In our last edition, we took a look at DC Comic's attempt to raise money to help the famine crisis on Ethiopia back in the 1980s. If you haven't read it yet, please do so. However, in case you're lazy, allow me to recap: In the 1980s Ethiopia was suffering a massive famine that was the result of civil war, poor farming, and drought. In response, celebrities took up the cause to throw money at the problem. The comic book industry followed suit by publishing comic books to raise money for charity. The first to do so was Marvel Comics, who released Heroes for Hope, Featuring the X-Men in 1985.
It featured a number of writers and artists that contributed a few pages worth of material that made up the entire story. Not only did this comic have industry names such as Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Bill Mantlo, and Chris Claremont it also had some contributions from Stephen King and Harlan Ellison. The artists on the book were all legends at the time, John Romita, Jr, John Buscema, John Byrne, and Frank Miller, among others. This comic book was quite a success, apparently, netting Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson (the masterminds behind the project) a Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award during the 1986 Eisner Awards. As you may have read last time, DC Comics attempted to emulate that success a year later, with a lot less fanfare.
So well did Heroes for Hope do? Let me tell you....
The Story Puts Heroes In Their Place
These early issues of Old Man Logan are pretty silly.
The X-Men are being psychically attacked by Hunger, a creature that feeds off of the pain and suffering of others. After slumbering for centuries, the famine crisis in Ethiopia has woken the monster up. Sensing the suffering and persecutions mutants face on Earth, and seeing them as the next evolutionary step in humanity, it decides to test the waters to make sure they are not too powerful for it to face.
... But how does this tie into the Dark Tower?
It starts making hallucinations that each X-Man experiences in order to destroy all hope they might have and make them give into despair. Particularly disturbing, are the moments written by Stephen King. In it Shadowcat is being slowly emaciated by Hunger and being taunted by food. This isn't just any kind of Stephen King prose. This is alcoholic, drugged up Stephen King at his scariest. Seeing his style being represented in a Marvel comic from the 80's is jarring as it is powerful. I only wish they let him write for them more often during that stage of his life.
Another powerful moment is the addition made by Alan Moore. Moore wasn't screwing around when he wrote his piece. In it, Magneto (who was a member of the X-Men at the time) has a nightmare where he has wiped out the entire human race. In order to do so, they also had to destroy plenty of crops and animals. Even though they are in the middle of an ecological crisis, the least of these being an impending famine, the other mutants cheer him on. To make sure he wasn't mincing any words, Moore even has Hitler among the people cheering Magneto's long sought after victory before a horde of starved human zombies swarms the master of magnetism.
In one of the weirder moments, Storm is chased by a clown who keeps on hitting her in the face with pies. Finding herself in a circus being attended by starving Africans, she decides to stop fighting her foe in order to use his ammunition to feed the starving spectators. That sequence was written by Chris Claremont, who probably had gotten into whatever Steven King was on at the time.
They say that comedy is tragedy plus time, so i guess this scene is hilarious?
The point here is that the X-Men experience the misery and pain caused by hunger, and the hopelessness that starvation brings. It brings nearly the entire team to their knees, and they haven't even physically confronted their foe yet.
The Heroes Actually Do Something
Eventually, the heroes manage to track their foe down to -- you guessed it -- Ethiopia. When they arrive they save refugees from a supply plane that has gone out of control. However, instead of running off to defeat the bad guys, the X-Men decide that their mystery villain is not important. Instead, they work for days handing out supplies to the people. They witness the atrocity first hand and watch in futility as people die of starvation right before their eyes.
They say that comedy is tragedy plus... wait.. nope, this is still pretty fucked up.
Of all the X-Men who were directly attacked by Hunger, Rogue is the only one who wasn't. Seeing her exhausted teammates sleeping one night, she decides to steal their powers and track down their foe. This ends with Hunger letting itself be fully absorbed by Rogue so it can have a physical body to attack its foes directly.
The Big Reveal?
Form of.... Awful Cosplay mashup!
It's established that Hunger takes on whatever form suits its needs. However, when it merges with Rogue it takes on a pretty ridiculous look.
This obese amalgamation of all the X-Men's powers then fights the rest of the team until the stolen powers begin to wear off. Hunger quickly learns that having a physical body isn't all it is cracked up to be and is quickly expelled from Rogue's mind by Phoenix.
Faced with such an evil presence, the X-Men begin to wonder what the point of struggling is anymore. Regardless of this, the group gets back to work distributing supplies to those in need.
