Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 27, 2025 | 5 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 73 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Aug. 27, 1952.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Aug. 20, 1982. Click here to check it out.

(Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are the comics that went on sale between Aug. 24 and Aug. 30.)

So, let’s set the scene: Cold War tensions had grown hot with the Korean War and Americans were about to select a new leader.

The Democrats had chosen Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson to succeed unpopular President Harry S. Truman — whom history would later revere as one of our best — while the Republicans were riding high with Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, whose running mate, 39-year-old California Sen. Richard Nixon, appealed to the red-baiters. (Stevenson’s would-be veep was Alabama Sen. John Sparkman.)

(Also “running” was Walt Kelly’s Pogo, whose political influence was growing.)

It was the first presidential campaign where the candidates used TV to get their messages out to the masses. In one crucial example, Nixon famously took to the airwaves with his “Checkers speech” in September, turning the tide in his favor amid allegations of financial improprieties.

The backdrop was the Red Scare, embodied by repugnant Republican Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy, and the ongoing slog of the Korean War, in which a U.N. force led by the United States backed the South Koreans against the Chinese-supported North Koreans.

As August turned to September, the conflict ground into a battle for hills and ridges that would change hands routinely. The Battle of Hill 122 — nicknamed Bunker Hill — was a prime example of the bloody game of feet and inches. Marines on the hill had to repel seven attacks before the end of August. On the 29th, the UN launched the war’s largest air raid. It would be almost a year before hostilities would end.

One of the greatest Westerns of them all — High Noon, starring Gary Cooper and 22-year-old rising star Grace Kelly in her first major film role — was a box office hit, though fans of traditional shoot-em-ups were disappointed by the movie’s unconventional hero and progressive themes. (The production itself was beset by anti-communist controversy.)

Other major films included Ivanhoe, starring Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor; Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men; Martin and Lewis’ Jumping Jacks; and the newly released The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. The smashing Singin’ in the Rain, which premiered in the spring, was likely still floating around on some screens.

Top TV shows included I Love Lucy; My Little Margie; Dragnet; Arthur Godfrey and His Friends; and the boxing program Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts. Popular radio shows included Amos ‘n’ Andy; The Shadow; Jack Benny’s Lucky Strike Program; and, the Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show. Kids (and adults) loved The Lone Ranger, both on TV and radio, and in just a few weeks, they’d thrill to the syndicated television series Adventures of Superman!

Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart, by Vera Lynn with Soldiers and Airmen of Her Majesty’s Forces and Roland Shaw, was the big single that summer. Other major songs included Here in My Heart, by Al Martino with Orchestra under the direction of Monty Kelly; and, Half as Much by Rosemary Clooney with Percy Faith and His Orchestra.

Jane Froman’s album With a Song in My Heart…, featuring tunes from that year’s movie of the same name (based on her life story), was a smash album. Froman, who was severely injured when her USO plane crashed in Portugal during World War II, never completely recovered from her injuries and was known for continuing to perform with crutches, a leg brace or a wheelchair.

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Tales From the Crypt #33, EC. EC Comics’ heyday! Four stories by Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, Jack Davis, George Evans, Jack Kamen, Graham Ingels and Marie Severin, behind a ghastly Davis cover. The second story — “This Trick’ll Kill You!” — would be adapted in the 1973 flick Vault of Horror.

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The Lone Ranger #52, Dell. Forget about pulling the mask off that old Lone Ranger — don’t get even close enough where he can kick you in the kishkes. (Nicely rendered by Ernest Nordli.)

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Down With Crime #7, Fawcett. With superheroes out of fashion, guys like the Sandman had to make do as creepy intruders in schlock crime books. It’s a living.

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Four Color #428: Uncle Wiggily, Dell. The things you remember and the things you forget. This reminds me that I had an Uncle Wiggily board game when I was a kid. I loved that game.

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Mystery in Space #10, DC. Comics really pushed the idea that every planet in our solar system was inhabited. And I love them for it. Dig that Murphy Anderson/Sy Barry cover.

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Comics on Parade #86 and Sparkle Comics #25, United Features. Two helpings of Nancy and Sluggo in one week!

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Strange Tales #12, Atlas. The publisher that would become Marvel was just another grind-’em-out operation in the early ’50s.

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Scott Tipton, contributor-at-large, 13th Dimension

Airboy Comics Vol. 9 #9 (aka #104), Hillman. Featuring the Heap! He was Swamp Thing and Man-Thing before there was Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.

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Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #17, Fiction House. Not to be confused with Shanna, the She-Devil.

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Batman #73, DC. A legendary issue that eventually got adapted into an episode of the Adam West TV series!

Dan adds: The David V. Reed-Dick Sprang classic has been widely reprinted and, like Scott points out, was the basis for the Joker’s first appearance on Batman ’66 — The Joker Is Wild/Batman Is Riled. His utility belt has shown up on merch, too! There are two other Dynamic Duo stories in the ish, including one featuring Vicki Vale. Superb candidate for a Facsimile Edition.

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Four Color #430: Marge’s Tubby, Dell. I never knew Tubby was popular enough to front his own book.

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of August 20 — in 1982! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of August 13 — in 1977! Click here.