Marvel Comics has announced that the Chicago-based poet and academic Eve L. Ewing is going to write for the new ongoing comic Ironheart which is about the teen genius and superhero who temporarily takes over Iron Man while Tony Stark is in the coma. Ewing is an academic, a social media maven, a poet, and a playwright. The comic book is expected to be launched in the fall and the illustrations will be given by Kevin Libranda (Champions).
The story focuses on Riri Williams who is a genius black teen girl from Chicago. Just like any other superhero’s story, she too had experienced a great loss in her life when she was just a kid. In a drive-by shooting, her stepfather who raised her and best friend were both killed. Riri is shown to be incredibly intelligent as she recreates the Iron Man suit on her own without all the resources available. The impressed Stark trains her for a brief time, and she takes over as Iron Man by wearing the suit. Eventually, Riri strikes out on her own in her own suit to save her country.
“I’m really proud to be doing this and really proud and happy for Riri. She is an awesome character and I’m going to do my best to bring every ounce of Chicago black girl greatness that she deserves and that you all deserve,” Ewing wrote in a Twitter post. Ewing has also mentioned that she personally identifies with Riri as her haircut and general mode of dress matches.
In 2017, a campaign had taken place by her fans to gather signatures to let Marvel know that they all wanted Ewing to guide Riri’s path. This movement had picked up steam on Twitter and succeeded in landing her the opportunity. Now her fans can wait while she brings the character and story live.