Dwayne McDuffie, a pioneer of comic books with African-American heroes, died in 2011. Following his death, veteran producer Reginald Hudlin teamed with McDuffie’s former business partners to relaunch his company, Milestone Media, in tribute to the trailblazing artist.

But in a lawsuit filed Monday in L.A. Superior Court, the artist’s widow alleges that his estate was excluded from the revived company.

McDuffie wrote for Marvel and DC before launching Milestone Media in 1992 in an effort to bring greater representation of black heroes to comics. Milestone had a publishing agreement with DC Comics. McDuffie developed the characters Icon and Static, and produced a TV show, “Static Shock,” which aired on the WB network.

McDuffie died of complications from heart surgery at the age of 49. In 2015, Hudlin announced that he and McDuffie’s original partners would revive Milestone Media for a new generation of comics fans. Hudlin, who produced “Django Unchained” and directed the forthcoming Thurgood Marshall biopic “Marshall,” told the Washington Post that he and partners Derek Dingle and Denys Cowan hatched the idea to relaunch Milestone while gathered at McDuffie’s wake.

McDuffie’s widow, Charlotte McDuffie, alleges that his estate was excluded from the revived venture. At the time of his death, McDuffie owned 50% of Milestone Media, with Dingle owning the other half, the suit contends.

The three partners did not buy out McDuffie’s share of the company. Instead, they formed a new company called Milestone Media Company LLC, also referred to as “Milestone 2.0,” which took control of Milestone’s intellectual property, the suit alleges.

Charlotte McDuffie alleges that her inquiries about the new company have been met with “stalling and stonewalling tactics.” According to the suit, the new company is seeking to expand Milestone’s relationship with DC Comics, and is talking to other publishers about new projects, “all the while utilizing the intellectual property rightfully owned by Milestone, without compensation to Milestone or McDuffie’s estate, and without the consent of the Plaintiff or McDuffie’s heirs.”

The parties entered into a tolling agreement in April as they sought to settle the dispute. However, those talks appear to have broken down with the filing of the suit. In the agreement, Milestone’s partners issued a denial of the estate’s allegations.

Milestone’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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HeatBoost said:

On one hand, I can understand Mrs. McDuffie's desire not to get screwed in regards to her husband's co-creations

On the other hand, those Milestone characters are good shit, and if nobody arranges something with DC/Warners then they're not going to get used at all. Hopefully they can come to an agreement. Hudlin is a piece of shit, but Denys Cowan had an amicable relationship with all involved as far as I know.

Let it be said: the fact that "new Justice League" uses Cyborg for it's token black dude instead of Static is an act of criminal creative mayhem. He'd be so, so perfect for the role of audience POV character who is (potentially) powerful enough to hang with the big leagues. He's Black Lightning AND Magneto, on a good day. But nooo, let's take the character whose entire goddamn history is tied into the Teen Titans and cram him into 4th World stuff for some reason...

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HeatBoost said:

Let it be said: the fact that "new Justice League" uses Cyborg for it's token black dude instead of Static is an act of criminal creative mayhem. He'd be so, so perfect for the role of audience POV character who is (potentially) powerful enough to hang with the big leagues. He's Black Lightning AND Magneto, on a good day. But nooo, let's take the character whose entire goddamn history is tied into the Teen Titans and cram him into 4th World stuff for some reason...

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On a recent conference call, DC Entertainment copublishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee (who is also one of DC’s most popular artists) outlined a selection of the DC events that will take place during New York Comic Con and NYCC Presents.

One of the most anticipated events will be the relaunch of Milestone Media, the pioneering African-American–owned superhero comics publisher originally founded in the early 1990s by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek Dingle, and the late Dwayne McDuffie, which shut down operations in 1997. Lee says the line will be “unveiled” at NYCC this year as part of a panel that will include Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Kirkman is featuring Milestone’s pioneering line of minority superhero series—among them Static Shock, Icon, Hardware, and Blood Syndicate—in a segment of The Secret History of Comics, a documentary on comics history he has produced for AMC that will debut in November. The episode will be previewed during the panel. And look for appearances by Cowan, Reggie Hudlin, Kirkman, and Greg Pak.

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Ross61 said:

So bit if an update, but it seems DC will actually reveal the new Milestone line at NYCC this year.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/trade-shows-events/article/74791-dc-entertainment-at-new-york-comic-con.html

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Slayven said:

They have to be real careful not to shit on the ideas of why milestone was created

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ArgyleReptile said:

I have zero faith that they won't.

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Slayven said:

Oh yeah, dc does not have s good track record with sub franchises. I will hive it 6 months, if it isnt bad.

I doubt they will touch the stuff that actually made the characters unique. Icon being a black republican, Rocket being a teenage single mother, all of the Blood Syndicate, etc.

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LiveFromKyoto said:

TBF there's zero chance 2017 can handle a black republican.

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Slayven said:

That was the point in the original book. Icon wasn't the star, Rocket was. She was teaching about being a hero for the community. Before Rocket Icon was on some "pull up your pants" bullshit

I would read a comic where a Jason Whitlock or Stacy Dash type getting the wakeup call

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LiveFromKyoto said:

I could go for a revamp where he's a 'both sides' journalist who signs his emails with quotes of himself, attributed only to his last name because he thinks he's that big a deal.

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Slayven said:

Oh yeah, dc does not have s good track record with sub franchises. I will hive it 6 months, if it isnt bad.

I doubt they will touch the stuff that actually made the characters unique. Icon being a black republican, Rocket being a teenage single mother, all of the Blood Syndicate, etc.

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Sgt. Kabukiman said:

The Wildstorm revival has been great so far and I keep hearing good things about Young Animal. It all depends on the creative teams.

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Slayven said:

That was the point in the original book. Icon wasn't the star, Rocket was. She was teaching about being a hero for the community. Before Rocket Icon was on some "pull up your pants" bullshit

I would read a comic where a Jason Whitlock or Stacy Dash type getting the wakeup call

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otakukidd said:

Black libertarian?

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HeatBoost said:

On one hand, I can understand Mrs. McDuffie's desire not to get screwed in regards to her husband's co-creations

On the other hand, those Milestone characters are good shit, and if nobody arranges something with DC/Warners then they're not going to get used at all. Hopefully they can come to an agreement. Hudlin is a piece of shit, but Denys Cowan had an amicable relationship with all involved as far as I know.

Let it be said: the fact that "new Justice League" uses Cyborg for it's token black dude instead of Static is an act of criminal creative mayhem. He'd be so, so perfect for the role of audience POV character who is (potentially) powerful enough to hang with the big leagues. He's Black Lightning AND Magneto, on a good day. But nooo, let's take the character whose entire goddamn history is tied into the Teen Titans and cram him into 4th World stuff for some reason...

Click to expand...