Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 38 years ago…
This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of Nov. 11, 1988.
Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of Nov. 4, 1948. Click here to check it out.
(Keep in mind that comics came out on multiple days, so these are the issues that went on sale between Nov. 8 and Nov. 14.)
So, let’s set the scene: The Reagan ’80s were granted an extension Nov. 8, when Republican Vice President George Bush swamped Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in the presidential election.
Dukakis claimed an early lead in the race but the relentless Bush machine pounded him into submission. Dukakis, however, was really his own worst enemy, imploding during debate season and running an unintentionally hilarious ad of him driving a tank that was designed to make him appear tough. Instead, he looked like Mickey Mouse.
Bush won 426 electoral votes to the Duke’s 111. It was the last time a candidate crossed the 400 threshold. Bush won the popular vote 53.4 percent to 45.6 percent.
Mitchell in 1971, before the fall
On Nov. 9, disgraced former U.S. Attorney John Mitchell, one of Republican Richard Nixon’s prime Watergate criminals, died of a heart attack at the age of 75.
Schlock ruled the box office, with Child’s Play premiering this week and landing at No. 1. It supplanted They Live, which surpassed Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Also in theaters were the documentary Imagine: John Lennon; the harrowing drama The Accused, starring Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis; Mystic Pizza, with up-and-comer Julia Roberts; and the highbrow Ernest Saves Christmas.
Much to fans’ outrage, Michael Keaton had been announced as Batman back in June. Filming was under way in the fall, at Pinewood Studios in England.
War and Remembrance, the ABC miniseries sequel to The Winds of War — both based on the novels by Herman Wouk — debuted this week and was a ratings hit. Not as big a hit as The Cosby Show, mind you. But then, nothing was. Cheers, Golden Girls, and Growing Pains were all Nielsen heavyweights. Gearing up for its second season was Star Trek: The Next Generation.
A show that would become one of the most dissected of the era — Murphy Brown, starring Candice Bergen — premiered Nov. 14.
I had no use for Top 40 radio, especially when the hits included the Beach Boys’ regrettable Kokomo, from the movie Cocktail. Despite myself, I did like Wild, Wild West, by The Escape Club, who were pretty much a one-hit wonder. Kylie Minogue’s version of The Loco-Motion gave her a name in the United States.
U2’s Rattle and Hum, Bon Jovi’s New Jersey, Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, Def Leppard’s Hysteria, and Tracy Chapman’s eponymous debut LP, were all hit albums.
I could not have cared less about all that (though I later learned to appreciate GNR). All I wanted to listen to was Keith Richards’ first solo effort, Talk Is Cheap, and count the days until I got to see him at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre in December.
You shouldn’t take it so hard…
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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension
Action Comics Weekly #632, DC. Nightwing and Speedy as the headliners! Wally West and Donna Troy may be Dick’s best friends, but his team-ups with Roy Harper are always the most compelling. They should work together more often. Cover artist Tom Grindberg emulates Neal Adams. Other stories in the ish featured Green Lantern, the Phantom Stranger, Black Canary, Blackhawk… and Superman.
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Wolverine #5, Marvel. There was nobody in comics bigger than Wolverine at the time. Batman was a major draw, especially after The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One. But it would take the Keaton movie for everyone to become obsessed with the Caped Crusader.
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Legion of Super-Heroes #55, DC. Here’s what you got for your $1.75: a story by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen; interior pencil art by Giffen, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Erik Larsen, and Ernie Colon, all inked by Al Gordon; and a Steve Lightle cover, adroitly colored by Anthony Tollin and lettered by Todd Klein. Such a deal!
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Captain Atom #24, DC. As a Batman guy who preferred street-level comics, I somehow got hooked on Captain Atom. I don’t recall how that happened but it did.
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Detective Comics #595, DC. Batman vs. Thanagarians. Like I said, I preferred Batman because he didn’t go in for all that sci-fi jazz. Seriously, though, this issue is noteworthy for being Irv Novick’s last work on Batman.
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Cosmic Odyssey #3, DC. I totally didn’t remember that Cosmic Odyssey and Invasion ran at the same time. All those post-Crisis DC Universe epics blur together for me.
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ALF #13, Marvel. My Mom loved that show.
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V for Vendetta #7, DC. Alan Moore, King of the ’80s.
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Scott Tipton, contributor-at-large, 13th Dimension
The Incredible Hulk #353, Marvel. Mr. Fixit’s debut arc!
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Invasion #2, DC. After the universe-destroying madness of Crisis on Infinite Earths a couple of years earlier, a good old-fashioned alien invasion was just what the doctor ordered.
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The Amazing Spider-Man #313, Marvel. McFarlane in his Spidey heyday could certainly get your attention.
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