This Is Why I Absolutely Love Marvel Comics No Matter What They Do....

Even though I am a 34 year old man and have known many adult comic book fans, the core audience for comics is and always will be children. Kids are who the comics are made for... and most of us life long fans started out as wee lads and lasses reading the funny pages. So now that comics have become a billion dollar industry and Marvel Comics is on top of the heap, it is nice to see that they still no how to do something great for a child in need. Enter Anthony Smith, a 5 year old boy with hearing problems. He uses a blue hearing aid device to help with his condition, but being a stubborn 5 year old he didn't want to wear it because it made him feel different than the other "normal" kids in his school. He also said "I can't wear a hearing aid because Superheroes don't wear them". Cue up Anthony's super mom Christina, who emailed Marvel Comics wondering if there were any superheroes in the companies vaunted history that had hearing problems so that she could use it to help Anthony want to wear his ear piece. A few weeks later Christina received a package that featured artwork for a new superhero, The Blue Ear, a hero who uses his hearing aid to hear a pin drop on the other side of the state and fight crime!!!! They sent Anthony some fantastic artwork featuring a young Blue Ear ready to fight crime alongside Hawkeye, as well as a grown up Blue Ear on the cover of his own book ready to fight crime! They also made Blue Ear an honorary member of the Avengers. How wonderful is this!!! Marvel has also teamed up with Phonak, the maker of Anthony's hearing aid, to produce a stand alone comic featuring one of Marvel's most recognizable character, Iron Man!!! The book will be made available for free to be given out at hearing doctors office around the country, and hopefully Iron Man and Blue Ear can inspire more kids to get over their trepidation for wearing hearing aids. It seems to have worked, as Anthony is thoroughly taking to wearing his hearing aid since he feels he is now a superhero. Great idea and execution by one of the big corporate entities in the world. Check out all the pics after the jump...