Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jun 11, 2025 | 4 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 38 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of June 11, 1987.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of June 4, 1979. 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 June 8 and June 14.)

So, let’s set the scene: It would become more significant in retrospect two-and-a-half years later, when the Berlin Wall finally fell, but during a June 12 speech in the city, President Reagan famously admonished his Soviet counterpart: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The Soviet press agency TASS accused Reagan of giving an “openly provocative, war-mongering speech.” But in the U.S., even The New York Times chose to only run a photo atop Page 1, with the story on Page 3. The speech was in line with many other Reagan pronouncements so it wasn’t quite the home run it ultimately was seen as later.

Things weren’t going well elsewhere in Reaganland: This week, Oliver North’s secretary Fawn Hall became a national sensation when she testified at a Congressional hearing into the Iran-Contra scandal. Hall confessed to shredding so many documents that the machine jammed. She altered other documents, and smuggled others in her boots and clothing and gave them to her zealot boss.

“Sometimes you have to go above the law,” she testified.

Hall dated actor Rob Lowe in the aftermath of her testimony

Hall was one of three women involved in scandals at the time who became household names, thanks to their good looks and proximity to power. Delusional presidential hopeful Gary Hart’s gal pal, Donna Rice, was one, and creepy televangelist Jim Bakker’s secretary, Jessica Hahn, was the other.

In New York, closing arguments were held in the trial of Bernhard Goetz, who in December 1984 shot four Black teenagers on the subway — permanently paralyzing one of them — because when they approached him, he feared he was going to be robbed. (He’d been violently mugged in 1981 and had come to believe the police were not effective, so began carrying a gun.)

The trial was a polarizing event not only in New York City, but across the nation. Early the next week, on June 16, a jury found him guilty of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was acquitted of the much heavier charges of attempted murder and assault. Goetz ultimately served 8 months behind bars.

IN OTHER NEWS

— On June 11, Margaret Thatcher became the first UK prime minister elected for a third straight term in 160 years.

Bird and Magic

— Clash of the Titans: It was only six games, but it was still an epic NBA Finals between Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics, basketball’s biggest rivals. One June 14, the Lakers closed out the series to capture the title, but Game 4 is still considered one of the greatest Finals games in history.

Predator, which opened June 12, was the box-office killer, knocking Beverly Hills Cop II to No. 2 after three weeks at the top. The Witches of Eastwick, starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer, also opened June 12 and was an immediate hit. America, meanwhile, was making fun of Ishtar, the Warren Beatty/Dustin Hoffman comedy that became synonymous with “box office bomb” well before it even opened in May.

Also in theaters was The Untouchables, which gave fans “enthusiasms,” Harry and the Hendersons, and the inescapable Ernest Goes to Camp.

It was rerun season and the NBA Finals dominated the Nielsens, with Games 4 and 5 scoring as the most-watched pro basketball games ever, up to that point. (Game 6 was a day game and so not included in the prime-time Nielsens.) Otherwise, it was reruns of Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, and Growing Pains that got people to tune in.

Always by Atlantic Starr was the No. 1 single (I once knew one of the founding members), followed by Kim Wilde’s cover of You Keep Me Hangin’ On, at No. 2. Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) was at No. 5. A spot ahead was Genesis’ In Too Deep, which makes me want to jump off a cliff.

Other than U2’s No. 1 The Joshua Tree, the Billboard 200 was all about the hair metal: 1987 by Whitesnake (also known as, simply, Whitesnake) was at No. 2; Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet was at No. 3; Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In was at No. 4; and Motley Crue’s Girls, Girls, Girls was at No. 5.

And here I go again on my own, going down the only road I’ve ever known…

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Superman #9, DC. My all-time favorite period of reading Superman, with the Geoff Johns Action run years later a beat and a half behind. I really liked John Byrne’s approach to the Man of Steel’s world and I loved the art. This was my favorite comic book at the time, which is saying something because I wasn’t a regular Superman reader until Byrne came along.

Scott adds: Byrne provided some great covers during his brief Superman stint.

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Batman #411, DC. And the reason I was enjoying Superman more than Batman was because after Year One was over, the title jumped right into the origin of the post-Crisis Jason Todd, which I still believe was a colossal misstep.

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The Marvel Saga: The Official History of the Marvel Universe #22, Marvel. The Romita cover is a gas! (See more below.)

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Katy Keene #22, Archie. Hey, we were just talking about her!

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American Flagg! #45, First. Requisite reminder that there was a lot more going on in the mid- to late-’80s than the Big Two.

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

Secret Origins #18, DC. The great thing about anthology series like this was the wide variety of talents that would show up, like the Bill Sienkiewicz cover here. I also remember the George Freeman art for the Alan Scott story being particularly good.

Dan: I loved the head-scratching pairings we’d often get — like Golden Age Green Lantern and the Creeper. (Their colors mesh well, though!) By the way, I don’t care that these stories are “out of date” — they’d make a great omnibus or, even better, a pair of DC Finest volumes.

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The Young All-Stars #4, DC. I tried so hard to like this book after it switched over from All-Star Squadron, but I just missed the real Golden Age DC characters too much.

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The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, Marvel. I was never against the whole idea of Spidey and MJ getting married. In fact, I was all for it. But even at the time, I had to admit that the actual event felt a little rushed and underwhelming.

Direct-market cover on the left, newsstand on the right

Dan adds: And, decades later, fans still aren’t over Brand New Day. Oh, and don’t forget — Petey and MJ tied the knot “for real” the week before, on June 5 at Shea Stadium — in Queens, natch.

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of June 4 — in 1979! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of May 28 — in 1977! Click here.

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