Posted By Dan Greenfield on Nov 20, 2024 | 9 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 45 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Nov. 20, 1979.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Nov. 13, 1985. 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. 17 and Nov. 23.)

So, let’s set the scene: The Iran Hostage Crisis had just exploded and America was reeling from anger and a powerful sense of impotence that it could be literally and metaphorically held captive by a nation that few even bothered to register before Nov. 4, when hundreds of radicals invaded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 90 diplomats and workers prisoner, 66 of whom were from the United States. They demanded the U.S. return the former Shah of Iran, who had been granted asylum.

In the ensuing weeks, Ayatollah Khomeini — whose infamy here eclipsed that of the Soviets — referred to the United States as “the Great Satan.” President Carter ordered a halt to all oil imports from the rogue Middle Eastern nation and froze all Iranian assets in the United States. The maneuver had no effect on the Iranian government’s resolve.

There was no such thing as 24-hour cable news, so ABC filled some of the void — and aimed to compete with Johnny Carson’s late-night hegemony — by creating a new, 11:30 program called The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage, hosted by World News Tonight anchor Frank Reynolds. (The show would evolve into Nightline, hosted by Ted Koppell.)

This week, in a grandstanding move, Khomeini on Nov. 17 ordered the release of five women and eight Black men who were being held hostage. He supposedly did so because Islam holds women in high regard and Blacks were oppressed in American society. But two other women at the embassy remained captive.

IN OTHER NEWS

— These 2 1/2 weeks were probably Jimmy Carter’s lowest point in the Oval Office (other than Election Night in 1980). While all this was playing out, Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy announced that he would challenge the president for the Democratic nomination in 1980. Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan, meanwhile, said he would seek the Republican nomination. Carter was getting it from all sides.

— On Nov. 15, American Airlines Flight 444, from Chicago to Washington, made an emergency landing in Dallas when a bomb exploded in the luggage compartment. Nobody was seriously injured. It turned out to be the work of the Unabomber.

— Thanksgiving was Nov. 22. Balloons in the Thanksgiving Day Parade included Underdog, Kermit the Frog, Smokey the Bear, Linus the Lionhearted (not to be confused with Linus Van Pelt or Linus Pauling), Bullwinkle, Mickey Mouse, Happy Dragon and Snoopy. The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 20-0, and the Houston Oilers defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 30-24.

The top movie at the box office was 10, which made a massive star of Bo Derek — who turned 23 on Nov. 20. Other hits included …And Justice for All, and its classically showy role for Al Pacino; Roman Polanski’s Tess, which was based on the novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, a favorite of his late wife Sharon Tate; the Who’s Quadrophenia; the romantic comedy Starting Over, with Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh and Candice Bergen; the regrettable basketball comedy The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh; and The Rose, starring Bette Midler, a Janis Joplin biopic that wasn’t actually a Janis Joplin biopic.

Meanwhile, a 10-year wait for Star Trek fans was almost over: Star Trek: The Motion Picture was set to debut Dec. 7 and its trailer was making the rounds.

Nielsen leaders included 60 Minutes, Three’s Company, Angie, The Dukes of Hazzard, Happy Days, Dallas — and the great A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which clocked in at No. 9.

Donna Summer ruled the pop charts with two big hits: No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), a duet with Barbra Streisand, at No. 1, and Dim All the Lights, at No. 4. The middle-school slow dance staple Babe, by Styx, was at No. 2 (from the No. 2 album Cornerstone); the Eagles’ infectious, beat-heavy rocker Heartache Tonight, from the excellent top-selling LP The Long Run, was at No. 5; and Fleetwood Mac’s compelling and offbeat Tusk was at No. 9 (off the No. 4 album of the same name). Led Zeppelin’s underrated In Through the Out Door, a departure from the band’s heavy-metal/hard rock roots, was the No. 3 album.

New Wave, meanwhile, was weaving itself through the mainstream: Pop Muzik by M, was No. 10 on the Billboard 100, and Blondie’s Eat to the Beat, the follow-up album to the seminal Parallel Lines, hit its peak at No. 17, but would end up one of the most successful albums of 1980. For some, their fave cut is Atomic. Me? I’ll always go with the lead track — Dreaming.

When I met you in the restaurant, you could tell I was no debutante…

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

The Brave and the Bold #159, DC. A worthy entry in Denny O’Neil’s Ra’s al Ghul oeuvre, with art by Jim Aparo. It’s an often forgotten ish, but it’s a good ‘un. I always liked it when B&B featured a Bat-guest. It was like getting another full-on Batman issue that month.

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Green Lantern #125, DC. Dick Giordano doing his best Gil Kane with a Giant Head GL cover.

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The Incredible Hulk #244, Marvel. Sure, it lives. And it looks like it smells really, really bad.

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Adventure Comics #468, DC. They might as well have called it “Rando Comics.” No knock on one of DC’s longest-running mags, but this was such an odd spell when you could get co-leads starring Plastic Man and one of the many Starmans (Starmen?).

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

Walt Disney Showcase #54, Gold Key. I love me a photo cover, but why clutter it up with that giant block of copy? It’s Maximillian, that’ll sell itself!

Dan adds: The movie wasn’t out for another month, but if memory serves me right, I saw it with my Mom on the last night of Christmas break. I recall sitting through the movie, thinking, “Shit. School’s back tomorrow.”

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Super Friends #29, DC. A great Ramona Fradon cover. I remember buying this off the shelf at Rexall.

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World’s Finest Comics #261, DC. Terra-Man is the only Superman villain who never gets any love in other media: not the cartoons, not the TV shows, nothing. He’s a space cowboy with a flying horse! It’s a crime that he hasn’t gotten an action figure.

Dan adds: Great line-up. Not only do you get the obligatory Superman/Batman team-up, there are backups starring Green Arrow and Black Canary, Black Lightning, and Captain Marvel. Sha-ZAM!

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The X-Men #130, Marvel. First appearance of the Dazzler!

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of Nov. 13 — in 1985! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of  Nov. 6 — in 1960! Click here.

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