Scott and Dan — with special guest Ryan Dunlavey — hit up the comics racks from 37 years ago! This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are joined by artist Ryan Dunlavey, co-creator of The Comic Book History of Animation miniseries with Fred Van Lente that debuts Dec. 9 from IDW. We’ll be selecting comics that came out the week of Dec. 2, 1983. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Nov. 25, 1985. Click here to check it out. (Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days back then — as has become the case now. So these are technically the comics that went on sale between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5.) So let’s set the scene: Ronald Reagan was in the middle of his first term as president. Terms of Endearment, which would go on to win five Oscars — Best Picture, Best Director (James L. Brooks), Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson) — topped the box office while in limited release. It would go wide later in the month. But you know what was also in theaters? The gently brilliant A Christmas Story, which would not become a smash until it received a second life on home video and, later, marathon showings on cable. In the Nielsens, the second part of the TV movie Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues was the top show of the week. All Night Long (All Night) by hit machine Lionel Richie led the Billboard 100, while Richie’s Can’t Slow Down was the best-selling album. Nottafinga! — Ryan Dunlavey, artist, The Comic Book History of Animation and The Comic Book History of Comics The Amazing Spider-Man #250, Marvel. All of the comics on this list came out TWO MONTHS before I became a comics fan and regular reader — I turned 12 in 1983 and I’d read comics before but this was the first year of my regular monthly reading habit. At first, I read a lot of Marvel titles, a handful of DC and absolutely nothing else because there were no comic stores where I lived, so I didn’t even know other comics existed (and I’ve never been an Archie fan). Luckily for me the newsstand where I bought comics held onto...