Comics Illustrator of the Week: George Pérez

It warms my heart to see that comics legend George Pérez is still cranking out great art like this week’s Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat #1 variant cover!  My introduction to Pérez’s work was his classic 1980’s relaunch of Wonder Woman.  I couldn’t ignore that gorgeous art, of course, but it also didn’t hurt that Pérez focused his Wonder Woman story on her mythological roots, which appealed to my 13 year old self!(as a result of my many lengthy sessions studying Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Deities & Demigods!)

Pérez began his career at Marvel in the early-mid 70’s working on many titles, most notably The Avengers. He’d eventually become known for his uncanny ability to draw many, many characters(sometimes hundreds!) on a single one-two page spread.  His groundbreaking “crossover event” for DC Comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths is testament to this special skill of his.  Many years later he’d take it up a notch(and come full circle)with his epic JLA(Justice League of America)/Avengers series.

George Pérez is a prolific comics illustrator who’s been a major force in comics for the last 40 years.  I’m not renting enough space here to list all of his credits, but I cannot leave without mentioning one of his greatest comics, The New Teen Titans! Pérez and writer Marv Wolfman relaunched the Teen Titans with a cast of new characters along with original members Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash.  Their run eclipsed the previous incarnation in popularity and quickly became a real contender for mighty Marvel’s teenage mutant juggernaut, The X-Men!

In 2011, DC completely relaunched their line of comics with what they called “The New 52″(referring to their 52 monthly titles).  George Pérez was enlisted to relaunch their Superman comic and, unfortunately, his run only lasted 6 issues because of editorial differences.  His case was not unique, as many other creators seemed to be dealing with the same problem at that time.  It’s too bad when mismanagement leads to a comics legend like Pérez having to walk away like that.  But, I know that George and his fans aren’t too concerned; his legacy is intact.

If you’d like to follow George Pérez’s art stream on twitter, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind!

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates