Posted By Dan Greenfield on Sep 10, 2025 | 9 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 49 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Sept. 10, 1976.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Sept. 3, 1967. Click here to check it out.

(Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are the comics that went on sale between Sept. 7 and Sept. 13.)

So, let’s set the scene: Mao Zedong, one of history’s most murderous despots, died of a heart attack Sept. 9, at the age of 82. Mao, who founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and oversaw its growth into a world nuclear power in the 1960s, was responsible for tens of millions of deaths. Nevertheless, his status as a revolutionary established him as a cracked-mirror cult figure in the West.

His body lay in state for a week and it’s estimated that 1 million people, including diplomats and international communist leaders, paid their respects.

It was a presidential election year and Democratic former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter was facing off against Republican President Gerald Ford, who’d assumed office 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. Despite Ford’s unpopular pardoning of Tricky Dick, Carter, a newcomer to the national stage, was not a slam-dunk candidate. He had a healthy lead in the polls as September began, but the race would soon tighten.

When researching these columns, I’m struck by how routine airplane catastrophes were decades ago. This week, the were two major events: On Sept. 9,  65 people were killed when two Aeroflot planes crashed into each other over the Black Sea near Sochi, Russia. The following day, 176 people were killed when a British Airways jetliner collided with a Yugoslavian flight near Zagreb, in what is now Croatia.

Hijackings were also still a thing in the mid-’70s: On Sept. 10, an Indian Airlines jet travelling from New Delhi to Mumbai was taken over by six gunmen and diverted to Pakistan. The terrorists released 71 passengers and commandos raided the airliner, freed the crew and nabbed the hijackers.

Hijacker Zvonko Busic, behind the pilot.

But that was nothing compared to a truly bizarre caper on the same date in the U.S. I’m not sure I can do it justice in four paragraphs, but here goes: Terrorists from Fighters for Free Croatia — which wanted to be independent from Yugoslavia — hijacked TWA Flight 355, from New York to Chicago, forcing to it to land in Montreal. They radioed a message that a bomb had been placed in a coin locker near Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. In addition to the bomb, there were two missives: one a manifesto, the second a demand that it be printed on the front page of five major newspapers across the country. (Only one, the International Herald-Tribune, declined.)

The plane then moved on to Newfoundland, where the hijackers released 33 passengers. The plane was then escorted to Iceland, because they were denied permission to land in London. Finally, they reached Paris. French security forces shot out the tires to prevent them from taking off again and the insurgents released the remaining 60 on board, since their demands had been met by the U.S. newspapers and authorities who were forced to drop leaflets over New York, Chicago, Montreal, London and Paris.

The police response near Grand Central

After negotiations, the hijackers gave up. They’d claimed they had other explosives, but they turned out to be fakes. The one near Grand Central, however, was very much a live explosive: It blew up as NYPD officers tried to dismantle it at a firing range in the Bronx — killing one cop and wounding three others.

As the authorities hauled the six away, the pilot hugged the only woman among the hijackers, thanking her for keeping the passengers calm during the ordeal.

The Brian De Palma psychological thriller Obsession, starring Cliff Robertson and Genevieve Bujold, was a surprise hit at the cinema. Other flicks included Survive!, a dramatization of the 1972 plane crash in the Andes, in which a Uruguayan rugby team was forced to resort to cannibalism; and Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie. Big-name films still floating around included The Omen, Logan’s Run and The Outlaw Josey Wales.

The Miss America Pageant was the most-watched show on television, as the fall season was just getting under way. Laverne & Shirley and Starsky and Hutch were popular shows, as well. (The lowest-rated program was a 30-minute paid broadcast for President Ford on CBS. He should have known right there he would lose in November.)

New shows premiering that month included Charlie’s Angels and Baa Baa Black Sheep. What’s Happening!! debuted in August.

NFL fans had two new teams to pay attention to: The expansion Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers each began play Sept. 12.

The Billboard 100 was about as mid-’70s as it gets. Leading the pack was (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty by KC and the Sunshine Band, followed by the suave-as-all-get-out You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, by Lou Rawls at No. 2. At No. 3 was Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry, a song I love without irony. (Read the back story. It’s great.)

Other hits included A Fifth of Beethoven, by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band (No. 5), which my wife Wendy cites as a roller-rink favorite; You Should Be Dancing, by the Bee Gees (No. 6); and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, by Elton John and Kiki Dee (No. 9).

Frampton Comes Alive led the albums chart, Fleetwood Mac’s eponymous LP was at No. 2.

On Sept. 7, George Harrison was found guilty of “subconsciously” plagiarizing the Chiffons’ 1963 hit He’s So Fine when he wrote his signature song My Sweet Lord, released in 1970.

Yeah, they were dancing and singing, and moving to the grooving…

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

The Invaders #11, Marvel. The Blue Bullet! Get him into the movies now!

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Superman #306, DC. The debut of Bizarro’s ice vision!

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Six Million Dollar Man #4, Charlton. I really hope that’s a bionic crocodile.

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Daredevil #140, Marvel. The original Beetle costume was so much more creepy and bizarre.

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Batman #282, DC. A particularly fallow period for the Caped Crusader. But, hey, there’s a Joker Hostess Fruit Pies ad in this issue!

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Isis #2, DC. Sure, Isis was created for TV, but her potential as a comics star has long gone unfulfilled.

Version 1.0.0

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Starfire #3, DC. No, not that Starfire. No, not that one either. This one.

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The Inspector #12, Gold Key. Comics were different then. The Inspector lasted 19 issues. Nineteen issues!

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of September 3 — in 1967! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of August 27 — in 1952! Click here.