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Comic Script: JLA Wedding Special #1 (2007)

December 19th, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Scripts

These are pages 1-10 from Dwayne’s script for the DC Comic book Justice League of America Wedding Special #1 – published in 2007. The script had to be converted to post online, so any typos are probably my fault.

I hope to post more of his scripts here in the future. If you have any requests, feel free to use the Contact form. No guarantee that we can find them or post them, but if there’s any scripts or scenes you’d like to see, let me know. Please don’t ask for complete scripts to be posted – that’s unlikely to happen.

               JLA WEDDING SPECIAL #1
               "Injustice League"
               Dwayne McDuffie

               Second Draft, 04/26/07

               Page 1

               PANEL 1

               THIS PAGE IS A PARODY OF PAGE ONE OF THE JLA RELAUNCH. IT
               SHOULD EVOKE THE ORIGINAL SEQUENCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

               Copy page 1, panel 1 of JLA #1, the stairs are metal instead
               of stone. We're in a high-tech hideout, but we don't know
               that yet.

                                   BANNER CAPTION
                             (as in JLA #1)
                         An undisclosed location.

                                   BANNER CAPTION (CONT'D)
                         The Hall of Injustice.

                                   BANNER CAPTION (CONT'D)
                         Today.

                                   OFF-PANEL JOKER
                         You look good, Lexie.

                                   OFF-PANEL JOKER (CONT'D)
                         You too, sexy.

               PANEL 2

               We're looking at the JOKER'S chest, instead of Batman's.
               Joker is idly fingering his flower lapel.

                                   OFF-PANEL CHEETAH
                         I'm not to be trifled with, clown.

                                   JOKER
                         Lighten up, funbags. Everyone's to
                         be trifled with.

               PANEL 3

               Close on LUTHOR'S chest. He's wearing a green and purple
               battlesuit, recognizable as the classic version, but much
               cooler, because you redesigned it.

                                   LUTHOR
                         That's enough. We've come together
                         to accomplish something as a group.
                         Let's not fall victim to the cliché
                         of "the villains can't get along."

                                   OFF-PANEL CHEETAH
                         One more childish joke at my
                         expense and I'll slit his throat.

               PANEL 4

               On CHEETAH'S CHEST.

                                   OFF-PANEL JOKER
                         I don't think she's listening to
                         you, Lexie.

                                   CHEETAH
                         And quit staring, my eyes are up
                         here!

                                   OFF-PANEL JOKER
                         I know where your eyes are but I'm
                         obviously more interested in your--

                                   OFF-PANEL LUTHOR
                             (overlapping previous
                              balloon)
                         --Let's ...begin, shall we?...

               Page 2
               and Page 3

               DOUBLE PAGE SPLASH

               Evoking the across the fold 2/3 splash in issue #1, with  an
               amused and relaxed JOKER substituting for Batman, A
               battlesuited and put-upon LUTHOR substituting for Superman
               and a still very irritated CHEETAH substituting for Wonder
               Woman (she's holding a photo of DR. LIGHT). Note Luthor's
               gauntlets have multicolored pieces of kryptonite in the
               knuckles. They are at a table in "The Hall of Injustice"
               (this should be as close to the cartoon "Hall of Doom" as we
               can get without George Lucas suing us for stealing Darth
               Vader's head).

                                   LUTHOR
                         Dr. Light?

                                   CHEETAH
                         He's a rapist and a murderer.

                                   JOKER
                         I like him. He's sunny.

                                   LUTHOR
                         To be fair Cheetah, if we limit our
                         membership to men of good
                         character...

                                   CHEETAH
                         All right. Point conceded.

                                   TITLE
                         UNLIMITED, Chapter One

                                   TITLE
                             (Justice League Logo
                              font?)
                         "Injustice League"

                                   CREDITS
                         Dwayne McDuffie   Writer
                         Mike McKone   Penciller
                         Andy Lanning   Inker
                         Alex Sinclair   Letterer 
                         Rob Leigh   Colorist
                         Adam Schlagman   Assistant Editor
                         Eddie Berganza   Editor

               Page 4

               PANEL 1

               See GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY WEDDING SPECIAL this scene
               continues from story page 17, panel 2. Hal Jordan is sticking
               his head in the door, talking to an unhappy-looking group of
               strippers.

                                   BANNER CAPTION
                         Name of city TK.

                                   BANNER CAPTION
                         20 minutes before the bachelor party.

                                   HAL
                         Thanks ladies. We're all good. I'll
                         send you a check.

               PANEL 2

               One of the strippers (choose a prominent one from the Green
               Arrow Black Canary Special) is wagging her finger in a
               distressed Hal's face. Stripper #2 is holding out her palm. A
               check hangs limply from Hal's hand.

                                   STRIPPER
                         Check my ass. If you don't want us
                         to work your party, fine. But we
                         still get paid.

                                   STRIPPER #2
                         And this is a cash business.

               PANEL 3

               Hal is sheepish.

                                   HAL
                         I've only got about thirty bucks
                         on...

                                   HAL
                         >sigh<

                                   HAL
                         I'll be right back.

               PANEL 4

               We're in the Hall of Justice (are we calling it that?).
               Batman is on the phone, frowning.

                                   BATMAN
                         Why do you need Thirty six hundred
                         dollars?

