What were the Transformers annuals?
UK annuals in general are not to be confused with those along the lines of Marvel annuals for US titles such as ‘X-Men’ or ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’. Rather than simply being a bumper-sized extra issue, these were large format hardcover books containing five or six [initially original] stories, plus a number of puzzle and/or fact pages. They were typically aimed at the Christmas gift market, a long UK tradition for comics such as ‘Victor’ and ‘Warlord’, as well as TV shows like ‘Doctor Who’ or ‘Thunderbirds’. These were published by Marvel in association with Grandreams, and utilised the same creative staff as the comic. The story content was usually split around half strip stories and half illustrated text stories. The books ran until 1991, although from 1990 each featured just a single new text story, with the rest being UK reprints. The 1991 version, though, does include colour versions of #229, #237-239 and #272-274.
