Child’s ‘Electron Boy’ Alter-Ego Made Real in Comic by Make-a-Wish and CCP Comics

Back in April, Capstone Comics Publishing writer Rob Bass read a newspaper article that detailed the debut of Electron Boy, a superhero alter ego created for the severely ill Erik Martin by the Make-A-Wish Foundation in response to the 13-year-old's wish to be a superhero. In a truly awesome feat of generosity (not to mention logistics), Erik was provided with not just a cool superhero identity, a sidekick and a vehicle, but a host of celebrities to rescue and villains to fight in an adventure that took him all over his hometown of Seattle. The event inspired Bass and his collaborators to create for Erik an actual Electron Boy comic book, which is now both online and on sale to benefit the Martin family.

More on Erik and Electron Boy after the jump, including CNN's eyes-on-the-scene report from the day's adventure.What Erik would later describe as the best day of his life began with a call from Spider-Man, who hooked the young man up with a snazzy Electron Boy costume and a real-life DeLorean in which to travel all over Seattle. Over the course of an afternoon, Erik -- who suffers from a number of physical challenges, not the least of which is kidney cancer -- rescued the Seattle Sounders, witnessed a challenge from his arch-villains Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy on a JumboTron, and performed heroically in a stunning showdown at the Space Needle -- complete with a cheering crowd of fans.

That Erik Martin was able to imagine a life as Electron Boy and overcome his tremendous physical obstacles to live out that wish for even a single day was overwhelming to Rob Bass.

What really got me about the whole story was what it proved, right out there where anybody could see it, pure objective truth, that our imaginations are pure and boundless and can take us anywhere that we let them, no matter how much these bodies might fail us, that even if you're born without a right atrium and ventricle in your heart and no spleen and all your organs on the wrong side of your body and are extremely sensitive to the touch and you beat cancer once when you're eleven and then it comes back again when you're thirteen, you can overcome all of that, because you still have the power to do anything, become just who you've always dreamed of being.

Working with artist Matt Campbell, Bass created a 12-page comic book published by CCP, which can be purchased for $5.00 with all proceeds going to the Martin family. Naturally, the story depicts Electron Boy using his energy-based powers to defend Seattle. It's a great little book, but one has to wonder if Erik Martin might find the Electron Boy comic a little quaint. Defending Seattle from the forces of evil is indeed a great story, but Erik's already done that for real.