The comic annual has a long history.
They were produced for the Christmas market and were a mix of the favourite stories and articles drawn from the weekly comic.
For me, its golden age was in the 1950s, and the preeminent comic book was the Eagle, with its companions, Girl, Swift and Robin.
That said there were others, and of these I suppose I was most drawn to the Lion, which like its weekly comic version was a less sophisticated product than the Eagle.
The artwork was cruder, the size of the comic smaller and some of the stories lacked the detail of my Eagle.
But I never quite forgot the Lion, and yesterday three of the annuals were sent to me by Steve.
They are dated, 1954, 1955, and 1956, and of the three it is the last that struck me most because it was the one I was given.
Who gave me the book I can’t remember, but as Dad and mum always bought me the Eagle, I guess it was an uncle.
Looking through the 1956 annual, I recognize the stories and can vividly recall some of them, and more than a few of the individual pictures.
The key stories were those that would appeal to any 1950s lad, of which space, knights in armour and westerns predominated.
I must confess back then and even now I preferred the strip cartoons and avoided those stories which were all print.
Like Eagle, the Lion annual had a its share of factual material which in 1956 included “When the Romans went Chariot Racing, “Wonders of Outer Space”, and the “World Wide Quiz”.
But there was less of it than in Eagle, and the themes were far more Eurocentric.
Added to which the books felt cheaper, partly because of the poorer quality paper that was used.
There will be those who think I am being a tad unfair and flicking through the 1954 annual there was a fascinating account of what life on the Moon might be like, which makes interesting reading sixty five years after it was written and just fifteen before the first moon landing.
And the three annuals are of their time, which rather makes them history books in their own right, and so I shall close with the "Picture Parade of Facts Near and Far", with the account of robot made by a boy in the USA and the one I vividly remember when during “a football match was in progress between two fire brigade teams at Liverpool, a cry of FIRE! Rang out. The game stopped abruptly, and everyone looked for the fire. It was in a player’s pocket, where a box of matches had burst into flame”.
Now that has to be very 1950s.
But having renewed an old acquitance, I happily turned to my old friend the Eagle, and spent an happy half hour.
Location; the 1950s
Pictures; from the covers of the Lion Annuals, 1954-1956 and the Eagle annual, 1956 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
For me, its golden age was in the 1950s, and the preeminent comic book was the Eagle, with its companions, Girl, Swift and Robin.
That said there were others, and of these I suppose I was most drawn to the Lion, which like its weekly comic version was a less sophisticated product than the Eagle.
The artwork was cruder, the size of the comic smaller and some of the stories lacked the detail of my Eagle.
But I never quite forgot the Lion, and yesterday three of the annuals were sent to me by Steve.
They are dated, 1954, 1955, and 1956, and of the three it is the last that struck me most because it was the one I was given.
Looking through the 1956 annual, I recognize the stories and can vividly recall some of them, and more than a few of the individual pictures.
The key stories were those that would appeal to any 1950s lad, of which space, knights in armour and westerns predominated.
I must confess back then and even now I preferred the strip cartoons and avoided those stories which were all print.
Like Eagle, the Lion annual had a its share of factual material which in 1956 included “When the Romans went Chariot Racing, “Wonders of Outer Space”, and the “World Wide Quiz”.
Added to which the books felt cheaper, partly because of the poorer quality paper that was used.
There will be those who think I am being a tad unfair and flicking through the 1954 annual there was a fascinating account of what life on the Moon might be like, which makes interesting reading sixty five years after it was written and just fifteen before the first moon landing.
And the three annuals are of their time, which rather makes them history books in their own right, and so I shall close with the "Picture Parade of Facts Near and Far", with the account of robot made by a boy in the USA and the one I vividly remember when during “a football match was in progress between two fire brigade teams at Liverpool, a cry of FIRE! Rang out. The game stopped abruptly, and everyone looked for the fire. It was in a player’s pocket, where a box of matches had burst into flame”.
But having renewed an old acquitance, I happily turned to my old friend the Eagle, and spent an happy half hour.
Location; the 1950s
Pictures; from the covers of the Lion Annuals, 1954-1956 and the Eagle annual, 1956 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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