Heroes for Hope: Starring the X-Men is a 1985

1985 in comics

-Year overall:* More independent publishers enter the marketplace: Aircel Comics, Arrow Comics, Blackthorne Publishing, Dragon Lady Press, NOW Comics, Sirius Comics, Strawberry Jam Comics, and Wonder Comics all publish their first titles...

 Marvel

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 designed to raise money for African famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

 relief and recovery. Published in the form of a comics "jam

Jam session

Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...

," or exquisite corpse

Exquisite corpse

Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver or rotating corpse, is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from the original...

, the book featured an all-star

All-star

All-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...

 lineup of comics creators as well as a few notable authors from outside the comic book industry, such as Stephen King

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

, George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin

George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...

, Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison

Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...

, and Edward Bryant

Edward Bryant

Edward Winslow Bryant Jr. is a science fiction and horror writer sometimes associated with the Dangerous Visions series of anthologies that bolstered The New Wave....

. It also saw a rare Alan Moore

Alan Moore

Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...

 Marvel Comics credit (outside of his early Marvel UK

Marvel UK

Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market, though it later did produce original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon and Grant Morrison.Panini Comics obtained the...

 work).

Heroes for Hope featured some memorable artist/writer and penciler/inker pairings, including Stan Lee

Stan Lee

Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....

 and John Buscema

John Buscema

John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...

; Stephen King

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

 and Berni Wrightson; Moore and Richard Corben

Richard Corben

Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...

; Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison

Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...

, Frank Miller

Frank Miller (comics)

Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...

, and Bill Sienkiewicz

Bill Sienkiewicz

Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...

; Mike Baron

Mike Baron

Mike Baron is the creator of comic books Badger and Nexus. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.-Biography:Mike Baron broke into comics with an illustrated text piece in the 1974 debut issue of Marvel Comics's Comix Book...

 and Steve Rude

Steve Rude

-Career:In 1981, Rude became widely known in the comics world when he and writer Mike Baron created Nexus, an independent science fiction comic book with a large supporting cast. For the series, Rude designed a dozen or so distinctive alien races, including the Thunes, the Amphibs, the Quattros,...

, Howard Chaykin

Howard Chaykin

Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...

 inked by Walt Simonson

Walt Simonson

Walter "Walt" Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist. After studying geology at Amherst College, he transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was The Star Slammers, which was published as a black and white promotional comic book...

; and John Byrne and Terry Austin

Terry Austin (comics)

Terry Austin is an American comic book artist, working primarily as an inker. He is best known for his work embellishing John Byrne's pencils on The Uncanny X-Men from 1977–1981.-Early life and career:...

 re-uniting on the X-Men.

Publication history

Heroes for Hope came about in response to the devastating 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept was in the spirit of contemporaneous musical fund-raisers

Benefit concert

A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...

 like Band Aid

Band Aid (band)

Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. The single...

's "Do They Know It's Christmas?

Do They Know It's Christmas?

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984....

", USA for Africa

USA for Africa

USA for Africa was the name under which forty-seven predominantly U.S. artists, led by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, recorded the hit single "We Are the World" in 1985. The song was a US and UK Number One for the collective in April of that year...

's "We Are the World

We Are the World

"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...

", and the Live Aid

Live Aid

Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...

 concerts. Then-Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter

Jim Shooter

James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...

 described the genesis of the project this way:
In addition to the contributors donating their work for the project, so did logo designer Janet Jackson and Marvel's production staff; while Curtis Circulation Company and all the direct market

Direct market

The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for North American comic books. It consists of one dominant distributor and the majority of comics specialty stores, as well as other retailers of comic books and related merchandise...

 distributors and comics specialty shops donated their profits.

Proceeds controversy

Shooter later revealed that the proceeds from the comic were originally intended to go to Oxfam

Oxfam

Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...

. The organization refused to accept the donation, telling Marvel that Oxfam found the comic "racist, sexist and reprehensible." An Oxfam representative told Marvel that he took issue with the presentation of women in the comic, especially X-Men heroine Storm

Storm (comics)

Storm is a fictional character that appears in a number of comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum...

, who was of African heritage. He apparently also believed the comic's logo had been stolen from the singer Janet Jackson (the Jackson family were major supporters of Oxfam) and refused to believe Marvel when they said their Janet Jackson was a different person.

The proceeds were instead given to the American Friends Service Committee

American Friends Service Committee

The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...

, with the first check being in excess of $500,000.

Plot

The book opens with Rachel Summers

Rachel Summers

Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....

 poking her head out of the X-Mansion

X-Mansion

In the fictional Marvel Comics universe, the X-Mansion is the common name for Professor Xavier's mansion. It is the base of operations and training site of the X-Men and the location of a school for mutant teenagers, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, formerly Xavier's School for Gifted...

 to grab the mail, only to be confronted with a horrible sight. The X-Men rush to the entrance to see that the mansion has somehow been transported to the middle of a barren desert.

