2000AD annuals, 1978-1995
Hardcover annuals for an ongoing series were an interesting facet of British comics, and standard practice for weeklies from IPC/Fleetway such as 2000AD. They were published in August of the year before the cover date, meaning the 1978 annual was published in August 1977, the first year of 2000AD‘s existence.
The odd thing about the earliest annuals is that they weren’t actually a good representation of the comic itself. The bulk of the content consisted of one-off stories that were more about shock and awe than science-fiction; morality tales that clubbed you over the head with their cautionary messages. Regular 2000AD characters like Dan Dare, MACH-1, and Judge Dredd were there, but lost in the shuffle.
It didn’t help that the page format was completely different than the weekly comic. This prevented the annuals from becoming “best of” reprints, but it also disconnected them even further from the source by discouraging crossover. However, quality improved as 2000AD itself got stronger, transforming the annuals from hit-and-miss grab bags to a treasure trove of special stories and bonus material with work by the most popular writers and artists.
For their last four years, the annuals became the “Yearbooks” with a larger softcover format and a huge boost in quality. Unfortunately, they ceased publication after 1995, to be replaced with bi-annual special issues of the weekly comic.
Judge Dredd was popular enough to get his own annuals, starting in 1981; those will be presented in the next round.