Celebrating the Life of Comic Writer & 'Milestone Media' Creator Dwayne McDuffie

On this past Tuesday (2/21/2011), Marvel and DC Comic writer Dwayne McDuffie, who also co-founded his own publishing company before crossing over to television and animation, died. He was 49.

The Detroit native just a day after his birthday, according to DC Comics. Cause and place of death are still unknown. 

McDuffie attended the University of Michigan, and would later receive an MFA in Film from New York University's Tisch School of Arts.

McDuffie was the creator of such iconic characters Static Shock, Icon, and Hardwire.  However, he is most remembered for his accomplishment in the comic industry by creating the comic label Milestone, Milestone would release comics predominantly starring African American characters, when other companies were still not racially diverse. 

According to the Associated Press, "his work at Milestone set a new tone for the use of multicultural characters in the pantheon of heroes, something that lent itself to his television work, too, where characters of color became part of interlocking teams."

Just recently McDuffie attended the premiere of the new "All-Star Superman" film (which was released Tuesday on DVD) in Los Angeles and New York, and was scheduled to appear at an event Wednesday at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles.

"As a writer he was simply brilliant — adventurous, effortlessly funny, ferociously smart. As a person, he was all that and much, much more — more, in fact, than my puny words can even hope to express," said by executive producer of the DC Universe Bruce Timm said.

He will definitely be missed in the comic book world.

R.I.P Mr. McDuffie