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The Second Annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics Finalists Announced

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McDuffieAwardThe finalists for the second annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics were announced today. The five nominated titles are:

  • Andre the Giant Closer to Heaven by Brandon Easton (writer), Denis Medri (artist) (IDW Publishing);
  • Fresh Romance edited by Janelle Asselin (Rosy Press);
  • Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder (Writers), Natacha Bustos (Artist) (Marvel Entertainment);
  • Ms. Marvel by Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist) (Marvel Entertainment);
  • Zana by Jean Barker (writer), Joey Granger (Artist) (Emet Comics)

The winner will be announced at the second annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics ceremony event to be held later this month at Long Beach Comic Expo on Saturday February 20 at 2:30 PM PT, on Dwayne McDuffie’s birthday. Acclaimed comic book writer and reporter Marc Bernardin will be the event’s Keynote Speaker.

The Award is named in honor of Dwayne McDuffie, the legendary writer and producer who co-founded Milestone Media. As a writer, Dwayne created or co-created more than a dozen comic book series, including Damage Control, Deathlok II, Icon, Static, Xombi, The Road to Hell, and Hardware. Nilah Magruder was the recipient of the first annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics for M.F.K..

The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics Selection Committee consists of six prominent comics and animation professionals who knew McDuffie and have demonstrated a commitment to inclusiveness:

  • Neo Edmund – Novelist, animation and comics writer;
  • Joan Hilty – Nickelodeon Comics Editor; editor-in-chief of Pageturner, former DC/Vertigo Senior Editor;
  • Joseph Illidge – Former Editor, Milestone and DC Comics; Columnist, Comic Book Resources; Writer, First Second Books;
  • Heidi MacDonald – Editor in Chief, The Beat;
  • William J. Watkins – Writer; Former owner, Chicago’s first African American-owned comics store;
  • Matt Wayne, Former Managing Editor Milestone Media.

The Inaugural Winner of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity

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long beach comic expoNilah Magruder’s web comic, M.F.K. became the first-ever recipient of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity, presented at Long Beach Comics Expo.

In a release Matt Wayne, the Director of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity said:

Nilah Magruder’s M.F.K. is a great read. Nilah created an incredibly engaging post-apocalyptic fantasy world peopled with a broad array of characters.  In terms of both excellence and inclusiveness, this is just the sort of comic the Award was created for.

The Award is named after Dwayne McDuffie, the influential comics and animation writer who passed away in 2011 and who was known for creating superhero properties for Marvel and DC comics that included diverse casts of characters.

The Award was presented to Magruder by Charlotte McDuffie, Dwayne McDuffie’s widow. The keynote address was given by writer-director-producer Reginald Hudlin.

Wayne also said:

This award isn’t about honoring Dwayne. Dwayne wouldn’t have stood for that. The Selection Committee had to choose between five worthy nominees, and those works and their creators are what we celebrate today.

Announcing the Finalists for the First Ever Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity

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long beach comic expoThe finalists for the first ever Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity Award were announced today. The five nominated titles are:

  • HEX11 by  Lisa K. Weber and Kelly Sue Milano (HexComics)
  • M.F.K. by Nilah Magruder (http://www.mfkcomic.com/)
  • Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona (Marvel Entertainment)
  • The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew (First Second Books)
  • Shaft by David F. Walker and Bilquis Evely (Dynamite Entertainment)

The winner will be announced at the first ever Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity ceremony event to be held later this month at Long Beach Comic Expo on Saturday February 28 at 2 PM PT. The Award is named in honor of Dwayne McDuffie, the legendary writer and producer who co-founded and created Milestone Media.

The Dwayne McDuffie Award Selection Committee consists of eight prominent comics and animation professionals who knew McDuffie and have demonstrated a commitment to inclusiveness:

  • Neo Edmund – Novelist, animation and comics writer;
  • Joan Hilty – Nickelodeon Comics Editor; Creator of Bitter Girl;
  • Joseph Illidge – Former Editor, Milestone and DC Comics; Columnist, Comic Book Resources; Writer, First Second Books;
  • Heidi MacDonald – Editor in Chief, The Beat;
  • Glen Murakami – Producer/Supervising Director, DC animated properties and Ben 10: Alien Force/Ultimate Alien;
  • Eugene Son – Comics writer/Story Editor, Ultimate Spider-Man Animated;
  • William J. Watkins – Writer; Former owner, Chicago’s first Black-owned comics store;
  • Len Wein – Co-creator Swamp Thing, Wolverine, New X-Men; Former Editor-in-Chief- of Marvel Comics and Senior Editor, DC Comics.

Reginald Hudlin, an innovator of the modern black film movement, will be the Keynote Speaker at the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity Award ceremony later this month.

Reginald Hudlin announced as the Keynote Speaker for the First Ever Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity Event

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Long Beach Comic-Con 2010Reginald Hudlin, an innovator of the modern black film movement, will be the Keynote Speaker at the first ever Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity event, to be held next month at Long Beach Comic Expo. The ceremony will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center on Saturday February 28 at 2 PM PT.

Hudlin created, written and or directed such beloved films as House Party, Boomerang and BeBe’s Kids, which are some of the most profitable and influential films of his generation. Hudlin received a Best Picture nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for producing Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. The film won multiple awards including two Oscars and two Golden Globe Awards, and is one of the top grossing Westerns of all time.

Hudlin is the executive producer and writer of the Black Panther animated series, which premiered following a successful multi year comic book run. Hudlin’s stories reinvigorated the classic super hero for Marvel.  He was also executive producer of The Boondocks animated series, director the pilot of the hit series Everybody Hates Chris, and was producer and director of several award-winning episodes of The Bernie Mac Show.

From 2005-2009, Hudlin was the first President of Entertainment for B.E.T. Networks, creating some of the network’s highest rated shows during his tenure. While there, he launched a profitable home entertainment division and revamped the news division, which went on to win more than a dozen awards in that period.

Recently, Hudlin directed episodes of Murder In The First, Bad Judge and other hit series such as Modern Family, The Office, The Middle, and Psych. Through his production company Hudlin Entertainment, Hudlin produced the 44th NAACP Image Awards last year on NBC, and the 45th NAACP Image Awards this year for TVOne, which was the highest rated show in the history of the network.  Hudlin Entertainment is slated to return to produce the 46th NAACP Image Awards early 2015.  This summer, he partnered with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and The Hollywood Bowl to produce a live cinematic concert experience titled: The Black Movie Soundtrack which was a critical and commercial success. That achievement led to Hudlin producing the 6th Governor’s Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honoring Maureen O’Hara, Jean-Claude Carriere, Hideo Misayaki and Harry Belafonte.

Hudlin is a member of several organizations and currently serves on the boards of UCLA School of Theatre, Film & Television and Wasatch.

The five finalists for the first Dwayne McDuffie Award  for Diversity will be announced in February with the winner announced at the Expo event. To learn more about the award and purchase tickets to Long Beach Comic Expo, please visit www.longbeachcomicexpo.com.

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