You may remember a few months back we brought you a trailer for a Static inspired fan film. Called Static Shock: Blackout and based on the DC Comics (via Milestone) character, we wondererd what the full version would look like. I believe our words where, we were “heartily” looking forward to it. The wait is over…it’s here. Shot on a student budget with limited resources (about $5,000), this fan film shows huge potential. Starring Stefan Dezil as Virgil Hawkins, aka Static, the film serves to honor the memory of Dwayne McDuffie who created the character. I’m loving it. Give it a look for yourself and check out the film’s Facebook page for more information and updates.

(via Lady Geek Girl and Friends)

It’s funny, because I was just writing about Wonder Woman this week for an unrelated project, and talking about how I’m relatively unfamiliar with her, and why. My point was that I’ve never really been overly interested in her as character because she is inextricable from the idea of “women.” To quote Dwayne McDuffie “If you do [one] black character or a female character or an Asian character, then they aren’t just that character. They represent that race or that sex, and they can’t be interesting because everything they do has to represent an entire block of people.” The solution is to provide a spectrum of characters that represent that block, and Wonder Woman, in her origin both fictional and real, was intended not just to be “a female superhero,” but “the female superhero.” As McDuffie was trying to point out: it’s hard to make a character a person when they have to represent an entire demographic of people. My growing interest in Wonder Woman as a character has paralleled my reading of stories that present her as human (metaphorically).

But when I said that the difficulty of extricating Wonder Woman from her status as “a paragon of the feminine” lead to me to be less interested in her, what I didn’t mean was that she should be separated completely from her origins as “a paragon of the feminine.” Which is kind of what happened in this week’s issue of Wonder Woman. (Spoilers ahead.)

Earlier this week we brought you an interview with Justice League: Doom voice actor Phil Morris. I have to say, he was a great interview (definitely in my top 10) but casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano is always one of my favorite people to speak with. Her credits include the animated series Smurfs, Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Avatar: the Last Airbender and good lord, so many other things we watch and love. Hear what she has to say about her latest release, Justice League: Doom, as well as what it’s like to work with voice actors, and what we can expect down the road from Warner Home Video. 

Phil Morris has played a Jem’Hadar, a Martian, and a lawyer. Quite the interesting combination. Yes, you’ve seen him in several Star Trek incarnations, but most fans either know him as John Jones (Martian Manhunter) from Smallville or Jackie Chiles, the fast-talking lawyer from Seinfeld. But the actor has a lengthy voice acting career under his belt as well and most recently took on the role of immortal Vandal Savage in the Warner Home Video release, Justice League: Doom, in stores today. The Mary Sue recently got a chance to speak with Morris about the role, his career as a whole, and his huge comic book collection. 

Today marks a year from the death of Dwayne McDuffie, writer of comics and television, creator of Static Shock, and crusading comics creator for making more than token additions of characters of color, female characters, and LGBTQ characters in superhero comics. And while the New 52 comic series featuring his most famous character Virgil Hawkins/Static Shock is being cancelled (DC editors recently confirmed that he will be joining the Teen Titans), and under some ignominy no less, that doesn’t mean that fans have forgotten about him.

Especially not Stefan Dezil, who has already begun work on a twelve-minute Static Shock fan film entitled Static Shock: Blackout, which doesn’t just feature Static, but is told through the experiences of Daisy Watkins, “up and coming news reporter” from New York, Static’s canonical girlfriend. This is just the minute long trailer, but the full film, shot for a mere $5k, will be available online for free later this month. We heartily look forward to it.

(via Comics Alliance.)

As we muddle through what I like to call Drecktember, when it can’t decide between summer or fall, at least we can be assured of one thing: Winter is coming. Not for a while, but it is definitely coming. And you can get this on a t-shirt! (via Fashionably Geek)

The DCnU’s lineup has had only a few change-ups at this point, mostly artists bowing out of the responsibilities of putting a monthly book together, but yesterday saw the first vacancy in the lineup for a writer, with John Rozum announcing his resignation from writing the ongoing Static Shock title.

This is disappointing, however, it also doesn’t seem to be in any way DC Comics’ fault, and honestly that deserves a mention.

Though Dwayne McDuffie died only early this year, the legacy of the characters he created and wrote in the DC  and Marvel universes remains dismal. A tribute issue created by many of the people who worked most closely with him will reach shelves next Wednesday, and I’ll certainly be giving DC my money for it not least because I enjoyed much of McDuffie’s writing in the DC Animated Universe and on the Static Shock show but only learned about his inspiring career after his death. He certainly knew a thing or two about how to write characters who weren’t white or male.

Static, arguably McDuffie’s most famous original character, though he exists in the DC universe, has not been used as a character for some years. An new ongoing Static series was announced in 2010, but delayed, and, post McDuffie’s death, canceled.

(via DC Women Kicking Ass.)

The man pictured above is named Rob Granito, and according to numerous people, he has been ripping off artists and collectors for years. He runs a table at conventions, selling what he calls “original” art when it has clearly and blatantly been ripped off from other artists. Not only that, but he also pads his résumé like nobody’s business. Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston has been digging deep into this, and what he’s found is pretty infuriating. And illegal. See for yourself after the jump.

Dwayne McDuffie, writer of comics, movies and television; and crusader for minority representation in mainstream superhero comics, has died due to surgical complications.

You might not be familiar with McDuffie’s name, but if you’ve been reading comics or watching superhero cartoons for the last couple of decades, you’ll be familiar with his work.  McDuffie began his career at Marvel with comics like Damage Control, worked freelance for both of the Big Two for a few years, and then, fed up with lack of minority representation outside of tokenism in superhero comics, he founded Milestone Media to help fix the problem.