                                   TALKING CONSOLE
                             (radio balloon)
                         Cash, Batman. I need it in cash.

               PANEL 5

               Back on Hal, he's outside the hotel now. He has his hand
               cupped over his JLA COMMUNICATOR, trying to keep anyone from
               hearing him.

                                   HAL
                         It's for Ollie's bachelor party.
                         Some of the entertainment--

                                   TALKING PHONE
                             (radio balloon)
                         The strippers.

               Page 5

               PANEL 1

               Closer on Hal.

                                   HAL
                         Okay, fine. The strippers need
                         their money. And I have to keep
                         Ollie from finding out about it
                         because--

                                   TALKING COMMUNICATOR
                             (radio balloon)
                         He doesn't want strippers at his
                         party.

               PANEL 2

               On Batman, almost smiling.

                                   TALKING CONSOLE
                             (radio balloon)
                         Yes. How could you possibly know
                         that?

                                   BATMAN
                         I'm Batman.

               PANEL 3

               Wider on Batman, he's working on a computer console with.
               JOHN STEWART is supporting the huge console with a beam from
               his ring.

                                   BATMAN
                         I'll have the money messengered
                         over to you in fifteen minutes.

                                   TALKING CONSOLE
                             (radio balloon)
                         That's really nice of you Bruce,
                         especially considering you're not
                         even coming to the party.

               PANEL 4

               Hal looks puzzled.

                                   TALKING COMMUNICATOR
                             (radio balloon)
                         No need. The odds are excellent
                         that the party's coming to me.

                                   HAL
                         Huh?

                                   TALKING COMMUNICATOR
                             (radio balloon)
                         See you later.

                                   SFX
                         klik

               PANEL 5

               ROY HARPER is tapping Hal on the shoulder from behind. Hal is
               beginning to turn towards him.

                                   ROY
                         We've got a problem, Hal.

                                   HAL
                         Huh? No. Everything's fine, Roy.
                         Just keep Ollie out of the hotel
                         for another fifteen minutes or so...

               PANEL 6

               Roy is frowning.

                                   ROY
                         That's not the problem...

               Page 6

               PANEL 1

               Roy and Hal are on the roof of the hotel, looking down.

                                   HAL
                         There must be dozens of them.

                                   ROY
                         I count one hundred and six.

               PANEL 2

               Reverse angle. In front of the hotel there are dozens of
               PAPARAZZI staked out.

                                   OFF-PANEL HAL
                         Somebody must have tipped them off.

               PANEL 3

               Back on Hal and Roy, looking down at the crowd.

                                   HAL
                         We can't let them take pictures of
                         us going to Green Arrow's bachelor
                         party.

                                   ROY
                         Not unless everyone in the League
                         wants to kiss their secret ID's
                         goodbye.

               PANEL 4

               Hal and Roy have turned their heads to look at each other.

                                   ROY
                         Plan B?

                                   HAL
                         I'll start making the calls.

               PANEL 5

               Back in the Hall, Batman is still working.

                                   TALKING CONSOLE
                             (radio balloon)
                         Bruce? Hal again--

                                   BATMAN
                         You just figured out if you have
                         the party in a public place, you'll
                         endanger the guests' secret
                         identities--

               Page 7

               PANEL 1

               On Hal, on the Communicator.

                                   TALKING COMMUNICATOR
                             (radio balloon)
                         --And you want to move the party to
                         the Hall.

                                   HAL
                         Kind of annoying, Bruce.

                                   TALKING COMMUNICATOR
                             (radio balloon)
                         But accurate.

               PANEL 2

               Wider. Roy is grinning at Hal's discomfort.

                                   HAL
                         Okay, yeah. Can you put John on?

                                   TALKING COMMUNICATOR
                             (radio balloon)
                         No, he's out getting decorations
                         for your party.

                                   SFX
                         klik

               PANEL 3

               Hal is pocketing his Communicator.

                                   HAL
                         I hate when he does that.

                                   ROY
                         What, solves all of your problems
                         but is ever so slightly smug while
                         doing so?

               PANEL 4

               Favoring a smiling Hal.

                                   HAL
                         The older you get, the more you
                         remind me of Ollie.

                                   ROY
                         That's a compliment, right?

                                   HAL
                         Sure.

               PANEL 5

               Establishing the Hall of Justice.

                                   BANNER CAPTION
                         The Hall of Justice.

                                   TALKING BUILDING
                         Go ahead and say it, Bruce.

               Page 8

               PANEL 1

               BIG PANEL. The Hall is decorated for the Bachelor party. 
               Everyone is at the party, and in costume. Batman and
               Hal/Green Lantern are prominent. CONNOR HAWKE, RED ARROW, 
               NIGHTWING, SUPERMAN, ALAN SCOTT (what's his superhero 
               identity now, if he has one, he should be in costume), 
               PLASTIC MAN, GUY GARDNER, HAWKMAN, FLASH, JOHN STEWART, RED 
               TORNADO, BLACK LIGHTNING,  Ollie is in his civvies. Eddie, 
               Mike, feel free to add more characters to your taste. Many of 
               the heroes are drinking, eating, et cetera, throughout this 
               sequence.

                                   BATMAN
                         Go ahead and say what?

                                   HAL
                         "I told you so."

                                   BATMAN
                         I did, didn't I?

