Highway 62

And then I take a closer look. It’s a pack of 5 collectable comics from the early 1990s (meaning that they’re generally not collectable; and in fact are being sold for less than their cover prices). We all know that selling comics as collectables isn’t really such a great idea (all the back issue dealers out there notwithstanding). At least we know that now. Or we should. Selling comics as entertainment? A lot more sound (and sustainable).

But back to the collectable comics. Five comics for five bucks. A buck apiece. A bargain by today’s standards (granted, the interiors are printed on newsprint, but you can’t have it all for a buck a book.) Let’s see what five bucks will buy you these days.

X-Force #23
Spider-Man #29
Marvel Comics Presents #46
Spectacular Spider-Man #193

I’m about to pass on the whole thing when I notice the last one.

Heroes for Hope: Starring the X-Men

I am so getting this pack of comics. This is a find.

Heroes for Hope, for those of you who don’t know, was a charity comic that Marvel put out in the mid 1980s (almost smack dab in the middle, actually: September, 1985. Yeah, it’s dated December, but they used to date ahead when comics appeared on newsstands.)

IMAGE HERE

I know, it says “starring the X-Men”, but it really stars Wolverine. The more things change, etc… And what the heck is Colossus doing running around while lifting a VERY HEAVY OBJECT over his head? I know he’s strong, but when does it become useless showing off? And look! It’s Magneto! That’s right. He was an X-Man, too. A heroic X-Man. Look at that big ‘M’ on his chest. That means he’s a hero. Takes a bold man to wear magenta spandex, too. Particularly at his age.

I could do this all day. Man, the 80s were fun. Dumb, oftentimes, but a lot of fun.

You’re asking now, what makes this comic so special? Why would I drop a dollar (really five) of my own money on it? I’ll tell you why. Because it’s the only place that you’re going to see the following creators all working on the X-Men

• Stan Lee
• John Romita, Jr.
• Arthur Adams
• Brent Anderson
• Joe Sinnott
• John Byrne
• Terry Austin
• Chris Claremont
• Stephen King
• Berni Wrightson
• Jeff Jones
• Charles Vess
• Alan Moore. Yes, you read that right.
• Richard Corben
• Mike Kaluta
• Harlan Ellison
• Frank Miller
• Bill Sienkiewicz
• Brian Bolland
• Craig Russell
• John Bolton
• Mike Baron
• Steve Rude
• Denny O’Neil
• George Martin
• Herb Trimpe
• Bruce Jones
• Gray Morrow
• Steve Englehartli>
• Paul Gulacy
• Bob Layton
• Jim Shooter
• Mike Grell
• Jackson Guice
• Joe Rubenstein
• Archie Goodwin
• Howard Chaykin
• Walt Simonson

With a logo designed by Janet Jackson! Was she a Marvel Intern or something after her run on The Facts of Life? Just kidding.

So, like many other 80s charities (particularly in 1985), Heroes for Hope was inspired by the famine gripping Africa at the time. Yes, I know. Things really haven’t changed that much in the intervening twenty years. And much like fireman books after 9/11, everyone was doing them (I seem to recall DC doing one with a gloating Luthor in armor on the cover and Superman cradling a starving child in horror or somesuch.) I applaud the charitable intentions behind these practices, though I do question putting 80s superhero logic to work in famine-stricken sub-saharan Africa. Things break down pretty quickly.

But I get ahead of myself.

We actually don’t get to Africa for some time. We start at the X-Mansion, though not during a baseball game, thank goodness. After an attack by a mysterious Entity (you know it’s bad because it’s an Entity) the X-Men conveniently split up so that they can meander through internal monologue and, oh yes, stand around and wait for the Entity to attack them through various nightmare scenarios.

These succeed quite nicely as character pieces. Colossus (featuring Byrne and Austin together again for the first time) faces up his own emotional coldness and invulnerability with the help of some little metal friends. Kitty Pryde faces her inner anorexic (with writing by Stephen King, art by Berni Wrightson and Jeff Jones) in a chilling scene. Charles Vess and John Muth illustrate Nightcrawler’s crisis of faith (which is perhaps the most beautifully-drawn scene in the book). Alan Moore leaves his indelible fingerprints on the Magneto’s nightmare sequence (where he shakes hands with a congratulatory Hitler after conquering the human race), Richard Corben’s art rendering it all in terrifying detail. Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz (with words by Harlan Ellison) depict Wolverine wrestling with his animal nature (again, but rarely in such a frightening manner). Finally, Brian Bolland, Craig Russell and John Bolton take turns working over Storm in a most absurd manner (the ever-popular pie in the face) while stripping her character bare. You know, reading the this the first time, I was pretty naïve (“What’re the leather, corsets, spiked collars and whips for?”)

I guess I know better now.

I have to say, though, that things in the book kinda go downhill from there. After a setup like that, no battle with any Entity is going to life up to the build-up. To the book’s credit, they don’t take the easy way out and have superpower hocus-pocus instantly save the starving millions (though telekenisis is useful when cargo planes are bearing down on refugees). I’m not saying that there’s an intense discussion of the sociopolitical causes (not to mention the environmental devastation) of the famine, but they don’t wave a magic wand to make you feel better about it, either.

Yes, it’s melodramatic. It’s mid-80s X-Men. Of course it’s melodramatic and overdone compared to the books we’re getting today. But it does feature Rogue absorbing the powers from every one of the X-Men and picking a fight with a six-armed Entity (see, I told you it couldn’t live up to the hype) only to find that it’s some kind of spirit of dread and can’t really be beaten but gosh we have to try.

Okay, that was mean. I’m a mean man.

As a little slice of a time in comics, it’s a pretty amazing thing. Like I said before, you’re just not ever going to see talent like this on the same book again. In that, it’s certainly worth the price of admission, but I’m a weirdo. I’ll cop to that.

And yes, I did read the other comics that came in the pack. They weren’t very good. And X-Force was particularly dire. Stinky, even. But seeing all those period ads was certainly a trip.

Maybe not a good trip, but a trip all the same.