The Dandy Annual

The Dandy Annual is the current name of the book that has been published every year since 1938, to tie in with the children's comic The Dandy. As of 2011^[update] there have been 74 editions, with another (The Dandy Annual 2013) presumably to follow in 2012. The annuals are traditionally published in August, in time for Christmas, and since 1965 they have had the date of the following year on the cover. Before then no date was given.

From 1938 to 1951 the annuals were called "The Dandy Monster Comic". The name changed to "The Dandy Book" in the following year and continued, the year changing for each different annual, until the release of the 2003 book in 2002 when it was renamed "Annual". Despite the comic's relaunch as Dandy Xtreme in 2007, the annual was still known as "The Dandy Annual". This is likely because the annuals of the time were mostly made up of Dandy Comix, due to the topical nature of the magazine's Xtreme content.

In unison with the comic at the time, the cover usually featured Korky the Cat. After Desperate Dan took over the front page in 1984, the annual cover reflected this by featuring both Korky and Dan until the 1991 book - the first ever Dandy Annual not to feature Korky on the front in any way. He has made several appearances since then, despite the main focus shifting to Dan.

In 2006, the original 1939 Monster Comic was re-printed as a facsimile edition in a collector's slipcase.

List of annuals

This information is necessary to identify older annuals which were not dated. If an annual is dated 1950, it would have been published in August 1949. Prices are in shillings and pence with one shilling equal to 5p.

The Dandy Monster Comic

• 1939. Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Keyhole Kate and the Bamboo Town monkeys holding up the letter "Y" of "Dandy". Price 2/6
• 1940. Korky the Cat hanging from a trapeze. Price 2/6
• 1941. Korky the Cat leading characters in band. Price 3/-
• 1942. Desperate Dan towing a boat carrying other Dandy characters. Price 3/6
• 1943. A bike race with Korky in the lead of the other characters. Price 5/-
• 1944. Korky the Cat on a football being kicked into a net by Desperate Dan. Price 6/-
• 1945. Korky the Cat on skis being passed by Desperate Dan using logs as skis. Price 6/-
• 1946. Korky the Cat and other Dandy characters in stars. Price 6/-
• 1947. Korky the Cat being tossed in a blanket. Price 6/-
• 1948. Korky the Cat and other characters portrayed as puppets. Price 6/-
• 1949. Korky the Cat in a top hat and smoking a cigar, with Desperate Dan. Price 6/-
• 1950. Korky the Cat on a beach pouring boiling a kettle of boiling water into the sea with other characters in the background. Price 6/-
• 1951. Korky the Cat as ringmaster in a circus. Desperate Dan holding up an elephant. Price 6/-
• 1952. Korky's Toyshop with a toy Desperate Dan about to push a tin of red paint on Korky. Price 6/-

The Dandy Book

• 1953. Six pictures of Korky chasing mice then having a slap up feed. Price 6/-
• 1954. Four pictures of Korky stealing a fish which he then hides under a top hat. Price 6/-
• 1955. Four pictures of Korky fishing in front of a "No Fishing" sign. Price 6/-
• 1956. Four pictures of Korky on a ladder in front of Korky's Joke Shop. Price 6/-
• 1957. Three pictures of Korky in a train with some fishermen. They go through a tunnel and he has eaten their fish. Price 6/6
• 1958. Three pictures of Korky with a magnet and catching fish. Price 6/6
• 1959. Three pictures of Korky first in a rowing boat then in a large umbrella. Price 6/6
• 1960. Three pictures with Korky eating a meal and in a letter box with chains wrapped around it. Price 7/-
• 1961. Three pictures of Korky balancing an egg on his nose, which falls on him. Price 7/6
• 1962. Three pictures of Korky leaning on a lamp post. Price 7/6
• 1963. Four pictures of Korky in a sailor suit looking through a porthole. Price 7/6
• 1964. Korky sitting in a deck chair and eating a pie. Price 7/6
• 1965. Two pictures of Korky getting his own back on a pantomime horse which has trodden on his tail. Price 7/6

From 1966 all annuals were dated.

