Dwayne McDuffie

Dwayne McDuffie (February 20, 1962 – February 21, 2011) was one of the most important writers and editors in the history of American comics. A native of Detroit, he co-founded Milestone Media in 1993 with Denys Cowan, Derek Dingle, and Michael Davis — the first major Black-owned superhero comics publisher — which introduced iconic characters including Static, Icon, Hardware, and Blood Syndicate. He later became a celebrated animation writer, most notably for Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (DC/Warner Bros. Animation). His graphic novel Damage Control (Marvel) was among his early celebrated works. McDuffie was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Hall of Fame in 2016. The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics was established in his honor.