Marvel Comics makes custom 'Future Avenger' for hearing-impaired boy

Published May 25, 2012 7:29pm

Help! A four-year-old hearing-impaired boy refuses to wear a hearing aid because he believes superheroes don't do it. What's his mother to do?

Enter The Blue Ear, a "custom" young superhero modeled after the boy who, despite his powers, has to wear a hearing aid.

A report on The Huffington Post said Marvel Comics, the entertainment giant behind legends like The Avengers, created The Blue Ear in honor of Anthony Smith of New Hampshire.

"We wanted to give [Anthony] a concrete example," Marvel editor Bill Rosemann told The Huffington Post.

Production artist Manny Mederos also began working on a sketch of a character named The Blue Ear.

"Why not have the superhero be a young kid himself?" Mederos told Huffington Post, adding this could let the character grow up and work alongside Hawkeye and The Avengers one day.

Anthony had been diagnosed with mosaic trisomy 22, a rare genetic disorder that has left him hearing impaired.

But he recently refused to wear his hearing aid nicknamed "Blue Ear" because he believed superheroes did not need them, the report quoted WCVB as saying.

His mother Christina D'Allesandro, surprised by her son's attitude, emailed Marvel Comics to see if there were any superheroes who might be able to help.

Marvel's editors first sent the boy an image of a 1984 comic book cover featuring Hawkeye, a superhero whose hearing was temporarily destroyed by a sonic arrow.

In the image, the character is wearing a small hearing device in his ear.

But Marvel went further - two artists created a superhero based on Anthony.

Mederos eventually sent the family the completely original artwork.

"Anthony received three separate pictures from workers at Marvel Comics, and since then, he's worn his blue ear without much complaint," Huffington Post quoted a Concord Monitor report as saying.

Rosemann said D'Allesandro's letter was simply a call to action for a team who believes in using their talents and abilities to do something good.

"With great power, comes great responsibility," Rosemann said, citing the famous line from another superMarvel hero, Spider-Man. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: marvel, marvelcomics, avengers, hearingimpairment, deaf