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Jun24

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1952!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Jun 24, 2026

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1952!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 74 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of June 24, 1952. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of June 17, 1983. 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 June 21 and June 27.) So, let’s set the scene: Harry Truman had decided not to run for re-election, so the 1952 presidential race provided open lanes to both Democrats and Republicans. In those days, the primaries mattered but the conventions mattered even more, so with just weeks away from either gathering — both were set for Chicago — neither party had a presumptive nominee. For the Democrats, Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, best known at the time for his crusade against organized crime, won most of the primaries but was strongly disliked by the party machine, which cast about for a different candidate. Among the alternatives were diplomat W. Averell Harriman; Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota; and Vice President Alben Barkley. None of them, or any other hopefuls, passed muster, so attention focused on Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, who instead wanted to run for re-election. But Stevenson didn’t close the door, either, and a movement was growing to get him to run. The Republicans, meanwhile, had been out of the White House since 1932, but rather than unite behind a single standard bearer, the GOP was as divided as the Democratic Party, and perhaps even more bitterly. With the convention scheduled to begin July 7, there were two candidates with roughly even support: Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio, who was the son of former President William Howard Taft, and war hero Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who on June 3 retired as the supreme commander of NATO, and resumed his duties as president of Columbia University. — IN OTHER NEWS — The Korean War entered its third year, with no end in sight. The two sides were essentially at a stalemate and morale was low among US Army troops. — Speaking of the Korean War, this would have made a good episode of MASH: On June 23, the financially ailing Toledo Mud Hens moved to West Virginia and became...

Jun17

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1983!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Jun 17, 2026

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1983!

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 43 years ago… This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of June 17, 1983. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of June 10, 1964. 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 June 14 and June 20.) So, let’s set the scene: Ride, Sally, ride! On June 18, astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, as a member of the space shuttle Challenger’s crew. The Russians beat us to it by about 20 years, but it was a big deal nonetheless. Still, neither NASA nor the press knew quite to make of it, despite Ride’s sterling credentials as a physicist and astronaut, not to mention her four degrees, including a doctorate, all earned at Stanford. At the standard pre-launch presser in May, Ride was asked idiotic questions like, “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?” and “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” NASA also asked her to help it develop a “space makeup kit” — and suggested giving Ride 100 tampons for the six-day mission. Despite such sexist weirdness, Ride, who at 32 was also the youngest American in space, returned a bona fide hero and symbol of national pride. On June 16, Pope John Paul II visited Poland for a weeklong pilgrimage to his homeland that had historic ramifications. The pope’s trip occurred during a time of hardline governmental persecution and on only his second day, he boldly asked the country’s communist leaders to end martial law and restore the Solidarity union. (He also met privately with union leader Lech Walesa during the trip.) John Paul’s grace and strength of spirit was an inspiration to the Polish masses, which greeted him with huge crowds. The visit was central to the pope’s campaign against oppressive communism, and he was widely credited with helping to bring down the Soviet bloc. Mikhail Gorbachev himself later said that the Iron Curtain would not have fallen without John Paul II. The top-grossing movie in America was… Superman III, which opened June 17. The flick was a one-hit wonder at No. 1, though, because word got out quickly that...

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