CARTOONISTS DRAW TO PREVENT TEEN SUICIDE

Cartoonists around the world have revealed - through their contributions to the Cartoonists Against Bullying anthology - that bullying is a problem in each of their communities. The findings were gleaned from the release of two years of submissions of works to the anthology, Cartoonists Against Bullying, which was released this month and contains 56 pages of works from 16 different cartoonists across the globe.

According to the anthology’s publisher and editor Melaina, when she sent out her call for submissions for an anthology called Cartoonists Against Bullying, she expected to receive submissions from a few local artists. Instead, stories began appearing in her inbox from all over the world – Croatia, Japan, Iran, Scotland, the UK and throughout the US, making it clear that bullying is a world-wide problem.

According to a poll conducted earlier this year by Ipsos, one in ten (12%) of parents online, around the world, say their child has been cyber-bullied; 24% say they know of a child in their community who has been bullied.

Recognizing that bullying is a problem in each of their communities, the contributing artists have donated their time and talent to this project for nothing more than a single copy of the publication and the hope that they may save the life of a teen who may be experiencing bullying.

“Bullying turned five years of my own life into hell,” states contributing artist Simon Taylor. “I hope my work can provide some sort of comfort, however small, for someone going through the same thing.”

“Bullying - as the basis for all future cruelty and ugliness in human life - is one of the most important challenges we face today,” says contributing artist Donna Barr. “This book takes on the challenge, through the voices of those who have faced the inhumanity first hand."

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

What: We have experienced a tragic number of suicides of teens who were being bullied, particularly young men who were bullied for being gay. This anthology was created in response to this series of events. We have received such a positive response from our first volume, that we are planning on a second volume with hopes of combining the two into a book. This anthology is open for submissions from anyone who was bullied whether it was because of their sexual orientation, race, religion, appearance, socio-economic status, or perhaps the reason wasn’t clear. We are looking for submissions on topics such as:

For those who were targeted by bullies:

• your experiences being bullied with the aim of letting others know they are not alone

• your experiences coping with bullies and how they may have impacted your academic performance or other ways bullies negatively impacted your life

• how you responded to the bully, especially if there was a confrontation

• if you’ve run into this former bully as an adult, what happened?

• how your life has improved since that time with the aim of letting others know that it does indeed get better

• letter to your bully

For People Who Were Once Bullies Themselves:

• what was going on in your life that led you to engage in aggressive bullying behaviors

• apologies to those whom you bullied

When: The deadline for submission is February 1, 2013

Where: Please send your submissions to Melaina Comics. Electronic submissions are preferred, which can be emailed to MelainaComics [at] gmail [dot] com. If you need to mail the documents for any reason (I can scan them if you do not have a scanner), please email for snail mail instructions.

Specs: Accepting comics anywhere from 1 to 10 pages in length. Black & white or grayscale. Artwork should be saved as a TIF document at 300 to 600 dpi.

Cartoonists Against Bullying Anthology Released at SF ZineFest

The Cartoonists Against Bullying anthology was first released today, September 1, 2012 at the San Francisco ZineFest. The response was quite positive, especially from teachers and parents who are interested in bringing this both fun and educational resource into their schools. One of our goals in the coming months will be exploring different avenues for getting this publication into places like schools where it can best reach its target audience. Stay tuned for more information and let us know if you have any suggestions on how to get the word out. Thank you for your support!