               PANEL 2

               Closer on GL and Batman. Batman has turned his back on Hal
               and is walking away, suppressing a tight smile. Ollie is
               clapping Hal on the back. John Stewart is drinking and
               passing by.

                                   OLLIE
                         Great job on the decorations, Hal.

                                   JOHN STEWART
                         You're welcome.

               PANEL 3

               Red Arrow is hugging a surprised Ollie.

                                   RED
                         I love you, old man!

                                   OLLIE
                         When did you start drinking, we
                         just got here?

               Page 9

               PANEL 1

               Red Arrow has Ollie by the shoulders, holding him at arms
               length, post-hug. Connor Hawke watches the scene, amused.

                                   RED ARROW
                         You know, for a touchy-feely,
                         granola-eating, Prius-driving child
                         of the sixties, you're awfully
                         uncomfortable with expressions of
                         real emotion.

                                   CONNOR
                         It's part of how he suppresses his
                         homosexual side.

               PANEL 2

               Connor and Red are talking. Panel right Ollie is speaking
               sharply.

                                   RED
                         Really? What's the other part?

                                   CONNOR
                         Sleeping with Black Canary.
                         Repeatedly.

                                   OLLIE
                         All right, that's practically your
                         mother you're talking about! Show
                         some respect.

               PANEL 3

               Smiling Ollie has one arm around Red Arrow's shoulders and
               the other arm around Connor's shoulders.

                                   OLLIE
                         And a bit of jealousy and awe,
                         while you're at it.

               PANEL 4

               Nearby, John is talking to Jay Garrick. Hal/GL is
               interrupting.

                                   HAL
                         John, you got a minute? I want to
                         talk about that thing...

                                   JOHN
                         Sure. Excuse me Jay.

               PANEL 5

               Hal and John are off in a corner.

                                   JOHN
                         Still thinking about taking some
                         time off from the League?

                                   HAL
                         Yeah. I don't have to tell you how
                         demanding this job can be.
                         I'd feel better giving my GL work
                         my full attention.

               Page 10

               PANEL 1

               Favoring John. Hal is uncomfortable.

                                   JOHN
                         Look, with both of us on Earth, I
                         think it makes good sense for us to
                         divide up the work.

                                   HAL
                         I appreciate it, John. I just don't
                         want you to get stuck...

                                   HAL
                         How do I say this?

               PANEL 2

               Favoring Hal.

                                   HAL
                         You always end up having to take a
                         lot of crap. My backup. The "Black
                         Lantern." All of that.

                                   JOHN
                         Other people's problem. Not mine.

               PANEL 3

               Wide on both men.

                                   HAL
                         I just don't want you carrying more
                         than your share of the weight.

                                   JOHN
                         It doesn't matter who's carrying
                         how much, just that somebody's got
                         it.

               PANEL 4

               Favoring Hal.

                                   HAL
                         On top of everything else, it's a
                         lot of baggage.

                                   JOHN
                         Says "the greatest Green Lantern of
                         them all."

                                   HAL
                         I'm not real comfortable with that,
                         you know.

               PANEL 5

               Favoring John, smiling.

                                   JOHN
                         I know.

                                   JOHN 
                         Don't make it a big deal. We'll
                         take turns with the League
                         membership for a while.

               PANEL 6

               John and Hal shake hands.

                                   HAL
                         Thanks, John. I actually need to
                         get going right now--

                                   JOHN
                         Go with my blessing. Give Shark Man
                         a good one for me.

The Rules of the Game: Crisis On Mono-Earth, part II

December 5th, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Columns and Essays

This is the follow-up to Dwayne’s earlier Psycomics.com column about comic book continuity. He described this as, Shared Universes, bad. Continuity, gooood!

Read on-

Graphic Dwayne made for the article.

When last we met, the menace of “shared universes” (the unwholesome practice of setting the majority of a publisher’s titles in a single continuity) was killing superhero comics.

I’m borderline serious, here.

I’ve already argued that shared universes add layers of unnecessary complexity to the reading experience. New customers can’t figure out where to start reading, should they be so inclined. Casual readers don’t exist anymore, as they can’t hope to follow the stuff unless they’re willing to commit totally. Even guys like us (well, most of us), who have already been reading pretty much everything for years can’t keep it all straight any more. The result of these hopelessly tangled storylines, needlessly interwoven through dozens of comic book series, is to make anyone but a head case ditch the whole thing. Which folks are already doing, in droves.

Not to worry, Gordius. Just bring that nasty knot over here and Dwayne McAlexander will make everything all better.

I propose we sever the ties that bind. With one minor class of exceptions (which I’ll get to later) let every individual title be its own universe. Marvel Universe? Screw it. DCU? Please, as if it were remotely coherent now. Tell the truth. You like the Elseworlds stuff better anyway, don’t you?

Well, even if you don’t…

I’ve already received letters from readers who freaked because they think I’m suggesting we get rid of continuity. Relax, I’m doing no such thing. I’m simply suggesting a separate continuity within each and every title. Ever wonder why the Avengers don’t show up and help when the Fantastic Four is locked in mortal battle with Galactus? Well, don’t. Because under the new rules, there aren’t any Avengers in the FF Universe, and vice versa.

“What!?!,” you say. “No guest shots? No crossovers?”

