Mark Waid Joins Mostly White Judges Of Dwayne McDuffie Award For Diversity And Rants About "An Onslaught Of Bigotry And Intolerance"

The comic book industry is one of the worst virtue signaling places for diversity, equity, and inclusion in existence, and now an award for diversity, equity, and inclusion is being judged by white people in coimcs, Mark Waid, Marv Wolfman, and Heidi MacDonald, as they arbitrate who’s diverse enough for their inquisition.

Over the last decade, comics have become a toxic place of extreme leftism. The first signs of trouble went all the way back to the 2000s, where Orson Scott Card was blacklisted and his Superman comic book canceled because he stood for the Christian values of marriage between one man and one woman.

Chuck Dixon became another target of the mob, getting blacklisted from mainstream comics at much the same time, though recently he’s been able to parlay his career into action films with the new A Working Man film coming out soon.

All while this is going on, the comic book industry, while ironically excluding anyone who has any diverse opinions, is furthering a Dwayne McDuffie Award For Diversity that they’ve been running for the last ten years, adding a completely un-diverse group of white people as its panel of judges.

The award is stated as, “The prestigious Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics honors 5 finalists with 1 winner, whose commitment to excellence and inclusion—both on the page as well as behind the scenes—exemplifies the late Mr. McDuffie’s own career producing entertainment that reflects a wide scope of human experience, created by an equally wide scope of human beings. We are celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2025 at San Diego Comic Con International.”

It lists the requirements as, “Among the criteria for selection is: broadening the range of characters portrayed in comics; adding to the variety of creators contributing to the medium; influence on the marketplace; and contributions to the advancement of women, LGBTQ+s, and ALL minorities in comics and pop culture.”

Since conservatives and Christians would be the most underrepresented group in comics, it would follow that they should be included in the advancement of “all” minorities in comics and pop culture.

Dwayne McDuffie was a black creator within the industry known for creating his Milestone Comics imprint which featured other black creators. He, unfortunately, died early at the age of 49 in 2011.

The judges being promoted for the award seem to have a lot in common as they’re heralding that Marv Wolfman, famous for his run on Teen Titans, as well as Heidi MacDonald, who runs ComicsBeat, are adjudicating the award. This year, they’re being joined by none other than Mark Waid, a man notorious for pushing exclusivity and blacklisting of people he doesn’t agree with from the industry.

Mark Waid came under fire in early 2024 for attacking fellow creator Mark Millar in a ranting Facebook post.

He showed how anti-inclusive and anti-diverse he is in a comment where he told a reader, “I think a lot of us would rather see the industry burn down than ‘get together’ with the alt-right. I know I would. Sorry.”

Moreover, it was revealed last year that he attempted to harass a female editor at DC Comics decades ago because she was worried about pornographic images of children’s books, which he called “advocating censorship.”

Despite all of this, he’s out bragging about his inclusivity, “As a medium and as a community—even removing from consideration the onslaught of bigotry and intolerance sweeping the U.S. as we speak—the world of comics has a responsibility to recognize, promote, and honor comics that not only employ great storytelling but are emblematic of the power of equality and inclusion. As creators, good work from anyone forces us to up our game. As readers, we’re all better off—and more entertained and educated—when we’re exposed to the widest possible variety of voices and viewpoints.”

Waid joins Marv Wolfman and Heidi MacDonald as part of the judging team. Dwayne McDuffie’s widow, another white woman, is also a part of the team. The only black person listed on the committee is not someone who’s in the comic industry, but a voice actor who played McDuffie’s character Static in a cartoon, Phil LaMarr.

It’s very odd that the only people involved in the comic book industry on the award are all white people, given the award’s nature.

Regardless, the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the comic book industry has become little more than a joke at this point, and this Dwayne McDuffie award only furthers its farcical nature.

What do you think of Mark Waid judging a Dwayne McDufife Diversity Award? Leave a comment and let us know.

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