Marvel Comics has a new character with a unique inspiration—a little boy. Four-year-old comic book fan Anthony Smith was born without a right ear and only partial hearing in his left. He needs the help of a hearing aid. But one morning he woke up and told his mom he didn't want to wear it anymore. Why? Because superheroes don't wear hearing aids, he declared. 
 
 Perturbed, Smith's mother emailed comics giant Marvel, inquiring about characters that might have share Anthony's struggle. The next day, they presented him with a picture of a hero called Hawkeye, who also sports a hearing aid. And they went even further, inventing a brand-new hero based on Anthony named "Blue Ear," the same moniker Anthony and his mom have always used for his hearing apparatus. They sent him a drawing, and he was so encouraged that he's been keeping his hearing aid in ever since. Kind of makes you want to give the guys at Marvel a big ol' hug. [Fox, Thanks @KoryFerbet!] 

 SALEM, NH (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) Marvel Comics is showing a young New Hampshire boy that superheroes are as unique as they are strong. 
 
 
 
 Anthony Smith cannot hear out of his right ear and suffers from hearing loss in his other ear. The 4-year-old from Salem wears a hearing aid, but he woke up one day and decided he wouldn't put it on. 
 
 
 
 Anthony told his mother that superheroes don't wear hearing aids. His mother decided to look to Marvel Comics for some assistance. She e-mailed the comic empire known for its popular superheroes like Spider-man and the Avengers, looking for examples of superheroes who suffer from hearing loss. 
 
 
 
 Marvel responded with the image of a superhero known as Hawkeye, a superhero who lost 80-percent of his hearing and wears hearing aids. 
 
 
 
 Marvel didn't stop there. They later sent Anthony a drawing of a new superhero, "Blue Ear." The character is named after Anthony's hearing aid, which he and his mother have always called blue ear.
– A 4-year-old boy was sick of wearing his hearing aid because, he told his mother, superheroes don't wear them. So she sent Marvel Comics an email asking about deaf characters—and the company designed a hero just for young Anthony Smith. First, Marvel sent Anthony a picture of Hawkeye, an existing hero who wears hearing aids. After that, they sent him a picture of all-new hero Blue Ear, who's based on Anthony and named after the boy's nickname for his hearing aid. Now Anthony's happy to wear it, Gizmodo reports. Click through for MyFox Boston's touching video.