Atom Ant Annual [1968]

[1967] Annual. Original price 8/6.
64 pages. Full colour & tone contents.
Atlas Publishing & Distributing Co. Ltd.

Based on the US television series.

Painted cover by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 UNTITLED [Balloons] endpaper by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 4 Atom Ant Annual contents; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited). / Indicia

 5 Atom Ant "The Day I Broke the Bank-Robbers" text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 9 Atom Ant Up and at 'Em w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Phil de Lara (uncredited).

r: Atom Ant (Gold Key) #01 (Jan 1966).

19 Top Cat "Dibble's Dragon" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

27 Secret Squirrel The Perils of Paris or Who Swiped the Eiffel Tower? w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: Secret Squirrel (Gold Key) #01 (Oct 1966).

37 Quick-Draw McGraw "Tree-Trap" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

42 Atom Ant On With the Game w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Tony Strobl (uncredited).

r: Atom Ant (Gold Key) #01 (Jan 1966).

52 Top Cat "Sorry, Wrong Number" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

57 Puzzle maze; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

58 Secret Squirrel Who Needs Glasses.? text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

62 UNTITLED [Balloons] endpaper by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Note: Companion titles to this volume include: Yogi Bear Annual - Huckleberry Hound Annual - The Impossibles Annual - Flintstones Annual

The sole edition for Atom Ant to show his popularity, the annual is a slim affair, with thin pages, yet packed with strips. Not all of the contents, it has to be noted, are especially fine examples of the Hanna-Barbera characters in comic form, though there are more hits than misses in this collection. It is, if you like, a taster of the offerings the studio was producing for the small screen, sharing so much room with the various characters that it might as well have been titled the Hanna-Barbera Annual.

Its attractive cover, while not strictly in the style of the cartoons, is far more detailed than this type of annual would normally call for, and it makes the annual somehow appear more retro than if it had replicated the two-dimensional appearance of the cartoons. Did Secret Squirrel always look that goofy? Top Cat, with a mis-coloured jacket and hat, a tuft of red hair sprouting from the top of his head, is the sole sticking point in what is otherwise beautiful image.

I want this cover as a poster, and I don't normally care enough about these properties to make such a statement.

The endpaper is more in keeping with the usual depictions of the characters, as is the amusing contents page image. While the paper used is rather thin, it is also very white, and the strips are presented far better than Gold Key was ever able to manage - although the formatting made to conceal the portion of the page where the original indicia was located is rather obvious.

Atom Ant must clear his name when an ant with similar strength undertakes a series of robberies, while the authorities are determined that only Atom Ant could possibly be the perpetrator. Up and at 'Em may be predictable, and so very, very simple, but it follows what we have see in the series almost to the point of self-parody. Very clean art, imbued with an appropriate sense of fun, the strip's only drawback are the final two panels - one of thich indicates Butch will go to jail, the other freeing him to join the circus once more.

If a script can't decide on a proper conclusion, why should the reader care?

There are green cats in the Top Cat universe? There is a dragon (albeit a paper one) which TC uses to trick Dibble. Not intentionally, of course, but events conspire to see Dibble tasked to night duty after making his report. Secret Squirrel is a touch more ambitious in its storytelling, with the top of the Eiffel Tower having been stolen - and Secret Squirrel is on the case.

I really despise the use of invisible paint as a means of concealing items. It is a lazy and cheap method of introducing invisibility into a story, and doesn't make any sense.

Okay, so Hanna-Barbera shows aren't known for being intelligent, but still...

A string of robberies gives Quick-Draw McGraw trouble, so he sets out in search of a waterhole in the desert where the bandits have been striking from. So often a one-note character, there is nothing here to indicate that Quick-Draw actually has a personality. His cartoons aren't particularly amusing, and the trend for satisfactory-yet-unrewarding stories continues here.

Which is a real shame, as the setting provides for a wealth of amusing incident, not often fully embraced.

Top Cat's machinations turn foul on him when he sets up a telephone agency using Dibble's police telephone. In an escalating sequence of office-changes, TC ends up using the Mayor's office, but when the biggest job imaginable is offered he is too late to take advantage of it.

Although by no means perfect, the strip is good enough to keep a smile on my face - its plot is straight out of The Phil Silvers Show, and the artwork is very attractive.

It is difficult to gauge how well the annual would have appealed on release, with almost all of the featured characters having redesigns and shifts in storytelling over the years. An oddity, for sure, the annual is nevertheless very entertaining.