We had the opportunity to talk with Tim Stevens, writer for Marvel.com, about why and how Marvel created our favorite comic book character– Blue Ear. Blue Ear is a Marvel comic book character inspired by Anthony Smith, a Ponto Plus wearer and someone we know as a real-life superhero.

As Tim recalls, Anthony’s mother, Christina D’Allesandro, reached out to Marvel through their general email. Despite all of the requests that Marvel gets as one of the world’s most prominent entertainment companies with a library of over 8,000 characters, they didn’t take her request lightly.

Bill Rosemann, a Marvel editor, took special notice. He artist Manny Mederos and Trades Department Editor Nelson Ribeiro, sent the D’Allesandro family comic book covers featuring their very own versions of honorary Avenger Blue Ear, inspired by Anthony. Then, Mederos did a team up sketch between Blue Ear and Hawkeye, who suffered hearing loss as an Avenger. This started the life and adventures of Blue Ear, who’s now an official Marvel character and stars in his own one-shot (for now) comic book.

While Marvel works to support as many people as possible, they’d never done it in exactly this way before. For example, Tim mentioned Marvel’s character, Captain Citrus, in support of Florida orange growers and to encourage a healthier diet for children.

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