So DC is screwing over McDuffie one more time...

[Arach Knight]

In this morning’s Runaround, Bleeding Cool posted a tweet from Tommy Lee Edwards about turning down work on the just-soliocited Static Shock Special.

DC is planning a Dwayne McDuffie “tribute” book, but has no plans to donate profits to the poor guy’s surviving family or any charity…

DC have now told Bleeding Cool;

"Before Dwayne McDuffie’s tragic death, an editorial decision was made to reschedule the planned, ongoing STATIC SHOCK series for later this year.

When we heard of Dwayne’s unexpected passing, we decided it was appropriate to have an oversized STATIC SHOCK comic book this spring, with the ongoing series still starting later this year as planned.

This June, Felicia Henderson, Denys Cowan, Prentis Rollings, Eric Battle, John Rozum, Matt Wayne, John Paul Leon and others will contribute to a STATIC SHOCK Special, with a cover by JH Williams III.

This Special is our way of acknowledging the industry’s loss. It is not a tribute comic intended to raise proceeds for charity.

We regret if there was any confusion regarding our intentions caused by the solicitation of this project. "

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/03/16/dc-comments-on-static-shock-oneshot/


It isn't so much that they won't give money to charity or the McDuffie family. DC owns the IP, so they can do as they please. What is sad, is that they are going to exploit McDuffie's death to make a quick buck. If they were giving money to a charity or to his family, then no problem. But they aren't doing anything charitable and plan to exploit the tragedy that befell a good man.

Even Ed Brubaker is disgusted at this point.

@brubaker
I'm mad as hell n I'm not gonna take it anymore. Please RT

@brubaker
The funny thing is how much madder he'd be if he were around today.

http://twitter.com/brubaker

Sad stuff indeed.

 

[sandwraith]

Yeah, that's...rather impolite of DC. Seriously.

 

[Arach Knight]

Yeah, that's...rather impolite of DC. Seriously.

Where is the fan backlash when you need it, eh?

 

[fifthfiend]

This is pretty terrible even by the usual standards of DC being terrible.

Like come on you ****s you are a division of Warner Brothers, at least conduct yourselves according to the baseline standard of genteel, sanitized evil we've come to expect from our corporate overlords.

EDIT: I know, DC should do a tribute to the people of Japan, in honor of their suffering at this time of national tragedy.

And then keep all the ****ing money.

 

[sandwraith]

Where is the fan backlash when you need it, eh?

It's probably mired in a crap load of office bureacracy. McDuffie was a great writer who worked his craft through several mediums. But as far as DC may be concerned, McDuffie wasn't in the same league as the likes of Moore or Morrison when truth be told, I still feel McDuffie was the new Denny O'Neil.

Even if DC proper doesn't give Dwayne the respect he deserves I'm sure there are several franchises out there who will pick up the slack. McDuffie worked in Animation and I think he was dipping his toe in Video games at some point. No doubt he made some impact on several of these mediums.

Not to sound racist or anything but I think it should be the African-American comic book community/creators who should be creating a proper tribute to a guy who worked tirelessly to drag the image of the African-American superhero/character and make them characters we love and respect.

 

[Arach Knight]

You do not sound racist at all. I recognize what McDuffie did for the black community. I personally appreciate it, as I had always been told in youth, that I could not pretend to be <insert ethnically white super hero> because I am black. However, I see this as a loss for comic lovers in general, and an ethical issue for DC specifically. I mean, the black community can step up and honor him, but I am not into the whole, "let's segregate/isolate ourselves" kind of thing. I am not a fan of black history month. I am not a fan of any self-segregation. Sure McDuffie is black and wrote and created memorable black characters that aren't walking blaxploitation memes, but I remember him for who he was, not what he was.

 

[sandwraith]

You do not sound racist at all. I recognize what McDuffie did for the black community. I personally appreciate it, as I had always been told in youth, that I could not pretend to be <insert ethnically white super hero> because I am black. However, I see this as a loss for comic lovers in general, and an ethical issue for DC specifically. I mean, the black community can step up and honor him, but I am not into the whole, "let's segregate/isolate ourselves" kind of thing. I am not a fan of black history month. I am not a fan of any self-segregation. Sure McDuffie is black and wrote and created memorable black characters that aren't walking blaxploitation memes, but I remember him for who he was, not what he was.

Yeah I get you. Even in his Milestone stuff, McDuffie wanted to impress upon use that heroism isn't something synonymous to just a particular race which is why he made it a point o create characters from different races,religions and genders.

It's sad that he is gone. Like I said before, I likened his work to guys like Denny O'Neil, Mark Waid, Ron Marz...guys who get Superheroes without pushing the envelop too far. He'll be sorely missed.

 

[Mystirious]

I am going to miss McDuffie so much

Dc really should donate profits from the sale of this issue to his family

 

[SuperFerret]

I don't get it.

 

[sandwraith]

I am going to miss McDuffie so much

Dc really should donate profits from the sale of this issue to his family

There could be several factors to this:

- DC or a part of WB has already given the family a grant/donation. Let's not forget that McDuffie not only worked with DC Comics but DC Animation and Cartoon Network, all owned by Warner Bros.

- Drawing the line at $2.99 is as lean as they can go. A charity drive costs money. Even if every artist, writer and editor said "Hey, let's do this for Dwayne!", DC still has to pay for publishing and distribution. How much of those sales allows them to break even and still have enough to donate to the family is iffy especially when you consider the audience they expect to buy the book.

