Autumn Rolfson is still a teenager when Apocalypse recruits her. She is struggling at home and with an eating disorder, and he turns that vulnerable situation into a place for h…

Autumn Rolfson is still a teenager when Apocalypse recruits her. She is struggling at home and with an eating disorder, and he turns that vulnerable situation into a place for himself in her life. Her power can wither organic matter and afflict people with a terrible, draining hunger. The name Famine takes something deeply personal and makes it a public weapon. Instead of being helped through what she is experiencing, she is encouraged to use it to hurt other people. That is worth remembering when she appears in the armor. The visual is imposing enough to make the Horsemen look like four equal pieces of a grand plan. Autumn's age and circumstances make the recruitment much uglier than that neat arrangement suggests. Her clash with War in X-Factor #19 brings the insecurity back to the surface. A cruel comment doesn't bounce off just because she has a new name and a powerful patron. She responds with the ability Apocalypse values, and he remains the person deciding how the conflict will be handled. On the battlefield, her power is useful without needing the kind of loud impact War produces. A body can be weakened before it can defend itself. The harm is quieter to look at, but no less serious to the person enduring it. Apocalypse treats the ability as proof that she belongs in his design. He has no interest in whether that design gives her a chance to become someone outside it. Famine's part in these early stories is unsettling for that reason. Underneath the end-of-the-world costume is a young person being taught that her suffering is most valuable when somebody else can aim it.