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Summer comics: DC annuals of the 1960s

Giant-size annuals became a summer tradition for DC through the early 1960s, allowing readers to catch up with stories about their favorite character's reprinted from years past. Without the big Showcase and Archives collections today, it was the only way beside rare back issues for younger readers to see some of these adventures. In the1970s, the tradition continued with various "giant-size" formats.

Here's a collection of covers from those 60s annuals. Images from the Grand Comics Database:

DC Comics October 2013 solicitations

Highlights from DC Comics' October releases:

BEWARE THE BATMAN #1
Written by Ivan Cohen, art and cover by Luciano Vecchio, animation art variant cover.
A new, all-ages series! Bruce Wayne spent years learning crime-fighting techniques from his butler (and former secret agent) Alfred Pennyworth. Now he's ready to take on Gotham City's criminal underground as the Batman!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Oct. 23.

THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1
Written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III, covers by J.H. Williams III and Dave McKean.

Twenty-five years since The Sandman changed the landscape of modern comics, Neil Gaiman's legendary series is back!

The Sandman: Overture heralds New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman's return to the art form that made him famous, ably abetted by JH Williams III, whose lush, widescreen images provide an epic scope to The Sandman's origin story. From the birth of a galaxy to the moment that Morpheus is captured, The Sandman: Overture will feature cameo appearances by â€¨fan-favorite characters such as The Corinthian, Merv Pumpkinhead and, of course, the Dream King's siblings: Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny.

"People have often asked me what happened to Morpheus to make it possible for him to be captured in The Sandman #1," Gaiman said. "And now they get to find out. And finding out, they get to learn secrets of the Endless that I've kept to myself for 25 years. Family secrets. And I should warn you: one of the Endless dies on page five."

The first issue of this 6-issue, bimonthly miniseries features a double-page interior foldout.
36 pages, $4.99, in stores on Oct. 30. (Combo pack edition, $5.99).

The Joker: The Clown Prince of CrimeWritten by DENNIS O'NEIL, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN and MARTIN PASKO Art by IRV NOVICK, DICK GIORDANO, JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ and others Cover by DICK GIORDANO
In these adventures from his 9-issue 1970s solo series, The Joker faces villains including Two-Face, Lex Luthor, the Scarecrow and Catwoman, and battles heroes like The Creeper and Green Arrow.
176 pages, $16.99, in stores on Nov. 27.