Posted By Dan Greenfield on Apr 3, 2024 | 4 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 55 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of April 3, 1969.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of March 27, 1965. 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 31 and April 6.)

So, let’s set the scene: Americans were unaware of it at the time but the United States was bombing Cambodia in an illegal campaign intentionally kept secret from the public. Republican President Richard Nixon had authorized the bombing and neither the press nor Congress itself were informed. The bombing had started March 18 under the sadistic name Operation Breakfast (part of Operation Menu). National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger directed the campaign and was later labeled a war criminal by critics of the catastrophic attacks, the legacy of which are still felt in the Southeast Asian nation to this very day. The campaign would not be exposed until May in The New York Times.

Another disgraceful secret was March 1968’s My Lai Massacre in South Vietnam. At the end of March 1969, heroic whistleblower Ronald Ridenhour, an Army soldier, alerted military and government leaders to the mass murders and rapes by U.S. servicemen, prompting an investigation. Ridenhour helped expose the heinous crimes publicly later in the year.

But with all that kept under wraps, here’s what the American public did know: On April 3, the Department of Defense announced that the death toll for American soldiers in Vietnam had surpassed the 32,629 who died in the Korean War. The Vietnam total was at 33,641, as of March 26.

Eisenhower honors

Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a heroic figure in American history thanks to his military leadership as a World War II general, had died March 28. This week, after lying in state in the Capitol rotunda, Ike’s funeral was held March 31 at the Washington National Cathedral. His casket was taken by train to Abilene, Kansas, where on April 2, on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, he was buried following another service.

Americans soon found they could channel their anti-war rage through Kurt Vonnegut’s seminal novel Slaughterhouse-Five, which was published March 31.

Incongrously, or perhaps because Americans were desperate for lighter fare, The Love Bug was the top movie at the box office, while Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl was still putting fannies in seats.

Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In on NBC was the top-rated show in the Nielsens but the big news in television this week was the abrupt cancellation April 4 of the popular The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS. Dick and Tommy Smothers had been eager to embrace controversial topics like the Vietnam War and kept avoiding network attempts to review their taped shows in advance. Finally CBS president Robert Wood brought the hammer down. This cancelation led the brothers to file a breach of contract suit against the network. After four years of legal battles, a federal court ruled in favor of the Smothers Brothers and ordered CBS to pay them $776,300 (equivalent to about $5.4 million today).

Jim Morrison, front man for seminal ’60s band The Doors, was spiraling. On April 4, Morrison appeared at the Los Angeles office of the FBI to answer federal charges of interstate flight to avoid prosecution, connected to accusations that he exposed his penis at a March 1 concert in Miami. By arrangement, Morrison was arrested and released, posting $5,000 bond. The band’s 1969 concert dates had been canceled and the group was blacklisted by the Concert Hall Managers’ Association.

In Amsterdam, a honeymooning John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who had been married in Gibraltar, ended their first “Bed-In for Peace” on March 31.

Leading the Billboard 100 was Tommy Roe’s Dizzy, which had what you could easily call an extremely 1969 promo film (later called videos). The No. 2 hit was the 5th Dimension’s glorious take on Aquarius/Let the Sunshine in (The Flesh Failures).

The original Broadway cast recording of Hair, meanwhile, was at No. 11 on the albums chart. At the top was Glenn Campbell’s Wichita Lineman, followed by Blood, Sweat & Tears’ self-titled album.

—

Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Captain America #115, Marvel. The first in a multi-issue storyline centered around the Cosmic Cube that features the debut of… the Falcon (in Issue #117)! A Cap vs. Red Skull classic, by Stan Lee, John Buscema and Sal Buscema. Marie Severin drew the memorable cover, inked by Frank Giacoia and Frank Brunner.

—

The Atom and Hawkman #43, DC. DC merged these titles when it became clear that neither could stand on its own, then terminated the combo book after eight issues. Turns out, in the decades since, the publisher has only been able to get them to work intermittently as standalone titles, so they were on to something 55 years ago. Too bad. I’m a fan of both characters and have the entire run of their combined mag, which featured either solo stories or team-ups. (This ish was solo stories.) There’s something very Silver Age about Katar Hol and Ray Palmer, and I suppose that’s a blessing and a curse.

Scott adds: The Gentleman Ghost! One of the better supervillain designs from DC Comics.

—

Our Army at War #207, DC. Rock’s not wrong, kid.

—

Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals #52, Archie. I don’t think Veronica should ever ask Daddy if what she’s wearing turns him on.

—

Hot Rods and Racing Cars #96, Charlton. Ninety-six issues! Out of 120! I really need to do something on hot-rod comics.

—

The Phantom #32, Charlton. Jim Aparo’s final Charlton series before he moved to DC full time. Gorgeous cover, with kudos to the unnammed colorist.

—

Teen-In #3, Tower. Certainly one of the most ’60s covers ever, I’d say. Tippy Teen — a Betty knockoff with straight bangs — actually had two titles for Charlton in 1968-69. (There was also at least one spinoff.) Tippy later showed up in a reprint series in the Atlas/Seaboard stable with a new name (Vicki) before fading away for good, like so many other Riverdale wannabes.

—

Tippy Teen #23, Tower. In fact this issue came out the same week.

—

Iron Man #15, Marvel. You don’t see Iron Man fighting gorillas enough.

—

Thor #165, Marvel. Adam Warlock before he was Adam Warlock.

—

Wild, Wild West #6, Gold Key. I didn’t know there were Wild, Wild West comics! Things to look for at cons…

—

MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of March 27 — in 1965! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of March 20 — in 1979! Click here.

—

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