After retrieving the comatose mail carrier, Wolverine

Wolverine (comics)

Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...

 senses that all is not right, and claws him in the face. But it turns out that it was all an illusion. The X-Men go back to business as usual after this fiasco, but then things begin to go wrong. One by one, a series of psychic assaults is launched on each member of the team, as they are subjected to their greatest subconscious fears.

First Colossus

Colossus (comics)

Colossus is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Len Wein and illustrator Dave Cockrum, he first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1...

 (with art by Byrne & Austin) is mocked by steely apparitions of his teammates. This is more than he can bear, and he curls up in a fetal position

Fetal position

Fetal position is a medical term used to describe the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops...

. Kitty Pryde

Kitty Pryde

Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 and was created by writer-artist John Byrne....

 (as told by King, Wrightson, and inker Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones (artist)

Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through 2000s. Jones provided over 150 covers for many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine art during and after this time...

) goes to grab something from the fridge only to be surprised by an evil Death-type being in a cloak. He exposes Kitty's great fear of going hungry. As told by Bill Mantlo

Bill Mantlo

Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...

, Charles Vess

Charles Vess

Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comic-book illustrator who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the work of artists and illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha...

, and Jon J. Muth

Jon J. Muth

Jon J. Muth is an American comic book artist and children's book illustrator, known for his painted artwork....

, Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler (comics)

Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...

 finds Kitty turned into a wizened old hag, which leads to his own experience, focusing on Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 imagery and moral dilemmas. Kurt is offered the chance to sacrifice himself so that one other person might breath the air and eat the food he would. He declines, and thinks himself a coward. Thanks to Moore and Richard Corben

Richard Corben

Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...

, the next to fall prey to the spiritual onslaught is Magneto

Magneto (comics)

Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...

, who is offered a glimpse of a world where his dream of mutant supremacy has been realized — and that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Rachel is swept back to her past, where she's confronted by a horde of mutant-hunting doppleganger Hounds

Hounds (comics)

Hounds are the name given to several groups of mutant characters from Marvel Comics. This term usually refers to those who track or hunt down mutants while serving a higher authority.-Days of Future Past:...

, reminding her of her part in that dystopian future. Wolverine (thanks to Ellison, Miller, and inker Sienkiewicz) must confront the tension between his human and animal sides. Finally (thanks to Claremont, Brian Bolland

Brian Bolland

Brian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...

, and P. Craig Russell

P. Craig Russell

Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...

), Storm is confronted by a carnival ringmaster, who traps her in a house of mirrors

House of mirrors

A house of mirrors or hall of mirrors is a traditional attraction at funfairs and amusement parks. The basic concept behind a house of mirrors is to be a maze-like puzzle. In addition to the maze, participants are also given mirrors as obstacles, and glass panes to parts of the maze they cannot...

. Storm is shown various images of her possible self, each one more distorted than the last. Ororo gets drawn into the crazy carnival games, and in the first concrete expression of the story's theme, she realizes that it's wrong to waste food. Having defeated the psychic attacker by feeding illusory cream pie

Cream pie

A cream pie is a type of pie filled with a rich custard or pudding that is made from milk, cream, flour, and eggs. It can come in many forms, including vanilla, lemon, lime, peanut butter, banana, coconut, and chocolate. A constant feature of all cream pies is the whipped cream topping...

s to illusory people, Storm returns to her teammates for discussion of what has transpired.

Courtesy of Rachel's powers, the X-Men track the psychic presence that's been harassing them to the continent of Africa. They fly the Blackbird

Blackbird (comics)

The Blackbird is the aircraft used by the fictional superhero team the X-Men. There have been several incarnations of this craft over the years, with Cyclops and Storm as the main pilots.-History:...

 to the source, where they are met with horrible scenes of deprivation. Before long, a fleet of C-130 Hercules

C-130 Hercules

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...

 transport aircraft arrive, full of supplies, which the X-Men help distribute.

That night, Rogue

Rogue (comics)

Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 , but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10...

 becomes so frustrated that she hasn't had her turn of psychic punishment yet that she decides to hunt down the entity herself. She sneaks around the campsite stealing her teammates' powers. Using the psychic powers of Rachel Summers, the Rogue hybrid traces the presence of the X-Men's harasser to a desert hideaway. Upon entering the crypt, Rogue is attacked by the avatar of the psychic being. Things are not going well for Rogue, however, when Storm appears to give aid. The "entity" is revealed to a primeval god-force that feeds on human despair. One by one, the X-Men awake from their Rogue-induced comas and join in the battle.

