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February 25, 2011

Giants

There are few men I've known whom I've admired more than Dwayne McDuffie. Few men whom I have learned more from or wanted to be more like. I am so grateful for his friendship, for having known him, spent time with him, laughed with him, fought with him, worked way past midnight with him. Iron sharpeneth iron, scripture tells us, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. In a tough business full of struggle and competition for fleeting moments of achievement, there simply wasn't a more talented creator, a more staunch ally or fearsome foe. There's bound to be a lot of jokes about Dwayne being a giant in the industry. He was a giant outside of it too. I can't begin to describe the inestimable loss Dwayne's passing represents to our work and our lives.

9 Comments

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Marquelon Sigler:

I didn't want to believe the Maestro was dead. God Bless his soul and his family. I will say this much...I mainly knew him from the "internet" starting back when he was on the Delphi Forums but I did get the chance to meet him in one time in 2006 for the San Diego Comic Con where he personally autographed my copies of Blood Syndicate , Hardware, and Icon. Maybe Static as well. I guess I said all that to say that the guy was a hero to me and I never realized how much he meant to me until he's gone. I watched the Static Shock carton but I loved his work on JLU,and he even got me interested in Ben 10. I remember reading his "Blink" Batman, along with his classic Damage Control, the Beyond mini-series, his run on Fantastic Four, and I even quit buying Justice League after I thought DC did him dirty to get him off the book. God Bless Dwayne McDuffie's soul in Heaven but he will be sorely missed by me here on Earth.

Matt Adler:

I used the word "giant" in my write-up of Dwayne's accomplishments ( http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/Ten_Things_You_Should_Know_About_Dwayne_McDuffie ), but to me it isn't a joke; giant is the word that perfectly describes his impact on the industry and lives of fans and professionals alike.

On a related note, I will take this opportunity to annoy you with yet another plea to be more regular in communications with us. Dwayne's passing reminds us to enjoy the presence of the people we admire while we still can, and we can't do that half as well if you're incommunicado.

Dwayne was indeed a Giant - capitalization planned with respectful aforethought - and a man Worth Knowing.

I couldn't quite believe the posts I was reading on LiveJournal when I logged in that afternoon, much less the news reports, either. I didn't want to believe them. Granted that the number of times I met him in person can be counted on one hand, but reading the reports hurt.

I'll close this rambling by seconding Matt's plea to stay in touch as best you can. His reasons are on target.

Karl A. Pierre:

I've read lots of Mr McDuffie's work.

His death really "bummed" me out.

He will be missed by us, humble readers and geeks.

I had the chance to meet Dwayne at a signing here in Minneapolis a couple of years back for some reason missed it figuring I would have the chance to speak with him in the future. Thankfully he left behind a pretty vast body of work.

Matt, above, summed up my thoughts perfectly as well. Hope to hear more from you.

Eileen:

You were the first person I thought of when the twitter message popped up on my desktop. I knew that you were not on twitter based on the fact you had not reacted to #dwaynemcduffie being a trending topic. If you go on twitter and check #dwaynemcduffie - you will find many postings. My first memory of The Master was how excitied he was to write the Fantastic Four. He did a beautiful job, imho. I must add that Matt and Dwight are correct. Your voice is loved and missed. Eileen

Dave Van Domelen:

It's a shame so many of the comments here are from spambots. It's like having peddlers show up to a wake.

(Uncivil comments deleted for decency's sake.)

 

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