George Pérez (/ˈpɛrɛz/;[1] born June 9, 1954)[2][3] is a retired American comic book artist and writer,[4] whose titles include The Avengers, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman. Writer Peter David has named Pérez his favorite artistic collaborator.[5]
George Pérez | |
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![]() Pérez in 2012 | |
Born | June 9, 1954 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Writer, penciller, inker |
Notable works | The Avengers Crisis on Infinite Earths New Teen Titans Wonder Woman, vol. 2 |
Awards | Eagle Award, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2000 Inkpot Award, 1983 Jack Kirby Award, 1985, 1986 |
Spouse(s) | Carol Flynn |
George Pérez was born in the South Bronx, New York City, on June 9, 1954, to Jorge Guzman Pérez and Luz Maria Izquierdo, who were both from Caguas, Puerto Rico, but who did not meet until approximately 1949 or 1950, after both had settled in New Jersey while searching for job opportunities. They married in October 26, 1954 and subsequently moved to New York, where Jorge worked in the meat packing industry while Luz was a homemaker. George's younger brother David was born May 28, 1955. Both brothers aspired at a young age to be artists.[6] with George Pérez beginning to draw at the age of five.[3]
Pérez's first involvement with the professional comics industry was as artist Rich Buckler's assistant in 1973,[3] and he made his professional debut in Marvel Comics' Astonishing Tales #25 (Aug. 1974) as penciler of an untitled two-page satire of Buckler's character Deathlok, star of that comic's main feature.[7] Soon Pérez became a Marvel regular, penciling a run of "Sons of the Tiger", a serialized action-adventure strip published in Marvel's long-running Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine and authored by Bill Mantlo. He and Mantlo co-created the White Tiger (comics' first Puerto Rican superhero)[8] a character that soon appeared in Marvel's color comics, most notably the Spider-Man titles.
Pérez came to prominence with Marvel's superhero-team comic The Avengers,[9] starting with issue #141. In the 1970s, Pérez illustrated several other Marvel titles, including Creatures on the Loose, featuring the Man-Wolf; The Inhumans;[10] and Fantastic Four. Writer Roy Thomas and Pérez crafted a metafictional story for Fantastic Four #176 (Nov. 1976) in which the Impossible Man visited the offices of Marvel Comics and met numerous comics creators.[11] Whilst most of Pérez' Fantastic Four issues were written by Roy Thomas or Len Wein, it would be a Fantastic Four Annual[12] where he would have his first major collaboration with writer Marv Wolfman. Pérez drew the first part of writer Jim Shooter's "The Korvac Saga", which featured nearly every Avenger who joined the team up to that point.[13][14] Shooter and Pérez introduced the character of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council in the second chapter of that same storyline.[15] Writer David Michelinie and Pérez created the Taskmaster in The Avengers #195 (May 1980).[16]
The New Teen Titans #1 (Nov. 1980, inked by Dick Giordano) and Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (April 1985), two of the essential Pérez works for DC Comics in the 1980s
In 1980, while still drawing The Avengers for Marvel, Pérez began working for their rival DC Comics. Offered the art chores for the launch of The New Teen Titans, written by Wolfman, Pérez' real incentive was the opportunity to draw Justice League of America (an ambition of Pérez's which "seemed like a natural progress from the Avengers").[17] Long-time Justice League artist Dick Dillin died right around that time, providing an opportunity for Pérez to step in as regular artist.[17] While Pérez's stint on the JLA was popular with fans, his career took off with the New Teen Titans.[18] The New Teen Titans was launched in a special preview in DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980).[19] This incarnation of the Titans was intended to be DC's answer to Marvel's increasingly popular X-Men comic, and Wolfman and Pérez indeed struck gold.[20] A New Teen Titans drug awareness comic book sponsored by the Keebler Company,[21] and drawn by Pérez was published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983.[22] In August 1984, a second series of The New Teen Titans was launched by Wolfman and Pérez.[23] Moreover, Pérez's facility with layouts, details, and faces improved enormously during his four years on the book, making him one of the most popular artists in comics[24][25] as evidenced by the numerous industry awards he would receive during this time. (See Awards section below.)