The X-Men finally defeat the entity and return to their campsite, where they resume the enormous task of feeding the starving refugees. They realize their battle with the entity was a metaphor for the fight against famine, and indeed any human struggle. Kitty expresses fear that the entity survived the battle and is ready to strike again, but Wolverine comforts her with words of hope.

Contributors

Heroes for Hope featured a story by Chris Claremont

Chris Claremont

Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...

, Ann Nocenti

Ann Nocenti

Ann "Annie" Nocenti is an American journalist, writer, editor, and filmmaker best known for her work on comic books and magazines. As an editor for Marvel Comics, she edited New Mutants and The Uncanny X-Men...

, Berni Wrightson, Jim Starlin

Jim Starlin

James P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters...

, and Jim Shooter

Jim Shooter

James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...

. The editors were Nocenti and Claremont; the assistant editors were Pat Blevins and Terry Kavanagh

Terry Kavanagh

Terrence "Terry" Kavanagh is an American comic book editor and writer.-Biography:Kavanagh was a Marvel Comics editor during the late 1980s and 1990s...

. Front cover by Arthur Adams; back cover by Starlin. Logo design by Janet Jackson.

Page	Writer	Penciler	Inker	Letterer	Colorist
1-2	Stan Lee Stan Lee Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....	John Romita, Jr. John Romita, Jr. John Salvatore Romita, Jr. is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s...	Al Gordon	Tom Orzechowski Tom Orzechowski Tom Orzechowski is an award-winning comic book letterer, primarily known for his work on Uncanny X-Men. Over the course of Orzechowski's career, he has lettered something on the order of 6,000 pages of Chris Claremont's scripts.-Early career:In 1968, when Orzechowski was 15, he met a group of...	Daina Graziunas
3-4	Stan Lee	John Buscema John Buscema John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...	Klaus Janson Klaus Janson Klaus Janson is a German-born American comic book artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies...	Tom Orzechowski	Marie Severin Marie Severin Marie Severin is an American comic book artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics....
5	Ed Bryant Edward Bryant Edward Winslow Bryant Jr. is a science fiction and horror writer sometimes associated with the Dangerous Visions series of anthologies that bolstered The New Wave....	Brent Anderson Brent Anderson Brent Anderson is an American comic book artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.- Early life :...	Joe Sinnott Joe Sinnott Joe Sinnott is an American comic book artist. Working primarily as an inker, Sinnott is best-known for his long stint on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, from 1965 to 1981 , initially over the pencils of industry legend Jack Kirby...	Phil Felix	Bob Sharen
6-8	Louise Simonson Louise Simonson Louise Simonson, born Mary Louise Alexander , is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman: The Man of Steel, and Steel...	John Byrne	Terry Austin Terry Austin (comics) Terry Austin is an American comic book artist, working primarily as an inker. He is best known for his work embellishing John Byrne's pencils on The Uncanny X-Men from 1977–1981.-Early life and career:...	Mike Higgins	Petra Scotese
9	Ed Bryant	Brent Anderson	Dan Green	Phil Felix	Bob Sharen
10-12	Stephen King Stephen King Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...	Berni Wrightson	Jeff Jones Jeff Jones (artist) Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through 2000s. Jones provided over 150 covers for many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine art during and after this time...	Tom Orzechowski	Christie Scheele
13-14	Bill Mantlo Bill Mantlo Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...	Charlie Vess	Jay Muth	Janice Chiang Janice Chiang Janice Chiang is an Asian American comic-book letterer with over thirty years’ experience in the industry.Chiang broke into comics in the mid-1970s, freelancing for Marvel Comics. Her career really took off in 1981, and throughout the 1980s and up until the mid-1990s she kept extremely busy, often...	Christie Scheele
15	Ed Bryant	Brent Anderson	Tom Palmer Tom Palmer (comics) -Biography:Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work , the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker...	Phil Felix	Bob Sharen
16-18	Alan Moore Alan Moore Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...	Richard Corben Richard Corben Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...	Richard Corben	Jim Novak Jim Novak James R. Novak is a comic book creator primarily working as a letterer for Marvel Comics, where he has worked on almost every one of their ongoing series. Novak has also done spot duty as a writer, penciler, and colorist.-Biography:...	Michelle Wrightson
19-21	Ann Nocenti Ann Nocenti Ann "Annie" Nocenti is an American journalist, writer, editor, and filmmaker best known for her work on comic books and magazines. As an editor for Marvel Comics, she edited New Mutants and The Uncanny X-Men...	Mike Kaluta	Al Milgrom Al Milgrom Allen "Al" Milgrom is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West...	Lois Buhalis	Glynis Oliver
22-24	Harlan Ellison Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...	Frank Miller Frank Miller (comics) Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...	Bill Sienkiewicz Bill Sienkiewicz Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...	John Workman John Workman John Workman is an editor, writer, artist, designer, colorist and letterer in the comic book industry...	Christie Scheele
25-26	Chris Claremont Chris Claremont Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...	Brian Bolland Brian Bolland Brian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...	Craig Russell P. Craig Russell Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...	Lois Buhalis	Glynis Oliver
