TV Comic Annuals from the 1980s

by Mark Nobes, chief editor

The TV Comic book and accompanying annuals were published by Polystyle Publications Ltd, which was founded on May 12th 1960 and dissolved in 1997. They were based at Paddington Green in London. Although most of the annuals were published in the 1960s and 70s, there were three published in the 1980s, which is what I'm going to focus on for this post.
TV Comic Annual 1980 front cover - Polystyle Publications
This is the first of the three annuals from the 1980s, which was published in September 1979 as the 1980 annual. As you can see, the cover has an aviation theme with the cartoon characters flying or clinging on to a biplane. Comic strips include The Pink Panther, TV Terrors, Nelly Telly, Popeye, Basil Brush and The Incredible Bulk. This edition was priced at £1.50
The Incredible Bulk comic strip from TV Comic Annual 1980
TV Comic Annual 1984
The 1984 annual was priced at £2.40 and included Ken Dodd's Diddymen, Battle of the Planets, Laurel and Hardy and Popeye. It featured 96 pages of cartoon strips.
TV Comic Annual 1985 (front cover ft. Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Popeye and Pink Panther
The last ever TV Comic annual for 1985 featured Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Popeye and Pink Panther having a part on the front cover. As well as comic strips featuring these characters, others included Tales of the Gold Monkey, The Inspector, Barney Bear, TV Terrors, Laurel and Hardy, Mighty Moth and Catweazle. 
Other features were Star Line - It's Cannon & Ball, Tellytalk and Telly Test.
Nelly Telly comic strip from TV Comic Annual 1980

Part of the Nelly Telly comic strip from the 1980 annual.

 

80s Cartoon T-shirts

The Real Ghostbusters Annuals

The Perishers Cartoon

1985 Annuals