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

Sep09

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1966!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Sep 9, 2026

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1966!

1966 WEEK! Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 60 years ago… — Welcome to 1966 WEEK — a 60th anniversary celebration of an extraordinary, landmark year in popular culture. For seven days, we’re bringing you a whole host of features on everything from Star Trek, to Batman, to the Beatles, to the Monkees, and much, much more. (Just check out Walt Grogan’s latest fab banner, above!) Click here for more of the far out fun! — Dan — This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Sept. 9, 1966 — part of 13th Dimension’s 1966 WEEK celebration. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Sept. 2, 1975. Click here to check it out. (Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are the issues that went on sale between Sept. 6 and Sept. 12.) — So, let’s set the scene: Public sentiment against the Vietnam War was growing but that didn’t sway President Johnson’s commitment to send more young men to fight in Southeast Asia, amid signals the conflict was far more complicated and difficult than initially anticipated. On Sept. 7, the Department of Defense announced what would be the largest draft call for the war — with 49,200 registered men to be inducted into the military come October. It was the highest call since the Korean War. But again, the signs were there that things would get much worse before they got better. The week before, United Nations Secretary-General U Thant of Burma announced he wouldn’t seek re-election, because the U.N. had been unable to end the conflict: “Today it seems to me, as it has seemed for many months, that the pressure of events is remorselessly leading toward a major war,” he said Sept. 1. “In my view the tragic error is being repeated of relying on force and military means in a deceptive pursuit of peace.” Meanwhile, on Sept. 10, USAF Capt. Douglas “Pete” Peterson was shot down in his F-4 Phantom over Vietnam. Peterson would be captured and be held as a prisoner of war at the “Hanoi Hilton.” Five days earlier, Nguyen Van Bay became the first North Vietnamese fighter ace when he shot down his firth airplane. The American pilot, USAF Capt. Wilfred K. Abbott, also survived and would be held as a POW, including...

Sep02

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1975!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Sep 2, 2026

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1975!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 51 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Sept. 2, 1975. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Aug. 26, 1981. Click here to check it out. (Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are the issues that went on sale between Aug. 30 and Sept. 5.) So, let’s set the scene: On the morning of Sept. 5, a 26-year-old woman in Sacramento, California, dressed herself in a red robe and headdress and armed herself with a Colt M1911 .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, determined to confront President Gerald Ford about the plight of the California redwoods. As one does. About 10 a.m., the woman, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a deeply devoted member of the Manson family, got to within three feet of the president as he walked through a crowd near the State Capitol, aimed at his chest, and pulled the trigger. Aaaaaand, nothing happened. Fromme failed to slide a cartridge into the chamber, and was quickly subdued, pushed up against (ironically) a tree, and arrested. “Oh, shit, it didn’t go off; it didn’t go off,” Fromme said, according to the Secret Service agent who corralled her. Fromme was one of Manson’s earliest and most fanatical followers, though she was not involved in 1969’s Tate-LaBianca murders. (She was evidently given her nickname by George Spahn, the owner of the dilapidated former movie ranch outside Los Angeles where the Family lived, because that was the sound she made when the addled, blind old dude ran his hand up her thigh.) Even though the pistol didn’t fire, she was brought up on federal charges of attempting to assassinate the president. She claimed, “I was not determined to kill the guy” — Fromme later said she popped the cartridge from the chamber on purpose — but refused to cooperate with her own defense. When, however, the prosecutor recommended she receive heavy punishment because she was “full of hate and violence,” she showed off her aim by throwing an apple at him, hitting him in the face and knocking off his glasses. Fromme would ultimately be sentenced to life in prison and serve 34 years before, remarkably, being released on parole. Though she has granted at least...

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