whatever happend to annuals

[spidervenom]

Whatever happened to all the annuals now there seems to be hardly anys.

[Cayman]

They aren't extinct. There's a Wonder Woman and a bat book one coming up shortly, and there was the Outsiders one a few months ago.

[spidervenom]

I know there not extinct but still not as many as there was years ago.

[Jack Zodiac]

They replaced them with Secret Files and Origins years ago. They've since brought them back for certain titles.

[bdk91939]

Ah the rarely used annuals. It's too bad they are not utilized more.

[Cayman]

They are a good place to finish the story arcs the creative teams can't seem to finish in their own book, I guess.

[GreatLakesAvengers]

Annuals got phased out because they often seemed to have one-shot stories that didn't really matter to the core book.

Add to that the fact that they're often more expensive than the regular book and that equals low sales.

[Expletive Deleted]

Annuals were, for years, mostly glorified inventory stories. Both Marvel and DC have radically scaled them back, trying to get rid of the chaff.

The sales success of books like BATMAN ANNUAL #25 and the ULTIMATE annuals seems to indicate it was a smart move.

[whitefox360]

I agree with Cayman, about the finishing of the story arcs.

But I think now with SFO's, the annuals are more reserved for filling in plot
holes and shedding light on events that weren't covered well or, at the very
least, need to be expounded upon.

Problem is, there's not a whole lot going on in the DCU that

needs very much expounding anymore. If it needs an explanation,
it gets it's own miniseries.

Look at all the Countdown to Infinite Crisis books and miniseries.

[marshal99]

In the past , DC annuals have mostly been used for doing crossovers , stuffs like JLApe , Ghosts , eclipso , bloodlines , tales of the dead earths etc only exists in annuals. As with all comics , there are good and bad issues.

Nowadays , it's used primarily to fill in plotholes and served as finishing arc for a storyline. The batman/superman annual was at least a one-shot deal.

[paulski]

They are a good place to finish the story arcs the creative teams can't seem to finish in their own book, I guess.

They've become the perfect solution for embarrassments like Adam Kubert and Allan Heinberg who couldn't get 5 issues out in the one year. And then there's also stuff like the upcoming Batman Annual that supposedly brings back Ra's Al Ghul.

So even though they're the exception rather than the norm at DC (or even Marvel), they're much more important now than in recent times.

[glennsim]

One thing that hasn't been said quite specifically: the comics companies determined that buyers will skip annuals, but if they instead publish a couple extra issues of the main book during the year, they'll buy them.

[Pink Bat Max]

Also, in recent years, annuals had been used to put c-list talent out there, see how people respond. Which means an occasional one may be good, but there was a lot of crap too. A LOT. And I'd rather none were put out at all, than a crappy one put out to test the waters for a hack. So yeh, if they put one out they should make it worth my money. If there are less out as a result, so be it.

[Cicero]

One thing that hasn't been said quite specifically: the comics companies determined that buyers will skip annuals, but if they instead publish a couple extra issues of the main book during the year, they'll buy them.

Annuals are also a nightmare for customers following the series from the newsstands. I remember trying to track down some of them at area comic shops in the late 1990s; it's really not worth it unless they're essential.

[OverMaster]

Also, in recent years, annuals had been used to put c-list talent out there, see how people respond. Which means an occasional one may be good, but there was a lot of crap too. A LOT. And I'd rather none were put out at all, than a crappy one put out to test the waters for a hack. So yeh, if they put one out they should make it worth my money. If there are less out as a result, so be it.

The ideal remedy for that would be to put at least two stories in each annual: the main one with the top-flight talent to attract the readers, and the beginners (everyone deserves a chance to start, after all) doing the backup stories. Best of both worlds there.

[titanfan]

In the past , DC annuals have mostly been used for doing crossovers , stuffs like JLApe , Ghosts , eclipso , bloodlines , tales of the dead earths etc only exists in annuals. As with all comics , there are good and bad issues.

Imho, this crossover crap was the beginning of the end for annuals. Too much low quality crossovers, it just started to tire/burn out the consumers.

[Pink Bat Max]

The ideal remedy for that would be to put at least two stories in each annual: the main one with the top-flight talent to attract the readers, and the beginners (everyone deserves a chance to start, after all) doing the backup stories. Best of both worlds there.

Agreed. Although I have tio say, A DC Showcase featuring a few short stories for a reduced price with new talent would surely be welcome too.

[Denny Colt]

I always found the annuals (of old) hit and miss. Sometimes it was a great opportunity to have some really great creative teams take a shot at a character and it might have been a real treat. Other times they were just not very good. Waaaay back, they used to put in a lot of old reprints and it was one of the only ways we could read golden age stories of our favourite heroes.

An interesting idea for the near future might be to use the annuals to tell stories from the "new" alternate earths. For example, a Robin annual might get us up-to-date with a middle aged Robin from Earth II (and it might even cross-over to a Huntress annual with the Huntress of Earth II -- I'd like that). Perhaps a Green Lantern annual could tell an Earth III "Power Ring" story. It would also be a way to glimpse into some of the "as-yet-unrevealed" earths. To my mind this is the sort of purpose for which Annuals might be constructively used. (And if readers didn't care about these alternate versions of their characters they could just skip buying them).

[barking_frog]

I can't say I miss 'em. As has already been pointed out, they were mostly just places to put crap the publishers seemed to have lying around. I remember a couple of annuals I enjoyed -- I think there was an X-Men one featuring Dracula that was a sort of follow-up story to a single issue of the regular series back in the early 80's -- but I've bought dozens (back when I was a completist {I got better}) and very rarely felt that they were worth the money.