The Broons and Oor Wullie The Annuals 1

The Annuals - 1

CLICK ON ANY SMALL COVER PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL SIZE IMAGE

Annual Dating: Although it is normal practice to date annuals by year for which they are intended to be read and not the year of publication (i.e. a Dandy Annual 2005 would have been published around October 2004), I have dated these books by the year they were published. This is the dating method used by D.C. Thomson in The Broons and Oor Wullie 1936 - 1996 compilation so is assumed to be correct.

The covers of all the annuals follows so this page may take a few minutes to load up.
Click on any small image to see a larger version of the image.

Thanks to Ian Crawley for providing the scans from his own copies of the 1939 and 1962 annuals.
I am indebted to Stan Dunbar for providing many of these scans. All taken from original copies of these extremely rare books and many thanks to Alex MacDonald for supplying the images of The Broons 1943 jigsaw puzzle and box.

1939
The first annual in the series was published on
17 November 1939 (priced 1/6) with unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. It contained 128 pages.
A hardback copy is known to exist.

The internal title page of this book has Watkins' first printed signature ('Watty'). Click here to see title page.
Very rare and very hard to find. Condition will affect value but expect to pay £3500 - £5500 to own this one.

The book, whose covers you see here, was in an e-bay auction in December 2001. The bidding rose to £3,351.50 but failed to meet the reserve price. A buyer paid £5390 for a copy in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

This book was reprinted in 2006 as a slip-cased facsimile copy by Aurum Press under license from DC Thomson.
See image here...

1940
The first Oor Wullie annual
Published Tuesday, 8th October 1940 (priced 1/6) with unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow.
A hardback copy is known to exist.

Annual has 96 pages which became the standard number. (A title page illustration, a poem/song and 94 cartoon strips reprinted from Sunday Post Fun Sections).
Very rare and very hard to find. Only five copies are known to exist. Condition will affect value but expect to pay £3500 - £4500 to own this one.

A buyer paid £3993 for a copy in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003. A hardback version sold for £4015 in the September 2005 auction.

1941

Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow.
A hardback copy is known to exist

This book is extremely rare. I don't know of any good quality copies in circulation other than a hardback copy that exists plus, in a BBC TV documentary, a hardback edition was seen in DC Thomson's own archive.

A copy was sold for £3691 plus 10% fees (£4060) in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

1942

Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow.
A hardback copy is known to exist.

Again, this book is extremely rare.

A copy was sold for £1936 plus 10% fees (£2130) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003.

1945

No Annual This Year

1946

No Annual This Year

1947

Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow.

These images are of the very rare hard back
version of this book.

A copy was sold for £1392 plus 10% fees (£1531) in a
Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

1948

Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow.
A hard back version of this book is known to exist.

A copy was sold for £660 plus 10% fees (£726) in a
Compal Comics auction in November 2003.

1949

Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow.
A hard back version of this book is known to exist.

A copy was sold for £1392 plus 10% fees (£1531) in a
Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

	1950 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. This book has 'Oor Wullie' written down the spine. All previous books have a plain yellow spine. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. A copy was sold for £770 plus 10% fees (£847) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003.

	1951 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. This book has 'The Broons' written down the spine. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. A copy was sold for £859 plus 10% fees (£945) in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

	1952 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. This book has 'Oor Wullie' written down the spine. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. A copy was sold for £880 plus 10% fees (£968) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003 and one in superb condition sold for £1,190 on E-bay in April 2005.

	1953 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. This book has 'The Broons' written down the spine. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. The first of the tartan themed Broons covers. A copy was sold for £363 plus 10% fees (£399) in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

	1954 Last of the soft card covered annuals. This book has 'Oor Wullie' written down the spine. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. A copy was sold for £732 plus 10% fees (£805) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003.

	1955 The first annual to have the now standard front and back cover boards bound with a cloth spine. The covers are made of stiff, unlaminated card. A hard back version of this book has been said to exist but as the normal book has stiff card covers I am not sure how the hardback version differs?. Expect to pay around £80 - £120 to own this annual

	1956 A hard back version of this book has been said to exist but as the normal book has stiff card covers I am not sure how the hardback version differs?. Expect to pay £120 - £150 for one of these. (A very nice copy recently sold for £180)

	1957 Expect to pay £60 - £100 for one of these.

	1958 Expect to pay £60 - £100 for one of these.

	1959 Expect to pay £60 - £80 for one of these.

	1960 Last annual issued with unlaminated card covers. Expect to pay £60 - £80 to own this annual A copy was sold for £101 (plus 10% fees) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003.

	1961 The first annual to be issued with laminated card covers Expect to pay £50 - £70 to own this annual.

	1962 Relatively hard to find. Expect to pay around £60 - £100.

	1963 One sold for £122 in April 2005

	1964 Another relatively hard to find Oor Wullie. Expect to pay £60 - £90 for this one.

	1965 Expect to pay £40 - £50

	1966 The first Oor Wullie annual to contain a copyright date. All previous Oor Wullie annuals were undated. Expect to pay around £30 - £40 to own this annual

	1967 An alternative version of this book's front cover exists. This one has a white lollipop, the other has yellow. The late 1960's annuals go for around £15 - £30

	1968

	1969 Dudley Watkins died in August this year but the annual was produced as usual. The first Broons annual to contain a copyright date. All previous Broons annuals were undated.

	1939 The first annual in the series was published on 17 November 1939 (priced 1/6) with unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. It contained 128 pages. A hardback copy is known to exist. The internal title page of this book has Watkins' first printed signature ('Watty'). Click here to see title page. Very rare and very hard to find. Condition will affect value but expect to pay £3500 - £5500 to own this one. The book, whose covers you see here, was in an e-bay auction in December 2001. The bidding rose to £3,351.50 but failed to meet the reserve price. A buyer paid £5390 for a copy in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003. This book was reprinted in 2006 as a slip-cased facsimile copy by Aurum Press under license from DC Thomson. See image here...
	1940 The first Oor Wullie annual Published Tuesday, 8th October 1940 (priced 1/6) with unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. A hardback copy is known to exist. Annual has 96 pages which became the standard number. (A title page illustration, a poem/song and 94 cartoon strips reprinted from Sunday Post Fun Sections). Very rare and very hard to find. Only five copies are known to exist. Condition will affect value but expect to pay £3500 - £4500 to own this one. A buyer paid £3993 for a copy in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003. A hardback version sold for £4015 in the September 2005 auction.
	1941 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. A hardback copy is known to exist This book is extremely rare. I don't know of any good quality copies in circulation other than a hardback copy that exists plus, in a BBC TV documentary, a hardback edition was seen in DC Thomson's own archive. A copy was sold for £3691 plus 10% fees (£4060) in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.
	1942 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. A hardback copy is known to exist. Again, this book is extremely rare. A copy was sold for £1936 plus 10% fees (£2130) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003.


Not Available	1945 No Annual This Year	Not Available

Not Available	1946 No Annual This Year	Not Available

	1947 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. These images are of the very rare hard back version of this book. A copy was sold for £1392 plus 10% fees (£1531) in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.

	1948 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. A copy was sold for £660 plus 10% fees (£726) in a Compal Comics auction in November 2003.

	1949 Book has unlaminated wraparound covers made of a very lightweight soft card. The spine is plain yellow. A hard back version of this book is known to exist. A copy was sold for £1392 plus 10% fees (£1531) in a Compal Comics auction in September 2003.