Mark Millar asks readers to follow his new superhero with #OneGoodDeed

Comic writer Mark Millar is asking fans to carry out good deeds and share them on social media, in the spirit of his latest comic Huck, about a good-natured superhero whose mission is to do one nice thing a day.

Millar asked readers to post pictures or details of their selfless acts on social media using the hashtag #OneGoodDeed. The Glasgow-based writer of comics such as Kick-Ass, Kingsman and Jupiter’s Legacy has put up a page of original art by the series artist Rafael Albuquerque as a prize for the random act of kindness judged to be the best by the end of July.

Huck, which is released in collected edition on 20 July, tells the story of his hero’s good deeds, which range from helping old ladies cross the road to saving kidnapped schoolgirls from terrorists. Millar, who has created famously violent comics like Kick-Ass, dreamed up Huck after watching the Superman film Man of Steel and feeling superheroes had become too violent.

“I’d updated all the Avengers characters into more hard-edged, realistic archetypes, I’d created Hit-Girl, I’d written all these big, bad-ass set pieces, but when I saw Superman’s solution to the problem at the end of that movie being to snap poor Michael Shannon’s neck, I was honestly rattled,” Millar said.

“I realised this dark edge that had been added to all these great childhood characters had become pitch-black and we had to change course or lose everything that made them work. As things grew darker, I just went lighter and people went crazy for it.”

The first issue of Huck came out in November 2015; Millar called it “the best reviewed book I’ve ever done”.

“A lot of people I suspect were feeling the same way and just after something that gave a little hope. People really responded to this,” he said. Recent world news has made the idea feel more urgent.

“The last couple of weeks have been especially overwhelming, with horrific headlines piling on top of each other until we’re almost numb to it,” said Millar. “We’d planned to do the #OneGoodDeed thing already, but I honestly think we’ve never needed it more. Just a little light for a change. A small, random act of kindness.

“When I was writing Huck last year I actually tried to apply it to my own life and it’s harder than you think, but purposely doing one overtly nice thing every day and making it your mantra, I’m convinced, not only helps other people, but it makes you feel better. I think the reason we like superheroes isn’t that they’re bad-ass. It’s because they’re kind. This is as close as we get to being superheroes and it’s actually really fun.

“So even if it’s making everyone in your department a cup of tea or giving someone your KitKat or giving up your seat on the train or just sending someone a text who might need a little lift – that’s what we’re trying to do this week. If it becomes a habit, even better … The antidote to the news.”

Like most of Millar’s other creations, Huck is headed for the big screen – Studio 8 at Sony bought the movie rights before the first issue was released.

“I told them I was doing a Frank Capra superhero story when I had lunch with them last year and they bought the rights on the spot,” Millar said. “I said: ‘Imagine superheroes had never been invented and you were making one with Jimmy Stewart.’ We literally shook hands and did the deal before dessert arrived and have been interviewing directors. We feel the time is right for this, so we don’t want to waste time.”

Although there’s a prize on offer, Millar doesn’t want that to be the main motivation. He said: “Though this will be especially cool for comic fans, I actually think it’s more about doing the deed than getting the reward. Doing it for nothing is what matters here. If I’m honest, the perfect winner here would donate the prize to someone else if he or she wins, which would be brilliantly in keeping with the tradition of the Huck story itself. I’m bored with hedonism. We need this right now.”

• The entire first issue of Huck is available exclusively on the Guardian below.