PHILADELPHIA — Dwayne McDuffie, who wrote comic books for Marvel and DC and founded his own publishing company before crossing over to television and animation, has died. He was 49.

The Detroit native died Monday, a day after his birthday, DC Comics said. His cause and place of death weren’t immediately known.

McDuffie wrote comics for the New York-based DC and Marvel, including runs on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, the Fantastic Four and the Justice League of America. He also penned several animated television shows and features, including the just-released “All-Star Superman” as well as “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” and the animated TV series “Static Shock” and “Ben 10: Alien Force.”

In 1992, McDuffie formed the comic book company Milestone Media Inc., which focused on creator-owned multicultural superheroes including “Hardware,” “Icon,” “Blood Syndicate,” “Xombi” and “Static.”