Marvel Comics writer Eve L. Ewing takes inspiration from Chicago roots

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Eve L. Ewing is a Chicago powerhouse, an acclaimed author and cultural organizer in her community.

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She's also a Marvel creator, who's been a big success writing stories about superheroes.

Her comics helped inspire the character of "Ironheart" on Disney+.

The Logan Square native shared her story about soaring into a universe where her imagination runs wild and free.

"I got an email that changed my life," said Eve l. Ewing, supervising producer and Marvel Comic writer. "It said 'Marvel calling.' I don't think there's any other email I've gotten where I could tell you the subject line seven years later!"

Ewing is a professor at the University of Chicago and a speaker in demand around the world.

However, she's loved comics all her life and Marvel embraced her passion.

"I've written a series called 'Marvel Team Up,' 'Champions,' 'Monica Rambo,' 'Black Panther,' and I'm currently writing a series called 'Exceptional X-Men,' which is about a group of mutants living in Chicago," she said.

Ewing said she has lost family members due to gun violence; adding that she takes inspiration from her life for the characters' stories.

"I know what it's like to set in classrooms with people and feel like, I know I have so much to contribute, and to see the doubt on other people's faces," she said. "Sometimes Black women and girls are expected to be superheroes at a very young age in a way that doesn't allow us to be tender or to have fear or grief."

READ ALSO | Marvel Studios' 'Ironheart' exemplifies sisterhood, STEM, self-discovery in new Disney+ series

Ewing's work holds messages for youth, especially for people of color.

"Good and bad comes from a much deeper place sometimes, that's a lesson I learned very early on as a student in Chicago Public Schools - as a kid who saw other kids get locked up," she said. "I understand not everybody who commits a crime is a bad guy. Not everybody who sit in power is a good guy."

When asked about her reaction to her dreams coming true, she said: "every day - every time I walk into a comic book shop, and I see a comic book and, in the corner, it says 'Ewing' - that's crazy all the time."

Ewing says she will continue to create comic heroes that represent all kinds of people from many backgrounds.

She calls herself a "professional, paid nerd" and says Chicago is the "love of her life" that's given her such a grand destiny.

Disney is the parent company of Marvel Studios, Disney+ and this station.