DC honors the legacy of Dwayne McDuffie with new hardcover collection

Dwayne McDuffie
(Image credit: Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics)

A collection of DC stories by the late, great writer/editor Dwayne McDuffie will be collected in a new hardcover coming this year from the publisher. Going on sale December 14, DC Universe by Dwayne McDuffie will collect 12 issues from his work for the publisher.

"Timeless tales starring Superman, the Demon, Impulse, Batman, Firestorm, and other amazing DC characters which celebrate the amazing stories that acclaimed writer Dwayne McDuffie contributed to the DC Universe," reads DC's synopsis of the collection. "He is best known for creating Icon and Hardware but these sensational stories should not be missed."

(Image credit: Renato Guedes (DC))

The comic books to be reprinted in DC Universe by Dwayne McDuffie are:

  • Action Comics #847 (from which the Renato Guedes cover to this collection is taken)
  • The Demon #26 - #29
  • Impulse #60
  • JLA Showcase 80 Page Giant #1
  • Batman: Gotham Knights #27
  • Sins of Youth: Kid Flash/Impulse #1
  • Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #33 - 35

The collected stories represent a good chunk of McDuffie's prime DC work, except for his 2007-2008 Justice League of America run and six issues he wrote in 2002-2003 for Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.

The collection comes as DC has also revived the Milestone Media superheroes, which was co-founded and run by Dwayne McDuffie in its original '90s incarnation.

Following the untimely death of McDuffie in 2011, his widow Charlotte (Fullerton) McDuffie established a fund to help create the Dwayne McDuffie Foundation. The foundation is intended to award academic scholarships to diverse students, fund an annual award in his honor, maintain an archive of his work, and provide items for the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

McDuffie's contributions to industry and art form were immense and continue to influence comic books and media adaptations to this day. 

The Falcon & Winter Soldier recently introduced the character Battlestar, a comic book character that Marvel sought McDuffie's input from during his creation. And in DC's Justice League title, the new character Naomi has just joined the team. She's also getting her own HBO Max series. Naomi's last name? McDuffie, named in honor of Dwayne.

Much of Dwayne McDuffie's comic book work is available now, digitally. Check out our list for the best digital comics readers for Android and iOS devices.

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)