This January Marvel Comics will release a one-shot comic-book titled Avengers: No More Bullying #1. The story will feature Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hulk, Iron Man, Black Widow, heroes who “have always stood up for those who cannot stand up for themselves,” in an adventure that seeks to make “Bullying a thing of the past!“
The full-length comic is coming after the success of Marvel’s October series of anti-bullying variant covers for Guardians of the Galaxy, Hulk, and other Marvel titles. October is National Bullying Prevention Month. For that series, Marvel Comics partnered with STOMP Out Bullying, which according to its website is “the leading bullying and cyber-bullying prevention organization for kids and teens.” The message of STOMP Out is one of prevention and education, and it appears that Marvel takes that effort seriously by portraying its heroes not in violence but in supportive roles.
“The center of Marvel’s storytelling history is the eternal struggle between good and evil, with many of its greatest super heroes having to contend with – and rise above – bullying, in all its forms,” said Marvel’s Editor in Chief Axel Alonso.
The effort to rise above bullying is evident in the cover for Avengers: No More Bullying, by Pascal Campion (pictured above). It is not by beating up bullies that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes take up the anti-bullying cause. Rather, heroes are made by comforting those in need.
This radical weapon for confronting our current bullying crisis- compassion-is also evident in each of Marvel’s October variant covers.
The full length Avengers: No More Bullying will be released this January and will contain short stories by writers Gerry Duggan, Sean Ryan and Jody Houser, featuring art from Carlo Barberi, Tana Ford and Marcio Takara.
