Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
Dwayne McDuffie, who wrote the screenplay for the animated feature All-Star Superman and help portray minority superheroes with a warmth and depth not usually seen, died today after a surgical procedure, Comic Book Resources reported.
McDuffie is well known for founding Milestone Media with Denys Cowan to highlight the work of African-American artists and comic characters. The character McDuffie created, Static, had a comic book series from 1993 to 1997 and appeared in the Static Shock! animated series. The character was to get new life in another series expected to launch later this year. A Static Shock! episode about gun violence won McDuffie the Humanitas Prize in 2003.
McDuffie is also known for being a lead writer in the series Justice League Unlimited which also featured minorities and women.
Those in the field are calling his death a great loss, including DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio.
Dwayne McDuffie left a lasting legacy on the world of comics that many writers can only aspire to. He will not only be remembered as the extremely gifted writer whose scripts have been realized as comic books, in television shows and on the silver screen, but as the creator or co-creator of so many of the much-loved Milestone characters, including Static Shock. The industry has lost a true talent.
While at Marvel Comics, McDuffie fought for a better representation of black male characters, writing a biting, yet funny, critique of how black men were represented.
Chris Sims of Comic Alliance had praise for McDuffie's ethics and style.
He was a hero of mine. He was a guy who worked hard, who set out to change the world of comics for the better while still telling great stories, and he succeeded. He wrote with skill, social conscience and a sense of humor, three things that you rarely find in one person, especially one as prolific as he was. He wasn't afraid to call things out for being ridiculous, and more than that, he did it with honesty, even when he caught hell for it.
Perhaps it was because McDuffie recognized how African Americans are portrayed in the media, even if that media is comic books, is important.
Think about it. How many young people across the world get into reading and learn basic ideas of right and wrong by reading comic books? In the real world, all heroes are not men nor are they white. Why should it be that way in comic books? If African Americans, women, Latinos and Asians are excluded, what type of message are we sending to young people?
I still remember when my big brother Greg gave me copies of his old Black Panther and Luke Cage comic books. The Black Panther was the leader of an African nation that just happened to be the most techonologically advanced nation in the world. As for Luke Cage, let's just say he was a strong black man; the brother literally had skin as strong as steel and enhanced muscle.
I was really into Spiderman and it was amazing because I had never really seen any black characters in comic books. Comics helped me develop a love affair with reading and an interest in writing. Today, I write for a living. I'm sure many other black boys had that experience because of the work McDuffie did.
Because of his efforts on behalf of the underrepresented, McDuffie deserves our recognition.
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