Reports from ABC News and other outlets reports that Dwayne McDuffie, a well-known comics writer, creator and industry pioneer, has died. McDuffie will be remembered for characters such as Static Shock, and for advancing the cause of minorities -- on the page and in the comics business.
Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Entertainment, said 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."
McDuffie, who was born in Detroit, studied at the University of Michigan and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After building a successful career as an animator, he co-founded Milestone Media in 1993. As Comic Book Resources noted, he was "a voice in the industry for diversity, particularly fighting against stereotypical portrayals of people of color on the comic book page. ... The company's mission statement involved expanding the role of minorities in comics both on the page and off ... "
That year, McDuffie told The Sun that Milestone's goal was to tell entertaining stories that deal with teen pregnancy, gay-bashing, welfare, anorexia and the like without being preachy. "For me, the fun of this is making the superheroes the fantasy element and making everything else close [to reality] so you can identify with it."
He also hoped that his company's mission would one day become obsolete. He told The Sun. "If we do this well ... Marvel and DC and Valiant and Image will look at their lineups and say, 'Well, why do the next six heroes have to be white males?' At the point where everyone's universe will be so diversified that that's no longer an issue, the only thing that will be left is us doing better stories than them. That's where I'd like us to be in five years. We're basically trying to make the need that caused us to arise vanish and then it's just, 'OK, let's do some good comics.' "
Rest in peace, Dwayne.