D.C. Thomson (through Pedigree Books) have published a “new” Bunty Annual this year. The Best of Bunty Annual has reprints of old Bunty favourites. It can be purchased through the DC Thomson’s online shop or digitally through Comixology.

The last Bunty Annual was the 2009 Annual (published in 2008). Although there were two more books after this, aimed at more nostalgic readers. While the 2009 annual had a bright pink logo, with a young girl on the cover and advertised features about stars Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron,  the other two books (published 2009 and 2010) had more traditional pictures and were advertised as “Golden Age Classic Stories – Bunty for Girls”.  This new annual is keeping in line with that, it is a best of annual that is a nice read for collectors and has classic stories. I’m sure there are also some young girls that would enjoy it as well, as it is nice and colorful and a fun read.

I got my own copy this week, and there is something nice about having a new book, rather than a second hand one. The cover is so shiny! It is a nice cover with a light blue background and the classic Bunty logo.  Four squares have images from previous annual covers. In case your curious they are from the following annuals; 1971, 1977, 1985 and 1989. The back cover  has the 1980 Annual picture. In total (including covers) there is only 80 pages which makes the £7.99 price seem a bit high, but it is nicely presented and I like to support any revivals of these comics, even reprints! (Update: Now available on Amazon at the much lower price: £2.87) 

Inside the book, there is a good selection of stories, there are two Four Marys stories, one from the 60s and one from the 80s which shows a nice contrast. Other popular characters that appear are; Moira Kent, Toots and Catch the Cat. There are Bunty strips with rhymes and a Life with Bunty story. There are two text stories, one of them being a nice Christmas themed story, “The Christmas Card”  from the 1983 Annual.  There are also two photo stories, surprisingly neither of them are a “Luv, Lisa” story, which was one of the few photo stories that people seemed to like. Although I’m not a fan of photo stories, the book is showing the different ages of Bunty, so it makes sense to have a photo story. As for the features, of course what annual would be complete without a Bunty Cut-Out Wardrobe, other features include an “It’s Paula” page and a Pop Crossword.

There are other stories and features other than what I have mentioned, I don’t want to spoil all the surprises for anyone who is going to buy the book! I was a bit surprised there is no Comp story but overall they have fit a lot in to 80 pages. The book is a larger size than previous annuals, it is nicely put together, with lots of colour (but not all colour), it won’t take too long to read but it is a fun addition to my collection. I think the price is a bit high, although I haven’t bought a new annual in years so that may be the average price these days! I also found the delivery on the slow side, it took 3 weeks and the site doesn’t give any delivery estimation, just an order confirmation. On the plus side in the UK postage is free so that’s good.  It’s been 4 years since any Bunty book came out so it is exciting to get a new book and if it sells well it may become a yearly thing, which would be nice. Even though I have a a good collection of old Bunty annuals, there were a lot of stories I hadn’t read before, it has good quality paper, and the reprints look good, so I’m happy with the purchase.

It’s a good year for girls annuals, IPC have also got a Best of  70’s Girls Comics Annual available. You can read more about it on the Jinty Resource site here. 

Full List of Contents:

Picture Stories

• Bunty: There’s More Ways Than One –  of Having Fun (Pages: 2-3)
• A Bite for Bunty (Page: 6)
• The Four Marys (Pages: 7-11)
• Toots (Pages 14-15)
• Bunty: Trouble in Store (Page: 16)
• Punch and Jenny (Pages: 17-23)
• No Pals for Pamela – a Moira Kent Story (Pages: 26-33)
• Superstitious Cindy (Page: 36)
• Catch the Cat!  (Pages: 37-41)
• Bunty: The Wash-Day Wonder (Page: 45)
• Pamela the Pet Finder (Pages: 46-49)
• Life With Bunty (Pages: 52-56)
• Haggis (Page: 57)
• The Four Marys (Pages: 65-70)

Text Stories

• Sue in the Saddle (Pages: 42-43)
• The Christmas Carol  (Pages: 50-51)

Photo Stories

• Queen of Hearts (Pages: 58-62)
• Penny’s Plan  (Pages: 73-76)

Features

• Afghan Hound / Dalmation  (Pages: 12-13)
• Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (Pages: 24-25)
• It’s Just Your Luck! (Pages: 34-35)
• Bunty Cut-Out Wardrobe – Beautiful Bridesmaid (Page: 44)
• It’s Paula! (Page: 63)
• Snow in Summer  (Page: 64)
• Who’s Who at the Zoo? (Page: 71)
• Superpets (Page: 72)
• Pop Crossword (Page: 77)