Pérez took a leave of absence from The New Teen Titans in 1984[26] to focus on his next project with Marv Wolfman, DC's 1985 50th-anniversary event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Crisis purportedly featured every single character DC owned, in a story which radically restructured the DC universe's continuity.[27] Pérez was inked on the series by Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo, and Jerry Ordway.[28] After Crisis, Pérez inked the final issue of Superman (issue #423) in September 1986, over Curt Swan's pencils for part one of the two-part story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" by writer Alan Moore. The following month, Pérez was one of the artists on Batman #400 (October 1986)[29] Wolfman and Pérez teamed again to produce the History of the DC Universe limited series to summarize the company's new history.[30] Pérez drew the cover for the DC Heroes roleplaying game (1985) from Mayfair Games[31]:167 as well as the cover for the fourth edition of the Champions roleplaying game (1989) from Hero Games.[31]:148
Wonder Woman was rebooted in 1987. Writer Greg Potter spent several months working with editor Janice Race[32] on new concepts for the character, before being joined by Pérez.[33] Inspired by John Byrne and Frank Miller's work on refashioning Superman and Batman, Pérez came in as the plotter and penciler of Wonder Woman.[34] The relaunch tied the character more closely to the Greek gods[35] and jettisoned many of the extraneous elements of her history.[36] Pérez at first worked with Potter[37][38] and Len Wein[39] on the stories, but eventually took over the full scripting chores. Later, Mindy Newell joined Pérez as co-writer for nearly a year.[40] While not as popular as either Titans or Crisis, the series was a very successful relaunch of one of DC's flagship characters.[3][41] Pérez would work on the title for five years, leaving as artist after issue #24, but remaining as writer up to issue #62, leaving in 1992. In 2001, Pérez returned to the character, co-writing a two-part story in issues #168–169 with writer/artist Phil Jimenez. Pérez drew the cover for Wonder Woman #600 (Aug. 2010) as well as some interior art. For the successful 2017 Wonder Woman feature film, director Patty Jenkins would credit Pérez's work on the title character as a major influence, on par with the work of the original creator, William Moulton Marston.[42]
Pérez returned as co-plotter/penciller of The New Teen Titans with issue #50 (Dec. 1988), the series being renamed to The New Titans. Issue #50 tells a new origin story for Wonder Girl, her link to Wonder Woman having been severed due to retcons in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Pérez remained as penciller with the book through to issue #55, 57 and 60, while only providing layouts for issues 58–59, and 61, with artist Tom Grummett finishing pencils and Bob McLeod as inker. The "A Lonely Place of Dying" storyline crossed over with the Batman title and introduced Tim Drake as the new Robin.[43] Pérez remained as inker for the cover art to issues #62–67 and co-plotted the stories for #66–67 before departing from the Titans series once again.
Pérez would be involved with Superman in various times over his career. In Action Comics #544 (June 1983), he designed Lex Luthor's trademark battlesuit.[44] These new designs for the villain were featured as part of the licensed action figure toyline the Super Powers Collection and remain in use in today's DC Comics continuity. Pérez pencilled DC Comics Presents #61 (Sept. 1983) which featured a Superman/OMAC team-up. A few years later, Pérez inked John Byrne's pencils for the Superman/Wonder Woman story in Action Comics #600 (March 1988). He drew portions of Action Comics Annual #2 (1989) before taking over the title with issue #643 (July 1989). His work duties on Action Comics would change from writer/penciller, to co-writer/breakdowns, to providing breakdowns, with writer Roger Stern scripting stories and artists Brett Breeding and Kerry Gammill provided finishing art, while Pérez drew all covers during his run on the title, with the exception for issue #646 with interior pencils by Keith Giffen. Pérez briefly wrote Adventures of Superman, providing plots for issues #457–59 (Aug. 1989 – Oct. 1989), and inks for issue #461 (Dec. 1989). Due to an already heavy workload while doing both Wonder Woman and Superman at the same time, he left Action Comics with issue #652 (April 1990).