27-28	Jo Duffy Jo Duffy Jo Duffy, sometimes credited as Mary Jo Duffy is a comic book editor and writer, known for her work for Marvel Comics in the 1980s, and DC Comics and Image Comics in the 1990s.-Biography:...	John Bolton	John Bolton	Ron Zalme	John Bolton
29-30	Mike Baron Mike Baron Mike Baron is the creator of comic books Badger and Nexus. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.-Biography:Mike Baron broke into comics with an illustrated text piece in the 1974 debut issue of Marvel Comics's Comix Book...	Steve Rude Steve Rude -Career:In 1981, Rude became widely known in the comics world when he and writer Mike Baron created Nexus, an independent science fiction comic book with a large supporting cast. For the series, Rude designed a dozen or so distinctive alien races, including the Thunes, the Amphibs, the Quattros,...	Carl Potts Carl Potts Carl Potts is an American comic-book writer, artist, and editor best known for creating the series Alien Legion for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics.-Early life:...	Diana Albers Diana Albers Diana Albers was an American comic book letterer. She is best known for lettering hundreds of books for Marvel Comics from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. Comics she lettered include Iron Man #114 , Ghost Rider #45 , Doctor Strange #46 , Captain America #318 , Alpha Flight #128 , and The Mighty...	Marie Severin
31-32	Denny O'Neil	Bret Blevins Bret Blevins Bret Blevins is an American comic book artist, animation storyboard artist, and painter. He is perhaps best known for his stint as the regular penciler of New Mutants.-Career:...	Al Williamson Al Williamson Alfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...	Janice Chiang	Daina Graziunas
33-35	George Martin George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...	Herb Trimpe Herb Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939, is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout...	Sal Buscema Sal Buscema Silvio "Sal" Buscema is an American comic book artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he enjoyed a ten-year run as artist of The Incredible Hulk...	John Costanza John Costanza John Costanza is an artist and letterer who has worked in the American comic book industry. He has worked for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was the letterer during Alan Moore's acclaimed run on Swamp Thing...	Glynis Oliver
36-37	Bruce Jones Bruce Jones (comics) Bruce Jones, whose pen names include Philip Roland and Bruce Elliot, is an American comic book writer, novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter whose work included writing Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk from 2001-2005.-Early career:...	Gray Morrow Gray Morrow Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...	Gray Morrow	Joe Rosen Joe Rosen Joe Rosen was an American comic book artist, primarily known for his work as a letterer. Over the course of his career with Marvel Comics and DC Comics, Rosen lettered such titles as Captain America, Daredevil, Spider-Man, G.I...	Ann Nocenti
38-39	Steve Englehart Steve Englehart Steve Englehart is an American novelist. In his earlier career he was a comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics, particularly in the 1970s...	Paul Gulacy Paul Gulacy Paul Gulacy is an American comic book illustrator best known for his work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and for drawing one of the first graphic novels, Eclipse Enterprises' 1978 Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species, with writer Don McGregor.-Early life and career:Paul Gulacy began...	Bob Layton Bob Layton Bob Layton is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor, who has worked for Marvel Comics, Valiant Comics, DC Comics, Future Comics, and other publishers.-Early life:...	Ron Zalme	George Roussos George Roussos George Roussos , also known under the pseudonym George Bell, was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four.-Early life and career:George Roussos was born in Washington, D.C., the son of...
40-41	Jim Shooter Jim Shooter James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...	Alan Weiss Alan Weiss (comics) Alan Weiss is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work on Warlock, Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Sub-Mariner and Spider-Man...	Joe Rubinstein	John Morelli	Christie Scheele
42-44	Mike Grell Mike Grell Mike Grell is a comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Jon Sable Freelance.-Early life:...	Jackson Guice Jackson Guice Jackson "Butch" Guice , is an American comic book artist who has worked steadily in the mainstream comics industry since the early 1980s.-Biography:...	Steve Leialoha Steve Leialoha Steve Leialoha is an American comic book artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comics and later DC Comics.-Biography:Leialoha's professional career began in 1975...	Rick Parker	George Roussos
45-48	Archie Goodwin Archie Goodwin (comics) Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...	Howard Chaykin Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...	Walt Simonson Walt Simonson Walter "Walt" Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist. After studying geology at Amherst College, he transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was The Star Slammers, which was published as a black and white promotional comic book...	Ken Bruzenak Ken Bruzenak Ken Bruzenak is an award-winning American comic book letterer, primarily known for his work on Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! Bruzenak's lettering and logowork was integral to the comic's futuristic, trademark-littered ambiance...	Leslie Zahler