RETRO HOT PICKS! | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Nov29

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1969!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Nov 29, 2023

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1969!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 54 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Nov. 29, 1969. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Nov. 22, 1963. Click here to check it out. (Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are technically the comics that went on sale between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2.) So, let’s set the scene: The nation continued to grapple with the Vietnam War and the Nixon administration’s handling of it. On Nov. 26, President Nixon signed into law a “draft lottery” designed to address inequities in the system and to add more military personnel toward Vietnam. The first lottery was held Dec. 1. The move only increased resistance to the war and came against the backdrop of Nixon earlier in the month announcing plans to end US involvement and reiterating his objective of “Vietnamization” on an orderly timetable. (In that Nov. 3 speech he coined the term “silent majority,” one of the defining colloquialisms of his presidency.) Further, the 1968 My Lai Massacre was revealed to the public Nov. 12 and on Nov. 15, more than 500,000 protesters held a massive antiwar march in Washington. Similar, though smaller-scale, protests were held in other cities. On Nov. 30, Tex Watson, Charles Manson’s right-hand man, who carried out most of the shooting or killing in the Tate-La Bianca murders, was arrested in Texas after the LAPD ID’d his fingerprints from the crime scenes. Remarkably, Watson was able to fight extradition for almost a year. The top movies in theaters included the Swedish erotic drama I Am Curious (Yellow), which was scandalous at the time but is actually mind-numbingly tedious. It was supplanted as the box-office leader by the forgettable Krakatoa, East of Java. Other movies on the silver screen included the Paul Newman-Robert Redford bromance Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, one of my all-time favorite films, and the Redford vehicle Downhill Racer. Gunsmoke, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and My Three Sons were among the TV ratings leaders. New shows that fall included The Brady Bunch; The Bill Cosby Show (the one where he played gym teacher Chet Kincaid); Love, American Style; Marcus Welby, M.D.; The Courtship of Eddie’s Father; Room 222; and...

Nov22

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1963!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Nov 22, 2023

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1963!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 60 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Nov. 22, 1963. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Nov. 15, 1981. Click here to check it out. (Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are technically the comics that went on sale between Nov. 19 and Nov. 25.) So, let’s set the scene: On Nov. 22, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. At 12:30 p.m. local time, Kennedy and Texas Gov. John Connally were shot from long range as their car passed the Texas School Book Depository. Within eight minutes, Kennedy was at Parkland Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. (Connally survived.) The shocking, heart-wrenching shooting forever damaged the nation’s psyche and altered the course of American history. The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested at 1:50 p.m. Less than an hour later, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president on Air Force One before it left Dallas. Standing beside him was JFK’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. The airplane, carrying a coffin with Kennedy’s body, arrived at Andrews Air Force in Maryland just before 6 p.m. local time. Two days later, on Nov. 24, as the reeling nation continued to mourn, Oswald was shot at 11:21 a.m. local time by nightclub owner Jack Ruby at Dallas police headquarters. Oswald died less than two hours later, at Parkland. Conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy’s assassination and its aftermath continue to endure to this day. On the same day, the Vietnam War hit a turning point that was directly related to Kennedy’s assassination: At one of his first meetings with foreign policy advisors since becoming president, Johnson rescinded Kennedy’s plans to withdraw soldiers from South Vietnam. According to National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, Johnson said, “I am not going to lose Vietnam. I am not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.” Johnson then issued a statement reaffirming the United States’ commitment to support South Vietnam militarily and economically. On Nov. 25. Kennedy’s state funeral took place in Washington, with a procession to Arlington National Cemetery. Millions watched live...

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