It was during this run in 1991 that Pérez encountered problems working with DC.[45] Pérez has stated that since the storyline's inception, which ran through the Wonder Woman comic and crossed over into others, he had trouble writing the War of the Gods storyline, mostly due to editorial problems.[45] Pérez felt that DC was not doing enough to celebrate Wonder Woman's 50-year anniversary.[17] To make matters worse in his eyes, DC did not place War of the Gods in newsstand distribution, which meant that the comic book could only be found in comics specialty shops. Pérez had built up a plot to marry the characters Steve Trevor and Etta Candy in his final issue. When he discovered that DC editors had decided to not only pass the Wonder Woman title's writing to William Messner-Loebs and have Messner-Loebs write the final wedding scene, Pérez quit the title and separated himself from DC for several years.[45] In 1992, he was guest inker on Deathstroke the Terminator issues #10–11.
Also in 1991, Pérez signed on to pencil the six-issue limited series Infinity Gauntlet for Marvel Comics, which was written by Jim Starlin.[46] However, due to the turbulence happening concurrently with War of the Gods, this was a very stressful personal period for Pérez, and he was not able to finish penciling the entire run of Infinity Gauntlet, leaving the project part way through issue #4. The Infinity Gauntlet editorial team decided to find a replacement artist to finish the miniseries, and Ron Lim was the artist chosen (although Pérez offered to remain on as the inker over Lim's cover art for the remainder of the miniseries).
Because of the debacles over War of the Gods and The Infinity Gauntlet, Pérez began to gain a reputation as a creator who could not finish projects as planned. Furthering that impression, he worked with independent comic book publishers Malibu Comics, drawing Break-Thru and Ultraforce (both titles were part of Malibu's Ultraverse imprint), and then working at Tekno Comix drawing I-Bots. However, despite being paid well by both publishers, he had no enthusiasm drawing the characters, and lost interest in drawing the titles.
In the 1990s, Pérez left the spotlight, although he worked on several projects, including working on the Jurassic Park comic book adaptation of the movie for Topps Comics in 1993, adapted by Walt Simonson and pencilled by Gil Kane, with Pérez as inker, but most notably at Marvel Comics with Sachs and Violens and Hulk: Future Imperfect, both written by Peter David. David has named Pérez his favorite artistic collaborator,[5] and one of the three artists whose art has mostly closely matched the visuals he conceived when writing a comic book script (the others being Leonard Kirk and Dale Keown).[47]
Pérez returned to DC Comics in October 1996 for another incarnation of the Teen Titans. Teen Titans vol. 2 was written and penciled by Dan Jurgens, with Pérez as inker for the first 15 issues of its twenty four-issue run. The series ended in September 1998.
Pérez had a stint as writer of Silver Surfer vol. 2 #111–123 (December 1995 – December 1996). He would also write the crossover special Silver Surfer/Superman in 1996. Pérez finally returned to a major ongoing title for the third series of The Avengers, written by Kurt Busiek,[48] where he remained for nearly three years, again receiving critical and fan acclaim for his polished and dynamic art. After leaving the series, he and Busiek produced the long-awaited JLA/Avengers inter-company crossover, which saw print in late 2003.[49] A JLA/Avengers crossover was to have been published in the 1980s,[50] but differences between DC and Marvel forced the comic to be canceled.[17] As the artist on the story, Pérez had drawn approximately 21 pages of the original crossover, which were not published until the 2004 hardcover edition of JLA/Avengers: The Collector's Edition.[51]
Pérez has one creator-owned comic, the unfinished Crimson Plague. A science fiction story about an alien with ultra-toxic blood, the first issue was published in 1997 by the now defunct Event Comics. In June 2000, the original first issue was re-published by Gorilla Comics with additional material and pages, with a follow-up issue published in September 2000. Due to the extreme high costs of being a self publisher,[52] which ended up being a financial burden and putting himself in major debt, Pérez ended Crimson Plague a second time and it is unknown if he intends to do anything else with the comic. George Pérez Storyteller includes artwork from the unpublished third issue of Crimson Plague.
