Rover Book but what year is it?

[stevezodiac]

I got this today for a fiver in Greenwich market but there is no indication of the year of publication. I would guess mid fifties? It is a strange size, not the normal annual size but smaller and thicker. I thought it was just one of those generic boys' annuals but it is a DC Thomson book.

[colcool007]

As Al does not have a full run of Rover Annuals, this could go anywhere, but my guess would be 1937 as the character appears to be the same one as featured on the cover of the 1938 Annual. The one Wizard Annual that I have is also thicker but A4 sized, so this may have been an initial attempt to use up spare printing capacity as the size that you mention could easily be the same size as People Friend's Annuals as for years they have been slightly bigger than A5 and thicker than the normal comic annuals.

[Kashgar]

I'll check on the date but it is certainly 1930's as Rover took on more 'normal' annual proportions by the end of the decade. Thomsons published a fair amount of their annuals at this time in this chunky format eg Skipper, Billy and Bunny, Willie Waddle, Happy Girls Book etc. Nicely painted Dudley Watkins cover BTW.

[philcom55]

Nicely painted Dudley Watkins cover BTW.

It's interesting that the front and back covers constitute a really nice comic strip (albeit 'manga-style' - ie printed right to left), showing that DDW was already a master of the form even before the launch of Dandy and Beano. (Oddly enough I originally thought the dentist and his patient were meant to be the same character in a 'before and after' sequence - especially as their clothes are so similar)

- Phil R.

[felneymike]

I recently bought a Skipper book from the same era in which some boys are swimming in a river on the cover (in the cumbersome and probably boiling bathing suits of the day), a dog is sitting on thier clothes on the spine, and a policeman is investigating on the back. Good stories inside too, well if the one i have read is anything to go on. Some bandits in the wild west kidnap a sherrif's son, hide on top of a mountain and cut off a town's water supply until the ransom is paid.

[stevezodiac]

I'm pleased to hear its a 1930s vintage, must be quite rare. I looked at the cover art and would never have thought it was Dudley watkins, I was thinking Holroyd. But they do have Desperate Dan style boots. A fiver well spent. Incidentally the oldest DC Thomson item I have is a bundle of Red Letters (Or Red Star Weeklies) from the 1890s. Although it wasn't DC Thomson then it was "some other initial" Thomson, guess DC himself didn't come on the scene until a few years later. But as the Weekly News dated back to the 1850s Thomsons of Dundee have been around a fair few years.

[Kashgar]

Hi Steve, The Rover Book you have is the 1938 edition. The 1938 edition Al has featured in the Gallery is actually the edition for 1937.

[colcool007]

And how on Earth did you find that out so quickly???

[Kashgar]

I recently bought a Skipper book from the same era in which some boys are swimming in a river on the cover (in the cumbersome and probably boiling bathing suits of the day), a dog is sitting on thier clothes on the spine, and a policeman is investigating on the back. Good stories inside too, well if the one i have read is anything to go on. Some bandits in the wild west kidnap a sherrif's son, hide on top of a mountain and cut off a town's water supply until the ransom is paid.

Hi Mike, This is the 1934 Skipper Book (the 3rd). A lot of the Skipper Books published in the chunky format had these wrap-around illustrated covers. The artist is again Dudley Watkins although maybe less recognisably so than in the 1938 Rover Book's case.

[Phoenix]

Good stories inside too, well if the one i have read is anything to go on. Some bandits in the wild west kidnap a sherrif's son, hide on top of a mountain and cut off a town's water supply until the ransom is paid.

I don't know the annual story you refer to felneymike, but the inspiration for it almost certainly came from the second instalment (Jun. 4 1932) of the 15-episode Lord Bill's Fighting Man, which appeared in The WIZARD 495 (May 28 1932) - 509 (Sep. 3 1932). Lord Bill, coming to the aid of the desperate homesteaders, got his own back on the crooks who had 'kidnapped' the water by persuading them sign an agreement to accept the outrageously high price of 5,000 dollars for the 'rights' to what was the only water source in the area and then to buy water from him at a derisory price for the first bucket, each successive bucket costing double the price of the previous one. Being clearly a few sandwiches short of a picnic, they only saw the noughts before signing .

[dandy mad]

I love those old big 5 annuals especially the adventureland ones i also have some wizard ones but i dont know the years of them the first one has a snow scene and the artwork looks like chick gordon the second one has a circus theme with circus orchestra, fortune teller ect and the third one has a canadian mountie again on ice after a villain on what looks like a small sail boat on ice so dose anyone know the dates ? I would be greatful for your help

[felneymike]

Look here: http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Annuals/AnnualWhole.asp

By the looks of it the Mountie one is 1941 and the 'Circus' one is 1939

[dandy mad]

Thanks felneymike i thought that they were pre/wartime annuals from that god awful paper thomsons used back then for their annuals and at last i know the years they are from cheers

[Kashgar]

The dates of your Wizard books from the descriptions are 'Circus' - 1937, Snow Scene - 1938 (both covers illustrated by Chick Gordon) and the 'Mountie' cover is 1940.

[dandy mad]

Thanks felneymike and kashgar for solving that little mystery cheers