Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 11, 2025 | 9 comments

MORRISON MONDAYS!

By BILL MORRISON

Since my wife and I moved back to Michigan from our decades-long residency in California, I’ve been invited to a local comic-con every year called the Downriver Comics and Collector’s Show. It’s an event that I can’t resist for basically one reason, it’s held in the gymnasium of my high school! When I was a teen, the idea that there would be a comics convention in my school — in my school — and that I would be an honored guest at that convention was simply inconceivable.

Back then, conventions were held in hotel ballrooms and VFW halls, and a school is the last place you’d expect to see comics. School was where comics were confiscated and never seen again! ! And kids had to keep their comic-collecting hobby on the down-low if they hoped to avoid getting beaten up after school or securing a date on the weekend. Today’s young collectors bask in the comfort of Marvel movies and Greg Berlanti TV shows. Comics and comics characters have been mainstreamed, but back in the ’70s, it was strictly for the nerds.

Sure, we had The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman on TV, but they were considered mostly for kids, just a few steps up from Saturday morning cartoons. And yes, we had the Superman movie in theaters, and adults and kids alike flocked to see that, but hey, even grownups back then could openly admit they liked Superman. He’s a cultural institution, after all.

1959/60

Now, here we are in the future, and every year in June I sit at a table at Lincoln Park High School for two days in an un-air-conditioned gym where I was forced to climb knotted ropes, wrestle on foam mats, and guard my privates against incoming dodgeballs. And across from me are comic book dealers, toy sellers, and other artists and writers. To describe it as surreal doesn’t quite capture the feeling.

I usually make a little money at the show, but I don’t normally go around and spend any of it with the dealers who exhibit there. In June, I always have to prepare for the expense of San Diego Comic-Con the following month, and need to be as thrifty as my collector tendencies (okay, my habit!) will allow. Plus, the regular dealers at this show usually have the same vintage comics that I could likely find at any of the other shows I attend.

1960/61

1961/62

1962/63

But this year was different. This year, I walked past a dealer’s booth on my way to the men’s room and saw something completely unexpected. There on the rack amid copies of The Incredible Hulk #181, The Amazing Spider-Man #129, and Giant-Size X-Men #1 were several British Batman annuals! I’m guessing as to whether those valuable Marvel comics were there or not, because all I really saw were those beautiful hardcover Bat-books from across the pond!

1963/64

1964/65

1965/66

I cautiously asked the dealer about them, and he told me he bought them as a lot, and paid about what they were worth. That told me they were not going to be cheap. If I hoped to buy them, I was going to have to pay a premium. He was also only selling them as a lot, not individually, but that was fine. I wanted all 16 of them.

The books cover years between 1959 and 1973, and include annuals that feature comics reprints; storybook annuals that have illustrated text pieces, games, and features; and a “Bumper Book” that has both comics and illustrated text pieces. They are from various British publishers such as Atlas, Top Sellers, and Brown Watson, and a little research revealed that sometimes annuals by one publisher appeared on racks simultaneously with storybook annuals by another company. (Here’s a great checklist!)

After flipping through a few of them, I was completely hooked. I promised myself I would leave the convention with those books in the trunk of my car, and I kept my word! San Diego be damned!

1967

1968

The comics in the annuals are reprints from various US editions of Batman and Detective Comics, going back into the 1950s. Some are without color, some are monochromatic, and others are in full color. Also included are non-Batman features that appeared in Detective Comics, such as Roy Raymond, TV Detective; John Jones, Manhunter From Mars; and Congorilla.

The original tales, illustrations, games, and puzzles in the storybook annuals are by British artists and writers, created especially for these editions.

1969

1970

1971

1972

The covers of the 16 books are a wonderful mix of line art and painted illustrations, and one photo cover of Adam West in the Bat-suit from the 1966 Batman movie. Some of them are redrawn from US covers, while others are completely original designs. The art is crude and hurried in many cases, but I can’t help but find them charming nonetheless.

Naturally, because I have a disease, I’m now on the hunt for whatever volumes between 1959 and 1973 that I may be missing. These books that weren’t much on my radar have now become essential to my life. If I had two or three, I’m sure I’d be content with including them as representative samples of a sub-category in my collection. But having 16 of them, that’s something else. That’s a collection, and collections need to be completed for some annoying OCD-adjacent reason.

1967

1968

1970

Further research has revealed that I’m missing at least one of the storybook annuals and a few variant editions with slightly different covers. And this is not even including the later Bronze Age editions. Oy! OK, game on!

I’m sure I’ll be back in my high school gym next June, and I know the chances of finding those missing books there is beyond slim-to-none. But I’ll still be looking!

—