This is a neat obscurity. According to its web site, "Children's Hearing Institute (CHI) is a non profit that brings together the pediatric hearing loss community in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut." CHI contracted Marvel to produce a comic book to educate and encourage its patients with assistive hearing devices. In this twelve page tale by Marc Sumerak, Iron Man needs some help dealing with sound-based villain Klaw and his accomplice Blackout, who attack a charity banquet.
So, meet two new heroes: "Blue Ear" wears a conventional (but vibranium!) hearing aid and has a gun which can break down Klaw's "solid sound" attacks. And "Sapheara" (called "Sparkle" in early drafts) is a tween with a cochlear implant. A laboratory accident (of course) gives her the ability to project solid light -- the same power that would be given several years later to the TV version of Kamala Khan. The artists satisfied their instructions to make Sapheara look "wholesome" rather than "sexy."
Sumerak told me, "It was truly an honor to write a story promoting such a good cause, and to get to bring the story of Blue Ear and Sapheara to life on the page. Both had already been created when I came on board, but it was a lot of fun to help build their backstories and explore their personalities through their first story together."
You can read the heartwarming tale of Blue Ear's creation in Wikipedia's article about this comic book.
6 Pieces Ordered By The Owner
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