History Creator / MilestoneComics

** ComicBook/{{Static}}'s enemy Hotstreak is so racist that he repeatedly calls the hero a "monkey".

%%* AntiHero:
%%** A good majority of Milestone heroes, save for Icon and Static, fall into this.
%%** The Blood Syndicate are probably the biggest samples. Most of the members aren't exactly nice people.

%%* CrisisCrossover: ''Shadow War'', ''Worlds Collide'', ''Long Hot Summer''.

%%* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Rocket.

%%* MutuallyFictional: The "Dakota-verse" and the DCU in ''Worlds Collide''.

%%* PrecisionFStrike: ''Deathwish'' #3: "Fuck art, let's dance!"
%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Edwin Alva.]]

%%* SacrificialLamb: Tech-Nine.

%%* ShockAndAwe: Static.

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Marisa Rahm, [[spoiler:as she calls herself after being experimented on by the Club-Haus Kidz, "a pregnant pre-op trans woman cyborg". Hardware quips that she's also bald now]].

* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: The Big Bang. All the various street gangs of Dakota decided to have a massive battle to decide control of the city once and for all. The police caught wind, and decided to use special tear gas that would let them track escaped gang members for days after the battle. However, the substance added to the tear gas, Quantum Juice, or "Q-juice," turned out to have unexpected effects: a vast majority of those exposed to it died instantly, but a small portion developed superpowers instead.

In addition to the above-mentioned ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' animated series, Static was featured in a guest-spot in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited''. ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' also features Icon and Rocket as members of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, and Static joins the cast in season two.

* CaptainErsatz: Buck Wild from ''Icon'' was a parody of Marvel's Luke Cage -- specifically his {{Blaxploitation}} JiveTurkey DorkAge. The "Funeral for a Fool" story revealed that he'd become ersatz versions of other famous black superheroes in his career, and he even became Icon's [[LegacyCharacter successor]] for a while.

While the distribution deal with DC was sweet, and Milestone's creative teams were good, the line was hobbled by a perception that Milestone was "[[MinorityShowGhetto comics for Black people]]", which kept many fans from investigating the books. (The fact many of their character's origins involved negative ethnic concepts -Icon's with slavery, Hardware's with the glass ceiling, Blood Syndicate and gang violence, etc.- didn't help.) At the same time, a glut of "new universes" was followed by a sharp downturn in overall comic book sales. In addition, each #1 issue tried its hardest to seem overly hardcore and militant -- which backfired badly.

[[index]]

[[index]]

* ComicBook/Hardware1993: Curtis Metcalf, a brilliant engineer, realizes his employer/mentor/father figure Edwin Alva (who only saw him as a "cog in his machine") is a supervillain-grade [[CorruptCorporateExecutive criminal mastermind]] and develops a suit of powered armor with embezzled funds to battle him and the organization backing him, the "SYSTEM".
[[/index]]

* Xombi: A Korean scientist develops nanomachines that allow him to regenerate by absorbing nearby materials, making him functionally immortal. This was Milestone's supernatural title and seriously weird (we're talking ComicBook/DoomPatrol weird here.)

[[caption-width-right:350: From left to right: ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Rocket, ComicBook/{{Static}}, ComicBook/{{Hardware}}.]]

* ComicBook/{{Hardware}}: Curtis Metcalf, a brilliant engineer, realizes his employer/mentor/father figure Edwin Alva (who only saw him as a "cog in his machine") is a supervillain-grade [[CorruptCorporateExecutive criminal mastermind]] and develops a suit of powered armor with embezzled funds to battle him and the organization backing him, the "SYSTEM".

In 1994, the main Milestone titles [[CrisisCrossover crossed over]] with DC's Franchise/{{Superman}}-related books, in the ''ComicBook/WorldsCollide1996'' storyline. In this story, a being with the ability to [[RealityWarper turn fiction into reality]] merges Metropolis and Dakota, leading to the heroes meeting and wondering [[MutuallyFictional which of them were real]].

In 1994, the main Milestone titles [[CrisisCrossover crossed over]] with DC's Franchise/{{Superman}}-related books, in the ''ComicBook/WorldsCollide'' storyline. In this story, a being with the ability to [[RealityWarper turn fiction into reality]] merges Metropolis and Dakota, leading to the heroes meeting and wondering [[MutuallyFictional which of them were real]].

* PrecisionFStrike: ''Deathwish'' #3: "Fuck art, let's dance!"

* {{Transgender}}:
** Marisa Rahm, the hero (but not the title character) of the ''Deathwish'' miniseries. [[Creator/MaddieBlaustein Maddie (nee Adam) Blaustein]] [[AuthorAvatar based the character on herself]]. Like Marisa, Maddie was also pre-op.
** Also, in ''Blood Syndicate'', [[spoiler:Masquerade, a shapeshifter. Born a woman, but uses his powers to become the man he always felt he should be. This isn't known by other members of the team at first, and is a notable Reveal about a year into the book's run.]]