Sure there are. But only if the creative/editorial teams want them. The first rule of individual continuity is this: Nothing is canon unless it happened (or is referred to) in the pages of an issue of the comic you’re reading. If the Empire State Building was destroyed in the latest issue of Green Lantern, there’s no Empire State Building anymore, but only in Green Lantern. The Flash remains free to coax Gorilla Grodd down from the top of that that very same nonexistent building, because in his comic, it was never destroyed. Should I read only one of those titles, I don’t have to keep track of continuity that has nothing to do with the comic I bought. If I happen to read both titles, the “discontinuity” is no more confusing than the fact that on The West Wing, the President of the United States is named Josiah Bartlet, and on Spin City, his name is Bill Clinton.

You still want to know about guest shots, don’t you? Okay, Rule #2: Guest Shots are permissible, but they only affect the continuity of the book they appeared in. If Flash does a guest-shot in Green Lantern, there’s no Empire State Building and the Flash sees nothing wrong with that. Moreover, back in the pages of The Flash, the crossover story never happened (unless it’s explicitly referred to in those pages). You with me? If you’re reading Green Lantern, it happened, if you’re reading Flash, it didn’t. Anybody can still meet anybody though, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Rule #3: No continued stories crossing from one book into another. A multi-part story is fine, as long as all the parts take place in the same title. No part one in Flash, part two in Green Lantern, part three in the 48 page bookshelf Faster Than Lantern’s Light! nonsense. If I like the Flash, that’s all I should ever have to read. If I really like him, I can follow his circulation-building guest shots in other titles if I want to. But I never have to.

Before you ask, Rule #4: Team books and multiple character crossover books are permissible but take place in their own unique universe. You may have team books. Even team books like The Avengers or JLA that are made up mostly of members who already have their own solo titles. JLA can have both Flash and Green Lantern as members but it has its own unique continuity, which may or may not contradict the continuities of the Flash and or Green Lantern titles. Big crossover epics like Maximum Security would take place in a maxi series called Maximum Security. You wouldn’t need to read any other titles in order to understand it. Characters that guest star in a crossover title aren’t beholden to that continuity unless they choose to be.

This brings us to the exception of the exception to my shared continuity rules. Exception #1: Groups of titles may share continuity in ways that violate Rules 1, 2 and sometimes 4. In other words. If the Empire State Building is destroyed In Superman, it’s also gone in Adventures, Man Of Steel and probably in Supergirl as well. If you want to define a group of titles as “X-Men books, and all of their spin-offs,” this is also kosher. But rule #3 is inviolate.

Another happy result of this system is that it would strengthen certain titles that are diminished by being in a shared universe. Captain Marvel, Plastic Man and Wonder Woman, for instance, would all work better in their own unique worlds, worlds that differ than the shared DCU. Captain Marvel’s Fawcett City, stuck in a retro 1950′s, with talking tigers and world conquering worms, is at best an uncomfortable fit with Superman’s “just slightly ahead of our time” Metropolis. Maybe you disagree with my examples, but you know what I mean. Do street criminals have ray guns? Is public mass transit light rail, buses or transporters? Is the Hulk the strongest one there is, or is Thor? Are magic and the supernatural real, or just scams to be uncovered by the Amazing Randi? The answers to questions like these effect the kinds of stories you can tell. My solution? Let these questions be decided in their own individual titles. Then the creators can build a unique world that supports, not simply allows, the conceit of a title.

The best part of my scheme is that the people who care deeply about how all the various titles relate to one another will have more to argue about than ever. Imagine the fun of trying to stitch all these contradictory continuities together into a seamless whole. The rest of us don’t have to risk migraines thinking about it ever again. I remember once, many years ago Marvel executive editor Mark Gruenwald explained Omniverse, his theory of how various fictional cosmologies all fit together, to me. I think I got it, eventually. But I’m sure I had less trouble grasping the finer points of Special Relativity.

None of what I’m proposing is all that radical, really. We’ve all seen these rules in effect many times before, in intercompany crossovers. Superman vs. Spider-Man was my first exposure to this treatment of continuity but the latest Aliens vs. Whomever mini demonstrates the principles just as well.

Okay, you’ve got the gist of my plan. Now it’s time to shoot holes in it. I’ll give you guys a couple weeks for rebuttal. Email me with your comments and critiques, I’m especially interested in examples of good comics that wouldn’t be possible under these conditions. In a month or so, I’ll respond by either cruelly shooting you down right in front of everybody, or grudgingly admitting that you’re right and trying to refine my set of rules. If you’re really successful, I’ll just give up the whole idea.

Okay, I’m running long. See you next week with one of those “bits and pieces” type things, wherein I try to pass off as a real column a bunch of random notions too thin to carry even a rambling, unfocused, thousand word essay.

Dwayne McDuffie is the co-creator of Static Shock and Damage Control. He continues relentlessly hyping his new trade paperback collection, Static Shock: Trial By Fire, even though he senses it may be undignified to do so. Dwayne loves for people to visit his web site, but asks that you refrain from reading his columns archived there, as he’s been reusing way too much old material.

,

Crisis On Mono-Earth!

December 5th, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Columns and Essays

Dwayne wrote these columns probably around 2000 or 2001. He described them as-

BROUGHT TO YOU BY…, a weekly opinion column on the comic book industry, was my second column for Psycomic.com. This one ended when Psycomic dot-bomed for a second time. It probably wasn’t my fault.

