Five nominees have been announced for the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics, which will be given at the Long Beach Comic Expo on February 20th. The award is meant to recognize work that promotes diversity in comics, whether on the page or on the creative side, and is named for the late Dwayne McDuffie, who was an outspoken advocate for diversity through his work in comics and animation.

  • Andre The Giant: Closer to Heaven by Brandon Easton and Denis Medri, from IDW
  • Fresh Romance, edited by Janelle Asselin, from Rosy Press
  • Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur by Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder and Natacha Bustos, from Marvel.
  • Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona, from Marvel.
  • Zana by Jean Barker and Joey Granger, from Emet Comics.

The list of contributors to Fresh Romance includes Kate Leth, Arielle Jovellanos, Amanda Scurti, Taylor Esposito, Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Ryan Ferrier, Sarah Kuhn, Sally Jane Thompson, Savanna Ganucheau, Steve Wands, Marguerite Bennett, Trungles, Rachel Deering, Marcy Cook, Maya Kern, Maddi Gonzalez, Jen Van Meter, Kyle Latino, Marissa Louise, Taneka Stotts, Genue Revuelta, Cecil Castellucci, Irene Koh, Jeremy Holt, and Elizabeth Beals.

The nominees are quite a selection of books. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Ms. Marvel are both set in the Marvel superhero universe, and star young women of color. Fresh Romance is an anthology featuring love stories by and about a diverse range of people. Zana is a science fiction comic about apartheid. And of course, Closer to Heaven is a biography of real-life wrestling legend Andre the Giant. Last year's inaugural McDuffie Award was won by Nilah Magruder for M.F.K..

Speaking to THR, award director Neo Edmund said:

The Dwayne McDuffie Award is a significant step forward in not merely acknowledging the need to expand diversity of the characters represented in comics and those who create them, but also taking action to make that need into a reality. Stories arise from a diverse array of voices from all over the world, thus playing a pivotal role in broadening our understanding of cultural values beyond our own.

 

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