3 Thoughts about Dwayne McDuffie.

1. Shortly after I started reading comics, I found a Marvel Mini-Series called Damage Control and fell in love. The characters were 'real life' people in the Marvel Universe - insurance agents, construction workers and office employees who worked common jobs for an uncommon business, i.e. superhero insurance.

I thought I'd read funny comics before, snorting at the occasional Spider-Man wisecrack and having the occasional giggle fit at She-Hulk. Damage Control was the first comic book I ever read that made me laugh so hard that tears came to my eyes.

Dwayne McDuffie's Damage Control was a brilliant corner of the Marvel Universe that found comedy in both superhero lives and menial office work years before either idea became popular grist for comedy, Giffen's Justice League excepted. Construction foremen could shrug off one of their workers arbitrarily gaining cosmic abilities, an intern could be expected to deal with The Thing in a bad mood, The Punisher could be forced to take a number and wait in a waiting room, Wolverine could take a pie to the face, a comptroller could calmly approach Dr. Doom with an overdue bill and expect nothing but pleasantries.

Dwayne McDuffie made me realize that any writer with talent, determination and vision could build their own perfect corner of an established universe and make you think it had always been that way. I will always thank him for opening my young eyes to the greater variety comics could display and for making me laugh myself sick every time I read that book.

2. Several people have talked about Dwayne McDuffie and race in comics more eloquently than I ever could or linked to his own words on the subject of being a black writer in comics.

What stood out for me, however, was the variety, intelligence and confidence of the black characters he wrote. Dwayne McDuffie was writing the black characters he wanted to see in comic books every day of his creative life.

Albert Cleary was an erudite, intelligent comptroller who worked for Damage Control and never wrinkled his suit. The supervillain Thunderball, so often just used as a mindless thug under other writers' pens, revealed the fact that he was a literal rocket scientist and had genial conversations with Damage Control's employees. Static was a great teen character who used his brains to stop menaces with his electromagnetic powers far more often than not, all the while displaying a casual sense of humor and joy at being a superhero. Green Lantern in McDuffie's Justice League cartoon was John Stewart - an ex-military, occasionally gruff but still cool-headed hero who not only fit right in with the most well-known fictional heroes of our times but stood out in contrast to the other 'normal' humans of the group - lighter than Batman but the polar opposite of the flippant Flash.

And as someone who was born out of an interracial union, I loved how casual John Stewart's relationship with Hawkgirl was, how naturally it blossomed. Their dialogue before they kiss for the first time is as follows:

Hawkgirl: "We're . . . so different! I mean, look at us! Just look at us."

Green Lantern: "I see a man . . . and a woman."

And I think that's beautiful.

3. And speaking of the Justice League, we all know Dwayne McDuffie's animation work helped define a generation. That's not even a question.

Both Justice League and Justice League Unlimited defined DC's heroes and villains in broader modern-day popular culture, flourishing under McDuffie's amazing amounts of heart, wit and uncanny understanding of what made these characters tick. He wrote, produced, or story-edited 69 out of the 91 episodes, each of which made me feel like a kid again.

In addition to choosing John Stewart as Green Lantern, he also managed to introduce Vixen, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Light and a wealth of other minority heroes to a new generation - some of whom had never seen cartoon heroes who looked like them onscreen before. Case in point: I heard about a lot of young men and women being livid about the new Green Lantern movie after seeing the trailer. Unlike so many people online, they're not upset because of any technical fanboy gripe but because they'd seen the Justice League cartoon growing up and knew that Green Lantern was a black man, damn it, not Ryan Reynolds. The first time I heard about this, I couldn't help but smile and I hope that Mr. McDuffie heard about it too before he passed away.

While his animated full-length features are notable as well, when I have kids, his Justice League cartoon will be what I use to introduce them to what it means to be a hero. And when they take in Dwayne McDuffie's subtle messages that anyone can be a hero - period - I will be proud and thank him again for all the wonderful, heartfelt work he produced, wrote and helped to bring into this world.


Rest In Peace, Dwayne McDuffie.

You will be sorely missed.

We lost two great ones this week

R.I.P., Mr. Ricardo Montalban. He opened doors for Mexican and Latino actors and actresses that were closed shut before he came along. A gentleman and a class act all the way. Speaking as both a fan and a Mexican-American, he will be missed.

And R.I.P., Mr. Patrick McGoohan, best known as The Prisoner. Another icon and an uncompromising actor - damn shame to lose him.

And since it's almost inevitable in discussing them, here's two of the roles that will keep them alive forever:

To The Grand Ladies We Lost This Year

R.I.P., Bettie Page and Eartha Kitt. These ladies set the standard and will definitely be missed.

Bettie Page -





Eartha Kitt -

I can feel my mind going, Dave

So, as the astute amongst you might have guessed, my computer is dying. This is the reason for the long delay between my last post and now. Don't worry - I've got my fingers crossed that a reformatting and a brand-spankin' new Linux operating system will save me.

On top of this, my refrigerator caught fire this week. Yes. In the freezer section. I think Satan is possessing all my electrical appliances.

But putting all that aside, the worst news of recent memory is that Dave's Long Box has shut down for good. In memory, I present this crappy photoshop tribute (you try being awesome with a dying computer):



I plan on paying a more in-depth tribute to the James Remar-esque legend of Dave Campbell as soon as my computer stops dying horribly . . . in that most sincere form of theftflattery - imitation! A week of nothing but delving into my long boxes awaits you all!*

. . .

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

*You know, after I finish my Emma Frost/Cyclops posts, catch up on my haikus and most importantly, review Blue Beetle entirely in Spanish just to annoy that asshole Dave. No, not Dave's Long Box 'Dave' - that guy. Yeah.

News in Brief

VERY SAD NEWS: Dave Stevens, creator of The Rocketeer and the man who is credited with revitalizing Bettie Page's career and the pin-up aesthetic, has passed away from a battle with Leukemia. Smarter people than I have put up their tributes here, here and here.



I think it's safe to say that seeing The Rocketeer movie at a formative age is what got me so interested in the 1930's, the 1940's and the overall pulp aesthetic. Without him and his work, I might have never discovered Film Noir and pulp serials, among so many other things.



Rest In Peace, Mr. Stevens.

MUCH HAPPIER NEWS: That new Spectacular Spider-Man Cartoon done by the dude who did Gargoyles? Pretty good so far, actually.

Robert Englund is The Vulture, Keith David and Clancy Brown are also doing voices and hey, how about that theme song? "Spec-TAC-u-LAR, Spec-TAC-u-LAR, SPIDER-MAN!"



Why, it's so catchy I can even accept Nerd Gwen Stacey and Hispanic Cheerleader Liz Allen without blinking. Much.

REAL LIFE NEWS! Insomnia's not fun, especially when it randomizes your sleep schedule. And a beautiful 6 in the morning to all of you, btw.

ITEM! A new Serenity/Firefly mini-series starts today, with Wash, Book and covers by Adam Hughes. Makes a fella feel right shiny, it gorram does.

FLASH! He'll save every one of us!

ITEM! Empowered, Vol. 3 comes out today! I'm throwing personal finances to the wind to purchase it today! Are YOU?



And if you've no idea, what I'm talking about, there's a nifty, full-color 8-page Empowered story up here for your enjoyment.

ITEM! I need a price check on Register Nine!

Actually, what ARE any of you buying this beautiful Wednesday? What's on your pull list today? We here at The LookOut need to know!