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Friday, March 4, 2011

Dwayne McDuffie's Finest Work

With the passing of Dwayne McDuffie I wanted to share some of his best work. This is in no way a comprehensive list of his work, but these are movies, TV shows and comics I can highly recommend  out of his large body of work.

All images TM and (C) DC COMICS, Marvel Comics, Warner Brothers, Disney. Used for journalistic purposes only.



Dwayne's Best Comics (well, the ones I own)

Damage Control #1-5-A hilarious comedy about the employees who work at company that fixes all the damage caused by superhero battles. A great read that really needs to be compiled in trade paperback.




 
Hardware#1-The start of the series about Curtis Metcalf, the Black man inside the corporate machine of Alva Industries. Hardware is a complex series about how being Black in the White corporate world is colored in shades of gray, and how politics prevents things from being as simple as we think they are.




Icon #1- To get into this fascinating series about an alien who is forced to live on earth as a black man during and his reconnection to the modern day black community you have to start with the first issue. Icon is a deep and thought provoking series that takes a look at black society and black culture, and will have readers asking themselves what they stand for.





Blood Syndicate #1- A gang of superheroes protect their turf as an intrepid reporter seek to find out the truth about the conspiracy behind The Big Bang.










Static #1- The first appearance of Virgil Hawkins, the teen with electrical superpowers. I highly recommend readers start this series from the beginning because once you start, you’ll be compelled to read the entire run.






Static #2- The Origin of Static and the action packed conclusion of his battle with Hotstreak.









Static #3- Static vs. Tarmack. An awesome issue with lots of action.






Static #4- Static finds out who the big wheel in Dakota is- Holocaust!


Icon #5 and #6 - Icon and Rocket takes on the Blood Syndicate. And we learn more about the conspiracy regarding the Big Bang.









Shadow Cabinet #0- A new team of heroes and a major turning point in the Big Bang Conspiracy.









Icon # 10 – Icon Vs. Holocaust






Icon #13- The first Appearance of Buck Wild- A character that’s a parody and a tribute to Marvel Comics Character Luke Cage.










Hardware #15- The powerful climax of Hardware’s war with mentor Edwin Alva and a major change in direction for the series.










Hardware #16-The debut of Hardware’s new armor! Gatefold cover by John Byrne!




Worlds Collide #1-It’s actually a collaboration of all the writers of Milestone Media as they cross over into  DC comics, but it’s comic no one should miss. You can make your own cover with the re-usable stickers!
Icon #18- Icon vs. Mullet Superman. Nuff said.












Static #14- The conclusion to the Worlds Collide Storyline. Static Saves the Day!









Icon #20- The Secret of the Big Bang Revealed! Find out who is the mastermind of this Conspiracy!











 Dwayne's best work on Television and Movies (That I've seen)

I’d also love to recommend the Static Shock Television Series, but unfortunately Time Warner hasn’t released seasons 1-4 on DVD for some reason. But there’s a compilation of the first six or so episodes on DVD. Comic fans like myself need to start a petition to get this series on DVD. With all the Justice League and Batman Tie-in episodes, it's essential that the series be released NOW.


Justice League- Season One- The Animated Universe of Batman: The animated Series and Superman: The Animated series begins encompassing the entire DC Universe as a team of heroes forms to protect the world from villains on earth and beyond.







Justice League Season Two- Some of McDuffie’s best work is in 26episode season where he redefines the DC universe. All the storylines build up to the powerful Series Finale “Starcrossed”.









Justice League Unlimited Season 1- Actually this box set compiles the first two seasons of Justice League Unlimited. Over the course of 26 episodes we ponder if the Justice League will turn into their evil alternate universe counterparts the Justice Lords as they battle the government forces of Cadmus. It’s a fascinating storyline full of twists and turns and surprises.

Justice League Unlimited Season Two- The powerful finale to the Justice League Unlimited series.










Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths- McDuffie’s adaptation of a classic DC Comics story mixes touches of the Silver Age with the modern age and makes everything fresh to new viewers who never read a comic. This brilliant movie led to the later television series Young Justice.




1 comment:

  1. Shawn, this is fascinating. The man looks so intelligent, you can practically see his brains, but he also looks wise and worldly, low-key and humorous. You've done an excellent job in presenting this material and I hope young Black Ameican anyway will pick up on it, and really all youth can profit by this entertainment and wisdom.

    Would you please take this much further. This needs to be disseminated as widely as possible. At this stage of the game, excellence needs to be totally offered to our youth and to the youth of this country. Also, please make sure that President and Mrs. Obama and their two daughters know about McDuffie and his great work. I'm almost overwhelmed.

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