Dwayne McDuffie's Incredible Legacy
|
Friday, February 20th would have been Dwayne McDuffie's 64th birthday. In comics, he's best known as the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Milestone Media -- home to Static, Icon & Rocket and more. He arguably had an even better career in the world of television animation, first with Static Shock, then serving as Story Editor for Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Ben 10 and the list goes on. His last screened work, a direct-to-DVD adaptation of Mark Waid's Tower of Babel, is probably my favorite standalone DC animated film. An outspoken champion for diversity in media, I often wonder how we would speak of Dwayne had he lived. Would he finally get the acclaim he was due in comics? Would he have made the leap from animation to live action? Feature films? Who else would he have discovered and promoted along the way? Instead, he passed away following a heart procedure 15 years ago, just one day after his 49th birthday. Instead of wondering what could have been, I spent some time last week celebrating the awesome legacy he left behind. Take the 100k Challenge! Speaking of Dwayne's legacy... This Wednesday will see the release of The New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident. A 40-page labor of love by nearly 30 creatives, this one-shot will officially fold the Dakota Universe into current DC Comics continuity after decades as a standalone pocket-universe. Writer Joe Illidge says this book is the litmus test to see if Static and the other Milestone heroes can sustain an ongoing series. He believes selling 100,000 copies of this one-shot will send a strong message to the DC brass, so I say head to your shop and grab a copy (or five)! In case you're looking for more recommendations, here's this week's Pull List. Read Something Dope Today, BJ KICKS |
Comics Are Dope
Celebrating everything Dope about comics. Curated by BJ KICKS.
It's a rainy Thursday morning here in NC, and I'm really wishing I was elsewhere. What better way to cope than to dust off this weekly very sporadic newsletter? (I'm taking suggestions on a new title, btw). Let's Predict Some SDCC Announcements! Today is Day One of San Diego Comic-Con, and while I've seen a few pre-show Press Releases, I have no insider knowledge on what may be announced. Instead, I thought it would be fun to make some wild predictions/guesses. Stephanie Williams finally...
I never would have guessed I'd only write 3 newsletters in 3 months, but here we are. February was a really good month, but it was tough for me. Every year, I feel like I struggle to cover the wealth of amazing Black comics projects out there during Black History Month. This year, I made 2 videos I'm really proud of. The Deep Dive into Dwayne McDuffie's unique legacy of Diversity at Milestone was well-received, and that made me happy. But the most ambitious video I've ever made was my deep...
We're finally at the last day of what has been an incredibly STACKED year for Comics. I've only been around since 2019, but this is the most excitement I've ever seen about the medium. We have straight up BANGERS coming out from EVERY comic publisher. DC's Absolute line sold millions of copies. Marvel's Ultimate Universe consistently overperformed, as did Skybound's Energon Universe. IDW is CRUSHING it with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla's Kai-Sei line. And we got a ton of really...