A few years after that, Milestone and DC made another deal, announced at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, which established the Dakotaverse as Earth-M, one of the Earths in DC's [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], with Earth-M stories released as part of their own distinct line, rather than as part of the main DCU, akin to the original deal. This revival was later indefinitely shelved due to an [[ScrewedByTheLawyers ongoing legal dispute]] between Milestone co-creator Dwayne [=McDuffie=]'s widow on behalf of his estate and the other two creators of Milestone, Creator/DenysCowan and Michael Davis. In August 2017 she filed a lawsuit against the two of them alleging that they formed a new company entirely to make the deal with DC to cut her out of the half she is supposed to own. [[note]] She's supposed to own half of the shares while they each own a quarter of them [[/note]] In December of 2019, [[http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/milestone-lawsuit-settled/ the lawsuit was settled]]; the terms have not been disclosed. In 2021 it was announced that DC will once again revive the Milestone universe with ''Milestone Returns''.

A few years after that, Milestone and DC made another deal, announced at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, which established the Dakotaverse as Earth-M, one of the Earths in DC's [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], with Earth-M stories released as part of their own distinct line, rather than as part of the main DCU, akin to the original deal. This revival was later indefinitely shelved due to an [[ScrewedByTheLawyers ongoing legal dispute]] between Milestone co-creator Dwayne [=McDuffie=]'s widow on behalf of his estate and the other two creators of Milestone, Creator/DenysCowan and Michael Davis. In August 2017 she filed a lawsuit against the two of them alleging that they formed a new company entirely to make the deal with DC to cut her out of the half she is supposed to own. [[note]] She's supposed to own half of the shares while they each own a quarter of them [[/note]] In December of 2019, [[http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/milestone-lawsuit-settled/ the lawsuit was settled]]; the terms have not been disclosed.

A few years after that, Milestone and DC made another deal, announced at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, which established the Dakotaverse as Earth-M, one of the Earths in DC's [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], with Earth-M stories released as part of their own distinct line, rather than as part of the main DCU, akin to the original deal. This revival was later indefinitely shelved due to an [[ScrewedByTheLawyers ongoing legal dispute]] between Milestone co-creator Dwayne [=McDuffie=]'s widow on behalf of his estate and the other two creators of Milestone, Denys Cowan and Michael Davis. In August 2017 she filed a lawsuit against the two of them alleging that they formed a new company entirely to make the deal with DC to cut her out of the half she is supposed to own. [[note]] She's supposed to own half of the shares while they each own a quarter of them [[/note]] In December of 2019, [[http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/milestone-lawsuit-settled/ the lawsuit was settled]]; the terms have not been disclosed.

A few years after that, Milestone and DC made another deal, announced at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, which established the Dakotaverse as Earth-M, one of the Earths in DC's [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], with Earth-M stories released as part of their own distinct line, rather than as part of the main DCU, akin to the original deal. This revival was later indefinitely shelved due to an [[ScrewedByTheLawyers ongoing legal dispute]] between Milestone co-creator Dwayne [=McDuffie=]'s widow on behalf of his estate and the other two creators of Milestone, Denys Cowan and Michael Davis. In August 2017 she filed a lawsuit against the two of them alleging that they formed a new company entirely to make the deal with DC to cut her out of the half she is supposed to own. [[note]] She's supposed to own half of the shares while they each own a quarter of them [[/note]] The litigation is still ongoing

* ComicBook/{{Icon}}: Augustus Freeman IV, a wealthy conservative African-American who secretly has superhuman abilities (he's actually an alien) is convinced by a socially aware young woman, Raquel Ervin (who'd been participating in a robbery of his home) to become an [[TheCape inspirational]] superhero, with her as his sidekick, "Rocket".

* BadassGay: Several characters in different books, including Donner and Blitzen in ''Shadow Cabinet'', Fade of the ''Blood Syndicate'', and Marisa Rahm in ''Deathwish'' and ''Hardware''.

* ComicBook/{{Icon}}: August Freeman IV, a wealthy conservative African-American who secretly has superhuman abilities (he's actually an alien) is convinced by a socially aware young woman, Raquel Ervin (who'd been participating in a robbery of his home) to become an [[TheCape inspirational]] superhero, with her as his sidekick, "Rocket".

Creator/MilestoneComics was the imprint of Milestone Media, a coalition of African-American comics creators who felt that mainstream superhero comic books severely under-represented minorities. In a special deal with Creator/DCComics, the latter company distributed Milestone's output, but did not have editorial control over it. Milestone kept the copyrights, but DC got all the trademarks. It should be noted that, despite primarily featuring Black characters, Milestone aimed to showcase more ethnicities, and some of its heroes were Hispanic, Asian, and even, yes, White. It also featured gay and transgender characters. In addition, the line hired minority writers and artists such as the late Creator/MaddieBlaustein, who was openly transgender.

* BadassGay: Several characters in different books, including Donner and Blitzen in ''Shadow Cabinet'', Fade of the ''Blood Syndicate'', and Marisa Rahm in ''Hardware''.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Edwin Alva has a number of traits that come off as flamboyant—his large feather boa, for example. However, there were many examples of ''openly'' gay and lesbian characters in the various series.

-->'''Static:''' ''Justice'', Icon. I expect justice.
[[note]]From ''Icon'' #20[[/note]]