Question about Detective Comics Annuals

[tib2d2]

I'm curious why the very first Detective Comics Annual wasn't until 1988?

Also curious as to why since they went back to legacy numbering for Detective, that they didn't keep the original numbering for the Annuals as well (ie Annual #2 this year)

[MajorHoy]

I'm curious why the very first Detective Comics Annual wasn't until 1988?

For the record, the first Action Comics Annual was only in 1987.

Not everything got / needed a semi-regular "Annual" back in the old days.

[Jim Kelly]

The Annuals in the old days were 80 page giant reprints (and some weren't even annual), then they became the 80 Page Giant series, which was separate from the titles themselves, but was eventually rolled into the ongoing titles. But these tended to be only for series which featured a specific character or team--with the exception of OUR ARMY AT WAR, aka "Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales," and ACTION COMICS presents Supergirl.

So if ACTION COMICS had had an Annual in the 1960s, it likely would have been a Supergirl Annual. When Supergirl moved to ADVENTURE COMICS, there was one 80 Page Giant for that title which also featured all Supergirl reprints and then a final ADVENTURE COMICS Giant that featured all Legion of Super-Heroes stories.

When DC finally brought back the Annual concept in the 1980s, they only resumed the numbering for SUPERMAN and BATMAN--and they were all-new material, which they had never been before. Probably because they already had reprints covered over in the digest books. And with the new Annuals for NEW TEEN TITANS and LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, when those titles switched over to the deluxe format, with new numbering, the Annuals also got new numbering. Which establishes a precedent for Annuals to start over again in their numbering when a home title has done the same.

[cgh]

And now a plug for the best Batman annual ever:

[Arctic Cyclist]

And now a plug for the best Batman annual ever:

Messiah of the Crimson Sun is freaking awesome on so many levels. It hits all the beats one expects from Batman: a touch campy, a touch serious, Batman upsets the girl, Batman wins, Robin gets mouthy, one liners, high stakes, excellent characterization, family, and an almost maybe believable plot. They sure don't make annuals on that level anymore. Now they're all catering to white baby boomer men instead of being fun to read.

[MajorHoy]

. . . They sure don't make annuals on that level anymore. Now they're all catering to white baby boomer men instead of being fun to read.

This tail-end white baby boomer male tends to disagree.

I don't like most of the stuff from DC or MARVEL these days.

So I don't know who exactly they're targeting, but it ain't me.