Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 20, 2025 | 4 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 43 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Aug. 20, 1982.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Aug. 13, 1977. 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 Aug. 17 and Aug. 23.)

So, let’s set the scene: The 1982 Lebanon War, between Israel and its northern neighbor, had been raging since June. The critical Siege of Beirut ended Aug. 21 with international intervention and without Israel taking the city. The Palestinian Liberation Organization, however, was routed from Lebanon, a key objective of the Israeli assault. A peacekeeping force, including Marines sent by the Reagan administration, arrived to oversee the PLO’s withdrawal.

Other than that, this was a good, old-fashioned slow summer news week. Instead of being glued to the TV or immersed in the newspaper, Americans were at the beach, pool or lake, or frolicking at the fire hydrant or in the sprinkler. All depending on where you were.

Or maybe you were enjoying the air conditioning at the movie theater. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore, was the big hit of the summer and became the year’s highest-grossing flick. That doesn’t even begin to tell the story: It was a massive pop cultural moment, the kind of movie that everyone saw. (Besides making a star of young Drew, it also vaulted Reese’s Pieces into the public consciousness. Yum!)

Major multiplex selections also included Rocky III, which made Mr. T a household name; An Officer and a Gentleman; Poltergeist; Blade Runner; Conan the Barbarian; The Thing; Tron; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; and the greatest Star Trek story of them all — Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

New shows were only weeks off, with rerun season dragging its way to its end. Too Close for Comfort, The Jeffersons, Three’s Company and Fantasy Island were among the hits. A CBS summer fill-in series, Filthy Rich, starring Dixie Carter and Delta Burke, got off to a strong start but soon faded into obscurity.

Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, made famous in Rocky III, was the best-selling single, followed by John Cougar’s Hurts So Good at No. 2. (He wasn’t John Cougar Mellencamp yet, let alone John Mellencamp.) Abracadabra by the resurgent Steve Miller Band was at No. 3 and Fleetwood Mac’s Hold Me was No. 4. All were MTV staples.

The albums chart closely mirrored the singles: Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage was at No. 1, Eye of the Tiger was No. 2, supergroup Asia’s self-titled debut was at No. 3, John Cougar’s American Fool was at No. 4, and Abracadabra was at No. 6. Robert Plant’s first solo album, Pictures at Eleven, was at No. 5

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

The New Teen Titans Annual #1, DC. People talk about Trigon and The Judas Contract, but the Starfire saga was right there with them. The seeds were sown at the very beginning of the series and, across two years, as readers got to know Princess Koriand’r and her world, we were thoroughly invested in her fate when this climactic issue hit. Her relationship with her sister Blackfire was Game of Thrones-level stuff.

Scott adds: The cover art by George Perez is beautiful, but I have to confess, I always got a little disinterested whenever the Omega Men would show up. (Dan adds: Yeah, I never cared much for them myself.)

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Blade Runner #2, Marvel. I remember how disappointed the world seemed when Blade Runner came out. And yet it’s still with us 43 years later. Ridley Scott had the last laugh, even with the 1,000,006 versions there are.

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The Brave and the Bold #192, DC. In some respects, The Brave and the Bold was at its best in its last year and a half or so, when writers like Alan Brennert and Mike W. Barr gave us some fun, offbeat pairings like this one, which is about Superboy’s first in-universe meeting with Batman (if, I suppose, you ignore the times Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne met as kids over the years).

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Fantastic Four #248, Marvel. The John Byrne era! What is it about giant-eyeball covers that are so groovy?

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

The Defenders #113, Marvel. I bought this comic off a spinner rack and had no idea what was going on. I loved it.

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Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #72, Marvel. I can never resist when the action on the cover destroys the logo. This one courtesy of Ed Hannigan.

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Legion of Super-Heroes #293, DC. Now, this was a cover (by Keith Giffen) that got your attention.

Dan adds: The turning point in The Great Darkness Saga, the greatest Legion story of them all. Darkseid is revealed to be the big bad!

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of August 13 — in 1977! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of August 6 — in 1945! Click here.