I’m proud to announce the 2018 nominees for the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity. Now in its fourth year, the award not only honors Dwayne’s memory but spotlights comics work that promotes a diverse view of the world – both behind the page and on it.

As one of the judges, this is a chances for me to discover exciting work by a wide range of creators – some known, some unknown and some who need to be better known. It is once of my favorite jobs of the year.

UPDATE: The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Long Beach Comic Expo. Voice actor Phil LaMarr will once again be the MC, Don McGregor (Black Panther) is a guest speaker, and voice actor/voice director Andrea Romano is giving the keynote.

Here’s a link to a beautiful pic of Andrea & Dwayne together at the NY Paley Center premiere of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, 7 years ago today :’)

And the nominees are:

Chimera, written and illustrated by Tyler Ellis (Comicker)

Full Circle,written by Taneka Stotts, art by Christianne Goudreau (Published online)

Leon: Protector of the Playground, written an illustrated by Jamar Nicholas (Kids Love Comics)

The Once & Future Queen, written by Adam P. Knave & D.J. Kirkbride, art by Nick Brokenshire (Dark Horse)

Quince, written by Sebastian Kadlecik and Kit Steinkellner, art by Emma Steinkellner (Fanbase Press)

Nominees were chosen by the judging panel which included Mark D. Bright, Jennifer de Guzman, Joan Hilty, Jamal Igle, Mikki Kendall, Kevin Rubio, Gail Simone, Will J. Watkins and myself.

The winner will be announced this Friday at the conclusion of the C3 conference as part of the

Long Beach Comic Expo. For more information on the awards, visit the home page.