Just as fall signals the return of kids to school, it also marks the start of annual campaigns against bullying in school, and this October Marvel Comics is launching a special variant cover program to commemorate National Bullying Prevention Month and support STOMP Out Bullying’s efforts to prevent school bullying.   In October Rocket Raccoon #4, Guardians of the Galaxy #20, Avengers #36, Inhuman #7, Hulk #7, Captain America #25, and Legendary Star-Lord #4 will all sport anti-bullying covers designed to bring awareness to the issue.
 
In 2008 STOMP Out Bullying proclaimed that the first Monday in October would become Blue Shirt Day--The World Day of Bullying Prevention.  The idea is for kids, teens, and adults all wear blue on that day to show their solidarity with the campaign against bullying.
 
Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso noted correctly that bullying plays a key role in the origins of numerous Marvel superheroes, "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."
 
The Cartoon Network has produced an anti-bullying comic book (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Back at the Bully Pulpit"), and as Steve Bennett noted in an earlier column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Bully for You"), it is a bit hard to understand "why Marvel or DC doesn't have a program like this of their own.  Given how deeply the whole bully-victim paradigm is imbedded into the whole adolescent power/revenge fantasy integral to superhero comics, it really is more than surprising.  Not to mention how many comic book readers, and creators, must have at one time been bullied misfits."
 
It certainly would appear that a full adventure featuring an appropriate Marvel superhero could get the anti-bullying message across with more force and impact than a bunch of variant covers, but it should be noted that at least Marvel is doing something on the anti-bullying front.