The latest series involving Static has been paying lots of homage to the original Milestone comic. Now, the artist for DC’s ongoing Static: Season One has revealed some more tributes that fans will love. These details give a direct nod to the creators that first brought Static and the Dakotaverse to life.
Milestone Media was founded in 1993 and was responsible for hit comics under the Milestone Comics heading. The company had a publishing deal with DC with Milestone owning the rights to its own characters. The Dakotaverse was eventually merged into DC’s broader universe under Earth-M. Now, DC has brought back Milestone’s most popular heroes in new series – Hardware: Season One, Icon and Rocket: Season One, and Static: Season One.
Static: Season One has the creative team of Vita Ayala, ChrisCross, and Nikolas Draper-Ivy. On Twitter, Draper-Ivy shared a sneak peek of a few panels from an upcoming issue of the series. This panel includes numerous nods to the legends that made Milestone, some of whom have passed on. The panel includes Virgil Hawkins in his Static costume and his best friends, Richie Foley and Frieda Goren.
Frieda’s baseball jersey is the most obvious reference, emblazoned with “Dakota Milestones” on the front. On the back is the name “McDuffie” and the number 93. These refer to Milestone’s Dakotaverse, the founding of the company in 1993, and one of the company’s founders, Dwayne McDuffie. He created and edited the original Static series, as well as Icon, Hardware, and many other Milestone comics. Additionally, the baseball bat Frieda is carrying reads “Davis”, which is likely a nod to Michael Davis (who is still alive despite reports to the otherwise a few years ago), who was also a co-founder of Milestone Media.
There are two other nods to Milestone and a legend from the company, which may be a little harder to catch in a single glance. Frieda’s belt resembles an “M”, looking like an inverted version of Milestone’s original logo. There is also an homage to John Paul Leon, who passed away this past May. On Richie’s pants, there is a band that reads “JPL ’93”. They are Leon’s initials and Milestone’s founding year – which was also the debut year of Static. Leon was an artist on the first nine issues of Static and he also worked on other Milestone projects including Icon, Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool, and the Static Shock Special from 2011. Each of these details acknowledges the history that Milestone, its founders, and its creative teams have created, as their legacy continues within the next stage of its characters’ journeys. These are the latest homages, of which the series has had a few, including having Milestone’s founders’ names and company logo on the theater featured on the cover of Static: Season One #1. The fourth issue of Static: Season One will be available on October 12.
