The Complete Little Orphan Annie

The Complete Little Orphan Annie is a hardcover book series collecting the complete output of the American comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, written and drawn by Harold Gray from the strip's debut in 1924 to Gray's death in 1968.[1] (The newspaper comic strip was published from 1924–2010 under the Tribune Media Services syndicate.[2]) The strip was the most popular in its heyday according to a Fortune poll.[3] The publisher of this book series is The Library of American Comics and its first volume was released in June 2008.[4]

The Complete Little Orphan Annie
The cover of volume 1
Publication information
PublisherThe Library of American Comics
FormatHardcover
GenreAdventure
Action
Humour
Publication dateJune 2008
No. of issues16 to date
Main character(s)Annie, Sandy the Dog, Oliver Warbucks, Punjab the Wizard, the omnipotent Mr. Am
Creative team
Written byHarold Gray
ArtistHarold Gray
EditorDean Mullaney

Background

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The series was first announced in March 2007, by Dean Mullaney of The Library of American Comics, with a planned release in February 2008.[5][6] After some delays the release date was pushed forward to June, 2008.[7]

This was the third comic strip reprint project initiated by The Library of American Comics, after The Complete Terry and the Pirates and The Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy.[8]

Format

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The hardcover[9] volumes of this series use a landscape format of 11 inches × 8.5 inches, approximately (280 mm × 216 mm), allowing three daily comic strips or one full Sunday page to be reproduced per page.[10] The strips are chronologically reprinted; the dailies in black-and-white and the Sunday pages in full color.[11][12] Editing and design for the books was done by Dean Mullaney.[7][13]

The compilation includes biographical essays about the author, Harold Gray, written by the comics scholar, Jeet Heer,[14][15] who wrote his doctoral thesis about the Little Orphan Annie comic strip.[16] Essays by other comic industry experts also appear.[17] The comic strips were scanned from original artwork and syndicate proofs of the Harold Gray Archives at Boston University.[18] Extras such as photographs, old strips, reproductions of playbills and period memorabilia tied to the comic strip are included in all volumes.[19] A scholarly index is provided.[20]

Volumes

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Volumes
Volume Release date Title Period Page count ISBN
12008-06-24Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Daily Comics - Vol. 1 - Will Tomorrow Ever Come?1924–1927384978-1-60010-140-3
22009-01-20Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Daily Comics - Vol. 2 - The Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn1927–1929320978-1-60010-197-7
32009-05-26Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 3 - And a Blind Man Shall Lead Them1929–1931348978-1-60010-406-0
42009-12-29Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 4 - A House Divided (or Will Fate Trick Trixie?)1932–1933276978-1-60010-445-9
52010-06-08Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 5 - The One-Way Road to Justice1933–1935280978-1-60010-580-7
62011-01-18Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 6 - Punjab the Wizard1935–1936276978-1-60010-792-4
72011-08-30Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 7 - The Omnipotent Mr. Am!1936–1938276978-1-60010-995-9
82012-06-19Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 8 - The Last Port of Call1938–1940296978-1-61377-199-0
92013-06-25Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 9 - Saints and Cynics1940–1941296978-1-61377-575-2
102014-06-10Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 10 - The Junior Commandos1941–1943296978-1-61377-951-4
112015-05-05Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 11 - Death Be Thy Name1943–1945288978-1-63140-223-4
122016-01-12Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 12 - It's Only a Paper Moon1945–1947296978-1-63140-461-0
132016-11-15Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 13 - Spies and Counterspies1947–1948296978-1-63140-736-9
142017-10-31Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 14 - Sunshine and Shadow1948–1950272978-1-63140-977-6
152018-11-27Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 15 - Open Season for Trouble1950–1951276978-1-68405-351-3
162019-11-12Little Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 16 - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow1951–1953280978-1-68405-558-6
17TBALittle Orphan Annie: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays - Vol. 17 - Fifty Miles from Nowhere1953–1955264TBA

References

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  1. Harvey, R. C. (May 20, 2013). "The Orphan's Epic". The Comics Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  2. "Sun sets on Little Orphan Annie comic strip". BBC News. June 14, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  3. "Book Review: Little Orphan Annie, Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos by Harold Gray - Cinema Sentries". Cinemasentries.com. 18 June 2014.
  4. "The Complete "Little Orphan Annie" by Harold Gray Begins from IDW". CBR.com. July 2, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  5. "Little Orphan Annie reprint details". The Beat. April 2, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  6. "Little Orphan Annie finds home at IDW - the Beat". www.comicsbeat.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 Gardner, Alan (June 4, 2008). "Little Orphan Annie collection due out this month". The Daily Cartoonist. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  8. "IDW to Publish 'Little Orphan Annie'". ICv2. March 20, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  9. "Book Review: Little Orphan Annie, Vol. 14 (1948-1950): Sunshine and Shadow by Harold Gray - Cinema Sentries". Cinemasentries.com.
  10. ""Magic is Bunk, o'course… Still… Whaddyuh Know?" The Curious Pull of Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie". Tcj.com. 31 July 2019.
  11. "About the Book: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Series". Kids Reads. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  12. "The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Two: 1927-1929". July 11, 2019.
  13. "The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Three: 1929-1931". Ebabble.net. August 2, 2019.
  14. "The Comics Reporter". Comicsreporter.com.
  15. "Yesterday Is Tomorrow". May 8, 2009.
  16. Taube, Michael (May 6, 2011). "Book Review: 'Complete Little Orphan Annie'". The Washington Times. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  17. "The Golden Age of Reprints: An Analysis of Classic Comics in a Contemporary Industry". Publishing.sfu.ca. August 20, 2013.
  18. "IDW's "The Complete Little Orphan Annie" in stores this June". CBR.com. May 28, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  19. Kan, Kat. "Little Orphan Annie Vol. One: Will Tomorrow Ever Come?: Daily Comic Strips 1924-1927". Diamond Bookshelf. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  20. "Review | The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume One: 1924-1927 • Comic Book Daily". Comicbookdaily.com. April 25, 2019.
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