Okay, here’s a little bit about Heroes for Hope.
A few reasons to check out Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men (1985):
This creepy Kitty Pryde segment written by Stephen King
and illustrated by Bernie Wrightson and Jeff Jones
This bit of business with Wolverine by Harlan Ellison, Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz
This little twisted scene by Chris Claremont, Brian Bolland and P. Craig Russell
And this Magneto nightmare by Alan Moore and Richard Corben.
Not saying these are the only reasons…there’s some nice work by Steve Rude, some Howard Chaykin inked by Walt Simonson…but these are the four bits I think of when I’m reminded of this comic.
Overall, the story is…well, the X-Men are fighting some “living embodiment of their worst nightmares” or something, which is feeding off of the misery of the starving Africans, and…well, yeah, it’s a little tacky. But “helping Africa” was in the air at the time, and their hearts were in the right place. I suppose this comic did raise at least a little money for the relief fund, and you got a nice collection of art to boot, with at least four outstanding sequences as noted above.
There was a similar project from DC a little later, Heroes Against Hunger, in which the heroes fight against some alien creature that…um, feeds off the misery of the starving Africans. Or maybe not…it’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I know some nasty alien critter is involved. And unlike the X-Men book, I really can’t recall any specific sequences or creative teams involved that really stand out. I do seem to remember that this was one of the last “hurrahs” for the pre-revamp Not-A-Complete-Asshole Lex Luthor, who does try to help out (occasionally grudgingly, depending on who’s writing what sequence).
Back to Heroes for Hope: in my post from the other day, where I put up a small image of the cover, reader Steve Canadian had a question:
“Holy iconic Art Adams Wolverine pose on the cover! Am I right in thinking that they singled him out, popped his claws and made a poster out of that?”
This was, as Steve says, quite the iconic pose, and I’m pretty sure variations on it, all drawn by Adams, popped up on shirts and buttons and who knows what else. Here’s a version of it that was on a promo poster I, coincidentally, just happened upon in the backroom last week:
For more reading about Heroes for Hope, here’s Dr. Polite Scott with a few words.
