Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 5, 2025 | 5 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 59 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of March 5, 1966.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Feb. 26, 1972. 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 March 2 and March 8.)

So, let’s set the scene: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first— rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” — John Lennon

On March 4, the London Evening Standard published an interview by Maureen Cleave, part of a series of individual profiles on the Beatles. Its headline and pull quote are benign, the first seven paragraphs meander, but in the eighth, John Lennon gives what becomes one of his most famous quotes: “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” Startlingly, Cleave doesn’t follow it up and just moves on to Lennon’s wine cellar.

The column would be syndicated worldwide but wouldn’t kick up much of a stir — until it was reprinted in July in a small-time American teen magazine called Datebook (which actually had Paul McCartney on the cover). It was noticed by a Birmingham, Alabama, radio station and the uproar was near instantaneous, igniting an enormous backlash against the band. The fallout would be among several factors that would lead the Beatles to decide to quit touring. Their 1966 summer swing through the U.S. would be their last.

IN OTHER NEWS

— The antiwar movement had taken root, but if you want a sense of just where most of the country’s collective head was at regarding Vietnam, Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler’s pro-military The Ballad of the Green Berets topped the Billboard singles chart — beginning a five-week run in the lead. This, as Congress had just overwhelmingly approved an additional $4.8 billion for the war, with votes of 392–4 in the House and 93–2 in the Senate. Meanwhile, Operation Masher (aka Operation White Wing) — the largest search-and-destroy mission in the war up to that point — ended March 6. There were 215,000 US troops in Vietnam — less than half of what the deployment would reach at its peak three years later.

— In a weird coincidence, a Canadian Pacific Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo on March 4 crashed while attempting to land at Haneda International Airport, killing 64 of  72 people on board. The next day, a BOAC plane taking off from Haneda for Hong Kong smashed into Mount Fuji, killing all 124 on board.

Lucille Ball and William Frawley, in happier times

— On March 3, William Frawley — best known for playing Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy — died of a heart attack at the age of 79.

— I didn’t even know they were still making them by this time, but on March 4, Studebaker announced it would close its last car factory, in Hamilton, Ontario.

How popular was The Sound of Music? So popular that a year after it was released, it returned to the No. 1 slot at the box office this week, where it would remain, on and off, alternating with Doctor Zhivago, through late June (plus a week in September). It supplanted the fantastic James Bond adventure Thunderball, which had been at the top since late December 1965.

Thunderball is a movie that I long ignored in the Bond canon because I bought into the weird criticism that it’s slow. It’s since become one of my top selections — and it just might be the prettiest 007 film of them all.

Claudine Auger and Sean Connery

Other hits included the James Bond send-up The Silencers, the first Matt Helm movie, starring Dean Martin, Stella Stevens and Victor Buono; and Harper, starring Paul Newman;

Bonanza was a well, ratings bonanza, hitting No. 1 as it usually did in the mid-’60s. Other big shows included a rebroadcast of the 1965 TV movie Cinderella (No. 2), starring Lesley Ann Warren; The Lucy Show (No. 3); The Beverly Hillbillies and their cee-ment pond (No. 4);  Green Acres (No. 5); and The Andy Griffith Show (No. 6).

At No. 7? Why, Batman! The two-parter this week was the absolute classic The Joker Goes to School/He Meets His Match, the Grisly Ghoul, which ran March 2 and 3. Batmania was in full swing: The Marketts’ version of the theme song was at No. 20 on the Billboard singles chart.

The Ballad of the Green Berets knocked off the previous No. 1, Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walkin’, which dropped to No. 2. Other major hits included California Dreamin’ by the Mamas & the Papas (No. 5); Stevie Wonder’s Uptight (Everything’s Alright) at No. 8; I Fought the Law by the Bobby Fuller Four (No. 11), and 19th Nervous Breakdown by the Rolling Stones (No. 12).

The Beatles’ latest hit was Nowhere Man, which was released in the US in late February and entered the chart this week at No. 25.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass owned the albums chart, with the top two slots: leader !!Going Places!! and runner-up Whipped Cream & Other Delights. At No. 3 was the US version of the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, which I prefer to the UK version only because that’s the one I was weaned on. The Sound of Music soundtrack was No. 4 and the Thunderball soundtrack was No. 10.

For what it’s worth, Buffalo Springfield, with Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, and Bruce Palmer, formed March 3 in Los Angeles.

And, after having gone electric the year before, Bob Dylan was in the middle of a world tour, backed by musicians including Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson. This week, they hit Miami Beach and Jacksonville. The backup musicians — plus drummer Levon Helm, who had left the group in November but would return — eventually became The Band.

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Batman #180, DC. The debut of Death-Man — soon to be renamed Lord Death Man! I’ve written a ton about this comic over the years — dig 13 REASONS TO LOVE CULT-FAVE BATMAN VILLAIN (LORD) DEATH MAN — because it was one of the first back issues (possibly the first) that I bought a comics convention. This just might be the best Batman story of the Silver Age; it’s certainly one of them. A rare combination of Go-Go ’60s vibe and classic Golden Age mysterioso. Great comic.

Scott adds: Very creepy cover here from the great Gil Kane, inked by the great Murphy Anderson.

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Daredevil #16, Marvel. A watershed moment in the ’60s: John Romita draws Spider-Man for the first time! In fact this two-parter, which continued in Issue #17, was basically Romita’s tryout on the web-slinger, as Stan Lee expected that Steve Ditko would be leaving.

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The Flash #161, DC. This is why I love the Silver Age: One of the stories in the issue is based on the cover of The Flash #159. The original story was written by Gardner Fox, with art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. This one was written by Robert Kanigher, with art by Infantino and Giella. That’s Julius Schwartz for you.

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Go-Go #1, Charlton. Strange comic, this one. A hybrid teen mag, Mad knockoff and Archie copycat. Here are the titles of the stories/articles/features: Rolling Stones; The Rotting Stumps; Dear Park (which opens with “Why has Bob Dylan started writing Rock songs?”; The Man From RELATIVE; The Wild Life and Adventures of Miss Bikini Luv; Return to Peculiar Place; Cult of the Rolling Stones; and, Herman’s Hermits. (The series lasted nine issues.)

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

The Wild, Wild West #1, Gold Key. I have been telling publishers for years to get the Wild, Wild West license and let me write it. I’ll have to track this down.

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The Doom Patrol #103, DC. Calling Cliff “Robotman-iac” just seems hurtful. Poor dude’s got it bad enough.

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The X-Men #20, Marvel. Ever wonder how Professor Xavier lost the use of his legs? Turns out: aliens. Who knew?

Dan adds: Roy Thomas’ first outing on the title.

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of Feb. 26 — in 1972! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of Feb. 19 — in 1982! Click here.

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