Posted by Dan Greenfield on Jul 1, 2020
RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1985!
With special guest RON MARZ! Since we kicked it off on a lark in March, RETRO HOT PICKS has quickly become one of our most popular features. So much so, that we’ve decided to invite special guests to give us their picks of the week from decades ago. This week, it’s Ron Marz, who has written for pretty much every publisher under the sun but is best known for co-creating Green Lantern Kyle Rayner with artist Darryl Banks. Now, last time in RETRO HOT PICKS, it was books that went on sale the week of June 24, 1973, and our guest was former DC chief Paul Levitz. (Click here to check it out.) This time, it’s the week of July 1, 1985. (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 June 28 and July 4.) So let’s set the scene: Ronald Reagan was in his second term as president. Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider rode atop the box office — but would soon be displaced by Back to the Future, which pretty much ruled the summer. The top show on the tube was a TV movie called Policewoman Centerfold, starring Melody Anderson, which is about exactly what you think it is. And Bryan Adams’ interminable Heaven led the Billboard 100. Rad. — Ron Marz, comics writer The mid-’80s was a time of renaissance in comics, with Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns defining the era. It was also when I re-discovered comics, with titles like Miller’s Daredevil and Simonson’s Thor leading me to other Marvel titles, and then on to DC and independents. This week is right in my wheelhouse, around the time I started making regular trips to the nearest comic shop, October Country in New Paltz, NY. The Rocketeer TPB, Eclipse. Still have my original copy collecting the Dave Stevens pulp masterpiece. The Rocketeer chapters were some of my first forays into non-Marvel/DC comics, and it’s still some of my favorite material ever. I don’t think there’s ever been a more beautiful comic. Scott adds: I didn’t discover this until a couple of years later, after I’d encountered Dave Stevens’ work on the covers of Airboy. But when I did, it was a revelation. A brand-new work...
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