Boy Refuses to Wear Hearing Aid Because Superheros Don’t — So Marvel Comics Creates One
- Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:20pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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A little boy in New Hampshire got to be what other kids can only dream about: A real-life Marvel Comics superhero.
Four-year-old Anthony Smith was born with a genetic disorder that left him hearing-impaired. He was getting on fine with his blue hearing aid until one day when he told his mother that he didn’t want to wear it anymore.
“Basically, one day he woke up and I said, ‘OK, time to put in your hearing aid,’ and said, ‘Let’s put in blue ear.‘ We’ve always called it that. And he said, ‘No, superheroes don’t wear blue ears,’” his mother, Christina D’Allesandro, told WCVB-TV.
D’Allesandro assured Anthony that superheroes do indeed wear hearing aids — and on a whim, emailed Marvel Comics for help.
“Could you make a little guy’s day by drawing him a hearing-impaired super hero?” she wrote.
Bill Rosemann, an editor at Marvel, sent her back a note with a copy of a 1984 comic book cover showing Hawkeye of the Avengers wearing a hearing aid, the Concord Monitor reported. Hawkeye lost his hearing after he got hit with one of his own arrows.
“Print that out and show it to Anthony and tell him that superheroes definitely wear blue ears,” Rosemann wrote. “And he can become an honorary Avenger by wearing this.”
But Marvel didn’t stop there. They dispatched one of their cartoonists to draw a brand-new superhero: Anthony himself, otherwise known as “The Blue Ear.”
“Thanks to my listening device, I hear someone in trouble,” Blue Ear says in the drawing. Comic book-letters declare: “When DANGER makes a sound, The Blue Ear answers the call.”
D’Allesandro said Anthony was transfixed by the drawing. He brought it to show his classmates at his school for the hearing-impaired. The only problem? Now all the kids want their hearing aids to look like Blue Ear’s.
Rosemann told the Monitor that Marvel gets a fair amount of fan mail and personal requests, but D‘Allesandro’s email was different.
“This one just touched a bunch of us,” he said.
Now, whenever Anthony starts to waver on wearing his hearing aid, his mother points to his super alter-ego.
“I tell him he has to hear people calling for help,” D’Allesandro said. “He gets the whole connection. He’s loving it.”
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Comments (66)
macpappy
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:10pmHandicaped super hero……didn’t I see this on “In Living Color” Handiman wasn’t it?
Report Post »Benjamin Abruzzo
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:09pmMacpappy said: “Handicaped super hero……didn’t I see this on “In Living Color” Handiman wasn’t it?”
Not to nerd out on you, but I can name several “handicapped” superheroes… both Marvel and DC.
Professor X – Charles Xavier: Paraplegic
Captain America – Steve Rogers: Dead-ish
Captain America/Winter Sodier- James “Bucky” Barnes: Missing an arm
The Hulk – Bruce Banner: Radiatio poisoning
Iron Man – Tony Stark: Heart Disease and Alchoholism
Hawkeye – Clint Barton: Dead/Loss of hearing
Dredevil – Matt Murddock: Blind
Cable – Nathan Summers: Body ravaged by necrotising virius (turnng him into a cybog)
And that’s just Marvel.
Report Post »v15
Posted on May 26, 2012 at 5:36am@ Ben, NERD!
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on May 26, 2012 at 8:10am@ Benjamin-
Don’t forget Longshot… he was clearly mentally disabled.
Report Post »Misha
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 10:48pmI think this is fantastic – thanks Blaze for reporting on it.
Report Post »Hootis
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 9:19pmThis story made my day.
Report Post »stpppim
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 8:52pmTo see what is wrong with this you must try to understand the importance of romantic art.
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reg_ar_art_in_education
“Romantic art is the fuel and the spark plug of a man’s soul; its task is to set a soul on fire and never let it go out. “ ”…the emotional experience of admiration for man’s highest potential, the experience of looking up to a hero”
Report Post »–Ayn Rand
moussiagilda
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 6:59pmIn your face.
Report Post »tksocal
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 6:58pmJust plain cool!!
