Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics


The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics is given to a comic book aimed at younger readers that fulfills the criteria of quality, timelessness, originality, diversity, and inclusion. It is named in honour of Dwayne McDuffie, a creator known for his work creating comics and animation.
The award was created after consultation with McDuffie's widow Charlotte Fullerton.
Kids Read Comics administers the award. It is presented each year at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival at Ann Arbor District Library. Anyone can nominate a title for the award, but the shortlist and winner are chosen by a panel of judges including reviewers, librarians, teachers, and comic industry professionals.

Criticism

In 2017 the award was criticized for creating a shortlist of comics created almost entirely by white people. Raina Telgemeier won the award that year and in her acceptance speech highlighted ten recent graphic novels by diverse creators and gave away ten copies of each to members of the audience.
In response to the criticism the award began to allow anyone to nominate titles.

Award winners and nominees

2015