Bullying. It still happens, and awareness of it is out there, more than ever. But I can’t say that we’ve done enough, especially when social media has become a place where people can bully others anonymously. Where people can slander others online and not have to deal with the consequences of their actions. So, I love it when campaigns like this happen.
Marvel Entertainment understands how bullying can affect the victims. They write about it often in their comics. So, they’ve partnered with STOMP Out Bullying, an organization for kids and teens created to prevent bullying and cyberbullying, for National Bullying Prevention Month by creating these anti-bullying variant covers that feature some of their popular Marvel characters.
Ross Ellis, founder of STOMP Out Bullying, said this:
“Bullying and cyberbullying have reached epidemic proportions, with one out of every four kids being a victim. And bullying transcends race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation; in fact, some of Marvel’s greatest Super Heroes were themselves bullied as kids and teens. But just as Spider-Man, Captain America, and Marvel’s many other Super Heroes were able to triumph and go on to combat evil, so can every one of us be a Super Hero in our own right by standing up and joining the fight to eradicate bullying.”
This is just one of the excellent ideas that have come out for anti-bullying, and I hope it continues to flourish as we should always be aware of what happens around us, and how we can prevent bullying in our communities. This certainly won’t erase bullying altogether, but it makes me happy to see an entertainment company like Marvel, that reaches youth and adults alike, take a stand against bullying through their products.
Check out some of the covers below! The Hulk one really gets to me.
Two more variant covers, The Avengers #36 and Inhuman #7, will also be sold in October for National Bullying Prevention Month.
via The Mary Sue.