He described this article as, Why the “shared universe” concept in comic books needs to go away. Funny how much of what he said back then can be applied to things today.

Read on-

Crisis On Mono-Earth!

As I patiently await my copy of the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths trade paperback, collecting the outstanding 12 issue maxi-series that tried to untangle the beautiful mess of 40 some-odd years of DC Comics continuity, I can’t help but wonder: Isn’t it past time we got rid of all this “shared universe” crap?

I suppose I should explain.

Crisis was everything you could ask for in a crossover epic; a great story, featuring dozens of superheroes facing their greatest challenge ever; a sincere promise of “anything can happen” that gave the proceedings something almost unheard of in series fiction: real suspense; final bows for old favorites not seen in years; Easter eggs enough to keep the most anal fan busy for weeks looking for them all; and beautiful, psychotically detailed, art. I almost liked Crisis enough to cough up the hundred bucks they were asking for the hardcover edition that came out a couple of years ago (but I didn’t, out of fear that my late father would have risen from his grave to smack me on the head for stupidity). In addition to being both an aesthetic and a commercial success, Crisis also achieved its primary goal: wiping the slate clean so that the DC Universe could go forward without the many contradictions among its myriad continuities. The result, a single, contradiction-free DC Universe, would be the standard at DC Comics from then on, or at least until folks started writing more stories.

Today, less than twenty years later, despite at least three other “reboots,” (each more inventive than the next in their efforts to explain away the various inconsistencies that routinely crop up) DC continuity is at least as confused as it was before Crisis.

I’m not here to debate the merits of comic book series set in shared universes. I’ve enjoyed reading shared universe stories. I’ve written shared universe stories, myself. I broke into comics by creating Damage Control, a concept thoroughly dependent on existence of the Marvel Universe. At Milestone, I even committed a shared universe of my own. But I repent my sin, and so should we all. The interconnectedness of shared universe stories is one of the biggest barriers to new readership. I know that’s counterintuitive. Crossovers increase sales, right? I mean, that’s why we keep doing them. True, but what we’ve also been doing is selling more and more books to fewer and fewer people. One reason? Shared universes are too hard to follow.

In the interests of clarity, which is my point, let me repeat myself: Shared universes are too hard to follow.

The vast amount of information a reader has to master, simply to understand a typical monthly superhero comic is ridiculous. That’s all well and good for geeks like you and me but it’s become impossible to be a casual reader anymore. Casual readers should be our bread and butter; they certainly used to be. But I defy you to pick up a random issue of most current comics and be able to understand what’s going on in it without the equivalent of a Ph.D. in trivia. We want more readers but we don’t offer them any way in. Let me give you an example. Last year’s Batman: No Man’s Land promised exciting stuff from a number of top-notch creators. But can you imagine the confusion of someone picking up a random single issue of a story that ran through four (or was it eight?) monthly titles for an entire year? And where does DC get off asking them to commit to buying 48 (or was it 96?) individual comics to get a single story, no matter how good? Apparently, they got off at the bank, as I’m told the Batman titles sold much better than usual during that run. Me, I decided to wait for the trade paperbacks, which I haven’t yet cracked, because I’m not sure I have them all. Too complicated. I suppose I could call Kurt Busiek and ask him to sort it out for me but I’m afraid of going to the well too often. Besides, this is not an option available to the casual reader.

But the problem’s even worse than it seems, because to really understand the Batman stories, you have to know all about something called “JLA.” And to really understand JLA, you have to read four (or is it five) Superman books, and a couple of Flash books, and Wonder Woman, and Hawkman (if I really wanted to drive my point home, I’d have used Hawkman as my example but shooting fish in a barrel is only easy if you don’t mind getting water all over the floor. I’d have had to spend more time trying to explain Hawkman to you than making my point), and Green Lantern, and Aquaman, and a bunch of other stuff that may or may not be cancelled. This is insane. How many people would watch ER if, in order to understand it, you had to be current with the continuity of every single show on NBC? Right. Practically no one, and NBC is free. Talk about “Must Watch…”

I’m not just picking on DC, here, although I promise I will in the future. I could just have easily talked about X-Men titles, or Heroes Reborn reboots or, God help us, Spider-Man. The shared universe really was a good idea, once upon a time. That time has passed. Let’s trash these unwieldy things.

Does this mean we need another Crisis? Must we do without continuity, without team-ups or crossovers? Should we all just pack it in right now and go find a new hobby? No, I’m not suggesting anything that radical. Not quite. If you come back next week, I’ll tell you how we can have our cake and eat it too. Which is fortunate, because if I can’t eat my cake, I don’t want any.

See you next week.

Dwayne McDuffie is co-creator of Static Shock and Damage Control. His new trade paperback collection, Static Shock: Trial By Fire, is now on sale at many finer comic shops. Ask your retailer where he’s hiding his shelf copies. A cartoon based on it is on TV every week, and that’s gotta count for something, right? Dwayne is practically begging you to visit his web site, as he closes in on his dream of getting 10,000 hits by the end of the year.

,

Upcoming Dwayne McDuffie projects

November 28th, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in News & Updates


BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN: THE WILD TRUTH

  • The next DVD collection of Ben 10 episodes will be released on December 6th. Just in time for the holidays!