Awesome!
Report Post »suz
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:21pmadorable.
Report Post »Metallicat
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:51pmGreat job Marvel. I’ve always been a fan and always will. Its the heart that makes heroes,not tights and a cape. you guys have heart.
Report Post »TRILO
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:44pmIn a society that worships perfection I can see how many disabled children find it difficult to find where they fit in. I say good for Marvel Comics for doing something good for once.
@ Melika: In today’s screwed up world I guess looking up to a comic book character that stands for good is better than looking up to some rapper or over paid self serving athlete or movie actor.
Report Post »RedDirtTexas
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:27pmCrap! Now I want a Blue Ear!
Report Post »Obamujahadeen
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:16pmI‘d give em a heads up on this if they weren’t turning Batman into Buttman
Report Post »frust@ted
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:24pmThats DC comics that you are refering to not Marvel. Two different companies.
Report Post »Obamujahadeen
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:33pmOops, that’s not Marvel, that’s DC Comics, shoulda known anything with DC in it would be pumping up the mo myth for the Gay Gestapo…. nice gesture by strangers to another.
Hard to find random acts of kindness today, but if you’re cynical like I am, that was worth about a half mil in tv advertising, so I’m sure not totally altruistic, but better than nothing. ;)
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:15pmNEXT… Captain ED and his Vacuum Pump :)
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:45pmROFL :) Now, that’s funny!
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:12pmKudos to Marvel, boos to the parents. You can‘t get you’re 4 year old hearing impaired kid to wear his hearing aid? Great parenting. Look out when he’s 15.
Train wreck in store.
Report Post »Melika
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:12pmI get the kid is 4 and on the surface it sounds like a cute story, but am I the only one creeped out by the comic book worship? People today seem to take all of their social cues, morality, and ego from comic book characters. There was a time when these were considered the realm of 9 year olds and I think even they understood it was a bit of fictional escapism. I just recently had to listen to a grown man, who is nearly 40, tell me with all seriousness about some character that can blow up planets with her mind. Blow up planets. I’m just saying. This makes me wonder if the mother will ever sit down and give her kid “the talk”. You know, the one where she explains that comic stories aren’t real, the characters aren’t real, and the stories tend to be juvenile and simplistic with totally unreal abilities and situations; you don’t suddenly wake up one day to discover you are a super hero with super abilities, no single man can possibly fight all the crime that occurs in one city during the day, and the outfits are really stupid looking – like some drugged induce hallucination of ballet costumes.
Why can’t she just teach the kid the consequences of his actions? If he doesn’t wear the hearing aide, he can’t hear.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:42pmIn the 40‘s and 50’s it was the Cowboys on the Radio and than TV. In ancient greece and Rome it was Jason, Hercules and countless others. For others it was Beowolf, giglamesh, King Arthur, etc. Man creates myths for entertainment. Many of the stories of the Old Testament are just myths and legends similar to the ones of everyother culture.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:10pmLOL…you laughably predictable marxist creep MONICNE…you actually logged back in as ENCINOM (and of course no one notices the names are merely a reverse of each other…) to post as your “serious” persona? Don’t you have any dignity you stupid lefty troll?
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:24pmAvenJoKer has long hair. Just like the “real” Joker! Ha ha
TEA
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:37pmI know you are, but what am I?
TEA
Report Post »Nick84
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 6:22pm“This makes me wonder if the mother will ever sit down and give her kid “the talk”. You know, the one where she explains that comic stories aren’t real, the characters aren’t real, and the stories tend to be juvenile and simplistic with totally unreal abilities and situations;”
I wonder the same thing about the Bible.
Report Post »Atrum Angelis
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 4:47pmRead Marvel‘s Civil War and tell me it’s juvenile and simplistic.
Report Post »I’d bet any conservative would enjoy that read, considering it is about Liberty and Freedom and the rights of individuals, so much so that the superheroes of the marvel university goes to war about it.
