Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 24, 2024 | 5 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 42 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of July 24, 1982.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of July 17, 1989. 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 July 21 and July 27.)

So, let’s set the scene: On July 23, three people — veteran character actor Vic Morrow and two young children — were killed in one of the most horrific incidents in Hollywood history, when a helicopter crashed amid explosive special effects on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie. The segment was directed by John Landis at Indian Dunes in Valencia, California, standing in for Vietnam.

Morrow was carrying the two children — 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen — knee-deep in water when an explosive threw a Bell UH-1 Iroquois, which was hovering near them only 25 feet off the ground, out of control. The chopper crashed into all three: Morrow and Le were decapitated by the helicopter’s main rotor blades and Chen was crushed by the helicopter’s right landing skid.

Morrow, in the film, which was still released in 1983 with the helicopter scene left out.

Safety protocols and labor laws were largely ignored, with even the two children hired without the proper permits.

Landis was widely considered responsible for the fiasco but, despite years of civil and criminal cases, much finger-pointing and recriminations, he and his career managed to survive largely unscathed.

Landis stood trial for involuntary manslaughter five years later but was acquitted.

On July 27, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made her first visit to the United States in nearly 11 years. Her trip would include meeting with President Reagan.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, which premiered July 23, was the top film at the box office, breaking Conan the Barbarian‘s record ($9.60 million) — set earlier in the year — for highest weekend debut for a R-rated film. The musical pulled almost $12 million that weekend. Other big movies included E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Rocky III, Tron, The World According to Garp (which also opened July 23), and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the best story in all of Trekdom.

Little Shop of Horrors, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s musical, opened Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre on July 27.

The top TV show of the week was July 26’s Miss Universe pageant, which was won by 18-year-old Canadian Karen Dianne Baldwin. Otherwise, it was the thick of summer rerun season, with top shows including MASH, Fantasy Island, The Jeffersons, Hill Street Blues, Alice and The Love Boat.

Eye of the Tiger, Survivor’s monster hit from Rocky III and one of the Eightiesest songs of them all, began a six-week run atop the Billboard 100. Rosanna by Toto, which I heard before I knew who Rosanna Arquette was, followed at No. 2. Other hits getting heavy airplay — and heavy rotation on MTV: Hurts So Good, by John Cougar (who was still John Cougar) at No. 3; Hold Me by Fleetwood Mac at No. 4; Don’t You Want Me by The Human League at No. 7; and Tainted Love by Soft Cell at No. 8.

The top album was supergroup Asia’s self-titled debut, followed by Willie Nelson’s Always On My Mind. Down at No. 5 was the Rolling Stones’ live album Still Life, recorded during their 1981 tour. It’s a mixed bag, with highlights being two covers — Eddie Cochran’s Twenty Flight Rock and the Miracles’ Going to a Go-Go.

Going to a go-go, everyBOTy… Going to a go-go, coomon now…

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Action Comics #536, DC. Floating heads!

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Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #8, DC. Floating heads!!

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All-Star Squadron #14, DC. FLOATING HEADS!!! You can never, ever go wrong with floating heads. Ever. The All-Star Squadron issue is the most notable of these three, however, because it’s part of an epic, five-issue crossover with Justice League of America — the annual JLA/JSA team-up. It’s a time-travel-driven story (obviously), featuring Earths One, Two, Three and Prime that in retrospect is a kinda-sorta dry run for Crisis on Infinite Earths three years later. Tons of characters, interesting team-ups, big scope. The whole thing was written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. Cover by Joe Kubert.

Scott adds: I can never resist a cover with tiny heads surrounding the border.

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Detective Comics #519, DC. What’s memorable about this comic isn’t the main story but the back-up: Batgirl by Barbara Kesel and Trevor Von Eeden. They only had two issues (#518 and #519) but, as I said here, other artists made Batgirl va-va-voom or the Girl Next Door, while Von Eeden was the first to make her dangerous. There was so much potential here but DC just didn’t have a handle on what to do with the character and she ended up brutalized in The Killing Joke. (Happy birthday to Von Eeden, by the way!)

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Dazzler #21, Marvel. I dig Eliot R. Brown’s photo covers.

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Scott Tipton, columnist, 13th Dimension

X-Men Annual #6, Marvel. Dracula always seemed like a weird fit for the X-Men, but there’s no arguing with this Bill Sienkiewicz cover. He also pencilled the interiors, with inks by Bob Wiacek. Chris Claremont was the writer, natch.

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Daredevil #188, Marvel. That’s a great Frank Miller cover, even if that’s my least favorite costume for the Widow.

Dan adds: Stick, Kingpin, The Hand, Black Widow. Miller and Janson. What, you want more?

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World’s Finest Comics #284, DC. Is that a giant Composite Superman? I really hope so.

Dan adds: Yes. Yes, it is.

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of  July 17 — in 1989! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of July 10 — in 1981! Click here.

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