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Remembering Dwayne McDuffie on Black History Month


When it comes to black creators in the history of comic books, few are as celebrated as Dwayne McDuffie. Best known as the man behind the Static Shock franchise, McDuffie's career was a quest to create greater representation of black people in comics and animation. He died seven years ago aged only 49, but this creator's influence can still be felt across the worlds of DC Comics and beyond.

In 1993, McDuffie told The New York Times that he grew up with two black archetypes in comics: the "stupid angry brute" and the "he's-smart-but-he's-black". This was the year he took matters into his own hands and co-founded Milestone Media, an imprint of DC Comics for minority creators and readers. The aim of Milestone was to create a far more diverse and accurate representation of people of colour in comics, such as the super-powered alien Icon and the genius inventor Hardware.


Milestone's most popular hero, Static, would later star in his own cartoon. Retooled to appeal to younger viewers, Static Shock introduced the character to a wider audience and cemented him as a fan favourite. The show became part of the shared universe established by Batman: The Animated series, which McDuffie would work on again as story editor and producer of Justice League Unlimited.

JLU received acclaim for putting the spotlight on some of DC's lesser-known characters, while still telling great stories centred around bigger names like Superman. Minority characters like Vixen were included to make the Justice League more diverse, meaning almost every fan had somebody they could relate to.


McDuffie also helped transform the Ben 10 franchise, developing the characters and introducing many new elements in the Alien Force series and its sequel, Ultimate Alien. This is but another example of how he enhanced young people's media by producing creative and inclusive content.

Dwayne McDuffie's time in the comics and animation industry was fleeting compared to fellow creators like Bruce Timm, but his legacy is still undoubtedly exceptional. Comics and animation are a lot more diverse in the post-Milestone era. Of course, there's still progress to be made, but when searching for inspiration, creators need look no further than the works of Dwayne McDuffie.

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