4 out of 5

After a long hiatus, last year’s Annual… perplexed me. I questioned what the point was. With the “understanding” that annuals tend to be a weird dumping ground of end-of-year nonsense and reprints, the most memorable annuals – beyond having good stories – tend to have a followable theme of sorts, and after taking a step back on this 2026 Annual, I found myself quite satisfied by its theme: which is to be a weird dumping ground.

That’s not a theme, really; it probably sounds like I’m taking a jab. But no, I do feel like this was a legit attempt to not only carve out some things that haven’t been reprinted in accessible ways, but also to gather together some of the visualist oddballs from the mag’s history: Martin Emond; Glenn Fabry; John Hicklenton. Somewhat confirming that, to me, are the bookends from a new oddball – Joe Currie – on two new strips: an Xmas Dredd from Rob Williams, and an Anderson from Marua McHugh. Inbetween, we get story oddballs, like an unpublished short from Steve Dillon (Hap Hazzard), and a “where are they now?” Satanus entry from Rennie, which is very weird for getting all 6 of its parts reprinted, since these annuals tend to be oners.

The contents are totally subjective, of course; I’ll be frank in admitting that I didn’t like a fair bit of it, but I’m leaning into how variable this stuff was due to the dumping-ground theme, such that I really felt like each entry was a new experience. Maybe I didn’t enjoy the experience, but it was a fun way to get exposed to this stuff, all the same. …And I think Rob Williams fans will likely find this strip hilarious; I’m realizing I hate Rob’s take on Dredd, so there’s that.

The other new strip is a Rogue Trooper from T.C. Eglington and Staz Johnson, and given the milquetoast Rogue Alex de Campi is writing at the time of this annual, and the preceding also milquetoast Geoffrey D. Wessel stuff, and the preceding preceding “oh, this is just another WWII story” path Garth Ennis was taking… this Rogue tale was awesome. That was a ton of qualification that makes it sound like it’s just okay, but I guess I’m trying to underline that not only was it good, but it was super refreshing to remember how good Rogue can be.

Anyhow. The Annual is a big ol’ curio, but I felt like I got the mission this time, and I was onboard. …Digitally. Paying $30+ for a physical copy of this may have made me feel otherwise.