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Dec25

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1944!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Dec 25, 2024

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1944!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 80 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Dec. 25, 1944. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Dec. 18, 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 Dec. 22 and Dec. 28.) So, let’s set the scene, for our annual RETRO HOT PICKS Christmas foray deep into the Golden Age: The Battle of the Bulge! Perhaps the most storied battle of World War II’s European Theater (other than the D-Day invasion), the Nazis had pulled off a sneak attack against the Allies in the Ardennes region of Belgium the previous week, and by Christmas Eve, German tanks had reached as far west as Celles. The offensive stretched the Allied line thin, creating an enormous “bulge” on the map. But the Americans, Canadians and British would not break. On Dec. 22, U.S. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, whose 101st Airborne troops were surrounded at the Siege of Bastogne, famously responded to the Germans’ demand for surrender with one, typewritten line on a sheet of paper: “N U T S !” On Dec. 26, Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army repelled the German forces and on the 27th, the siege at Bastogne ended in Allied victory, effectively breaking the back of the Nazi war machine. By Dec. 28, American troops began gaining ground in a counteroffensive, pushing the Germans back east. (Within the next month, the line was close to where it had been and the Nazis continued to retreat. The Battle of the Bulge proved to be the beginning of the end, as the Soviets continued their march along the Eastern Front.) In the Pacific Theater, the Japanese continued to put up a difficult struggle, with kamikaze missions wreaking havoc on American ships. But important offensives were being won: On Dec. 26, the Battle of Leyte in the Philippines ended in decisive Allied victory, an important stepping stone. What nobody was aware of publicly, however: The U.S. military had on Dec. 17 activated what was called the 509th Composite Group — the final preparations for the deployment of nuclear weapons. IN OTHER NEWS — On Dec. 16,...

Dec18

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1981!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Dec 18, 2024

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1981!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 43 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Dec. 18, 1981. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Dec. 11, 1976. 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 Dec. 15 and Dec. 21.) So, let’s set the scene: On the domestic front, it was relatively quiet but major headlines were being generated out of Poland and the Middle East. Poland’s Soviet-bloc, communist government had declared martial law and arrested Solidarity union activists in a violent but ultimately futile attempt to crush the opposition to the authoritarian regime. On Dec. 16, riot police launched the so-called “pacification of Wujek” — an Orwellian term for massacre. Authorities broke up a sit-down strike by 2,000 at the Wujek coal mine in Katowice — with tanks and gunfire. They even shot at emergency workers who attempted to help the wounded. Nine miners were killed, and four police. The assault quelled the movement, led by Lech Walesa and others, in the short term but the lingering anger and angst hardened into resolve and by the end of the decade, the government was ousted. Twenty-five years after the massacre, a former commander and 14 officers were imprisoned for their brutality. Amid the ongoing crisis, President Reagan condemned the Polish government for violating human rights and said the US would not give economic aid to Poland unless martial law were lifted. Walesa was named Time’s Man of the Year. On Dec. 15, what’s widely considered the first suicide car bombing destroyed Iraq’s embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61. Car bombs were not new, and suicide bombers had used vehicles to drive to a target, but this attack was distinct because the car was filled with explosives and detonated while it was being driven. At least 100 others were injured. IN OTHER NEWS — A miracle! On Dec. 18, a 19-month-old child fell from his family’s sixth-floor apartment in Manhattan — and survived without a scratch. His fall was broken by shrubs, and he landed in mud. — On Dec. 18, Tom Brokaw wrapped up his tenure as co-anchor of NBC’s The Today...

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