• 1966. Korky is swinging in a giant boot.
• 1967. Korky is rolling a giant snowball down a hill.
• 1968. Korky is dressed up as Santa Claus with a sack of presents.
• 1969. Korky is about to eat a Christmas pudding.
• 1970. Korky discovers that the mice have eaten all his food on Christmas morning. Price 8/6
• 1971. Korky is holding a picture of a sailing tomato. Price 9/6
• 1972. Korky is holding a glove puppet of Santa Claus. Price 50p
• 1973. Korky is balancing a string of sausages and a Christmas pudding on his nose. Price 55p (Mine is dated 1972)
• 1974. Korky is playing a drum and all the mice are following him. Price 55p
• 1975. Korky is wearing a bulging top hat. Price 60p
• 1976. Korky is loading up the wagons of a model train with sweets. Price 70p
• 1977. Korky is blowing up a giant balloon which has the face of Santa Claus on it. Price 90p
• 1978. Korky is dressed up as Santa Claus holding three mice in a cage. Price £1
• 1979. Korky is having a punch-up with an octopus. Price £1.15
• 1980. Korky's comic bronco ride - and the "bronco" in question is a Doberman dog. Price £1.25
• 1981. Korky and Santa Claus are "dashing through the snow" in a soap-box cart. Price £1.40
• 1982. Korky is in a barrel and being chased by a policeman and a gamekeeper. Price £1.60
• 1983. Korky is putting a coin into his robot money box. Price £1.80
• 1984. Korky's nephew Lipp takes a photo of him dressed as a footballer, while Bully Beef prepares to squirt him with his water pistol. Price £2
• 1985. Desperate Dan carries Korky's car over a footbridge. Price £2.25
• 1986. Desperate Dan playing a one-man band - very badly. Price £2.45
• 1987. Desperate Dan and Korky having a bicycle race. Price £2.70
• 1988. All the characters are riding in a Viking longboat. Price £2.85
• 1989. Desperate Dan's shirt buttons fly off and Cuddles, Dimples, Korky and his nephews attempt to catch them. Price £3.10
• 1990. Cuddles, Dimples, Dinah Mo and Korky burst out of one of Desperate Dan's cow pies. Price £3.25
• 1991. Dimples squirts his water pistol into one of Desperate Dan's ears; it comes out of the other one and hits Cuddles full in the face. Price £3.55
• 1992. Desperate Dan is holding a "Licence to Laugh", and all the other characters are pulling funny faces. Price £3.80
• 1993. Dinah Mo, the Smasher, Cuddles, Dimples and Korky are hanging on strings from Desperate Dan's hat. Price £4.10
• 1994. Desperate Dan is being ridden by his Aunt Aggie, and all the other characters are dressed up as knights. Price £4.35
• 1995. Desperate Dan is bouncing on a pogo stick and all the other characters are rushing to get out of his way. Price £4.50
• 1996. All the characters are trying to shelter from a thunderstorm. Price £4.75
• 1997. All the characters are performing stunts in a circus. Price £4.99
• 1998. Desperate Dan and Beryl the Peril are having a pillow fight on a balance beam. Price £5.25
• 1999. Desperate Dan is playing a lamp post like a flute and all the other characters are following him. Price £5.45
• 2000. Desperate Dan is bouncing on the roof of the Millennium Dome. Price £5.99
• 2001. Cuddles and Dimples have broken all the glass panes in a greenhouse and an angry policeman is writing the evidence down in his notebook. Desperate Dan, Korky, Brain Duane and Bananaman are watching in the background. Price £6.20
• 2002. Desperate Dan is sitting at a table with a load of empty cow pie dishes behind him. Price £6.25
• 2003. Cuddles and Dimples are rushing down a snow-covered hill on a sledge, splattering Desperate Dan, Korky, Bananaman, the Sneaker and Beryl the Peril as they pass by. Price £6.45
• 2004. Desperate Dan is carving his face into the Moon with his iron-girder skateboard. Price £6.70
• 2005. Desperate Dan is holding a snowglobe in which Cuddles and Dimples are having a snowball fight. Price £6.99
• 2006. Desperate Dan accidentally drops a toybox which has Dandy character toys. Price £6.99
• 2007. Desperate Dan is Santa Claus and a few Dandy characters are rushing for their presents. Price £7.25
• 2008. Desperate Dan is singing a song but on the back cover the animals don't like it. Price £7.50
• 2009. Desperate Dan is riding a canoe with Zeke at the back. Price £7.99
• 2010. Desperate Dan and a bear are doing an arm wrestling match. But on the back they went into the ground. Price £7.99
• 2011. Desperate Dan is in Cactusville holding Jak and Todd and other Dandy characters are behind him. Price £7.99
• 2012. A horse carrying Desperate Dan is jumping angrily into the air while other Dandy characters look on. Also featuring a '75th Birthday Edition' logo. Price £7.99

See also

List of DC Thomson publications