Commentary 2

The Creator pages are (finally) up, though the index for Titles is going to take a bit longer. I had hoped that, by getting as much of the groundwork set as possible, it would be a simple matter of copying over the information to pages - not so. There are numerous minor annoyances which desperately require fixes before they can be transferred, delaying the process somewhat. Before you get too excited, a few of the pages aren't showing up even for me, and though it may merely be Blogger taking a while to notice they are there, the machinery could possibly have chewed the pages up. Fingers crossed...

As I have mentioned the existence of the revised Title pages, I may as well delineate the issues preventing immediate publication.

When the original lists of known titles were created, stretching through comics, graphic novels, collections of newspaper strips, small press titles, a handful of underground newspapers with strong connections to comics, and even the odd magazine, there wasn't ever one list. For reasons which seemed entirely sensible at the time, the formats were split into their own categories. Each letter of the alphabet, therefore, has up to a dozen completely different lists of titles, the contents therein needing integrating before they are of any use.

Pre-1900 titles remain a constant source of frustration, with no clear sign of being resolved until I get my hands on them, and pre-1940 collections are likewise problematic. While there was never a full list of sticker albums related to comics, I want to get back to them at some point, as well as adding - for the first time - Barrett candy stick card sets. Yes, I know it is only tangentially linked to comics, but I can't find a proper index anywhere, and the lack of information is bugging me. There's no easily-located list of every edition of every title for Ladybird books either...

Further frustrating matters is the fact that the computer, which is being used to upload all of this, can only stay operational for a short while before it overheats and crashes. It is becoming difficult to keep track of when I have scheduled things for, and any double-posts, missing posts, or other quirks, is only going to annoy everyone. I apologise. Although I am not sure, exactly, how to counter the interruptions without upgrading everything, I'm taking steps to minimise anything which is likely to annoy or exasperate - a good, old-fashioned, pen and paper schedule I can tick off when a post has been scheduled.

Cutting-edge technology at work.

The next week or so will see the blog covering annuals, while I re-jig the scheduled posts to flow better. It is appropriate that they feature so heavily, as they were the first to be indexed - and largely the reason this all exists in the first place. While there are a couple of very useful books covering the subject, they are extremely limited in coverage of content.

Paul Green and Laura Taylor's Green's Guide to Collecting TV, Music & Comic Book Annuals whizzes past editions with gay abandon, ignoring the contents of numerous titles, and focusing on the (largely irrelevant) worth of same. While I appreciate the effort put in, and understand the notion behind such a book, it pains me to see excellent creators being dismissed in a few lines of text. A wonderful cover gallery towards the rear of the book makes up for some of the deficiencies in the main body, though as a means of discovering specific content it is, alas, a title which doesn't offer the necessary information.

The Hamer Comic Annual Guide (in two volumes) by Martin Hamer, a retired auctioneer, once more focuses on valuation, though with a wider breadth of titles. It, likewise, suffers from a brevity of information on the strips and stories, yet - when used in conjunction with the aforementioned Green's Guide - is a fine start to uncovering the history of annuals.

But... The origins of such titles in poetry and magazine collections has rarely been dealt with. Indeed, there are many fascinating stories regarding the evolution of what became the accepted format, with minor historical footnotes almost entirely disregarded in the rush to celebrate "new and shiny." James Joyce had work appear in at least one title bearing the word "annual" prior to its more modern use, and one wonders what other notable names have ties (however slight) to the history of annuals.