Transformers Annual
Transformers Annuals are hardback books released in the United Kingdom, typically during the run-up to Christmas the year before the date given on the cover.
An "annual" in the UK is a slim, large-format volume, acting as a kind of yearbook based on a popular intellectual property – e.g. a children's comic strip, TV show or toyline – and intended primarily as a 'stocking-filler' gift. Traditionally, annuals contain a mixture of comics, text stories, profiles, puzzles and games, but the balance between these has varied strongly over the decades.
The Marvel Comics Transformers Annuals of the G1 era contained stories which are regarded as part of the Marvel UK comic canon, as well as unique A-Z profiles of characters in the context of the UK continuity (such as Earthforce).
The two Annuals produced during the Unicron Trilogy period are almost entirely reprints of the contemporary Dreamwave Armada and Energon comics, with no introductory or background material. In the live-action movie era, the balance has swung the other way, with the Annuals filled with games and puzzles, interspersed with a text story such as a movie adaptation.
While some annuals for other IPs, notably those for [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Rupert Bear|{{#if:||Rupert Bear}}]], are so rare as to fetch thousands of pounds, Transformers Annuals have so far failed to attain that sort of value. Indeed, while they typically retail for £6.99-£7.99 before Christmas, after the holidays they can often be picked up for under £1.
List of Annuals
[edit]Generation 1
[edit]- Transformers Annual 1985
- Transformers Annual 1986
- Transformers Annual 1987
- Transformers Annual 1989
- Transformers Annual 1990
- Transformers Annual 1991
- Transformers Annual 1992
No, the annuals didn't skip a year – in 1988, Marvel changed the dating system of their annuals, so the one released that year, and in each subsequent year, was dated to the upcoming year, instead of the year of publication.
Generation 2
[edit]Unicron Trilogy
[edit]Transformers movie
[edit]Transformers Animated
[edit]Revenge of the Fallen
[edit]Dark of the Moon
[edit]Age of Extinction
[edit]IDW Annuals
[edit]IDW Publishing has also released a handful of their own annuals to go along with their Transformers publications. Like all "annuals" in the US comic book market, they are simply longer regular-size comic books, rather than hardback, extras-loaded publications seen in the UK, and they rarely actually come out annually.