    • NEW EPISODES OF BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN

  • New episodes are airing on Friday nights on Cartoon Network.

    • JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM

  • Dwayne’s final DCU animated movie comes to DVD in Spring 2012.

  • Just to clarify, Justice League: Doom is not Dwayne’s final work – only his final DCU animated work. He wrote episodes of Ben 10 Ultimate Alien which have not aired yet, and other work that can’t be announced yet.

    • ,

    Writers Guild Animation Writers Caucus Writing Award

    November 18th, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in News & Updates

    Thursday night, Earl Kress and Dwayne McDuffie were posthumously named co-recipients of the Writers Guild of America, West Animation Writers Caucus’ (AWC) 14th Annual Animation Writing Award.

    More information about Earl Kress and Dwayne McDuffie and the award can be found here-

    EDIT TO ADD:

    Clobberin’ Time at Marvel Comics

    November 14th, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Dwayne McDuffie Stories

    One of my many regrets is that I didn’t pester Dwayne for more of his stories about his days working as an assistant editor at Marvel Comics. As I try my best to recollect the ones he told me, I’ll start with this one-

    In the 1980s at Marvel Comics, there was an unused freight elevator area in the back of the building. It may have been the elevator shaft or just the lobby area (unfortunately I don’t remember exactly how Dwayne described it).

    The area happened to be approximately the shape of a boxing ring. So during lunch breaks or when it was slow, Marvel employees would regularly head back there and fight and spar in the Marvel Comics boxing ring. Though Dwayne had boxed when he was younger, he didn’t participate at Marvel. But he would watch with the others, and because the way the area was built, there was lots of space for people to look down into the arena and watch the boxing action.

    The undisputed champion of the Marvel Comics boxing arena was Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. He had good pugilistic skills and he was tall. Really tall. With his length and reach, and the fact that he was your boss in charge of everything, Shooter was the most feared boxer in the ring. No one came close to beating Jim Shooter.

    Until a new guy joined Marvel. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name that Dwayne told me. Hopefully someone knows and will let me know. But whoever he was, the new guy was not intimidated by the idea of boxing the Editor-in-Chief.

    Like all the other times, everyone gathered around to look down into the ring and watch the action. UNLIKE all the other times, Jim Shooter lost. The new guy tagged him with a punch that sent him to the ground.

    Now… what are you supposed do you do when your boss just got punched? He’s still on the ground. Is he hurt? Is he dead? If he’s not dead, is he mad? Mad at the person who hit him? Or mad at EVERYBODY? Do you go and give him help? Or will he be mad at you if you try to help?

    For a long moment, everyone stood there and didn’t move – didn’t make a sound. Finally someone shrugged and said, “Well, back to work!” The crowd quickly ran off and everyone went back to their desks to work.

    Fortunately, Jim Shooter wasn’t hurt badly and he continued on in his comic book career. Dwayne never had anything bad to say about Shooter and said, “He was always really nice to me.”

    Which is a good thing, since I don’t think I ever would’ve wanted to see two men the size of Dwayne and Jim Shooter throwing punches at each other…

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    The Dwayne’s List, part 1

    November 6th, 2011 | Posted by Matt S. Wayne in Remembering Dwayne McDuffie

    Matt Wayne here, longtime pal of Dwayne’s. I’ve been leaving the hard work of posting content for this site to Eugene, as I try to come up with a way to share memories of my friend without getting personal. I keep hoping to invent a system to make all these random memories resolve into a portrait of the finest man and the finest mind I’ve ever met. Seems simple enough, but I haven’t worked it out.

    Instead, I’m going to list a bunch of things that I got into because Dwayne recommended them to me. I’m sure that this won’t leave us with a complete sense of Dwayne, but it’s all I can do. Blogging isn’t supposed to add up to anything, after all. Merely to add up.

    Let’s start with some novelists:

    ROBERT PARKER – I bought all the used Spenser paperbacks I could one day around 1989, on Dwayne’s strong recommendation. I’m almost certain that we were standing in a great used book and knickknack store called the Scouting Party, on 7th Avenue and 10th street in Brooklyn. This was just about the time that the Spenser series had misfired a couple times, in Dwayne’s opinion. But I went back and read them from the beginning, and I have to say, they’re almost always well-crafted and among the best detective fiction written to that point. (Dennis Lehane was kind of a game-changer for the genre. Dwayne was an early adopter, as usual.)

    Once, I was planning a dinner for my girlfriend in Brooklyn, and told Dwayne about it on the phone. I told him what I was concocting from what was already in the freezer and a few bucks (I was broke for all of the 80s). And I guess it did mirror a recurring bit in the Parker mysteries. When I mentioned slicing a pork tenderloin into medallions he drawled. “Spen-suh!” a la Hawk, and we both broke up laughing. From then on, whenever I was telling him something that implied I was a resourceful and capable cook, which happened a lot, I’d get the same “Spen-suh!” and it was always funny. Because, you see, it was Dwayne doing it.

