Last month, Marvel Comics unveiled six special variant covers spotlighting bullying, attracting buzz on the Web and customers into comics shops. Now Marvel is following up with a full-length story in which some of its most powerful superheroes find that even they are not immune to being picked on.
“We’ll be following some of Marvel’s most popular characters — the Avengers, Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy — as they each experience bullying from their own unique perspectives,” said Devin Lewis, editor of “Avengers: No More Bullying.” “I can’t delve too much into the plot, but thematically we’re going to be exploring what causes someone to be a bully, how bullying affects a community, and how bullying can take on a number of forms. We’re also going to explore conflict resolution, and how, when dealing with a bully, fists should be a last resort.”
The 40-page comic comes on the heels of the variant covers Marvel produced in coordination with national anti-bullying group STOMP Out Bullying to draw attention to National Bullying Prevention Month in October. Two of the artists who drew those covers also drew the covers for “Avengers: No More Bullying,” revealed exclusively here: one starring Spider-Man, plus a variant featuring most of the same heroes who will appear in the upcoming film “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
“When the art started coming in for the STOMP project, we knew we were on to something special, and though STOMP is not directly involved in this project, we absolutely wanted to continue furthering their anti-bullying message,” Lewis said, adding the price would be $1.99, so it can get “into the hands of anyone who relates to it.”
