Yesterday we learned that McDuffie passed away suddenly at the age of 49. The website Comic Book Resources reports that he died from complications following surgery, but details are still coming in.
His individual contributions as a writer and producer, which I'll get to in a bit, remain impressive. But McDuffie was more than a writer, he was a voice — a passionate proponent for change in a genre (superhero comics) that reflexively resists it. And it's that voice that will be most acutely missed.
