More Dwayne McDuffie dopeness

Here are some things I stumble upon:

1. the first is a panel discussion featuring Dwayne Mcduffie, Method Man, Rusty Cundieff, Reginald Hudlin and a few other heads. I found this on the Comics Journal website. It was held at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con. Here it is...

2. I found this one on the Comic Book Road Show website. This is a summary of the tribute given to Duffie at the Golden Apple comics. Enjoy it here...

Dwayne McDuffie, the Giant

What more can be said about the man? His work speaks for itself. His work also speaks volumes. I am sure that there are many of us who have come across something he wrote and never knew. Take for example, one of the Deathlok series from Marvel Comics in the early Nineties. I thoroughly enjoyed that series right before I gave up on comics. I didn't realize it was Dwayne McDuffie until right after his passing. When I explained to people who he was, their eyes go wide.

To be honest, I read so many of his stories without really knowing who he was. My first real encounter with McDuffie as a geek was when he released his Milestone imprint under DC comics. It was a universe filled with African American super heroes. It was a Pan Africanist dream. I enjoyed the stories. Icon and Hardware were my favorite.

Yet everyone remembers Static which later became Static Shock, a cartoon many Generation Y'ers grew up on. Static Shock was probably one of the few cartoons that came out that I enjoyed. My oldest son who is now 16 years old, loved that show and we watched it together sometimes. Back then, I was going through my “nothing is as good as what I grew up on” snobby phase.

Fast forward a little over 12 years later, and our younger children are watching the Justice League and the Justice League Unlimited (JLU) which McDuffie played a huge hand in. They also watched Ben 10 which McDuffie created. In a nutshell, there are three generations in my family who were influenced by McDuffie's work. That says a lot. I enjoyed reading his blog posts. McDuffie was always opened to feed back. I had many opportunities to meet him but I pass each of them up. I regret all those decisions.

When I think of McDuffie, I immediately think of three things:

1. When he discussed the time that Justice Clarence Thomas invited him to DC to have a chat. McDuffie obliged him. Thomas goes on to wax poetic about how he is about the upliftment of the black community blah blah blah, blah blah blah, and blah blah blah. Then he proceeds to tell McDuffie that he gets a gang of inspiration from one of McDuffie's characters from the Milestone Comics line. That very character was Icon. McDuffie was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe that one of his heroes was inspiring a man who's political leanings were 180 degrees out of character with his own. This story is just too funny.

2. In the straight to DVD movie Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths which was written by McDuffie, he has Superman quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Rewind that!” was all I could say.

3. When the trailer for the live action Green Lantern movie was released, a gang of folks on twitter barked “I thought Green Lantern was black!” That was worth the price of admission.

We have no choice to show love to those who speak out in forums where many find that issues that many of us face on the day to day (racism, sexism, etc.) is rarely discussed. Let's face it, we in the comic book/fantasy/sci fi world are a racist and sexist bunch.

If there is an image that is stuck in my mind, it is that of a picture in Tony Browder's “Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization.” In this picture, a little black boy is standing in front of a bathroom mirror with is arms in akimbo. The reflection he sees is of a caped super hero that happens to be white. That's deep but for many of us black and brown folk, it's real. McDuffie tried to change that. And you know what? He was successful.

I loved that scene in the short lived yet wonderful Justice League Unlimited (JLU) tv show where John Stewart, the Green Lantern who is black, goes to a barbershop to get a hair cut. I was floored. That was why I loved Dwayne McDuffie. In my house, his picture will go up. And yes, my babies know who he is.

Noticias

Here are some treats (big up to Dwayne McDuffie for hipping us to this):


1. "Shaft or Sidney Poiter" -- I am so looking forward to this.



2. Daredevil to become Black Panther: The Man Without Fear


Big up to Comic Book Resources for this bit of news. While many have issues with what Marvel has done to Wakanda, even more people are upset about the direction Marvel is taking with T'Challa. We will see if the stories will be any good. It does remind me of the time T'Challa lived in Harlem and worked as a school teacher. Only time will tell. It can either flop or sell out. We shall see. Of course, we will have the latest reviews on here.

3. Please support the folks at Black Comix . They have a new book out that we will soon cop and review for the folks out here. The blog is awesome and they stay up on so much. Please support our writers, pencilers, and inkers!

The Ultimates

Why I dig the Ultimates...(Avengers, that is)

As many of you may know, I am very, very afraid of movie adaptation of comic books. Some of you may also know that coming up as a youngblood, I was a huge Marvel head. I just couldn't get with DC comics (That was until Dwayne McDuffie came alone... he pretty much singlehandedly returned me back to the world of comic book-dom). If you were to read my other blog, you would learn that I am a huge fan of Captain America. Yes, my Pan Africanist tail loves me some Captain America.

The huge bumrush of the Mutant-palooza made me stop reading titles such as the Avengers and Captain America since the better writers were used for the mutant based comic books (Again, I have to thank folks like Joe Quesada for taking Marvel into the direction the New Avengers have been going as well as the Civil War series – big up to Billie Wheelz for that). When Marvel did the Ultimates universe, I was not really impressed. I did however, dig the Ultimate Avengers which was written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Bryan Hitch. I enjoyed how they redid Captain America, the Pyms, Thor, Hulk, Betsy Ross, S.H.I.E.L.D. (yes they got rid of those tight suits), Hawkeye, the Black Widow, and yes Nick Fury.

They made Nick Fury a black man! Now, don't get me wrong I dug the original Nick Fury despite the tight outfits. I really just can't take a super secret government agency trying to arrest cats while wearing tight suits.

Marvel took it a bit further and did two made for DVD release movies, Ultimate Avengers I and II. The second DVD focused on the Black Panther and the African country of Wakanda. It can't get any better than that. Love it, man.

Had to get that off my chest.