Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 12, 2026 | 6 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 63 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Aug. 12, 1963.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Aug. 5, 1961. 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 Aug. 9 and Aug. 15.)

Jackie Kennedy, pregnant. Don’t judge her too harshly: Smoking while pregnant was common at the time. Hell, my Mom did it.

So, let’s set the scene: The nation was mourning the death of Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, the three-day-old son of President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Patrick was born five and a half weeks prematurely by emergency Caesarean section Aug. 7, and died Aug. 10, from hyaline membrane disease, later known as infantile respiratory distress syndrome. His death brought the syndrome into the public consciousness and inspired further research.

This was not the first time the couple endured such horror. Jacqueline Kennedy had suffered a miscarriage in 1955, followed by a stillborn girl the next year. Two other children survived — Caroline, born in 1957, and John Jr., born in 1960 (though also premature).

As this terrible tragedy played out, an anti-American activist was distributing flyers in New Orleans on Aug. 9, supporting Castro’s Cuba. He was arrested after getting into a fight with three Cuban men, who were also detained. Lee Harvey Oswald spent the night in lockup and was released the next day. He was passing out leaflets again a week later. Nobody, except those involved, cared at the time.

IN OTHER NEWS

— Nothing like a daring, rogueish, large-scale robbery to capture the public’s fancy. The Great Train Robbery of 1963 was pulled off Aug. 8, when a gang of bandits stopped a mail train between Glasgow and London, and made off with sacks containing about £2.6 million ($7.3 million) — worth £70.7 million, or $95.5 million today. By Aug. 14, cops began making arrests and over the next five years nailed almost all 17 full members of the crew.

— On Aug. 14, playwright and screenwriter Clifford Odets died of stomach cancer at the age of 57. He’d been hospitalized in July and he received bedside visits from such heavyweights as Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Lee Strasberg, Shirley MacLaine, Danny Kaye, and Jean Renoir, among others.

— On Aug. 10, Democratic U.S. Sen Estes Kefauver of Tennessee died at the age of 60, two days after he had a heart attack on the Senate floor. Kefauver, who was Adlai Stevenson’s running mate in 1956 and harbored strong presidential aspirations of his own, was best known for his crusade against organized crime, as well as the infamous investigation into comics and juvenile deliquency, in the 1950s.

Kefauver on the left

— There was a brief thaw in the Cold War. A week earlier, the U.S., U.K. and U.S.S.R signed the first Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited all nuke-test explosions except for those underground. The Chinese, however, were resolutely against it, widening the Sino-Soviet split.

— On Aug. 12, Stan “the Man” Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the best baseball players of all time, announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

Cleopatra was THE movie of the summer, racking up 13 straight weeks at No. 1 (with three more later in the year). But the movie — beset by a gargantuan budget and bad publicity thanks to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s scandalous affair — still lost money, making it the biggest box-office disaster up to that point. (Twentieth Century Fox would eventually break even three years later when the studio sold the TV rights to ABC.)

Box office draws included How the West Was Won, 55 Days at Peking, Tom Jones, and Irma la Douce. Dr. No had made its U.K. debut in 1962, and reached the US in the spring. Bondmania hadn’t quite taken over yet, but the movie was a success in North America. The Birds was still probably flying around some screens and Bye Bye Birdie made Ann-Margret a huge star. With good reason.

The newly released Beach Party, co-starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, kicked off a whole new genre.

It was the summer doldrums on TV, but The Beverly Hillbillies was still the most popular show in all the land.

Little Stevie Wonder was all of 13 years old, but his single Fingertips (Part 2) was beginning a three-week run atop the charts, making him the youngest singer to hit No. 1. The Surfaris’ surf-rock anthem Wipe Out was No. 2, while Jan and Dean’s Surf City was at No. 7. Elvis was at No. 3 with (You’re the) Devil in Disguise.

Newly released songs included Allan Sherman’s comedy hit Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp), and the Kingsmen’s controversial Louie, Louie.

The album that dominated the summer was Andy Williams’ Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests.

The Beatles had barely made a blip on these shores, but they were big stars in England. Their first LP, Please Please Me, was a smash and they were touring the country. (Earlier in the month, they played their 275th, and final, show at Liverpool’s Cavern.) The Rolling Stones had a minor U.K. hit with their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s Come On.

Fresh off his first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, Bob Dylan had just begun recording his third album — the first to feature only original songs. Peter, Paul and Mary’s rendition of Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, meanwhile, was at No. 4.

The times they were a-changin’.

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

Superboy #108, DC. How is it possible I’ve never heard of Mighto?

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Flash Annual #1, DC. An all-time classic Silver Age cover.

Dan adds: In August 1963, if you hadn’t read any Barry Allen Flash, or missed his most foundational stories, this fit the bill. Helluva collection, including the first appearances of Kid Flash, Elongated Man, Grodd and Mr. Element, not to mention a Golden Age Flash tale introducing the original Star Sapphire, plus features like, “How I Draw the Flash,” by Carmine Infantino, and an index of all the Flash stories to date.

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Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #72, DC. Giant Turtle Olsen! He shows up more often than you’d think.

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Naza #1, Dell. He’s just a Stone Age warrior, baby/Jump on the snake’s back, don’t say maybe

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Green Lantern #24, DC. No, the cover story is not about Mogo. But here’s how the Grand Comics Database describes it: “A sentient planet summons Green Lantern and appears to attack him while attempting to ‘talk’ to him. Green Lantern then removes an apparently sentient fireball and places it in orbit to cure the planet of both indigestion and loneliness. … The planet “Green Lantern” has NO Green Lantern powers, it takes the name in honor of Hal Jordan.” Also, the lead story introduces the Shark.

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Gorgo #15, Charlton. Can’t go wrong with some Gorgo, especially with a Dick Giordano cover and interior art by Steve Ditko. Plus, wouldn’t you like some Bonomo Turkish Taffy right now?

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Mad #82, EC. I don’t know who came up with the gag, but that’s a real bang-up job by Norman Mingo. Ish includes a parody of The Birds and the TV show The Nurses, and a so-of-the-time feature called, “The Trend Towards Swimming Pools as a Status Symbol.”

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Archie’s Joke Book Magazine #74, Archie. Betty’s right. As always.

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