Hell, the main hero is even Captain America, who sides AGAINST the government because it infringes on the CONSTITUTION.
tkindsm
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:10pm+50 points for Marvel
Report Post »SheriS
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:00pmBest story of the day—-amazing what Marvel did to help this poor kid who was afraid of what the other kids would do or say about his hearing aid! The best thing that could have happened actually happened! Hugh “thank yous” to Marvel for helping this kid feel normal!
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:08pmAwesome! Now someone hand me some freaking tissues! My shirt can’t hold anymore!
Report Post »Geowchap
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:54pmAwesome.
Report Post »Good for Marvel
kaydeebeau
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:50pmHere’s a question – when you were a child how often did you decide what the rules for your household were and what you would and would not do when you were 4 years old?
When did parenting come to be a “consensus with the little children” type of parenting?
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:09pmAgree entirely. Put in your hearing aid you little brat!
Report Post »TRILO
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:52pmSo when a child is afraid of the dark do you just turn out the light, shut the door and tell them to go to sleep because you said so? Or do you help your child overcome issues whether it is not wanting to wear a hearing aid or a host of any other issues. The do it because I said so attitude works for many situations but it is not the best way to handle all situations.
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:27pmActually Trilo probably yes. Children do not have the experience to rationalize many things and are not little adults. As the adult I do not allow myself to be manipulated by a 4 yr old. Kids have to learn and practice many things before they master them. They also have to learn to submit to authority so as not to grow up to be selfish little monsters who end up in an OWS protest
Report Post »Homeschoolmama
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 3:20am@Trilo- it depends on how tired I am. ;)
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:38pmIt‘s a nice gesture but don’t get too excited about Marvel…one of their X-Men titles will be featuring a homosexual wedding next month….
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:50pmThis Just Released:
(American Legion Riders participating in Rolling Thunder “Run for the Wall” for the first time as a group! © 2012 The American Legion. All Rights Reserved.) Have a great Memorial Day in our Nations wonderful Capital City!
TEA
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:50pmDC says they are outing one of their “major characters” in the near future. They better leave Batman out of this…. or any other character they plan on ever trying to make a buck off of again.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:57pmThe only thing you release MOREACNE is flatulence.
Report Post »RougeFastFingers
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:04pmCome on Gonzo, you didn’t think it strange Batman put a young boy in spedo green shorts and had him live with him?
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:12pmGONZO…It’s not going to be Batman…they’d destroy their biggest franchise if they did that. Batman is the most successful title they have. Taking a risk with that one would essentially cripple DC.
Report Post »They have an alternate universe called “Earth 2” they’ve recently relaunched. My guess it will be in there. DC has been insinuating more and more of the homosexual agenda into their organization. The character “Batwoman” today is a lesbian who was..wait for it…discharged from Westpoint for having a lesbian relationship with one of her fellow cadets. This was pre-repeal of DADT…never mind the fact that there are regulations about fraternizing anyway..it’s the dramatic effect DC was aiming for.
One of the most grating things they‘ve done is embrace Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” programme. So apparently “diversity” is fantastic at DC but they conveniently forgot about Savage’s spiteful attacks on christians and conservatives. DC editor Dan DiDio was writing the “Outsiders” title for a while and included a mocking of Arizona’s immigration bill in one issue.
Alex Ross is the artist that came up with the “vampire” George Bush biting the neck of the Statue of Liberty.
This isn’t surprising..we’re talking about artists and writers here….that community is rife with liberals and leftists. And knowing how enthusiastic the left is about indoctrinating kids at an earlier age..you get the idea…
MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:18pmLOL -Some folks take fictitious comic book heroes waaaaaay too seriously! LOL!
Like, Naruto Amuto, Mr. Roboto! K?
I understand some folks actually use movie scripts (lines form Batman movies) as “quotes” to use over and over to educate dumb Americans!
