Daddy Warbucks is in serious trouble. The egg-bald guardian of that ageless comic-strip carrot top, Little Orphan Annie, has been railroaded into a private insane asylum run by one Dr. Le Quaque.

For years, I put my dream on hold. But in 1981, at age 37, I decided it was now or never. I carved out time -- early mornings before the kids woke up, weekends and stolen moments in between -- to ...

By permission of Tribune Content Agency, LLC, ANNIE is based on Harold Gray's popular comic strip "Little Orphan ... Martin Charnin bought a coffee table book called "The Life and Hard Times ...

and all manner of comic book trickery. Still, when it comes to Marvel's oldest, deadest characters who haven't truly come back, Gwen Stacy is up there - and so is Jean's childhood friend Annie.