Posted By Dan Greenfield on Nov 8, 2023 | 7 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 51 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Nov. 8, 1972.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Nov. 1, 1984. 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 Nov. 5 and Nov. 11.)

Four more years? Yeah, not really.

So, let’s set the scene: Despite the burgeoning Watergate scandal, Republican Richard Nixon on Nov. 7 was re-elected president in a landslide over Democratic Sen. George McGovern. Nixon won the popular vote with a whopping 60.7 percent against McGovern’s 37.5 percent. McGovern carried only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. — failing to win even his home state of South Dakota.

But there would be a reckoning for Tricky Dick — less than two years later he would resign in disgrace thanks to Watergate, becoming the only U.S. president to ever quit the office.

HBO (aka Home Box Office), the first pay cable channel, was launched Nov. 8 with an NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Remember the push-button consoles that would be hooked up to your TV by a wire?

It was very much the ’70s in other ways too: On Nov. 6, Princeton and Rutgers played the first intercollegiate game of ultimate frisbee, in New Brunswick, N.J. (It was the 103rd anniversary of the first intercollegiate football game, between the same schools and at the same site.) Rutgers won 29-27. I lived for a number of years in neighboring Highland Park and man, ultimate frisbee was a thing.

Timing is everything: The top movie at the box office was the Mafia bio-drama The Valachi Papers, which received scathing reviews in part because the biggest film of the year was The Godfather, a spectacular, cinematic masterpiece. Also in theaters were the light-hearted romantic comedies Deliverance and Super Fly.

The Nielsens were led this week by a TV showing of the John Wayne oater True Grit, but the most popular regular program at the time was All in the Family. It was a pretty damn good fall for new shows too — including MASH, The Bob Newhart Show, Maude, The Streets of San Francisco, Kung Fu and The Waltons, the latter two added to the schedule after successful pilot movies earlier in the year.

There was also the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie, which had the ignominious distinction of becoming the highest rated show cancelled after one season. It ended up 5th for the season but was cut because CBS was under siege by activists offended by the premise: the marriage of a Jewish man (David Birney) and Catholic woman (Meredith Baxter). The two actors later wed.

The wonderful I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash sat atop the Billboard 100. Others on the leaderboard included Curtis Mayfield’s Freddie’s Dead — better known as the Theme From Super Fly (No. 4); Rick Nelson’s defiant Garden Party (No. 6); Helen Reddy’s even more defiant I Am Woman (No. 8). Down at No. 14? The King — with Burning Love!

I’m just a hunk, a hunk of burning love; just a hunk, a hunk of burning love; just a hunk, a hunk of burning love

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Teen Titans #43, DC. The last issue of the original Teen Titans run. Everybody remembers the Mad Mod, Ding Dong Daddy, the Gargoyle, Mr. Jupiter and all that. And they remember Titans East and Titans West when the title was revived nearly four years later. But this was that weird period where TT was a kinda-sorta horror book, with creepy supernatural and occulty storylines. I thought everyone forget about it until I picked up Mark Waid’s World’s Finest: Teen Titans miniseries. Mark forgets nothing and he has some fun homaging this odd little period.

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Wonder Woman #204, DC. Goodbye, white jumpsuit! Diana gets her powers back! Nubia debuts! DC released this one as a Facsimile Edition in 2022. It’s worth tracking down.

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Captain America #158, Marvel. I have always dug the Falcon’s second costume — and it got even better once he got the wings a year later.

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Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp #8, Gold Key. The end of an era! The final issue of Lancelot Link — which actually lasted nearly a year longer than the ABC Saturday morning show’s first run. Episodes are available on YouTube and you will laugh yourself silly, even if it’s not exactly politically correct. Great dumb humor that’s very much of its time.

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

Mister Miracle #12, DC. It’s always helpful when the mine is labeled “MINE.”

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The Phantom Stranger #23, DC. Ain’t nothin’ scarier than a ghost with a hacksaw.

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The Amazing Spider-Man #117, Marvel. Boy, the Disruptor didn’t really stick, did he? They can’t all be the Green Goblin.

Dan adds: Interesting, this one. It’s a substantially altered adaptation of the 1968 black-and-white mag Spectacular Spider-Man #1. But Scott’s right. Every superhero has his stinkeroo villains.

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The Avengers #108, Marvel. What was Hawkeye thinking with that costume? “If only my uniform showed off my nipples.”

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of Nov. 1 — in 1984! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of Oct. 25 — in 1962! Click here.

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