Dwayne McDuffie(1962-2011)
- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Dwayne McDuffie was an African American comic book and animation writer
best known as one of the founders of Milestone Media, an imprint of DC
Comics dedicated to promoting better stories and characterizations for
minorities and for his contributions to Justice League and Justice
League Unlimited, the final installment of what DC Comics fans refer to
as "the DCAU". McDuffie, who notoriously despised stereotypes and
vehemently fought against them in his work, won three Eisner Award
nominations for his work in comics.
Born Dwayne Glenn McDuffie in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Edna
McDuffie Gardner, as a child he initially dreamed of becoming an
astronaut and studied physics, but he was rejected from that occupation
due to his 6-foot-5 stature. A voracious reader, McDuffie then
dedicated his energy to writing. Following a stint as copy editor for
Investment Dealer's Digest (a business magazine) a friend's connection
helped him win an interview at Marvel Comics as an assistant editor to
Bob Budiansky, where he cut his literary teeth on helping develop the
company's first superhero trading cards and writing "Damage Control", a
miniseries dealing with the insurance company that has to deal with the
collateral damage of the super-hero Vs. super-villain brawls that
plague the company's fictional interpretation of New York City. When he
became an editor for Marvel he submitted the spoof proposal Ninja
Thrashers in response to the company's treatment of its black
characters.
Following freelance writing in 1990 for various Marvel, DC Comics and
even Archie Comics titles, McDuffie wrote Monster In My Pocket for
Harvey Comics editor Sid Jacobson, whom he cited as a mentor.
Following his early 1991 divorce from his first wife, Patricia D.
Younger, McDuffie and three partners founded Milestone Media, in order
to express a multicultural sensibility he felt comic books were
lacking. With McDuffie as editor-in-chief, Milestone's characters
included the African-American Static, Icon, Hardware, the
Asian-American Xombi, and the multi-ethnic superhero group the Blood
Syndicate, which include black, Asian and Latino men and women.
Milestone debuted its titles in 1993 through a distribution deal with
DC Comics.
Following the discontinuation of Milestone Media's publishing, Static
would be adapted into the animated series Static Shock, for which
McDuffie wrote 11 episodes, also serving as story editor. McDuffie then
joined the writing staff of Justice League, essentially replacing long
time DCAU writer Paul Dini, later promoted to story editor and producer
when the series became Justice League Unlimited, writing, producing or
at least story-editing 69 of the series 91 episodes. Other animation
writing credits included What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Ben 10: Alien Force,
Ben: Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and Teen Titans.
In addition to his TV animation writing credits, McDuffie also wrote
for a number of direct-to-DVD animated films for Warner Brothers
featuring DC Comics heroes. Among these were Justice League: Crisis On
2 Earths (2010), based on an abandoned story idea he'd originally
pitched as a bridge between the end of Justice League and the beginning
of Justice League Unlimited, All-Star Superman (2011) and Justice
League: Doom (2012).
During his return to comics, McDuffie wrote the Marvel miniseries
Beyond! and the Fantastic Four, and Firestorm and Justice League
America for DC Comics, the latter he was unfortunately fired from
following his very frank and unflattering answers to fans about the
creative process. McDuffie then wrote Milestone Forever, chronicling
the final adventures of the Milestone characters he'd helped create
before they were added to the regular DC universe.
Friends, family and fans were devastated when McDuffie died on February
21, 2011, only one day after his 49th birthday, due to complications
from emergency heart surgery at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
His younger brother, Darryl, had died only a few months earlier, while
their older brother Brian had died as an infant. Truly a titanic,
larger than life visionary who fought relentlessly for better quality
storytelling for all, McDuffie was a talent lost too soon. He is
survived by his second wife, animation-TV writer Charlotte Fullerton,
and his mother. When Justice League: Doom, loosely based on Mark Waid's
Tower of Babel miniseries, was released a little more than year later
it was dedicated to his memory.
best known as one of the founders of Milestone Media, an imprint of DC
Comics dedicated to promoting better stories and characterizations for
minorities and for his contributions to Justice League and Justice
League Unlimited, the final installment of what DC Comics fans refer to
as "the DCAU". McDuffie, who notoriously despised stereotypes and
vehemently fought against them in his work, won three Eisner Award
nominations for his work in comics.
Born Dwayne Glenn McDuffie in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Edna
McDuffie Gardner, as a child he initially dreamed of becoming an
astronaut and studied physics, but he was rejected from that occupation
due to his 6-foot-5 stature. A voracious reader, McDuffie then
dedicated his energy to writing. Following a stint as copy editor for
Investment Dealer's Digest (a business magazine) a friend's connection
helped him win an interview at Marvel Comics as an assistant editor to
Bob Budiansky, where he cut his literary teeth on helping develop the
company's first superhero trading cards and writing "Damage Control", a
miniseries dealing with the insurance company that has to deal with the
collateral damage of the super-hero Vs. super-villain brawls that
plague the company's fictional interpretation of New York City. When he
became an editor for Marvel he submitted the spoof proposal Ninja
Thrashers in response to the company's treatment of its black
characters.
Following freelance writing in 1990 for various Marvel, DC Comics and
even Archie Comics titles, McDuffie wrote Monster In My Pocket for
Harvey Comics editor Sid Jacobson, whom he cited as a mentor.
Following his early 1991 divorce from his first wife, Patricia D.
Younger, McDuffie and three partners founded Milestone Media, in order
to express a multicultural sensibility he felt comic books were
lacking. With McDuffie as editor-in-chief, Milestone's characters
included the African-American Static, Icon, Hardware, the
Asian-American Xombi, and the multi-ethnic superhero group the Blood
Syndicate, which include black, Asian and Latino men and women.
Milestone debuted its titles in 1993 through a distribution deal with
DC Comics.
Following the discontinuation of Milestone Media's publishing, Static
would be adapted into the animated series Static Shock, for which
McDuffie wrote 11 episodes, also serving as story editor. McDuffie then
joined the writing staff of Justice League, essentially replacing long
time DCAU writer Paul Dini, later promoted to story editor and producer
when the series became Justice League Unlimited, writing, producing or
at least story-editing 69 of the series 91 episodes. Other animation
writing credits included What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Ben 10: Alien Force,
Ben: Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and Teen Titans.
In addition to his TV animation writing credits, McDuffie also wrote
for a number of direct-to-DVD animated films for Warner Brothers
featuring DC Comics heroes. Among these were Justice League: Crisis On
2 Earths (2010), based on an abandoned story idea he'd originally
pitched as a bridge between the end of Justice League and the beginning
of Justice League Unlimited, All-Star Superman (2011) and Justice
League: Doom (2012).
During his return to comics, McDuffie wrote the Marvel miniseries
Beyond! and the Fantastic Four, and Firestorm and Justice League
America for DC Comics, the latter he was unfortunately fired from
following his very frank and unflattering answers to fans about the
creative process. McDuffie then wrote Milestone Forever, chronicling
the final adventures of the Milestone characters he'd helped create
before they were added to the regular DC universe.
Friends, family and fans were devastated when McDuffie died on February
21, 2011, only one day after his 49th birthday, due to complications
from emergency heart surgery at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
His younger brother, Darryl, had died only a few months earlier, while
their older brother Brian had died as an infant. Truly a titanic,
larger than life visionary who fought relentlessly for better quality
storytelling for all, McDuffie was a talent lost too soon. He is
survived by his second wife, animation-TV writer Charlotte Fullerton,
and his mother. When Justice League: Doom, loosely based on Mark Waid's
Tower of Babel miniseries, was released a little more than year later
it was dedicated to his memory.