Posted By Dan Greenfield on Apr 2, 2025 | 10 comments

Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 37 years ago…

This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott Tipton and I are selecting comics that came out the week of April 2, 1988.

Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of March 26, 1970. 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 March 30 and April 5.)

So, let’s set the scene: President Reagan was term-limited from running for re-election and the competition to replace him was fierce. But as March turned to April, the field was solidifying.

On the Republican side, Vice President George Bush had “the Big Mo” and locked up the nomination. His main challenger, Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, folded up March 29, leaving evangelist Pat Robertson, who pitched his tent April 6.

For the Democrats, Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis had emerged as the leader of a pack that by this point still included Jesse Jackson, Tennessee Sen. Al Gore and Illinois Sen. Paul Simon. Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt threw in the towel March 29. Former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, who became famous for all the wrong reasons during the race, had quit — for the second time — earlier in March.

Button, Dukakis for President, 1988. 2003.0340.21.

Personal aside: During the campaign, I was working at a movie theater in Boston when we got word that Dukakis and his wife Kitty were coming. I wish I remembered the movie they saw, but I recall his handlers wanting to make a big deal of showing that he paid for the seats, so with a line waiting outside, I came out to greet them and sold him the tickets in front of everyone. (The sequel: Three years later, as a reporter, I conducted his final one-on-one interview as Massachusetts governor.)

IN OTHER NEWS

— On March 31, Toni Morrison was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved.

— Rock chalk, Jayhawk! On April 4, the University of Kansas beat Oklahoma, 83-79, to win the 50th NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Power forward Danny Manning was the big star and was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player. A KU student named Wendy Parrett celebrated on campus that night. She and I would meet five years later and get married in 1996. Look at all this personal info you’re getting this week!

Beetlejuice, Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s first collaboration, debuted March 30 and immediately went to No. 1 at the box office. Also newly in theaters was the hilarious hit Biloxi Blues, starring Matthew Broderick, featuring the immortal line, “Boy, it’s hot… This is like Africa hot.”

There was also the highbrow Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach, which actually hit No. 1 for a week, and the wildly popular 1987 holdover Good Morning, Vietnam. Opening April 1 was Bright Lights, Big City, based on the supremely overrated Jay McInerney novel of the same name, and starring a woefully miscast Michael J. Fox. (More personal info: I had a bit part in a college film that satirized this and Less Than Zero; I played a biker drug dealer named Moe.)

As the TV season neared its end, the top shows included the usual suspects: The Cosby Show, A Different World, Cheers, Who’s the Boss, Golden Girls and ALF.

The No. 1 single was Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror, followed by Endless Summer Nights by Richard Marx, at No. 2. Down at No. 8 was the song that launched a thousand gags — Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up.

The Dirty Dancing soundtrack was the best-selling LP, while other hit albums included Faith by George Michael (No. 2); Bad by Michael Jackson (No. 3); Kick by INXS (No. 4); and Tiffany by, well, Tiffany (No. 5).

Me, I was strictly classic rock at this point, listening over and over to Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, hoping the Stones would get back together. Wendy was probably listening to X’s See How We Are, which came out the year before.

She said, “His first name’s Homeboy.” I said, “Could his last name be Trouble?”

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

Infinity Inc. Annual #2, DC. Whenever Per Degaton showed up, you knew Roy Thomas was about to drop some brain-busting time-travel tale on you.

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What The — ?! #1, Marvel. This was a surprisingly fun series. Plus, there’s a Steve Ditko story!

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Concrete #7, Dark Horse. I really miss Paul Chadwick’s Concrete. Somber and wistful, and beautifully illustrated.

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The Question #18, DC. Denny O’Neil’s run on The Question is perhaps the writer’s best work, and perfectly matched with artist Denys Cowan.

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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Detective Comics #588, DC. Wagner, Grant and Breyfogle, y’all! Never understood why they introduced the Corrosive Man, when they could have used Dr. Phosphorus. But, hey, creators gonna create, right?

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Planet Comics #1, Blackthorne. Blackthorne Publishing was short-lived but they did draw some talent, like Dave Stevens for this cover of the brief revival of the Golden Age good-girl series Planet Comics.

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Action Comics Weekly #601, DC. Launching DC’s experimental ongoing weekly anthology series. A lot of good stuff came out of this title. Would make for a great DC Finest run.

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West Coast Avengers #35, Marvel. Because I can’t believe Scott didn’t put it on his list. Dude loves West Coast Avengers! Plus, dig that Milgrom/Machlan cover!

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MORE

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of March 26 — in 1970! Click here.

— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of March 19 — in 1973! Click here.

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