“Not everyone can save the world, but one person can change the world,” said Bill Rosemann, Marvel Comics editor, during the CAB event Tuesday night in Taylor Auditorium.

Rosemann works in the footsteps of comic book legend Stan Lee, who created the famous comic book heroes such as Spiderman, Captain America and the X-Men.

Rosemann creates superhero stories and characters for audiences of all ages, and throughout his 20-plus year career in the industry, he has had experiences that have allowed him to understand all sides of this world.

Rosemann has worked alongside the industry’s top creators with companies from Marvel, DC and  House of Ideas, while writing and editing titles starring famous characters such as Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Batman, Superman and the Avengers.

Some upcoming movies including Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: Winter Soldier, will be based on Rosemann’s work.

Rosemann said it’s evident that superheroes still captivate people because the 2012 film The Avengers was number one in the box office its opening weekend, not just in that year, but in the history of film.  

He believes this is because superheroes connect to people in a way that gives the readers a feeling of meaning no other media can match.

Rosemann also admitted he would have been considered a “nerd” when he was growing up, but said it didn’t seperate him from his group of friends in the comic world.

The friends he talked about helped him get through some tough times in his life, similar to those that happen to kids throughout the world. Those friends included Spiderman, Superman, Captain America and Blue Ear.

Almost all of these heroes connect with readers like Rosemannl by also having had rough times. Marvel was the first comic book company that gave its heroes realistic lives to connect to their readers even more.

One of Rosemann’s superhero friends is not as famous as the others, but is just as important.

In 2012, Rosemann led a Marvel team that created the new hero Blue Ear in response to a mom who wrote to Marvel saying that her son Anthony didn’t want to wear his hearing aid to school because “superheroes don’t wear hearing aids.” Blue Ear is a hero to many hearing-impaired children.

This is just an example of a superhero’s ability to touch lives and inspire change, Rose mann said.

“Superheroes are inspirational and entertaining,” he said, “but everyone can be a hero by doing that little things that can change the world. You must be the one who is the hero of your own story.”