Posted By Dan Greenfield on Oct 30, 2024 | 6 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 58 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Oct. 30, 1966.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Oct. 23, 1980. Click here to check it out.

(Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are technically the comics that went on sale between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2.)

LBJ in Vietnam

So, let’s set the scene: The Vietnam War was raging and while it was increasingly dividing Americans, behind the scenes it was becoming clearer that it was not going well for the United States. Amid incessant bombing of North Vietnam, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara earlier in the month sent a secret memo to President Johnson conceding that the U.S. effort was failing and that North Vietnam “knows that we can’t achieve our goals. The prognosis is bad that the war can be brought to a satisfactory conclusion within the next two years… I see no reasonable way to bring the war to an end soon.”

But Johnson continued to appear resolute in public, with a surprise visit to South Vietnam on Oct. 26, where he spent nearly 2 1/2 hours addressing Americn troops, then prsenting medals, including 24 Purple Hearts.

The inescapable shame of it all is that despite the signs, the U.S. continued to commit more and more troops to a war that it was beginning to recognize it could not win.

Aberfan

On Oct. 29, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Aberfan, South Wales, to pay their respects to those who were killed in one of the worst disasters in modern United Kingdom history. Eight days earlier, 116 schoolchildren and 28 adults were killed when a slag heap collapsed and an avalanche of 2 million tons of rock, coal and mud slammed into a school. Most of the children, who were buried alive in their classrooms, were 8 to 10 years old.

IN OTHER NEWS

— On Oct. 29, the National Organization for Women was officially incorporated in its first national conference, in Washington. Betty Friedan was elected president.

— On Nov. 1 — All Saints’ Day — the NFL awarded an expansion franchise to New Orleans, with the team adopting the name Saints. The announcement came less than two weeks after Congress approved the merger of the AFL-NFL, which required an antitrust law exemption. Two key supporters of the vote were from — drum roll, please — Louisiana.

— On Nov. 1, inventor Candido Jacuzzi was granted a U.S. patent for a large “hydrotherapy tub.”

— The retrial of Dr. Sam Sheppard had begun. Sheppard, an Ohio osteopath, was convicted of bludgeoning his pregnant wife to death in a sensational 1954 trial that garnered national headlines. The U.S. Supreme Court had overturned his conviction, ruling that he’d been denied a fair trial. The new trial made a national star of Boston defense attorney F. Lee Bailey. (Sheppard would be found not guilty in November.)

Heavyweights Doctor Zhivago and The Sound of Music — both of which came out in 1965 — duked it out for the top box office slot for most of the year. The comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was also in theaters, as was the British comedy Georgy Girl. New releases included the star-studded Western The Professionals, highlighted by Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Claudia Cardinale, and What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, Woody Allen’s feature-length directorial debut. Allen took a Japanese spy film and overdubbed it with completely new dialogue that had nothing to do with the plot of the original movie.

There was a tie at the top of the Nielsens: Bonzana and the It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which premiered Oct. 27. I’m an avowed annual watcher of A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I have not watched the Great Pumpkin in years — so maybe I will tonight.

It was a helluva fall for new shows. Debuting that autumn were The Monkees, The Green Hornet; Mission: Impossible; Hollywood Squares (Ernest Borgnine was in the center square for the first broadcast); That Girl; The Time Tunnel; The Rat Patrol; Family Affair; The Girl From UNCLE; and the late Ron Ely’s Tarzan.

And then there was the granddaddy of them all, Star Trek. This week’s episode, running Oct. 27, was Miri (not one of my favorites).

Batman, meanwhile, was in its second season. This week wrapped one two-parter — the Liberace spectacle The Dead Ringers on Oct. 27 — and began another, Hizzoner the Penguin, on Nov. 2.

The No. 1 song in America was the Monkees’ Last Train to Clarksville, followed by 96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians, at No. 2. Down at No. 17 was the just-released Good Vibrations, by the Beach Boys, which turned out to not only be their most popular record, but wildly influential as well. The Stones had a hit with Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadows? (No. 9). You don’t hear that one very often anymore.

The Doctor Zhivago soundtrack led the albums chart, with The Monkees at No. 2. The Supremes A’ Go-Go, at No. 3, featured You Can’t Hurry Love; The Mamas & the Papas was at No. 4; the Beatles’ Revolver was at No. 5; and, What Now My Love by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, was at No. 6.

But Mama said you can’t hurry love, no you just have to wait…

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

Captain Atom #84, Charlton. So much Ditko goodness here!

Dan adds: The second appearance of Ted Kord Blue Beetle! See? He’s still “NEW”!

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Detective Comics #358, DC. I contend we never saw the Spellbinder again just because nobody wanted to draw that costume in every panel.

Dan adds: Damn, Scott, you took the words right out of my mouth! The Spellbinder’s design (I’m 99 percent certain by cover penciller Carmine Infantino) was GREAT and very of the moment. The villain was a pop art forger who used optical illusions and hypnotism to pull off his crimes. Imagine how he would have looked on the Batman ’66 show! But Scott’s right — what a pain to draw and interior artist Shelly Moldoff failed to bring the same verve to the character as we see on the cover — which is one of the best Bat-covers of the Silver Age. (The original Spellbinder did show up again, but sparingly. Too bad.)

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Strange Adventures #195, DC. I love that original Jack Sparling version of Animal Man. Just slightly alien-looking.

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Superman #192, DC. Time to get the Kryptonite hairbrush, I guess.

Dan adds: I know everyone got spanked back then, but this is just wrong.

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

The Amazing Spider-Man #44, Marvel. There weren’t any Marvels out this week, but I’m assuming this one from earlier in October was still available. Spidey vs. the Lizard is always great — plus Mary Jane meets Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn and Flash Thompson, prompting judgy looks from Gwen and slobbering behavior by the boys.

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Fantastic Four #58, Marvel. Same as above. Dr. Doom wins! And the series ended right there, never to be seen again.

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Action Comics #344, DC. Even Superman’s solo comics were not immune to Batmania.

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Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #133, Archie. The fashions!

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Fightin’ 5 #41, Charlton: With the Peacemaker as a back-up story!

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Frankenstein #4, Dell. Best version of Frankenstein ever. I will brook no dissent.

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of  Oct. 23 — in 1980! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of Oct. 16 — in 1972! Click here.

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Primary comics sources: Mike’s Amazing World of Comics, the Grand Comics Database.