Pérez worked for CrossGen early in the new century. He penciled four issues of CrossGen Chronicles.[53] His main project for the company was penciling Solus.[54] Although intended to be an ongoing series, it only lasted for eight issues before it was canceled due to CrossGen's bankruptcy.
In May 2006, Pérez illustrated the cover art to one of the alternative covers to the direct market release of the annual Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (36th edition) featuring Wonder Woman. He was guest artist for an issue of JSA #82 (April 2006) and was cover artist from issues #82–87. He drew the first ten issues of DC's The Brave and the Bold (vol. 2, 2007–2010) with writer Mark Waid.[55] Pérez worked on Infinite Crisis, the follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths, as a fill in artist. He worked on Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds in 2008–2009, thus contributing to every chapter of DC's Crisis trilogy. He is also working with Marv Wolfman on a direct-to-DVD movie adaptation of the "Judas Contract" story arc from Teen Titans, which has been scheduled for release in 2017.[56]
He is a co-chairman of the board of the comic industry charity The Hero Initiative[57] and serves on its Disbursement Committee.[58] In 2005, an animated version of Pérez made a cameo appearance in the Teen Titans animated series episode titled "Go", which was an adaptation of The New Teen Titans #1. In the episode "For Real" André LeBlanc attacks a bank called "Bank of Pérez". In City of Heroes, a Massively Multiplayer Online RPG about superheroes, an entire zone within the game (Pérez Park) is named after him.
In September 2011, DC launched a new Superman series written by Pérez, who also provided breakdowns and cover art, with interior art by Jesús Merino and Nicola Scott.[59] Pérez remained until issue #6. The New Teen Titans: Games hardcover graphic novel[60] was published the same month reuniting the creative team of Wolfman and Pérez.[61] He was the inker of the new Green Arrow series, also launched in the same timeframe, over artist Dan Jurgens' pencils, reuniting the mid-1990s Teen Titans art team. Pérez and Kevin Maguire were alternating artists on a Worlds' Finest revival written by Paul Levitz.[62]
In July 2012, Pérez explained his departure from Superman as a reaction to the level of editorial oversight he experienced. This included inconsistent reasons given for rewrites of his material, the inability of editors to explain to him basic aspects of the New 52 Superman's status quo (such as whether his adoptive parents were still alive), and restrictions imposed by having to be consistent with Action Comics, which is set five years earlier than Superman, a situation complicated by the fact that Action writer Grant Morrison was not forthcoming about his plans.[63]
From September 2014 to December 2016, Pérez wrote and drew six issues of his own creation Sirens, published by BOOM! Studios. It is a science fiction miniseries dedicated to a group of women with extraordinary powers, who fight against evil across time and space.[64]
Pérez is married to Carol Flynn. He has no children. He has a brother, David, and a niece and nephew.[65] He is diabetic, and has undergone surgery for diabetic retinopathy. In May 2017, Pérez was admitted to a hospital with chest pains and was diagnosed as having had a heart attack while travelling to New Jersey for a convention. He was subsequently released from the hospital after having a coronary stent fitted.[66]
Pérez won a 1979 Eagle Award (with Jim Shooter, Sal Buscema, and David Wenzel) for Best Continued Story for his work on The Avengers #167–168 and 170–177.[67] In 1980 he won the Eagle Award for Best Comicbook Cover for Avengers #185.[68] He won the Eagle Award for Favourite Artist (penciller) in 1986.[69]
Pérez received an Inkpot Award in 1983.[70]
In 1985, DC Comics named Pérez as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.[71]
His work (with that of Marv Wolfman and Romeo Tanghal), earned The New Teen Titans #50 a nomination for the 1985 Jack Kirby Award for Best Single Issue.[72] His collaboration with Wolfman earned Crisis on Infinite Earths the 1985 and 1986 Jack Kirby Awards for Best Finite Series.[73]
Pérez has won several Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards.[74] He won the "Favorite Artist" award in 1983 and 1985 and "Favorite Penciler" in 1987. In addition, he won the "Favorite Cover Artist" award three consecutive years 1985–1987.