- Japan's disaster kind of foreshadows this tragedy. Start with one charity, you're probably going to have to roll with another.

- The family refused to accept charity. Which is common.

 

[Obsidian Idea]

I made sure the black community knew who Mcduffie was and what he accomplished. I'm just sorry I didn't get a chance to interview him personally:

http://www.lasentinel.net/Remembering-A-Comic-Book-Icon.html

 

[Arach Knight]

That is a beautiful article. Thank you. Some how, even though I never knew McDuffie, it means a lot to me. The treatment he got, he did not deserve, and the the respect he didn't get, he did deserve. But now he is home.

 

[Motown Marvel]

well, in these instances money is usually raised and donated because the family is in need of the donation, for funeral costs and such. is the mcduffie family in need of the money? it'd seem kind of hollow to go through the motions of raising and donating money just for the sake of doing it when the recipient doesn't require it. did people complain about where the profits went when DC did that issue of batman/superman for jeph loeb's son who passed away?

i'm not saying the mcduffies arent deserving or in need of a donation. i guess im just playing devils advocate here. i dont want to vilify DC when it might not be warranted.

 

[Hush]

Lets not forget that DC is a bussiness first and foremost. So they will make the bussiness decission.

 

[Drz]

Where is the fan backlash when you need it, eh?

We should see that hopefully when *noone* buys the book.

@Hush: Good image is part of the business, i'd do something to make myself look good and honorable when preparing for the Static Shock launch.

 

[Motown Marvel]

would have anyone bought a static shock comic regardless?

 

[Arach Knight]

I liked the animated series. I would consider the book, if the writing is solid.

 

[Mystirious]

Think I may check out the new Static Shock comic book the first one was good

 

[Kurosawa]

Well, DC has f'd over their creators for years, going back to Siegel and Shuster, so this doesn't surprise me one bit. Unfortunately to get a good deal from them, one has to be a greedy, sneaky, but clever *****e like Bob Kane was.

 

[The Question]

Lets not forget that DC is a bussiness first and foremost. So they will make the bussiness decission.

No one's forgetting that. It's just that it's an incredibly weak excuse. Just because it's not expected of them to act like actual human beings doesn't mean it's okay for them not to.

 

[Shawkur]

Yeah, I think some people arent getting that DC essentially just using McDuffie's name to sell a Static one-shot as a precursor to a regular series they were going to put out anyway. If they werent going donate at least some of the sales to charity or McDuffie's family, the classy thing to do would be to just slap an acknowledgment in the issue without making a big deal out of it before hand.

 

[Motown Marvel]

Yeah, I think some people arent getting that DC essentially just using McDuffie's name to sell a Static one-shot as a precursor to a regular series they were going to put out anyway. If they werent going donate at least some of the sales to charity or McDuffie's family, the classy thing to do would be to just slap an acknowledgment in the issue without making a big deal out of it before hand.

sooooo....DC shouldnt bring attention to a book/character that is essentially dwayne's legacy? if promoting the tribute brings more attention/sales to the book, bringing more attention to dwayne's contribution to comics, how could you condemn that?

i think its ridiculous for people to criticize DC for making the first issue of this series a tribute to Dwayne McDuffie or using that to sell the book. I don't think there is anything disingenuous about their intentions with that. the more issues sold, the more mcduffie's legacy is solidified.

 

[RockSP]

DC owns the IP,

You mean Static? Nope.

 

[Arach Knight]

You mean Static? Nope.

You are very correct. Thank you for the correction. I wasn't aware that DC was merely the acting publisher for Milestone Media. I had always assumed that it was a proper imprint, sort of like Vertigo or Icon. However, this revelation makes it only that much more disappointing that DC would exploit Dwayne's unfortunate passing, while capitalizing on money made from his creation, that still belongs to him...

 

[Shawkur]

sooooo....DC shouldnt bring attention to a book/character that is essentially dwayne's legacy? if promoting the tribute brings more attention/sales to the book, bringing more attention to dwayne's contribution to comics, how could you condemn that?

i think its ridiculous for people to criticize DC for making the first issue of this series a tribute to Dwayne McDuffie or using that to sell the book. I don't think there is anything disingenuous about their intentions with that. the more issues sold, the more mcduffie's legacy is solidified.

So if the Static one-shot doesnt sell well that somehow diminishes McDuffie's legacy? I have a hard time seeing this as anything other than a hasty cash grab by trying to galvanize support from people who are already well aware of McDuffie and Static. If this was pitched by creators that were friends and admirers of McDuffie and not just devised by the business/editorial wing then I would feel different. I seriously doubt they all got together and said, "Hey, lets use this to make Static a permanent mainstay so no one ever forgets Dwayne!" You think if a creative team really kick ass on Static, they wouldnt pluck them off to work on a flagship book and replace them with scrubs? And if its only a temporary boost in sales I dont see what it really does for McDuffie's memory.

And if boosting sales wasnt their aim, they could put a tribute to McDuffie in the comic without promoting it in the solicits. The entire aim of solicits is to move product. Maybe it wasnt intentional, but it was thoughtless. Its like promoting a special "Japanese Tsunami" issue then giving nothing to disaster relief. DC also had the opportunity to correct the faux pas and instead just went, "Nah, we're still keeping all the money."