This leads to the most powerful moment of the story, where Wolverine becomes frustrated with a starving child who is so weak the child cannot even eat the food being given to him. Thinking he is witnessing the death of yet another child, he is about to give up when -- by some miracle -- the child accepts the food.
The X-Men then redouble their efforts, realizing that even in the bleakest of situations, even the smallest bit of hope matters and to never give up. The story ends with the mutant heroes waiting for the next shipment of supplies to arrive so they can continue helping those in need.
Hope vs Hunger
"Can you stop smiling Wolverine? You're frightening the children."
Comparing Heroes for Hope to Heroes Against Hunger is like comparing apples to oranges. However, where Hunger absolutely botches the job, Hope actually tells a compelling story. Instead of a goofy alien with a silly gimmick, the X-Men are up against a primordial evil that is the living embodiment of human misery.
Whereas Superman, Batman, and Luthor just stand by and watch people suffer, the X-Men actually endure the misery of the Ethiopian people, if only metaphorically. When they witness the horror first hand, their first move isn't punching a bad guy in the face, but actually stopping to get their hands dirty and help people. Nobody tells the X-Men, who are feared by normal people, that their efforts are useless. Likewise, they stick around and continue to help as the story ends.
Most importantly, the message isn't "send more money", it's about the hard work ahead. It doesn't mince words about the death and desolation. Whereas the DC heroes stop long enough to shed a tear for people in a moment of absolute exploitation, the X-Men don't let their horror and sadness stop them from getting shit done. Also when the villain was defeated, none of the X-Men were flying away in stunned silence, they keep on working, never willing to give up, so long as hope exists.
Why This PSA Doesn't Work
Well when you look at the time in which it was written, this PSA actually worked, at least in giving a message. It also tells a story where superheroes can get involved in a real-world crisis in a believable(ish) way. However, in the long run, it failed to make an impact. Take a look at Ethiopia today: It's still a shithole, and certainly not any better off when Bob Geldof started throwing money at the problem in 1984. In fact, in true lunatic fashion, Geldof continues to this day to try and solve the problem by getting musicians together, having massive charity songs and tours that don't seem to do much to help the beleaguered country. Like a broken record, he has re-recorded his single "Do They Know It's Christmas" twice in 1989 and 2004. He continues to do aid concerts and demand more and more from governments. This has led to wide criticism as the continent doesn't get any better. Throwing money and raising awareness doesn't solve the problem in other words, and critics see Bobby-boy as more of a hindrance to efforts than helping it.
Following on this "awareness and charity," gravy train are people like Bono, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie among other people. People who Paul Theroux (who worked for the Peace Corps) to call such people "mythomaniacs" who seem to have all the answers, yet do little except opine them to everyone around them. They're pretty good at telling other people to spend their money while they are off buying private islands and moving money to pay as little tax as possible. The people of Africa need practical things that will help them be self-sufficient, not an endless sea of uncoordinated money and misspent intentions. Africa doesn't need computers yet, Bill Gates, it needs fresh water and reliable and renewable forms of farming before it needs Microsoft Edge.
The past 30+ years since these comic books have been published haven't really done much to solve the problems in Africa. As well intended as they were, it has done little to solve the ever escalating problems there.
Unpopular opinion time: You want to solve the food crisis in Africa? The fastest solution we have right now is genetically modified food. I'm not talking about the corporately driven crap that companies like Monsanto, or whatever other corporate boogie men you are afraid of push. I am talking about the work of scientists who have been trying to develop new strains of plants that can better survive in the more arid regions of Africa. Sure, go against corporations who engage in shady activities, such as using patents to fuck people over. I agree with you there. However, if it comes down to the choice of if people in Africa do or don't have anything to eat, and GMO's are a viable option, then I'm going to go with that. As far as I am concerned, it's arrogant to dictate what people should eat when there are people out there who are hungry. We've been genetically modifying plants and animals since we've been smart enough to stand up right. If you don't believe me, do some history on those organic vegetables you bought, or the next time you pet your Golden Doodle. When two of the smartest people of our time can see the merits of the science behind GMOs, then you should listen. Okay, rant done. If you want to debate me on this further please do so in the comments section, but please start your comments with "I am an insufferable twit" so I can find them more easily.
That's it for this edition of PSA's From Hell, be here with us next time when we try and figure out what soup has to do with conserving electricity.