The 11th Annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics is now officially accepting submissions. In addition, Dr. Eve L. Ewing has joined this year’s Selection Committee which also includes Beat EiC Heidi MacDonald.
Read the official PR below for details:
The 11th annual “Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics” is now accepting submissions at DwayneMcDuffie.com. The deadline is May 1, 2026 for comics published during the 2025 calendar year.
USA Today and New York Times best-selling author, scholar, and comic book writer, Dr. Eve L. Ewing joins a selection committee of notable comic book professionals led by industry legend, Marv Wolfman. This prestigious prize has grown exponentially in esteem since it was established in 2015 in honor of Dwayne McDuffie (1962-2011), the legendary African-American comic book writer/editor and writer/producer of the animated Static Shock, Justice League, and Ben 10: Alien Force/Ultimate Alien, who famously co-founded Milestone Media, the most successful minority-owned comic book company in the history of the industry.
More about Dwayne McDuffie: In His Own Words
The slogan for the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics is Mr. McDuffie’s own profound saying:
“From invisible to inevitable.”
Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a writer, scholar, and cultural organizer who is an associate professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. She is a USA Today and New York Times best-selling author, has published poetry, nonfiction work, a novel for young readers, and co-authored a play. In addition, her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues. She has written several projects for Marvel Comics, most notably, Ironheart, Black Panther, and Exceptional X-Men, and is currently writing X-Men United. She is also proud to be a co-owner of Build Coffee & Books on Chicago’s South Side.
Fan-favorite actor, Phil LaMarr, who worked extensively with Mr. McDuffie both in the title role of the animated Static Shock as well as the voice of John Stewart/Green Lantern on the animated Justice League, had this to say about his perennial involvement with the DMADs:
“The DMADs are continuing the legendary effection of Dwayne McDuffie and keeping diversity and representation alive in comics and in this country.”
Continuing Director of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics, Will J. Watkins, reminded us of the significance of representation, embodied by this award:
“Now more than ever it’s critical to ensure Dwayne’s legacy of excellence, humanity and truthfulness in storytelling is never forgotten. For the last 10 years, the DMAD has been able to highlight, elevate, and create more space to celebrate the work of a wide variety of diverse comic book creators. We plan to do that for this 11th year, another 10 years, and beyond.”
Mr. McDuffie’s widow, Charlotte (Fullerton) McDuffie, emphasized the importance of the DMADs to emerging talent:
“The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics annually focuses attention on diverse creators and inclusive content—that’s the attention of both readers and the industry too. I’m proud to be able to say that our past winners and nominees have gone on to advance their careers in comics and animation thanks to the DMADs, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this next batch of creators does to make me proud.”
PAST WINNERS
2024 – Call Me Iggy
Written by Jorge Auirre
Illustrated by Rafael Rosado
2023 – Aya Claws Come Out
Written by Marguerite Abouet
Illustrated by Clément Oubrerie
2022 – Ripple Effects
Written by Jordan Hart
Illustrated by Bruno Chiroleu
2021 – Adora and the Distance
Written by Marc Bernadin
Illustrated by Ariela Kristantina
2020 – They Called Us Enemy
Written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott
Illustrated by Harmony Becker
2019 – Archival Quality
Written by Ivy Noelle Weir
Illustrated by Christina Stewart
2018 – Leon: Protector of the Playground
Written & Illustrated by Jamal Nicholas
2017 – Upgrade Soul
Written & Illustrated by Ezra Clayton Daniels
2016 – Ms. Marvel
By G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona
2015 – M.F.K.
By Nilah Magruder
2025 Selection Committee
Colleen Doran is a cartoonist, writer/artist whose works include the multi-award winning adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Snow, Glass, Apples, as well as Gaiman’s Chivalry, Norse Mythology, and American Gods, and art for The Sandman, The Vampire Diaries, multiple Wonder Woman titles, and hundreds of other comics. She also illustrated Stan Lee’s New York Times best-selling autobiography Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible Stan Lee. She writes and draws the space opera series A Distant Soil. Among her numerous awards and nominations are Eisner awards, the Harvey Award, The International Horror Guild Award, the Ringo and the Bram Stoker Award.
Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a writer, scholar, and cultural organizer who is an associate professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. She is a USA Today and New York Times best-selling author, has published poetry, nonfiction work, a novel for young readers, and co-authored a play. In addition, her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues. She has written several projects for Marvel Comics, most notably, Ironheart, Black Panther, and Exceptional X-Men, and is currently writing X-Men United. She is also proud to be a co-owner of Build Coffee & Books on Chicago’s South Side.
Heidi MacDonald is the editor-in-chief of Comicsbeat.com and has edited comics for Disney, DC Comics, Vertigo, HarperCollins and Z2. She can be heard on Publishers Weekly’s weekly podcast More To Come and found regularly on the Beat’s YouTube channel.
Jamal Igle is the writer/artist/creator of Molly Danger for Action Lab Entertainment, the co-creator/artist of The Wrong Earth for Ahoy Comics, co-creator of Dudley Datson and the Forever Machine for Comixology, and the penciller of the critically acclaimed series, BLACK from Black Mask Studios, as well as many titles for DC, Marvel and Dark Horse. He’s been a storyboard artist for Sony Animation and is also a popular guest lecturer on the subjects of comics and animation.
Kevin Rubio is a writer/producer who has contributed to Justice League Action, Avengers Assemble, Thunderbirds Are Go!, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. He is also the creator and writer of the Star Wars graphic novel, Tag & Bink Were Here, and Red 5 Publication’s Abyss Vol. I & II. He is an inaugural recipient of the George Lucas Film Award for his Star Wars short film, TROOPS, is a Promax Award winner, and is an Emmy nominee.
Geoffrey Thorne is the writer/creator of Mosaic for Marvel Comics and the writer behind the transformation of DC Comics’ John Stewart from Green Lantern to the Emerald Knight. He was also the head writer and showrunner of Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther’s Quest as well as a writer, producer and co-executive producer on such hit series as Leverage, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Power: Book II: Ghost. He is the executive producer of the hit sci-fi/fantasy audio drama series Dreamnasium and of Redjack: the Animated Shorts on YouTube. He was most recently the co-executive producer and head writer for Marvel Animation’s Annie Award- Nominated Eyes of Wakanda.
Eric Wallace is a Saturn Award-winning writer/producer/director responsible for projects in almost every media imaginable, including the animated series Ben 10: Omniverse and Duel Masters; helping to revive the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows on audiobooks with the original cast; contributing to the Scribblenauts videogame franchise; and writing for DC Comics on multiple titles, including the award-winning Mr. Terrific. His live-action credits include the Syfy Channel’s Eureka, followed by Z Nation, Teen Wolf—which featured his directorial debut—and most recently as Showrunner and EP of CW’s The Flash.
Will J. Watkins (Director of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics) is a freelance TV, film, and animation writer who is also comic book story/world-building consultant on The Protectors graphic novel published by Athlita Comics. He had a stint as an assistant editor at DC Comics and, before moving to LA, he co-owned Chicago’s first African American-owned comic book shop, which he has recently resurrected as an online shop. He was a writer on Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem and most recently worked on a top secret TV show adapted from a BOOM! Studios comic book.
Matt Wayne has written for many highly-regarded animation projects, including Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, Cannon Busters, Niko and the Sword of Light, the Emmy-nominated Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms, Hello Kitty: Supercute Adventures and most recently, the multiple award-winning Iyanu: Child of Wonder. His comics work includes Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Static/Black Lightning, and writing and editing for the original Milestone Media comics line.
Marv Wolfman is the multi-award-winning writer who created Blade for Marvel Comics, The New Teen Titans for DC Comics, and legions of other iconic characters and stories. In addition to comic books, he’s written for animation, videogames, novels and more. It’s been said that he’s created more characters who’ve made the jump to movies, TV shows, toys, games and animation than any other writer save Stan Lee.