There IS an analogy there, that there is! LOL
TEA
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:35pmROUGE…When Bob Kane wrote Robin into the Batman title in 1940, the furthest thing from his mind was a homosexual pedophile Bruce Wayne. The outfit is a riff on Erol Flynn‘s Robin Hood’s outfit. Just as the Joker is a riff on the silent classic “The man who laughs”.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:05pmDo something about your flatulence MOREACNE there’s a good septuagenarian lefty troll…(ok..a “woman” your age may be dealing with incontinence issues..but still..have some dignity you old pelosi-esque sow)…you’re just making this whole situation more unpleasant than it has to be.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:29pmhttp://whysoserious.wikia.com/wiki/File:Batbed.png
Apparently from a batman comic in the 1940s… Although I don’t know if its authentic or not… If so its a bit strange… Especially by today’s standards…
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 5:30pmWhy do fictitious characters bother some control hungry folks? They are comic book characters! Just write a different script if you don’t like it. Just ignore the Gay character. LOL!
K ing of Q ueer Q uotes AvenJoKer not only misquotes his Bible, but considers a line from his fave Batman movie script to be a mantra-like “quote” that proves truth, justice and the American way to us stupid Yanks.
When it comes to inventing a new market, What Would Ayn Rand Do?
TEA
Report Post »JRHelgeson
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:35pmThat is just cool.
Report Post »momrules
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:32pmWith all the storys about the bad in the world……….Islam, Larry Flynt and his filth, OWS, Obama, the economy……………..I love stories like this.
I love hearing that people at Marvel were touched by this little boy and took it upon themselves to brighten the life of a child.
Good job Marvel.
Report Post »eric6161
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:32pmTotally great! Thank you Marvel.
Report Post »ronin_6
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:29pmWhat a great story. Made me feel good.
Report Post »At least one comic book company has their head screwed on straight.
AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:40pmRONIN….one of Marvel’s X-Men titles will be featuring a homosexual wedding next month. So while DC is destroying a comic book icon by making him homosexual…Marvel’s marrying off their homosexuals…
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:54pmAvenger
Don’t let anyone steal your joy. Opps, guess you did just that.
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:56pmWow, now we long hairs can’t keep from introducing homosexual topics when they are not even appropriate! LOL!
I guess every silver lining has a cloud, AvenJoKer! ((smiles)) Why not just let the story have an uplifting effect without your parasitic mischief (harming your host). ROTFL_PMS
TEA – a Marvel-US treat
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:22pmDISMAYED VETERAN..it’s a very nice gesture by some folks at Marvel for the child. I’ve already offered that on another part of this thread.
Report Post »Have you seen The Avengers film by chance? There‘s a sequence at the end of the film where there’s a montage of news reports reporting on the Avengers saving New York…the montage features real world “news” outlets like MSNBC, CSPAN, CNN..there’s even a shot of Jay Mumbles Carney in it..but curiously..it’s a Fox film. Why do you think Marvel Entertainment left Fox News out of it and featured the lesser viewed and hyper-partisan MSNBC instead?
AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:29pm“we” MOREACNE? You‘re referring to your collection of screennames and the accompanying personalities you’ve made for them? I believe this “MONICNE” personality is supposed to be a 60 year old female, marathon running, ex-service member who’s currently married to a very successful man and is a generous philanthropist. While your “ENCINOM” (gosh how clever and tricky of you..you merely reversed the spelling of your other name) personality is a hatefilled atheist male with a particular hatred of christians. And your “SLEAZY HIPPO” personality is a corpulent, passive/aggressive, sloth-like male youth. So when you say “we” you’re talking about all your different personalities here at the Blaze..right?
Report Post »wntsmallgov
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:13amMr K – I do not support Same Sex Marriage but for what it is worth in this case they did the right thing. Normal kids will find coping skills, kids with special needs usally have trouble doing so. If this helps then so be it.
I will take issue with the comic company when they start selling the same sex idea They are in the business to make money and if that is part of the nitch then they have every right to do so.. Just do not buy that book or stop reading and watching movies from them.
Report Post »Dishevel
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:28pmWell here is something I can support Marvel for doing.
Report Post »Great job.
DarthMims
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 3:28pmWay to go, Marvel! Anthony, keep up the superhero work.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on May 24, 2012 at 4:32pmI was a nice gesture..agreed.
Report Post »