RIP Dwayne McDuffie

mcduffie by denys cowan

I’m a little in shock.

Dwayne McDuffie, probably best known as the creator of the Milestone Universe and characters like Static (of Static Shock fame), has died today.  CBR has the announcement. A representative of his family states that McDuffie’s death was due to complications from an unnamed surgical procedure he had Monday night.

McDuffie’s also best known as one of the powerhouses of the DC Animated Universe, he wrote the script for the animated DVD adaptation of Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly’s All-Star Superman (released in the US today).

Twitter’s abuzz from comic creators mourning the loss of McDuffie, who’d also worked for both DC proper and Marvel, and for good reason. His impact on comics and animation writing in the post-Bruce Timm world has been huge, and thinking about it I’ve probably seen and enjoyed just about every animation project he’s worked on (“Justice League Unlimited” is top-notch action adventure cartoon storytelling for all ages), not to mention always greatly enjoying Milestone stuff and his run on Justice League.

Thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends.  Comics and humanity in general has lost a great talent and a great person too soon.