Dwayne McDuffie was a 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. McDuffie, who notoriously despised stereotypes and vehemently fought against them in his work, won three Eisner Award nominations for his work in comics.
Of African-American characters in comics, he later, said:
“You only had two types of characters available for children. You had the stupid angry brute and the he’s-smart-but-he’s-black characters. And they were all colored either this Hershey-bar shade of brown, a sickly looking gray, or purple. I’ve never seen anyone that’s gray or purple before in my life. There was no diversity and almost no accuracy among the characters of color at all.”
In honor of the legacy McDuffie created and in celebration of Black History Month, we commemorate the life and accomplishments of Dwayne McDuffie in this all-new tribute - " A League of One - The Dwayne McDuffie Story"
Thanks to @HubCityQuestion for these list!
A collection of McDuffie’s comics you can read on DCUI:
I’ve been a fan of his work since he was working on Justice League. When I later found out about him in behind the scene, I thought this guy is such a talented writer and became a fan of his work.
It was a huge shock and sad when he passaway, I’m thankful that his works and memories will live on forever.
Steve Ditko and Denny O’Neil get lots of credit for creating and then redefining
The Question, but the only reason any of us are still talking about him is because of Dwayne McDuffie. His treatment of The Question in Justice League Unlimited synthesizing the takes of Ditko, O’Neil, and even Alan Moore’s Rorschach created such a compelling concoction that it drew me into the comic book universe to learn more about this strange, faceless man appearing among legends like Batman and Superman completely unfazed, and hooked me as a fan of the DC Universe forever. I can truly say that without Dwayne McDuffie, I would not be here right now, and would never have met any of you.
As I watched through Justice League Unlimited (which I only did for the first time recently, before the removal of video content from DC Universe), I was surprised by how often Dwayne McDuffie’s name popped up as the writer of the episode. He wrote all or part of 21 of the 39 episodes of that show (on top of 9 episodes of the preceding Justice League series), by far the most of any writer, including pretty much all of the best and most important episodes. That show is a masterpiece, and I think it can safely be said that it’s Dwayne McDuffie’s masterpiece. Not ignoring the contributions of the other writers, but it’s clear that his was the most influential voice on that show.
Since we’re celebrating Mr. McDuffie, may I humbly suggest that this quite important issue that was written by him and which is missing from DCUI be added? It’s already been digitized, so there shouldn’t be too much labor involved in making it happen. Getting as much of his work onto here as possible would be the perfect way to honor the man, I think. Thank you.
I didn’t start looking at people behind the scenes in DC and the superhero world that much until this DCU launched. And the more I’ve learned the more I’m amazed.
What I’ve learned about Dwayne McDuffie has been great. To see all the characters and stories that lived on through the DC Universe and changes that he brought is amazing.
Definitely a great legacy in the industry and the world and exited to see what happens next.
I have long been a fan of Dwayne McDuffie, particularly his work with Milestone. The Milestone titles (particularly Icon, Hardware, and Static were not simply wonderful, they were in many ways revolutionary at the time.
I know I’m just a big softie, but the story about the romance between he and his wife… Others have spoken much about his influence, and he as a person was very special, as well.
I’ve gotta say, this video made me very sad It’s… Terrible that someone so talented with such a rich gift for storytelling left us without fully realizing himself.
I have been rewatching the Justice League Unlimited series with my kids. That is a top notch show, even today. His contributions to the Justice League are immense.
It’s… Terrible that someone so talented with such a rich gift for storytelling left us without fully realizing himself.