    Which brings up Hawk. Dwayne overlooked Parker’s occasionally Tonto-like portrayal of Spenser’s black friend—Hawk’s dialogue could be relentless with dropped articles and even verbs when possible–because there was so much he did right with the character and the work was well-structured. He overlooked it just like he overlooked the descriptions of Spenser’s wardrobe in the early (1970s) books. Dwayne was aware of the mainstream’s prejudices but he never forgave them or pretended they weren’t there. Which is something you’ll hear again and again if we continue these media memoirs. And he loved Avery Brooks’ portrayal of Hawk on TV. He was also fond of Parker’s more recent heroes, Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall–he viewed them as necessary, in some ways a reboot of Spenser. Thirty years ago, Spenser had been past his prime and a bit more cautious in a fight. In his 60s the obligatory man-of-action stuff was becoming too painful to enjoy.

    RITA MAE BROWN – When she’s on, she’s amazing. Rubyfruit Jungle and In Her Day are classics. The Southern stuff with Wheezie and Juts was fantastic. While I found her mysteries (which feature a dog and cat as the sleuths) to be whimsical and adorable, Dwayne was a mystery connoisseur and felt they were hacky. He also recommended her book on writing, Starting From Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual-although he felt that Brown went to great lengths to show off her command of literature and name-drop. “I always like an author’s SECOND-most famous work best,” was Dwayne’s ironic mimicry of that common pretentious pose. Dwayne also thought she had one of the best ears for dialogue of any writer. Brown’s “Somebody shot the dots off her dice” to describe a crazy relative was one of his favorite lines ever, one he sneaked into a few different scripts over the years… most recently in an episode of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

    Dwayne took dialect very seriously; aside from ten minutes in a core English class in college, I never thought about regional dialects until I had access to Dwayne’s library in Brooklyn. He had many books on the subject.

    One of Dwayne’s many rules of writing: “Writing in dialect is a tricky business. Unless you’re Mark Twain or Zora Neale Hurston, don’t even try.” Notice that he didn’t exempt Robert Parker or Rita Mae Brown.

    The “Don’t even try” in that last bit reminds me of another big influence on Dwayne, Fran Lebowitz. She wrote, and Dwayne often quoted the following: “Your life story would not make a good book. Don’t even try.” More on her (and possibly Mark Twain and Zora Neale Hurston) later.

    Edgewise #5 – Star Trek: The Movie

    November 1st, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Columns and Essays

    This is Dwayne’s second Edgewise column about Star Trek – or as he described it, “The first movie caps a very bad day for Dwayne.”

    Read on-

    Edgewise #5

    The disembodied Brains’ telepathic voices thundered in my head, “Dwayne, let’s get real for just a moment here. As we look upon our creation, this vast resource of up-to-the-minute news, insightful reviews, sparkling commentary and inside information that men call FANTASTICON, we are forced to make a grave admission. It’s insufficiently fantastic. One might more accurately label it, “PRETTYGOODCON.” And it’s all your fault. Your stupid column is screwing up the curve for everyone.”

    At first, the Mighty Brains threatened to punish me by erasing my brain and using it for extra storage, they have to put Internet Explorer 5 somewhere, they reasoned. Eventually though, mercy prevailed and I was sentenced to write about STAR TREK. I guess it was mercy. Come to think of it, it may be a punishment for all the nasty things I said about FARSCAPE a few weeks back. The ways of these great beings are ineffable. I on the other hand, am eminently effable. Hence, part two of my survey on all things STAR TREK.

    THE MOVIES

    STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE

    Opening day of this movie was supposed to be one of the best days of my young life. I had it all planned out. First, my high school homecoming, a basketball game against Alex Manoogian, the only school my sorry team could dependably stomp. Then, off to the movies to enjoy the first new STAR TREK in 13 years (The cartoon doesn’t count because I never watched it. Dwayne’s Fourth Law of Science Fiction: “If I didn’t see it, it’s not canon”). This turned out to be a lousy plan. We lost the game, the first time in school history we were ever beaten by the school I fondly referred to as “the Washington Capitals of high school basketball.” Then, my teammates and I made our biggest unforced error of the evening, we went to the movie.

    You ever go to see a movie and you really want to like it? You’re sitting there patiently, hoping that something, anything entertaining will occur? Well, we sat there a good, long while. As our boredom and restlessness grew, it was Carlos Goodman, high-scoring forward and first in my peer group to grow a respectable beard, who finally broke the ice. “This,” he shouted across the theater, “sucks!”

    Carlos got a standing ovation.

    STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE initiated two dependable trends that remain with us to this day. One, the oft-reported thing about all odd-numbered STAR TREK movies being stinkers. Let’s not belabor the point. Face it, it’s true. Two, aliens are just humanoids with bones in their foreheads and weird hair. Well, it beats Muppets, I suppose.

    I’m out of space again and only now beginning to realize how cruel and subtle is my punishment. I thought STAR TREK was going to be a two-part column, maybe three tops. But I’ve got ten movies and three series to go and for all I know, they’ll release a new movie or cough up a new series or two before I can even finish trashing the old ones. Well, unlike Sisyphus, I’m only going to push this particular rock uphill when there’s nothing better to do. So next week, either part three of STAR TREK, or a new column on something else that catches my eye.

    Dwayne McDuffie is the writer and co-creator of several comic books, including DAMAGE CONTROL, ICON and THE ROAD TO HELL. He figures he’ll probably end up doing more STAR TREK next week, as there’s nothing cool coming up on TV until May sweeps.

