Anthony wearing Blue Ear
Now you can’t go telling me that Marvel is an evil empire just trying to bleed money out of the masses. Sure, they have way too many comic books. Their merchandise can cost an arm and a leg. They make gazillions out of their movies.
For this little boy (and his family) in New Hampshire, though, I am pretty sure that Marvel is the ultimate in superheroes.
Anthony Smith is a four-year-old boy who has medical conditions, including total deafness in his right ear and some hearing loss in his left. He has been using a hearing aid, but as things go with little boys, he just suddenly didn’t want to wear the device anymore.
His reason? Superheroes do not wear hearing aids.
Parenting perspectives aside, how do you argue with a little kid about superheroes not wearing hearing aids?
Fortunately, Anthony’s mom seems to be quick on the ball. After hearing her son reason his way out of wearing his hearing aid, she got in touch with the guys at Marvel Comics via e-mail. To be honest, I am actually surprised that they got back to her. Just imagine the volume of e-mails they must receive!
In any case, the Marvel’s response is brilliant. They sent back an image of Hawkeye, who suffers from 80% hearing loss. This was in reply to Anthony’s mom asking for an example of a superhero who uses a hearing aid.
It gets better. Marvel created a new superhero just for Anthony. They call him Blue Ear, and guess what? He is named after Anthony’s hearing aid, Blue Ear.
Now isn’t that a lovely story? Here’s a video featuring Anthony, his mom, and Blue Ear.