—StormYou counter despair with hope. You strive forever for the best you are capable to be! Therein lies the victory!
Appearing in "Heroes for Hope"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Hungry (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Thousands of starving African citizens
- Two unnamed aid workers
- Various forms Hungry takes on, including:
- An unnamed postman
- Metallic versions of Storm, Wolverine, Magneto, and Nightcrawler
- A crowd of Magneto's followers, including The Blob, Scarlet Witch, Adolf Hitler, and Mr. Sinister
- The Phoenix
- Nightcrawler's foster family
- A non-mutated version of Wolverine
- Ringmaster of a circus
- Numerous versions of Storm, including a cheerleader, a housewife, the Earth-Mother, a naked fairy, and a sex symbol
- A pie-throwing clown
- Rachel's Mother (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- Africa
- Russia (Mentioned)
Items:
- Cerebro
- Wolverine's Suit
- Adamantium (on Wolverine's claws)
Vehicles:
- X-Men Blackbird
- Numerous Lockheed Hercules Transport Cargo Jets
Synopsis for "Heroes for Hope"
The story begins with Phoenix going to grab the mail, only to be confronted with a horrible sight. The rest of the X-Men rush to the entrance to see that, somehow, the mansion has somehow ended up in the middle of a barren desert.
Finding the comatose mailman, Wolverine senses that something's off and claws the man's face, only for him to be shown as an illusion. The X-Men thus return to their normal business, only for things to start going wrong as, one by one, a series of psychic assaults is launched on each of them, showing the team their greatest fears.
The first to undergo such an attack is Colossus. His illusion shows him being tormented by steely versions of the team. This shakes him up so badly, he literally crawls up into the fetal position. Later, as the X-Men talk about Peter's attack and how he'll recover, Kitty decides to raid the refrigerator, to Kurt Wagner's amusement while Kitty calmly retorts his teasing with her own, stating she can eat when she wants.
As she enters the kitchen while remarking how just because she has a big appetite doesn't automatically make her fat, Kitty is then confronted by an evil Death-type being in a cloak as she reaches the fridge. As the encounter goes on, Kitty slowly ends up becoming dangerously thin, almost skin and bones and desperately pleading the being for food. At first, the being seems to comply, offering her a huge steak, corn and mashed potato dinner, which Kitty nearly tears from its' hands. However, before she can gorge herself on it, Kitty watches helplessly as the 'food' is transformed to insects, which crawl away as the being mocks her before leaving her briefly withered to skin and bones and starving.
A few minutes later, Nightcrawler comes in, expecting to find Kitty stuffing herself, only to find the rather wizened Kitty huddled in a ball, moaning about the being she encountered.
Before he can help her, Kurt then experiences his own psychic attack, focusing on Christianity imagery and moral dilemmas. Here, the being offers Kurt the chance to sacrifice himself so another person can breathe the air and eat the food he himself would. Kurt refuses, only to believe himself a coward for doing so afterwards. The next person to suffer such an attack is Magneto. In his case, Magnus is shown a world where his dream of mutant supremacy has occurred, only to discover it isn't as glorious as he'd anticipated.
Next to encounter the being's attacks is Phoenix, who is taken back to her past, where she's confronted by a horde of mutant hunting doppelganger Hounds, reminding her of her part in said dystopian future. Wolverine is next to fall victim to the attacks, in which he has to confront the tension between his animal and human sides.
Storm is the final one to be subjected to the attacks, where she's confronted by a carnival ringmaster, who traps her in a house of mirrors. There, Ororo is shown various images of her possible self, each being more distorted than the last. After this, Storm is drawn into the carnival's crazy games and finally realizes that it's wrong to waste food in the first contrate expression of the story's theme.
She ultimately defeats the illusion by feeding the illusory people illusory cream pies. After this, she tells her recovering friends what's transpired and rallies the team to action. Using Rachel's powers, the X-Men follow their attacker's psychic presence to Africa, where they find horrible scenes of deprivation. Soon, a fleet of C-130 Hercules transport arrives with crates of food, which the X-Men aid in distributing.
That night, Rogue, frustrated that she's the only one who hasn't suffered an attack by Hungry, decides to try and settle things herself. Sneaking around the campsite, she steals some of her friends' powers before setting off to confront the entity.
Arriving at its' dessert hideaway, Rogue is attacked by the being's avatar, quickly becoming overpowered until Ororo arrives and backs her as the 'entity' is revealed to be a primeval god-like force that feeds on human despair. One-by-one, Kitty, Logan, Rachel, Magneto, Kurt and Peter also awake from their brief Rogue-induced comas and join the fray themselves.
Ultimately, the team succeeds in defeating the entity and then return to keep aiding in the distribute of food to the starving refugees. They then realize that their battle with Hungry was a metaphor for the battle against famine and any human struggle in general. Kitty then worries that Hungry is still alive, but Logan comforts her.
Notes
- Back cover art by Jim Starlin.
- The Heroes for Hope logo was designed by logo designer Janet Jackson (not the singer).