by Archie Comics and the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) have collaborated to introduce the first hearing-impaired member of Archie’s increasingly diverse cast of characters.
Grace Alondra, who according to Archie Comics is the first character living with neurofibromatosis (NF) or schwannomatosis to appear in the pages of a major publisher’s comic book, will make her debut in an eight-page short titled “Sounds LikeMusic”. in Archie Jumbo Digest #329 on sale April 20.
The story can also be downloaded or read for free on the CTF website at ctf.org/comics.
In the story, Archie and the iconic Riverdale gang meet Grace, the “brave and smart” young Latina. Grace loves music – especially her favorite band, The Archies – and she doesn’t let her journey with hearing loss define her. Instead, “she can’t wait to hear all the good music she can, while she can.”
The publisher announced that it was working with the Children’s Tumor Foundation to create this character to bring attention to the many people living with NF2. NF2 is a genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on the nerves of the body and often leads to hearing loss. According to Archie Comics, the disease affects 1 in 25,000 births from all populations equally. The diagnosis is most often discovered between adolescence and young adulthood.
“Sounds like Music” is written by Alex Simmons and illustrated by Bill Galvan, Ben Galvan, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli. The story is part of COTF’s global awareness campaign launched in late April and continues through May, which is NF Awareness Month.
“Grace is a talented and intelligent teenager,” Archie Comics Editor Mike Pellerito said in the announcement, citing the publisher’s commitment to introducing diverse characters with different abilities to the Archie-verse. . “The fact that she has hearing loss is only part of her story. To me, that’s what really matters, and we’re proud to be working with the Children’s Tumor Foundation on an important story like this- this.”
“We are extremely grateful for the support of Archie Comics in our mission to increase awareness of NF to new audiences, especially comic book readers,” adds Simon Vukelj, Marketing Director of the Children’s Tumor Foundation. “In addition to the health challenges that NF patients face in their daily lives, they also find that many people have simply never heard of NF. This partnership with Archie will go a long way to changing that and will help to give voice to all NF patients.”
COTF has independently published three previous comic stories, and more are in the works.
“Comic books are a perfect way to raise awareness, educate and represent people facing all sorts of challenges, including neurofibromatosis and other rare diseases,” said Vanessa Younger, COTF’s communications director who oversees its program. of comics. “The inclusion of a character living with NF2 in this Archie story is the next step in this initiative, and we are actively working on it.”
CTF’s standalone “NF Comics” titles include “Understanding NF2”, “Moxie and Sparx Explain NF1”, and “Moxie and Sparx Introduce the Accelerator”.
All of the comics as well as Archie’s “Sounds Like Music” can be downloaded or read for free on the COTF website.
CTF’s Indie Comics technically makes “Sounds Like Music” a crossover and Archie was involved in two of the most unlikely comic book crossovers already.
