RIP Dwayne McDuffie

I'm saddened to hear of the passing of Dwayne McDuffie, one of those writers whose work I never seem to have read enough of.

Like a lot of people, I discovered his work through episodes of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, arguably one of the best superhero cartoon shows that has ever graced the TV. It seemed to be one of those rare adaptions that cut to the very core of what and who these characters were, while at the same time telling the kinds of stories that the comics were in dire need of. And key to that was Dwayne McDuffie's masterful storytelling and characterisation. Without him, those series would've just been good, but with him, they were bloody wonderful. He was a guy seemed to just...get it; he knew what these characters were all about and he seemed to know exactly what to do to show you how awesome they were in a way they never quite seemed to be in their four coloured counterparts.

Such is my shameful lack of knowledge of McDuffie's work, I actually thought he'd made the step from TV to comics, and not the other way around, and was surprised to find out how much great, solid work he'd turned out down the years. His run on Fantastic Four felt fresh and fun after J Michael Straczynski's rather staid and forced run on it; his brief stint with Justice League Of America was good, solid superhero storytelling, despite the barriers he'd had placed in front of him. But, for me, I think it was the Damage Control mini-series that tied into Marvel's World War Hulk event that really turned me into a fan; some genuine laugh out loud moments mixed with a completely brilliant concept, Damage Control was a genius piece of work, and one that I could've done with reading on a monthly basis.

So, this weekend, I think I'm going to go and find some Dwayne McDuffie penned comics and re-watch his episodes of Justice League. Seems like the least anyone can do to remember his legacy.

Movies in a nutshell...

Images by B3ta.com board member Captn Hood-Butter

Darth Vader has some spare time...

Rejected Love Hearts...

...coz it's Valentine's Day or something.

Image by B3ta.com board member Surfpunk

A long lost Bruce Lee scene...?

Well, I thought it was funny...

Playmobil Joy Division

This has already done the rounds in the internets, I know, but I just love it...

The Creator-Owned Comics Blog

After Chris Smits' appeal, he and Patrick Brower have set up the Creator Owned Comics Blog, a place designed to highlight the creator owned comics hitting the shelves of your local comic shop each and every Wednesday.

This is, I think, an utterly fantastic idea, and, with the current calls from various comic pros to support and push creator owned comics, I think this could well be one of the most vital and important comic related websites out there. Even if it just turns one person on to a creator owned book, it's achieved something worthwhile, but I genuinely hope this blog will turn whole audiences on to creator owned series, and help them discover some real treasures they may well be missing out on.

If you're not already following it, or haven't subscribed to the RSS feed or even bookmarked it, go and do it now!

Portrait of a writer-y type...

Props to Valia Kapadai for providing this rather lovely portrait of myself:

I do believe she's caught my best side...

Covering Zarjaz

Obviously, you're all following The Quaequam Blog, home of The Galaxy's Greatest Fanzines, but in case you missed it, editor extraordinaire Bolt-01 released the cover image for Zarjaz #11, an ABC Warriors special - by none other than current ABC Warriors artist Clint Langley!

I've mentioned time and time again on this here blog, that I've been fortunate enough to land a strip in this very issue, with the far too talented Chris Askham on art, and seeing this cover in all it's electronic glory... Well, it just brings home how lucky I was.

I'll post more on the strip, Tin Man, the strip from me and Chris, closer to the time of release.