What comics did you buy today?

[Raven]

It's short at 72 pages! The annual its cover is taken from would have been about 160 or more.

It'll be interesting to see if it's disappointingly curated as the magazine Best Ofs mostly were, or - hopefully - an informed and thoughtfully chosen selection.

[Lew Stringer]

It's short at 72 pages! The annual its cover is taken from would have been about 160 or more.

It'll be interesting to see if it's disappointingly curated as the magazine Best Ofs mostly were, or - hopefully - an informed and thoughtfully chosen selection.

72 pages seems to be the standard for Egmont annuals now unfortunately. Toxic Annual has the same page count.

Pity it's a Sainsbury exclusive, as not all branches sell books.

[Raven]

I've seen this now. It collects material from the 1971-85 Whizzer and Chips annuals; a few of the typically ghosted strips are included, and no adventure strips - a pity as The Puzzler's Christmas Crime from the 1973 annual, or a Ron Turner strip - my choice would have been Danny Drew's Dialling Man - would have been a nice addition.

It misses an obvious, appealing trick by not having the centre section as Chips, but mixing strips from the "two comics" together. It's so very slim (with a narrow range of strips) that it probably won't be a must-buy for any dedicated collector who already have a few of the originals, but it's only £3.99, a very decent price, and might attract those after a quick nostalgia buzz who haven't seen the title since it was out.

Odd note at the front explaining varying print quality due to some of the material being "exceedingly rare."

There's also a best of '70s girls comics annual.

[SID]

May pop into Sainsbury's on the way home from Sheffield.

[Lew Stringer]

My local branch isn't stocking them, despite being quite a large store. I don't think this exclusivity deal does publishers any favours when potential buyers lose out. We found the same problem when Egmont did a deal with Smiths on those Classic Comics if I recall correctly, with some branches not receiving them.

[colcool007]

My copy of Arenaarrived today. I will be reviewing it later on Down The Tubes.

[Shiner]

Sainsbury's also have a Battle annual.

[Lew Stringer]

Sainsbury's also have a Battle annual.

Thanks for that info, Shiner. I'll update my blog about these limited books.

[SID]

In Sainsbury's in Bishop Auckland, saw the following:

The Best of Whizzer and Chips Annual
The Best of The Topper
The Best of The Beezer
The Best of Hotspur
Battle Annual
Roy of the Rovers

[Raven]

Did you look at the contents of the Topper and Beezer books, and note about how many pages they had or how thick they looked?

[big bad bri]

Does anyone know of any London stores that stock these as i tried a few today with no joy

[Digifiend]

It's short at 72 pages! The annual its cover is taken from would have been about 160 or more.

It'll be interesting to see if it's disappointingly curated as the magazine Best Ofs mostly were, or - hopefully - an informed and thoughtfully chosen selection.

72 pages seems to be the standard for Egmont annuals now unfortunately. Toxic Annual has the same page count.

Pity it's a Sainsbury exclusive, as not all branches sell books.

Yeah, I won't be expecting to see this in Sainsbury's Local. I think it should've been more than 72 pages as well - after all, it's not actually an annual, it's a nostalgic one off "Best of" title, so the standard length thing is no excuse.

[Lew Stringer]

It's short at 72 pages! The annual its cover is taken from would have been about 160 or more.

It'll be interesting to see if it's disappointingly curated as the magazine Best Ofs mostly were, or - hopefully - an informed and thoughtfully chosen selection.

72 pages seems to be the standard for Egmont annuals now unfortunately. Toxic Annual has the same page count.

Pity it's a Sainsbury exclusive, as not all branches sell books.

Yeah, I won't be expecting to see this in Sainsbury's Local. I think it should've been more than 72 pages as well - after all, it's not actually an annual, it's a nostalgic one off "Best of" title, so the standard length thing is no excuse.

More pages would have pushed up the price. They're produced as cheap and cheerful stocking fillers so they follow the standard annual format.

[SID]

Did you look at the contents of the Topper and Beezer books, and note about how many pages they had or how thick they looked?

No unfortunately but all were similar size (thin) and price to the books already mentioned here.

I was tempted to buy but TBH, I think I rather buy an old annual which have far more pages.

But I do think they are good for the casual reader. And who knows? Some of them could become collectors.

[Lew Stringer]

Did you look at the contents of the Topper and Beezer books, and note about how many pages they had or how thick they looked?

No unfortunately but all were similar size (thin) and price to the books already mentioned here.

I was tempted to buy but TBH, I think I rather buy an old annual which have far more pages.

But I do think they are good for the casual reader. And who knows? Some of them could become collectors.

If the DCT reprint annuals have the same page count as this years Dandy and Beano annuals they'll be 112 pages, so more pages than, say, Odhams' Wham and Smash annuals of the sixties, or Funny Wonder and Chips annuals of the 1930s.