Marvel creating comic book for troops

Comic books and soldiers have been allies since the earliest days of World War II, when Superman and Captain America sold war bonds, promoted paper drives and battled Nazis at home and abroad.

Now superheroes are going back to the front.

Today at the Pentagon, Marvel Comics will unveil a custom comic book to be distributed free in May to U.S. forces in Iraq and around the world.

Featuring the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and other Marvel heroes, the comic will have a mammoth print run of 1 million copies. The first 150,000 will go to soldiers in the Middle East.

“We’re not going to sell them. These are for the troops,” says Jeff Klein, a Marvel spokesman.

Both DC Comics and Marvel have published special issues before on topics such as drug abuse, land mines and the heroes of 9/11. But this latest effort dwarfs those in size.

It’s being produced in partnership with “America Supports You,” a Defense Department campaign that encourages private citizens, communities and businesses to reach out to troops and their families, “especially those serving in harm’s way.”

The comics will be available free at military exchanges.

“That Marvel would create a comic book especially for the troops is really spectacular, highlighting how a company can go above and beyond,” says Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Allison Barber.

“When you can sit down and read a comic book in the field, any touch of home makes a difference.”

The book is a normal-sized edition of “The New Avengers,” written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Dan Jurgens and Sandu Florea.

Virtually every major Marvel hero is involved in an encounter with an alien army. The ads are tailored for soldiers.

“I am a Vietnam vet, and our people in uniform can never get treated well enough,” says Marvel vice chairman Peter Cuneo.

“Many are comic-book fans, and these are the heroes they grew up with. If you’re in a foxhole, it’s going to get passed around.”

Getting issues to the field every month is “logistically tough,” says Marvel executive group director Bob Sabuni, who cites high demand from soldiers as an impetus for the effort.

But the use of the military’s exchange service will ensure that a book goes to every soldier who wants one, even in “forward-deployed locations.”

Marvel officials are not ruling out an eventual reprint and doubt the book will become a hot property among comic dealers because of the high print run.

But Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of Metropolis Collectibles in New York, is not so sure.

“It’ll become a collectors’ item. Absolutely,” he says.

“On eBay, on the Internet, at comic conventions, you’ll see this at prices up to $10, $15, $25. It will be tremendously desirable for a lot of comic-book collectors to see it.”