Dwayne McDuffie

Dwayne McDuffie: In addition to the comic books I write on those increasingly rare occasions when I can score an assignment, I'm a script editor on Static Shock! (the KIDS WB! animated series based on my comic book, Static) and am a producer on the Cartoon Network animated series, Justice League Unlimited. In addition to episodes of those shows, I've also written for Justice League, What's New Scooby Doo? and Teen Titans (2 episodes). Upcoming comics work includes the all-new The Road To Hell graphic novel (with co-writer and creator Matt S. Wayne and artist Rick Parker).

Dwayne McDuffie: I read tons of comics. I was mostly a Marvel fan, my big favorites were Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four. I also liked the off-the-beaten-path stuff, Black Panther, Howard The Duck (don't make those faces, the COMIC was great), Deathlok, The Defenders. The only DC books I collected regularly were Legion of Super Heroes and The New Teen Titans. Later, I got seriously into DC with Watchmen, V For Vendetta and The Dark Knight Returns.

JLAnimated: In terms of production, from when the production/direction/writing crew has your initial sit down meeting to formulate an episode, how long does it usually take from that initial sit down until an episode is "delivered" to CN for broadcast? Dwayne: Looking at my calendar, eight or nine months, I'd guess. As to when they're aired, that's up to the network.

Dwayne McDuffie: (About bringing the Milestone Characters back) We'd love to do it, there have been talks with DC on and off over the years but we've never quite come to terms. As things stand, I'm more inclined to do the characters outside of the DCU. Anyway, the return of Milestone characters is always a possibility and not just in comics, he said, provocatively...

Dwayne McDuffie: I loved "Static in Africa" and "Flashback." Justice League has had so many great episodes that it would be easier to name the handful of duds I helped make (but I'm not going to). If you hold a gun to my head, out of the stuff that's aired I'd say "Starcrossed," "For The Man Who Has Everything" and "A Better World" are my favorites. I don't want to jinx us, but in my opinion, we've got six or seven shows left this season as good or better than anything we've ever done. If I'm wrong about this, I'm sure you guys will tell me.

Dwayne McDuffie: The idea of a comic book I helped make up becoming a hit TV show makes me pretty happy. I have to say, I'm also proud of my Humanitas Prize for "Jimmy," my Writers Guild Award nomination for "Starcrossed" and my Emmy nominations (I'm the only guy on the Justice League team who doesn't have a double armful of the things, so I'm still impressed). It's been an exciting couple of years.

Dwayne McDuffie: (About JLU) It's a tour of the DC Universe. We're going [to] go to a lot of different DCU locations we've never seen before.

JLanimated: Now that we know a little more about you, we can move on to questions regarding the DCUA: Are there any plans to bring back the Milestone characters either as a separate entity or as part of the mainstream DCU? Dwayne McDuffie: We'd love to do it, there have been talks with DC on and off over the years but we've never quite come to terms. As things stand, I'm more inclined to do the characters outside of the DCU. Anyway, the return of Milestone characters is always a possibility and not just in comics, he said, provocatively...