Morgyn the Mighty annuals?

[Tin Can Tommy]

I found these two books on Amazon one is supposedly from 1950 the other 1951. They might be Morgyn the Mighty, a character in the first Beano and he was also in the Rover according to Beano.com and these amazon links, annuals.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morgyn-Mighty-R ... 781&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morgyn-mighty-s ... 781&sr=1-1

anyone know anthing about these. I have a thinking they might even be the same book but one could be missing its cover. If they are seperate books this would be one of DC Thomsons first character annuals yet they seem to be going pretty cheap on amazon no doubt due to their obscurity and the obscurity of the character.

[Jon]

Very nice find. Morgyn The Mighty was formatted in the Rover annuals with very small writing, several columns, and the occasional picture, in such a way that even a double page spread would take a good 15 minutes to read. These books you've found have 236 pages - so there's no way they can be of a similar format! They would take far too long to read. Are they perhaps novels, laid out in a more traditional "book" manner? Possibly new material or possibly using the text from the original Rover.

Either way, that second link you posted looks like a beautiful book at a bargain price.

[Tin Can Tommy]

They could be a mixture of text stories and the pictutre stories. It might even be reprints like some of the later character annuals.

[felneymike]

A few of the more famous text stories were re-published in book format, including The Truth About Wilson and I Flew With Braddock.

[Phoenix]

I have a thinking they might even be the same book but one could be missing its cover.

You are quite correct, Tin Can, they are the same book, one with and one without the dustwrapper. It is a novel with nineteen chapters. The full-page illustrations are by Dudley Watkins. See below for one example.

[Phoenix]

A few of the more famous text stories were re-published in book format, including The Truth About Wilson and I Flew With Braddock.

As there is some interest in these publications, I will post all the covers. First up, the four Red Lion Library paperbacks from 1962.

Braddock And The Flying Tigers is a repeat of I Flew With Braddock from The Rover 1597 (Feb. 4 1956) - 1627 (Sep. 1 1956).

The Goalmaker is a repeat of The Goal Maker from The Wizard 1191 (Nov. 6 1948) - 1210 (Apr. 23 1949).

Killer Slade Of The Pony Express is a repeat of Pony Express from The Rover 1283 (Jan. 28 1950) - 1312 (Aug. 19 1950).

The Truth About Wilson is a repeat of the story with the same title in The Wizard 1218 (Jun. 18 1949) - 1233 (Oct. 1 1949). The chapters in issues 1220, 1227 and 1229 have been omitted. This story originally appeared in 1943, in which Wilson ran the mile in three minutes. For the repeat from which this paperback novel is taken, Wilson's time was increased to three minutes forty eight, presumably on the grounds that nobody would believe the three minute mile!! An editorial blunder of some magnitude given that some normal humans have since beaten that time.

[Phoenix]

Here is the fourth one.

[colcool007]

Further to Phoenix's enlightening post, these books are expensive to obtain. I have only seen four examples of the Wilson book being posted for sale and I thought that I had achieved a good price of getting it for less than £20. I have seen two break the fifty pound barrier with ease.

My Morgyn book came without dustcover and cost me £32 and the book states that it is a reprint of the Rover issues. A 1950's version of Red Dagger if you prefer.

[Digifiend]

I know WSK Webb is a pseudonym, and was actually a character (a reporter) in the Wilson stories. Are the other books' supposed authors also fake names?

[Phoenix]

I know WSK Webb is a pseudonym, and was actually a character (a reporter) in the Wilson stories. Are the other books' supposed authors also fake names?

Sergeant George Bourne was Braddock's navigator, confidant and friend.

Jimmy Baker was Redstoke United's outside-right, Pickford's right wing partner and friend. He was also a part-time journalist with the Redstoke Daily News, As well as learning things about Pickford during training all week, his paper gave him the job of trying to find out as much information as possible about the mysterious master footballer in order to inform a sporting public hungry for such news.

J. A. Slade was a loner, as all Pony Express riders tended to be so, as he had no companion to tell his story, Matt Carson is an invention whose name suggests an inhabitant of the Wild West.

As far as the original stories in the comics were concerned, only a small handful of actual writers were credited during the entire fifty-one year run of the Big Five altogether.

[Digifiend]

Thanks for that.

[Phoenix]

The second batch is a set of four hardback volumes with dustwrappers. The umbrella title was Famous Books In Pictures. They all contain 124 pages, and all artwork, at two drawings to a page, was done by Dudley Watkins, which explains the high prices they all seem to command. If they still have their extremely rare dustwrapper, expect to pay a premium. I had been searching for years for Treasure Island, and I finally won it in an auction three or four years ago, but it cost me £78.

Kidnapped was originally published in 1948, reissued in 1959.

Oliver Twist was originally published in 1949, reissued in 1959.

Treasure Island was originally published in 1952, reissued in 1959.

Robinson Crusoe was originally published in 1952, reissued in 1959.

[Phoenix]

And the fourth.

[Phoenix]

Now the final three. I'm excluding the Morgyn The Mighty 1951 hardback with dustwrapper as it has already been posted and discussed.

The Dog-Skin Clue was a 156-page hardback novel with a pictorial cover which was published in 1926. It was a reprint of The Thrill Hunters, which had appeared in Adventure 35 (May 13 1922) - 53 (Sep. 16 1923). The serial was the first of a series of stories about young adventurer, Jig Lumsden, and his rivalry with his rascally cousin, Bert Horler. Their adventures were to continue in The Sky-High Racers in 1923, and Jig o' The Hurricane in 1925.

Invisible Dick was a companion volume to The Dog-Skin Clue, with a hardback pictorial cover, also with 156 pages, and published at the same time in 1926. This is a reprint of Invisible Dick 1 (Mar. 4 1922) - 20 (Jul. 15 1922). However, as this was a series of completes rather than a serial, apart from starting with the first episode in The Rover, which was clearly an explanatory episode, the chapters of the book are selected from that first series, no doubt on a level-of-interest basis. Stories about Dicky Brett and his mysterious, perfume-filled, little brass bottle became extremely popular, so much so that he returned on a regular basis.

I Flew With Braddock was a hardback volume of 252 pages with a colourful dustwrapper. It was published in 1959. This also was something of a composite reprint. The opening chapter was the first instalment of the very first series from The Rover in 1952. The remainder of the book was made up of the whole of series three from 1953 and part of series four from 1953/54. The historical period covered is from 1940 to the beginning of 1943.

Apologies for the mottled effect on the scans, which isn't there on the originals. I might have to consider upgrading my scanner!!

[Tin Can Tommy]

Invisible Dick[/u] was a companion volume to The Dog-Skin Clue, with a hardback pictorial cover, also with 156 pages, and published at the same time in 1926. This is a reprint of Invisible Dick 1 (Mar. 4 1922) - 20 (Jul. 15 1922). However, as this was a series of completes rather than a serial, apart from starting with the first episode in The Rover, which was clearly an explanatory episode, the chapters of the book are selected from that first series, no doubt on a level-of-interest basis. Stories about Dicky Brett and his mysterious, perfume-filled, little brass bottle became extremely popular, so much so that he returned on a regular basis.

Is this the same strip as Invisible Dick in Sparky or is it just the same name but unrelated.