Pérez worked on several stories which won the CBG award for "Favorite Comic-Book Story":
Crisis on Infinite Earths won the award for "Favorite Limited Series" in 1985.
Pencil art in all cases, except where noted:
My mom, Luz Maria Izquierdo, and my father, Jorge Pérez, were both born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, the same year but would not actually meet each other until they moved — I believe the same year, I don't know the exact year - to New Jersey...by the time they were married they had 2 children and moved to New York.
[Marv Wolfman and George Pérez] created a title that would be DC's sales leader throughout the 1980s.
[The New Teen Titans] went on to become DC's most popular comic team of its day. Not only the springboard for the following month's The New Teen Titans #1, the preview's momentous story also featured the first appearance of future DC mainstays Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
This series contains material relating to the development and distribution of the Teen Titans drug awareness comic books. The comic books were designed to communicate the dangers of drug abuse to elementary school children. The Drug Abuse Policy Office coordinated the project, DC Comics developed the story line and artwork, and private companies funded the production costs. The Keebler Company sponsored the fourth grade book (released in April 1983), the National Soft Drink Association sponsored the sixth grade book (November 1983), and IBM sponsored the fifth grade book through the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth (February 1984). The files consist primarily of correspondence with educators, parents, and children.
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(help) (329), [Alan Gold will] be turning over the editorial reins to Janice Race... She has been working for several months already, as a matter of fact, with a bright new writer named Greg Potter.
Pérez's Amazon: George Pérez will be co-plotting and penciling the new Wonder Woman series, scheduled to debut in June 1986 [sic]. Greg Potter will be the writer and co-plotter with Pérez
It was the fall of 1985... I walked into editor Janice Race's office to find out about the fate of Diana Prince. I was curious to learn who was going to draw her. Superman had [John] Byrne and [Jerry] Ordway, Batman had [Frank] Miller and [Alan] Davis (and later [David] Mazzucchelli). Wonder Woman had... No one. A writer, Greg Potter, had been selected but no established artist wanted to handle the new series. After exhaustive searches, it seemed Wonder Woman would have to be assigned to an unknown... I thought of John Byrne and Superman. What a giant coup for DC. A top talent and fan-fave on their premier character... "Janice" I heard myself say "What if I took on Wonder Woman for the first six months — just to get her out of the starting gate?"
But with the changes I [George Pérez] was making, I think Greg decided that maybe it wasn't for him and he bowed out after issue #2
Wonder Woman's sales are some of the best the Amazing Amazon has ever experienced, and the book is a critical and popular success with its weaving of Greek mythology into a feminist and humanistic atmosphere.
It’s long been discussed, but it’s now officially confirmed. Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, the popular New Teen Titans storyline by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, will be adapted into a feature length animated film in 2017.
Perez’s latest book, Sirens (published by Boom! Studios), which he writes as well as draws, is also his own creation, inspired, as he reveals in the following interview, by many of the women in his life.
Preceded by George Tuska |
The Avengers artist 1975–1978 |
Succeeded by Sal Buscema |
Preceded by Rich Buckler |
Fantastic Four artist 1975–1978 |
Succeeded by Keith Pollard |
Preceded by n/a |
The New Teen Titans artist 1980–1985 |
Succeeded by José Luis García-López |
Preceded by Trina Robbins and Kurt Busiek |
Wonder Woman writer 1987–1992 |
Succeeded by William Messner-Loebs |
Preceded by multiple |
Action Comics artist 1989–1990 |
Succeeded by Bob McLeod |
Preceded by Mike Lackey |
Silver Surfer vol 2. writer 1995–1996 |
Succeeded by J. M. DeMatteis |
Preceded by n/a |
The Avengers vol. 3 artist 1998–2000 |
Succeeded by John Romita Jr. |
Preceded by n/a |
The Brave and the Bold vol. 3 artist 2007–2008 |
Succeeded by Jerry Ordway |
Preceded by n/a |
Superman vol. 3 writer 2011–2012 |
Succeeded by Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen |
Decay is the name of two fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The first was an enemy of the pre-Crisis Supergirl, while the second appeared as a villain in the Wonder Woman comic book series.
