Dwayne McDuffie

I was shocked this afternoon to find out that Dwayne died today. Apparently, from complications to surgery. I don't need to know the reason why he died, just that he did. Dwayne and I were friends and this was unexpected and frightening. Last week, another friend of mine, Perry Moore, died. He was the producer of the NARNIA movies. I was also surprised by that. I didn't know Perry as well as I knew Dwayne but the combination is really messing with my mind.

Does this have something to do with comics? I'm not sure, other than both men loved comics. While Perry didn't write any comics, he was a huge supporter of them in Hollywood. Dwayne, on the other hand wrote many comics--including some of my favorites in recent years with his run on JLA, and his run on Fantastic Four. He's just a great writer. He wrote a ton of animation that I loved. His episodes on JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED are largely responsible for my much renewed interest in DC Comics. I still don't understand why the comic doesn't capture the spirit of those characters as well as that cartoon did.

I honestly don't have anything profound to say, but I can't concentrate on writing anything else. Dwayne was great. Great at writing and great for comics. I've been thinking all day about the STAR TREK pitch he worked on for me when I briefly edited the STAR TREK line at IDW. It would have really turned some heads had we been allowed to do it. But we couldn't get it to work for all parties involved. And I was sad about that at the time and I'm twice as sad about it today.

If you haven't had a chance to read his work, do yourself a HUGE favor and go read some of it. He's a great talent for the medium and there are a great many of us that will miss him and his work.

Here's hoping that tomorrow brings some brighter news.

Andy