known as Phil-Comics. Here is some of the best stuff.

The first thing that caught my eye when looking through was this very early Broons book from 1949. This is the fourth Broon annual and is very rare; already bidding has reached £100!

You can see a lot more photos of the book on at auction:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Broons-Book-Annual-1949-RARE-G-VG-Oor-Wullie-Dudley-Watkins-phil-comics-/360658876847?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item53f8f1b9af

Next up is the 1963 Beano summer special, in fine - near mint condition! One in similar condition sold for £1,371 back in 2010, and going by the condition of this one I wouldn't be surprised if it sold for a similar amount - if not more. Saying that, I don't know how many people are willing to pay that much, maybe the one person who was has already got one.

There are some fantastic photos of this one so I'd recommend you check them out.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dandy-Beano-comic-Summer-Special-1963-1-RARE-FINE-phil-comics-/360658879783?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item53f8f1c527

Also in great condition is this Dandy Monster Annual from 1947, which has been graded fine - fine + condition.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dandy-Monster-Comic-1947-FINE-FINE-Lovely-Book-Beano-phil-comics-/271208048351?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item3f254266df

One thing I'd really like but is probably going to shoot up in price is this bound volume of Jag, with issues is VG to Fine condition.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jag-comic-BOUND-VOLUME-1-4th-May-1968-to-15th-Feb-1969-VG-F-phil-comics-/271208048837?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item3f254268c5

And finally the first issue of Smash, in VG- condition. So far only one bid has been placed, but I suspect there will be a few more.

As I've said there are 200 auctions up right now, with bidding ending on Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd June, so you've got plenty of time to look through them! Here is a link to take you to the home page to browse through all of his comics currently online.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/phil-comics/m.html?item=360593426983&pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item53f50b0a27&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Phil also has a website, which you can find here:

http://www.phil-comics.com

The Five Greats - No. 1: Dudley Watkins

Although there are many fantastic cartoonists in British comics, there are five who are often considered the greats! The first of those is Dudley Dexter Watkins, who drew Desperate Dan, Oor Wullie, Lord Snooty and Biffo the Bear to name a few.

Watkins was born on the 27th Febuary 1907, and his first illustrated work, entitled 'Our Gymnasium Class' appeared in Boots staff magazine called The Beacon, in 1923.
But he quickly entered comics, and in 1925 Watkins was offered a 6 month trial at D.C. Thomson. He accepted of course, and that decision would change his life, as he remained working at DCT for the rest of his life! He was so highly regarded at Thomson, that he and Allan Morely were the only artists allowed to sign their work!

The first Oor Wullie!

The first Broons!

His most notable work is as the illustartor of The Broons and Oor Wullie, who both began life in the Fun Section of The Sunday Post on 8th March 1936. He would continue producing weekly strips for these characters until his death, but the strips still run today!

Dudley Watkins passed away on the 20th August 1969, leaving behind thousands of strips, which, like the other comic greats, still live on in memory!

Broons Jigsaw on eBay!

The Broons jigsaw above has 386 of it's original 400 pieces, is a bit bumped here and there and has some writing on it but otherwise it's in braw condition! And that's what the top bidder must have thought as well, since they forked out a massive three-hundred-and-twenty-one quid for it! Jings!

JINGS!

Ok, so I know it's a bit late, but here's the 2011 annual selection of Oor Wullie and The Broons.

First of all, let's take a look at the Dudley Watkins collection. I was going to save this book until later this month, used to celebrate Dudley Watkins' birthday, but I decided I might as well use it now! After all, he did do thousands of comic strips!

This book features a braw collection of Watkins' best work in the Sunday Post, from 1936 - 1969. My favourite is the way he drew Oor Wullie in the mid forties.

Speaking of Oor Wullie, Peter Davidson has done a brilliant job of putting together the latest annual.

100 pages of oor fun filled lad, up to his adventures once again after his first appearence in the Sunday Post almost 74 years ago! 

And so, whilst enjoying a good read of Oor Wullie and The Broons, make sure that you take a bit of Maw Broons Tablet!

And remember, you can enjoy the Broons and Oor Wullie in the Sunday Post each week!