Originally, the Archie Annual appeared once a year or annually as a square bound comic-book size publication. After 26 years and 26 issues, the size was reduced to a digest size and published not once, but twice a year. In keeping with all things traditional at Archie, it was and is still called an annual. The digest features the same format as all the other Archie digests, meaning a brand new leadoff tale followed by reprints. The earliest issues are completely reprints.
