Scott and Dan hit up the comics racks from 37 years ago…
This week for RETRO HOT PICKS, Scott and I are selecting comics that came out the week of April 22, 1989.
Last time for RETRO HOT PICKS, it was the week of April 15, 1961. 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 April 19 and April 25.)
So, let’s set the scene: Tens of thousands of Chinese students and other protesters this week amassed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, days after the heart attack death of pro-reform politician Hu Yaobang, who had been forced by Communist leaders from his position of power.
The protests began as a ragtag affair, with many groups airing many grievances, but they continued to grow and solidify around pro-democracy reforms, freedom of speech and the press, anti-corruption, and economic policies. Near the end of the week, the uprising prompted violence by demonstrators in hot spots around the country.
The authoritarian leadership was forced to respond and things would get much, much worse in the weeks ahead.
On the other side of the world, in the United States, a heinous crime shocked the nation in general and New Yorkers in particular. On April 19, a woman jogger in Central Park was raped and beaten to within an inch of her life — leaving her comatose for 12 days — on the same night that about 20 to 30 ruffians entered the urban oasis, with many attacking random runners and pedestrians.
The violent spree — dubbed “wilding” — led police to arrest six teenagers for the attack on the woman. Mayor Ed Koch called it “the crime of the century” and the mayhem drew intense, racially charged media and public interest at a time when New York was in the throes of the destructive crack epidemic. Ultimately, five of the teens — who were all Black and became known as the Central Park Five — were convicted of the attack and would spend years in prison. (The sixth had pleaded guilty to a different assault that night.) The suspects insisted they didn’t attack the jogger, who was white, and that videotaped confessions had been coerced by intimidating cops.
Finally, in 2002, a serial rapist named Matias Reyes said he did it and that he acted alone — and DNA evidence confirmed it. The Central Park Five were exonerated. Twenty years later, the sixth suspect’s robbery conviction was overturned.
IN OTHER NEWS
Lots of sports headlines:
Aikman and Commissioner Pete Rozelle
— Presidential son George W. Bush and partners on April 21 purchased baseball’s Texas Rangers.
— Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kareen Abdul-Jabbar played his last regular-season game on April 23.
— On the same day, the Dallas Cowboys picked UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman No. 1 in the NFL Draft. It worked out well.
— Also on April 21, Field of Dreams had its world premiere in Dubuque, Iowa, where it was filmed. I read the original book, Shoeless Joe, by the late, great W.P. Kinsella, years before the movie came out, and I played on the field itself in 1994. It was an extemely cool experience.
Pet Sematary, based on the Stephen King novel and featuring the titular song by the Ramones, was released April 21 and went immediately to No. 1, supplanting the lowbrow baseball comedy Major League. Other popular movies included Lean on Me; Say Anything…, starring John Cusack (“I’m incarcerated, Lloyd!”); and Fletch Lives, starring the insufferable Chevy Chase. The real banger, however, was the cult-favorite, black-as-pitch comedy Heathers, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.
(Later that year. I met Ryder when I was working at a Boston movie theater. She was in the area filming Mermaids with Cher. She came to the box office and I told her how much I loved Heathers, and she sweetly replied, “Wow, thanks. I didn’t know anyone saw that.” I let her in for free.)
Of course, all I really cared about was this movie, due out in June:
Roseanne, The Cosby Show, and Cheers were the Nielsen leaders as the season was drawing near a close.
Everything about Madonna was controversial and her No. 1 hit Like a Prayer (off the same-named, top-selling album) was no exception. Other hits included Fine Young Cannibals’ She Drives Me Crazy, Roxette’s The Look, and Tone Loc’s Funky Cold Medina. I was never a big R.E.M. fan, but Stand was also a big song.
The albums drawing the most sales, besides Like a Prayer, included FYC’s The Raw & the Cooked; Tone Loc’s Loc-ed After Dark; and, Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth. Guns N’ Roses, meanwhile, was keeping hard rock alive with Appetite for Destruction.
Personally, I was just really happy knowing the Rolling Stones were back in the studio recording a new LP. Steel Wheels would be released later in 1989.
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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension
Swamp Thing #87, DC. Infamously, Rick Veitch’s final issue on the title. He quit during the production of Swamp Thing #88, because DC put a halt to his story about the monster meeting Jesus Christ. That axed issue will finally see the light of day later this month with the release of Swamp Thing 1989 #1. Three more issues will follow, bringing Veitch’s storyline to its proper end.
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James Bond: Permission to Die #1, Eclipse. Mike Grell’s take on 007. Good match of creative talent and subject.
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Checkmate #18, DC. By our pal Paul Kupperberg!
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Adventures of Superman #455, DC. Deep into the “Exile” storyline. I have to admit this is where I was starting to lose interest in the Super-titles. I preferred the Man of Steel’s earthbound stories.
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The Spectacular Spider-Man #153, Marvel. Spidey, Hammerhead, Tombstone, and the Chameleon, courtesy of Your Friendly Neighborhood Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema.
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Scott Tipton, contributor-at-large, 13th Dimension
The New Titans #55, DC. In the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths, I understand the perceived need to get rid of Donna Troy’s Wonder Girl identity, but this “Troia” costume was definitely not the answer.
Dan adds: I still don’t think Donna Troy’s completely recovered from Crisis. I know that makes me sound like an old fogy, but it’s true.
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Sandman #6, DC. This issue, the darkest by far of Gaiman’s new series, let readers know that anything could happen, and it could all be bad.
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Doom Patrol #23, DC. I read Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol every month when it came out and never knew what the hell was going on, and loved every minute of it.
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Justice League Europe #3, DC. Bart Sears’ weirder, exotic style was the perfect fit for this new European Justice League team, which from the start had a more serious tone than its sister book.
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MORE
— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of April 15 — in 1961! Click here.
— RETRO HOT PICKS! On Sale The Week of April 8 — in 1982! Click here.
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Comics sources: Mike’s Amazing World of Comics and the Grand Comics Database.
April 22, 2026
What a year. It’s interesting how even though Marvel was dominating the sales charts then, only one of their books got a mention here.
I was still getting my comics via the spinner rack at the grocery store, so I was at the mercy of what they carried. Even though I’ve since devoured all of the DC offerings listed, JLE was the only one that I had as it came out.
On another note, my first job while working through college (97-99) was on an excursion dinnner railroad in my home area. One of the cars used for private dining was the one the Stones used for the press for the Steel Wheels tour. Reviewing pictures of them on it gives me a vague sense of deja vu: I remember a lot of distinct events from my time working in that train car, so seeing the Stones sitting there is very wild.