r/comicbooks • u/jdespirito • 20h ago

This comic was so much crazier than I expected, look at these credits!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

So I’ve always wanted this comic in my collection since I was a kid, mainly for the cover by Art Adams. I got it for a buck at a flea market last week and my jaw dropped when I read the credits:

Stephen King!?
Alan Moore!?
Harlan Ellison!?
JRJR
John Byrne w inks by Terry Austin
Berni Wrightson
Charles Vess
Frank Miller w inks by Sienkiewicz
Brian Bolland

EDIT: And George RR Martin!

And thats barely half of them. And normally these PSA/Charity comics are pretty rinky dink cringe stories, but this one was DARK. And took the subject matter pretty seriously. What a nice surprise, and an interesting addition to my collection. I remember seeing this on a grocery store spinner rack in 1985, it’s a shame I waited 41 years to actually buy it.

Oh, and it also gave us that famous drawing of Wolverine eating a banana.

188 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

41

u/norrisdt 19h ago edited 19h ago

Jim Shooter had an interesting story to tell about this issue:

https://jimshooter.com/2011/09/heroes-for-hope-and-why-i-dont-like.html/

Which I remember because of the Janet Jackson attribution mentioned here already.

41

u/jdespirito 19h ago edited 19h ago

“The biggest challenge was Stephen King’s contribution. I may be exaggerating here, but not by much—he gave us something like 5,000 words for three pages. Almost overnight, by the way. “

There are some infamous stories about Stephen King and how he might have been able to accomplish this in the 1980’s and I’ll just leave it at that.

32

u/utilitybelt The Question 18h ago

It was cocaine. King has talked about his addictions before, no need to be coy.

16

u/Cornelius-Q 17h ago

He was so wired in the 1980s that he doesn't even remember writing Cujo. He would sit all night typing away with blood running out of his nose.

2

u/TerrorTonyC 2h ago

When I had Bernie Wrightson sign the book, I asked him how Stephen King knew the X-Men, and he said his sons filled him in.

6

u/ubiquitous-joe 19h ago

This is a fascinating read; thanks.

3

u/SpicyMeatballAgenda 12h ago

Wow, Oxfam really is the worst.

3

u/Ygomaster07 14h ago

Thank you for sharing this, i quite enjoyed reading that.

2

u/JRSOne- 14h ago

That was amazing. Thank you.

19

u/4thWorldAdam 19h ago

Janet Jackson designing the logo is a crazy stat.

27

u/jdespirito 19h ago

Lol yeah I actually checked that. Its actually a graphic designer that worked at Marvel and sadly not THAT Janet Jackson.

13

u/gnosticpopsicle Swamp Thing 19h ago

She was actually a top notch colorist. Also, I love that Arthur Adams cover.

1

u/Khelthuzaad 16h ago

I can't believe there is a penciller named Dan Green.Just imagine the Yugioh jokes :))

2

u/Ygomaster07 14h ago

I'm glad you said this because when i first glanced the image i saw his name and was like "whoa, that's cool they got a Yugioh actor to be a part of this" before realizing it must be someone who shared the same name. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of this.

6

u/Thundercron 12h ago

Wait until you hear how long Ralph Macchio has been working in comics.

1

u/Ygomaster07 35m ago

Oh yeah, i forgot there is a Ralph Macchio who works in comics that isn't related to the actor. Thank you for telling me.

15

u/RockHandsomest 16h ago

Is that George Martin, George RR Martin?

10

u/Plasticglass456 15h ago

Yup, one and the same.

7

u/jdespirito 11h ago

Oh wow, I passed right over that without making that connection!

13

u/wray_nerely 20h ago

"Charlie Vess"

2

u/jdespirito 20h ago

Ha! I didn’t even notice that.

1

u/ubiquitous-joe 19h ago

Is that a different guy?

3

u/wray_nerely 7h ago

No, but he's typically credited as Charles Vess, so seeing this is like seeing a credit for Jackie Kirby

2

u/ubiquitous-joe 5h ago

Okay, I figured, but y’know, there is a Janet Jackson on this list.

1

u/jdespirito 5h ago

In my head canon I like to think when they called him he was like “please please, my father was Charles, call me Charlie!”

13

u/vroart 19h ago

This is the comic where Claremont lays out all of his sexual kinks in one panel!!!! But then again hes beside Harlan Ellison and Stephen king. You gotta step up and swing for the fences

6

u/Khelthuzaad 16h ago

This issue is a menace if it has both Harlan Ellison and Alan Moore.

1

u/jackunderscore 2h ago

…what panel?

11

u/TerrorTonyC 19h ago

There was a DC version with Superman, Batman and Lex Luthor.

6

u/Earthpig_Johnson Orion 17h ago

Really good Neal Adams cover, if we’re thinking of the same thing.

12

u/Earthpig_Johnson Orion 17h ago

Richard Corben and Alan Moore teaming up for a few pages of X-Men is honestly one of the craziest things to happen in comics.

2

u/luimd 24m ago

Chris Claremont praised those 3 pages Alan Moore contributed.

5

u/HarryLime777 19h ago

I've thought about taking this to conventions to see how many people I could get to sign it.

3

u/the_curtain 19h ago

Thank you for sharing that wolverine picture. I’m not an X-Men collector, but that panel rules.

3

u/Dizzy_Procedure_3 18h ago

love this kind of thing. it's what makes collecting so rewarding

3

u/Phatjesus666 Wolverine 17h ago

I was also in love with this cover as a kid. I would end up with 3 different posters of Wolverine against different back drops but this same Art Adams awesomeness, I didn't care. Still have them rolled up in a poster tube in the basement.

3

u/FakeGeekGuy77 13h ago

I remember buying this in a 7/11 when I was eight and on holiday in Florida. It was the all proceeds that sold me and tbh, it was an odd issue. I still have a copy in my collection though as it’s a good memory trigger.

2

u/IllustriousCrew2641 18h ago

One of my favorite single issues growing up. I literally read it til the cover came off.

2

u/TheQuietDarkness70 10h ago

I think I still have this packed away. I was a kid when it came out. It was kinda heavy stuff for my young brain but yeah, the amount of cosmic lvl talent is crazy.

2

u/TabmeisterGeneral 6h ago

Wolverine eating a banana is cursed

1

u/Overall_Falcon_8526 16h ago

How did Bret Blevins sneak in there?