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Feb24

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1970!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Feb 24, 2021

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1970!

Scott and Dan — along with guest Karl Heitmueller Jr. — hit up the comics racks from 51 years ago! This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are joined by Back Issue cartoonist and artist Karl Heitmueller Jr. — he of the hilarious What If 13 Superheroes Wore BEN COOPER Costumes Instead? — in selecting comics that came out the week of Feb. 24, 1970 — which is in large measure the birth of the Bronze Age. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Feb. 17, 1978. 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 Feb. 21 and Feb. 27.) So let’s set the scene: Richard Nixon was in the middle of his first term as president. Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl was the No. 1 flick but a big-time personal favorite was also a huge hit at the time — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which had actually come out in 1969. (Funny Girl had been out since 1968(!). This is the way movies worked back then. Films would move up and down the charts based on release patterns and they could remain lucrative over long periods of time in theaters. No home video, y’know?) Nielsens for this specific week aren’t readily available but here are some of the TV season’s top hits: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Mayberry R.F.D. and Family Affair. Simon & Garfunkel’s epochal Bridge Over Troubled Water was the top single on the Billboard 100 and the best-selling album was Led Zeppelin II, one of the greatest albums of all time. And for a little more perspective, the No. 2 album was the Beatles’ Abbey Road, a former chart-topper that happens to be the greatest rock band’s greatest album. Actually, the Top 10 albums were pretty freakin’ amazing overall, so click here to check them out. Sock it to me! — Karl Heitmueller Jr., cartoonist and 13th Dimension contributor (Note from Dan: Karl opted to do his picks as a column. That’s cool. Breaking format is as much fun as having a format to begin with.) One day in February of 1970, my father handed me something he’d...

Feb17

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1978!

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Feb 17, 2021

RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week — in 1978!

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 Feb. 17, 1978. Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Feb. 10, 1967. 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 Feb. 14 and Feb. 20.) So let’s set the scene: Jimmy Carter was in the White House. The Betsy, which boasted an all-star cast and savage reviews, was No. 1 at the box office. But get this: In the weeks leading up to its release, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was tops, and in the ensuing weeks Saturday Night Fever was the leader. That’s two cultural touchstones nearly back to back. Laverne & Shirley was the Nielsen ratings winner (followed by its progenitor, Happy Days). Given Saturday Night Fever’s massive popularity, it’s no surprise that the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive led the Billboard 100 and the movie’s soundtrack was the best-selling album. Funky. — Scott Tipton, contributor-at-large, 13th Dimension The Avengers #171, Marvel. I’m a big fan of that brief Shooter/Perez period in Avengers, and when you throw in a Scarlet Witch and Ultron cover, there’s no way I was gonna leave this in the spinner rack. — Nova #19, Marvel. Nova was a book that I never once saw at my local Quik Stop back in 1978, but I know I would have been tempted by this very Flash-like cover by Carmine Infantino. — Marvel Tales #91, Marvel. I bought MARVEL TALES a lot as a kid, because in those days before trade paperbacks and hardcover collections, reprint series like this one, which gave us Amazing Spider-Man from a decade earlier, was the only way to catch up on the Marvel history I had missed. Reading them felt like putting together the pieces of a giant puzzle. Dan adds: Even with single issues and Epic Collections, I still have sizeable gaps in my Spider-reading. Been strongly considering hunting down Marvel Tales issues because the originals are getting ever pricier. — Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension The Brave and the Bold #141, DC. I...

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