Disruptor (comics)The Disruptor is the name of three supervillains in DC Comics.
DraagaDraaga is a fictional alien character in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Adventures of Superman #454 and was created by Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, and George Pérez.
Fearsome FiveThe Fearsome Five or Fearsome Hive or Hive Five is a fictional group of comic book supervillains from DC Comics. Dr. Light & Psimon have been the leaders of the Fearsome Five. They are enemies of the Teen Titans.
Gizmo (DC Comics)Gizmo is the name of two fictional characters from DC Comics.
JLA/AvengersJLA/Avengers (Issues #2 and #4 titled Avengers/JLA) is a comic book limited series and crossover published in prestige format by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from September 2003 to March 2004. The series was written by Kurt Busiek, with art by George Pérez. The series features the two companies' teams of superheroes, DC Comics' Justice League of America and Marvel's Avengers.
Julia and Vanessa KapatelisJulia Kapatelis and her daughter Vanessa "Nessie" Kapatelis are fictional characters created by writer/artist George Pérez for the Wonder Woman ongoing series published by DC Comics. Debuting in 1987, the Kapatelises would serve as recurring supporting characters for Wonder Woman until the 2000s.
Mammoth (comics)Mammoth (Baran Flinders) is a fictional character and comic book supervillain from DC Comics. He is usually an enemy of the Teen Titans.
Nicholas ScratchNicholas Scratch is a fictional wizard and supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is predominantly a foe of the Fantastic Four, and a notable foe of Patsy Walker.
Phobia (comics)Phobia is a fictional DC Comics supervillain of the New Teen Titans.
PlasmusPlasmus () is a fictional DC Comics supervillain and an enemy of the Teen Titans.
Shim'TarShim'Tar is a fictional character owned by DC Comics and was co-created by penciler Chris Marrinan and writer George Pérez. According to the Wonder Woman comic book, the name Shim'Tar can also be a title given to the chief warrior of the fictional Bana-Mighdall tribe of Amazons.
Shimmer (comics)Shimmer (real name Selinda Flinders) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe.
Silas StoneSilas Stone is a character appearing in the comics that are published by DC Comics. He is the father of Cyborg and the creator of Titans Tower. Silas Stone first appeared in DC Comics Presents #26 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.
Snapdragon (comics)Snapdragon (Sheoke Sanada) is a Japanese supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe. She first appeared in Marvel Fanfare vol. 1 #12 (1984) and was created by Ralph Macchio and George Pérez.
Starfire (Teen Titans)Starfire (Koriand'r) is a fictional superheroine appearing in books published by DC Comics. She debuted in a preview story inserted within DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. The name "Starfire" first appeared in a DC Comic in the story "The Answer Man of Space", in Mystery in Space #73, February 1962, written by Gardner F. Fox.
In 2013, Starfire placed 21st on IGN's "Top 25 Heroes of DC Comics".Starfire has appeared in numerous cartoon television shows and films. Starfire appears in her first live adaptation as one of the main cast of the Titans television series for the new DC streaming service played by Anna Diop.
Trident (DC Comics)Trident is the name of a number of supervillains in the DC Comics universe.
Warp (comics)Warp is a fictional supervillain in the DC Universe.
White Tiger (Hector Ayala)White Tiger (Hector Ayala) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Bill Mantlo and George Pérez. He is the first Puerto Rican superhero in the history of comics, and Marvel's first superhero of Latino descent. Hector is the uncle of Angela del Toro and the brother of Ava Ayala.
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