“ Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: You know, I'm a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump.
Igor: What hump?”
Igor: What hump?”
-Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman, Young Frankenstein
Time for our final look back at 1974, as we revisit the month that gave us “Godfather Part II”, “Young Frankenstein” and “The Sea of Hands”, while on the spinner racks DC gave fans their last batch of 100 page treats!
News of the Month:
3rd - The Pioneer 11 probe flies past the planet Jupiter, coming within 26,612 miles of the planet's atmosphere and takes the closest photographs up to that time of the Great Red Spot.
5th - Final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus airs on BBC TV
6th - Dow Jones Industrial Average drops to 578, bottoming out one of the most punishing bear markets of the postwar era, and its lowest level since 1962
12th - 50‐year‐old Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President
13th - North Vietnam launches the Spring Offensive, fighting against the South Vietnamese Army in the Battle of Phước Long.
14th - Private Teruo Nakamura, a Taiwanese-born member of the Imperial Japanese Army, becomes the last combatant from World War II to surrender on the island of Morotai in Indonesia.
16th - The Safe Drinking Water Act is signed into law, setting standards for drinking water quality for all public water systems in the United States
26th - American comedian Jack Benny dies of pancreatic cancer at age 80
27th= 40th Heisman Trophy Award: Archie Griffin, Ohio State
30th - Beatles are legally disbanded (4 years after suit was brought)
31st - New York Yankees sign Cy Young Award winner Jim "Catfish" Hunter for 5 years for a record $3.75 million from the Oakland A's
Newsreel of the Month: News headlines, including K-Mart commercial (December 10, 1974)
Magazine Cover of the Month: Hugh Hefner & Barbi Benton (People Magazine, December 2, 1974)
Music of the Month: A folk singer from New York named Harry Chapin made it to the top of the US charts, while over in the UK, Bachman Turner Overdrive had their third and final smash hit
US Top Singles:
1. Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
2. Angie Baby - Helen Reddy
3. Cat’s In The Cradle - Harry Chapin
4. When Will I See You Again - The Three Degrees
5. Your The First, The Last, My Everything - Barry White
UK Top Singles:
1. Your The First, The Last, My Everything - Barry White
2. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
3. Juke Box Jive - Rubettes
4. Oh Yes! Your Beautiful - Gary Glitter
5. Lonely This Christmas - Mud
Further Down the Charts:
The Stones rocking cover of the Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” peaked at #17
Movies of the Month: From the sublime to the ridiculous…
“The Godfather Part II” starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and Robert DeNiro (premiered December 12, 1974)
“Young Frankenstein” starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman and Madeline Kahn (premiered December 15, 1974)
TV Clips of the Month: Fonzie visits the Cunninghams in “Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas” on Happy Days (first aired December 17, 1974)
Sports Moments of the Month: Two very memorable playoff games…
The Oakland Raiders defeat the two-time defending champion Miami Dolphins 28-26 in the infamous “Sea of Hands” game (December 21, 1974)
Then a week later, this happened… Pittsburgh 24, Oakland 13… a game which I will never forget (December 29, 1974)
Top 10 DC Comics of the Month (as selected by Osgood Peabody, listed in order of their publication):
Justice League of America #116: A mysterious new hero attracts the attention of the JLA in “The Kid Who Won Hawkman’s Wings”! (Cover by Nick Cardy)
Swamp Thing #15: The Swamp Thing battles an occult menace in the bayou in “The Soul-Spell of Father Bliss”! (Cover by Nestor Redondo)
Kamandi #27: Kamandi’s excursion into the Dominion of the Devils continues in “Mad Marine”! (Cover by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry)
Weird Western Tales #27: Jonah is hired to protect a suffragette in “The Meadow Springs Crusade”! (Cover by Luis Dominguez)
Superman #285: The Man of Steel searches for the long-lost Roy Raymond in “Search for the Impossible Man”, plus a child actor has a meltdown in the Private Life of Clark Kent tale “The Kid with the Million-Dollar Smile”! (Cover by Nick Cardy)
Omac #4: Omac concludes his battle with Marshall Kafka in “The Busting of a Conqueror”! (Cover by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry)
Shazam #17: The Marvel Family teams up against the Pied Un-Piper plus an assortment of vintage Golden Age tales! (Cover by Bob Oskner)
Superboy #207: The LSH contends with “The Rookie Who Betrayed the Legion”, while Lightning Lad meets an old nemesis in “Lightning Lad’s Day of Dread!” (Cover by Mike Grell)
Adventure Comics #438: The Ghostly Guardian confronts a mad taxidermist in “The Spectre Haunts the Museum of Fear” plus an unpublished Seven Soldiers story is unveiled as the SSV is dispersed into the Land of Magic! (Cover by Jim Aparo)
Batman #261: The Masked Manhunter attempts to unravel “The Mystery That Never Was”! (Cover by Nick Cardy)
You can find all DC comics published this month right here courtesy of Mike Voiles’ Time Machine!
You can also find a lot of other publishers’ output this month courtesy of Mike’s site right here.
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statistics: Posted by Osgood Peabody — 8:23 AM - Today — Replies 1 — Views 61