At the Chicago Tribune, Marvel Comics have announced a new ongoing series starring Ironheart, aka Riri Williams, written by newcomer Eve Ewing (Electric Arches) and illustrated by Kevin Libranda (“Champions”) starting this November.
Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato for the “Invincible Iron Man” series that ran from 2015 to 2018, Riri Williams is a 15-year old African-American engineering student from Chicago who builds her own Iron Man armor. She starred in the title after Tony Stark was incapacitated at the end of 2016’s crossover event ‘Civil War II,’ but after Bendis’s departure and Stark’s return in the conclusion of the series this year, the character had been relegated to the sidelines in “Champions” – until now.
Portrait by Daniel Barlow.
Ewing is an academic from Chicago, specializing in the sociology of education at the University of Chicago, who published her first book, the picture book Electric Arches, last year. She also has a devoted Twitter following, who last year started a campaign for her to write an Ironheart book, pointing out the many similarities between her and Riri, and Ewing soon received an email from Marvel. Ewing told the Tribune, “I’m really grateful for the support that people have shown me, but I also had to kind of step up to the plate as a writer and prove myself. The campaign was for me to work on ‘Invincible Iron Man,’ but when Marvel said we’re actually thinking about doing a solo title for Riri, that was like ‘Omigosh, this is the coolest thing ever.'”
She continued, “It’s really special, because this is a character that has some groundwork laid already but is still very new in terms of her role in the Marvel universe; it’s almost like getting into business on the ground floor. I get to play a role in really shaping who she is and who she’s going to become.” Ewing said she intends to really get into the nitty-gritty of the character, fleshing out details “like where did Riri go to high school? What bus does she take? Does she eat hot chips? These are the things that are really going to make her a full three-dimensional person. I’m really excited about putting in some of those little Chicago details.”
For more from Ewing and the editorial team, head over to the Tribune and Marvel.com, where there’s more on Libranda’s artwork. “Riri Williams: Ironheart” #1 is out November 7.
