The 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.