Editor's note: Erika D. Peterman is a Florida-based writer and editor, and the co-creator of the comics blog Girls-Gone-Geek.com.

Cheryl Lynn Eaton is a comics and graphic novel fan who fell in love with the medium in childhood, courtesy of Archie and the X-Men. She knows plenty about comic books and their history, writes commentary about them and even produced her own webcomic, “Simulated Life.” You might say geekery is in her genes, as Eaton credits her dad for her love of science fiction.

Eaton, an African-American comic book creator from Edison, New Jersey, became fed up with the lack of diversity within the comic book publishing industry and the creative communities she encountered. In 2007, that frustration led her to found the Ormes Society, an organization dedicated to supporting African-American women who create comics, and promoting diversity within the industry and among fans. FULL POST