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    Edgewise #4 : The original Star Trek

    November 1st, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Columns and Essays

    Not entirely certain when Dwayne wrote these “Edgewise” columns for the now-defunct Fantasticon.com. This was as he described it, “STAR TREK, pt. 1.The Original Series and why it’s smart.”

    Read on-

    Edgewise #4

    My glorious and celestial leaders at FANTASTICON (who, contrary to rumor, are NOT disembodied, primary-colored brains floating in glass cases of nutrient fluid) have instructed me that EDGEWISE cannot continue until I’ve made my position clear on STAR TREK. “No one will respect your opinions on sci-fi, fantasy and the like until they know where you stand on this absolutely vital issue,” they said to me, telepathically. Not that they don’t have lips. That’s just an ugly rumor. Nevertheless, rather than raise their ire and have them crush my still-beating heart in my chest with their mighty telekinetic powers, following are my opinions (in fact; the only possible CORRECT opinions) on all things Trek. Clip and save this one and try and memorize it, so you won’t look stupid at parties.

    STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES

    I like this one the best. A bizarro humanism combines with the best of sixties American imperialism to breathtaking effect. Cowboy Captain Kirk screwed his way across the galaxy and phasered anything he didn’t understand. Sometimes he phasered stuff he DID understand, just because it was so butt-ugly. Then he’d give a speech about the inherent wonderfulness of humanity. Damn straight. The “Prime Directive” was taken about as seriously as the average TV cop takes the instruction, “I mean it, hand over your badge! You’re off of this case!” By the way, in the original series, the Prime Directive was STAR TREK’s sacred creed of absolute non-interference in alien cultures – you know, unless Kirk thinks it’s time for some changes around here. This is how it SHOULD be (in THE NEXT GENERATION, they’d screw up this rule something fierce. We’ll talk more about that later). STAR TREK was at its best when the scripts were morality plays in sci-fi drag. The ingenious device of splitting the main character’s psyche into three distinct characters (Kirk, Spock and McCoy as ego, super-ego and id) allowed what would normally be INTERNAL ethical and emotional struggles to play EXTERNALLY, as dramatic scenes. Plus, plenty of running, jumping, fighting, women in scanty clothes and, most importantly, MONSTERS.

    (Dwayne McDuffie’s Second law of enjoying science fiction and not being such a damned nerd: TV and movie Science Fiction projects should always have MONSTERS in them, otherwise I’ll just watch LAW AND ORDER.)

    But the most important fact about the original series is this: even the suckiest ones – you know; the space Hippies; the remote-controlled Mr. Spock; the one with the flying fake vomit creatures – even these weren’t BORING. Sadly, this would never again be true.

    Next week, I’ll continue to tell you what your opinions on STAR TREK should be, touching on all the movies and on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. I’ll likely torque you off something fierce. You wouldn’t want to miss THAT, now would you?

    Dwayne McDuffie is the co-creator of several comic books, including ICON, STATIC and XOMBI. He promises that he’ll eventually review DEEP SPACE NINE and VOYAGER, but that may have to wait for another couple of weeks, as he’s afraid of looking too much like a geek.

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    Basketball Diaries

    October 31st, 2011 | Posted by Eugene Son in Dwayne McDuffie Stories

    This blog isn’t going to only be stories about Dwayne McDuffie’s work and legacy. There are many inconsequential fun stories that he told us that we’ll share here.

    Dwayne didn’t like to talk about his athletic prowess, which was totally understandable. As a 6’7″ African-American male, strangers would regularly dismiss him and assume that he was just a dumb jock. Even after he explained to them politely that he was not a professional football or basketball player, they would still treat him like an athlete because of his height and skin-color.

    But he loved sports and was a great athlete. In high school, he was an all-state soccer goalie. Can you imagine what it must’ve been like for his high school opponents trying to kick a ball past a 6’7″ soccer goalie?

    He also played ice hockey growing up (and was a big Detroit Red Wings fan). Imagine what it must’ve been like for his opponents trying to stick handle a puck around a 6’7″ defenseman?

    Detroit Red Wings
    These two guys won 7 Stanley Cups, but neither one is 6’7″.

    (Yes, I’m aware that this is a hockey photo in a post called “Basketball Diaries” so don’t bother pointing that out. )

    Dwayne told stories about his experiences in boxing, martial arts, baseball, and he told me two GREAT stories about his high school basketball days. One of them he wrote in a column about the Star Trek movie, which I’ll post later this week.

    The other is this story-

    Since his high school didn’t have a girls’ basketball program, a girl played on the boys team. At one point during a game, there was a turnover and their team had a three-on-zero fast break. The point guard had the ball, with Dwayne and the girl following him.

    Just like they had practiced, the point guard threw the ball hard off the backboard. Dwayne went down on his hands and knees near the basket. The girl stepped on Dwayne’s back as a step stool, jumped, grabbed the ball in the air, and DUNKED it. The crowd went NUTS.

    The ref immediately blew his whistle and waived off the basket. There was no argument. It was the right call, since it’s illegal in basketball to use another player to vault yourself.

    But as Dwayne walked back past the ref, Dwayne told the ref, “Eh, it was still worth it.”

    The ref laughed so hard he almost swallowed his whistle.

    Wasn’t the first time Dwayne had crippled someone with laughter and it wouldn’t be the last.

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