THE ART OF GEORGE PEREZ HC

Perhaps the iconic superhero artist for a generation, George Pérez has been putting his pencil to paper and thrilling comic book fans with his dramatic and detailed art for almost 40 years. This book offers readers and fans a chance to witness his immense and sensational career from his early days at Marvel to his glory days at DC where he co-created the New Teen Titans, which rivaled the X-Men in popularity at the time, and revitalized Wonder Woman as both writer and artist. This volume also offers glimpses of never-before-seen material from his files and sketchbooks, private commissioned work, as well as beautifully reproduced images of his personal favorites with insights into his life and creative process.

The Art of

GEORGE ´ PEREZ

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The Art of

GEORGE PEREZ ´

From the publishing house, designer, and editor of the Eisner Awardwinning The Art of Brian Bolland, the Eisner Award-nominated The Art of P. Craig Russell, The Art of Joe Jusko, Archetype: The Art of Timothy Bradstreet, Tony Harris: Art & Skulduggery, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman, The Art of Jim Starlin: A Life in Words and Pictures, and Jeffrey Jones: A Life in Art.

$49.99 USD ISBN: 978-1-60010-859-4 THE ART OF GEORGE PÉREZ

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www.desperadopublishing.com

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The Art of

´ GEORGE PEREZ

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The Art of

´ GEORGE PEREZ

text by

George Pérez Cliff Biggers

edits and design by IDW editor

Joe Pruett

Justin Eisinger

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CONTENTS THE ART OF GEORGE PÉREZ ™ & © 2012 George Pérez. All DC characters, images, and likenesses ™ & © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved. All Marvel characters, images, and likenesses ™ & © 2012 Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. All other characters and their likenesses ™ & © 2012 by their respective copyright holders. All rights reserved. Published by IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Editorial offices: 5080 Santa Fe Street, San Diego, CA 92109. Co-published by Desperado Publishing Company, Inc. Editorial offices: 143 Nectar Place, Dallas, GA 30132. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Printed in Korea.

This is a scholarly work. All trademarks and copyrights appear solely as historic examples of George Pérez art. All rights reserved. All similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC and Desperado Publishing Company, Inc. IDW Publishing does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork.

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INTRODUCTION

10

THE ‘70s

70

THE ‘80s

126

THE ‘90s

196

THE ‘00s

244

THE THEATER

268

SKETCHES & COMMISSIONS

Ted Adams, CEO & Publisher Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist Chris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer, Editor-In-Chief Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Alan Payne, VP of Sales

www.IDWPUBLISHING.com ™

www.desperadopublishing.com

ISBN:

Joe Pruett, President & Publisher Stephan Nilson, Creative Director Gary Reed, Business Development Malcolm Bourne, Special Projects Coordinator

978-1-60010-859-4 (regular edition) 978-1-60010-860-0 (signed edition) 14 13 12 11

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Special thanks to: Chris Caira, Tony Harris, Michael Lovitz, Mike McDaniel, James A. Owen, Mike Perkins, James Pruett, Jon Pruett, Brian Pulido, and Tom Smith.

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INTRODUCTION Both George and I began our respective careers in comics back in the ‘70s, him a few years later than me. Around then I was living in California, he in New York. As it would turn out, George was usually working for DC Comics while I was occupied over at Marvel Comics. Then a Pavlovian bell would ring (one that obviously only George and I could hear) and we’d switch companies. That has been pretty much a constant for the past forty-some years.

INTRODUCTION 6

During that time George and I have had maybe a half dozen brief conversations. At comic book conventions both of us would be kept separated by fans and the hundreds of comics that required autographing.

After the shows shut down for the night we’d be whisked off to dine with our respective publishers. No real contact has ever been fostered. That’s just the way it is in this industry sometimes. I never met Jim Aparo until years after we’d finished our joint run on the Batman series.

George and I are acquaintances, not friends. There’s no bad blood between us that I know of. Mr. Pérez has always struck me as a very nice guy and a gentleman. You’ll have to ask him what he thinks of me. I haven’t a clue. We only worked together once and he stepped away before finishing that particular job. Why? I don’t know. I’ve heard a few different explanations concerning his premature departure from the series. He’s never personally given me a reason for the unexpected exit. I’ve never asked.

So right about now you’ve got to be asking yourself, “Why in Hell did Desperado Publishing ask this jerk to write George’s intro?”

The answer’s simple. That one job that George and I worked on briefly together was The Infinity Gauntlet. This turned out to be a milestone in both George’s and my own careers. It was a monster hit when it first came out and is now probably one of the most reprinted series in the comic book industry. I’ve personally signed about a zillion copies of different editions of this story.

If that was the only job either George or I ever worked on, period, The Infinity Gauntlet would surely secure both of us a spot in comics’ pop culture history.

The two of them then turned the DC Comics universe on its collective ear with their Crisis on Infinite Earths series: another best-seller and a story that has most likely been reprinted even more often than The Infinity Gauntlet.

Then there have been his epic runs on The Avengers, Superman, Wonder Woman, War of the Gods, the Avengers/JLA crossover, Infinite Crisis, and so many other titles. It’s a body of work that few but Jack Kirby could rival.

Most cartoonists come into this business wanting to draw their own highly personalized version of every superhero in the business. Nearly all soon get past this passion, opting for single-character jobs instead. Not George. It seems the more characters Mr. Pérez has to draw on a page, the happier the man is. This alone makes George a standout in our business.

Of course, there’s also his great storytelling ability and his unique page layouts. No wonder the guy has lasted as long as he has.

In recent years the torrent that has been George Pérez has slowed a bit, what with him now dedicating a good deal of his time to raising money for different charities, locally and with groups connected to the comic book business. Last I heard he’s still co-chairman of Hero Imitative, an organization that helps freelance cartoonists with their medical bills.

Looking back and just skimming through this book, one can’t help but come to the conclusion that Mr. Pérez has enjoyed a very illustrious career and an extremely good life. He’s both entertained and helped. What more need be said about a man?

So to come full circle, again I ask, “Why was I asked to write the intro to this book?” Well, the answer to that question is painfully apparent. When it comes to a book about George Pérez and his art, what does it matter who writes the intro?

The work itself speaks volumes.

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The truth is, what I don’t know is George Pérez. So does that make me the perfect choice for writing an introduction to the impressive tome you’re presently holding? Apparently.

But that’s far from the only hit George Pérez was involved in.

His successes are many and myriad. Early on, he and Marv Wolfman took a very second-tier title over at DC Comics and morphed the Teen Titans into one of the company’s major and longest-lasting series.

THE ART OF GEORGE PÉREZ

What I know.

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9 THE ART OF GEORGE PÉREZ

INTRODUCTION 8 Art_of_George_Perez_interiors_288.indd 8-9

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Rich was doing Kirbyesque work back then, and he was looking for good Kirby references. I would help with that, and sometimes I did a little layout work—I had a pretty good sense of Kirby myself at that time. There was only one issue of Fantastic Four where I did the layout work. It ended up being a book that Rich didn’t pencil, so those layouts were never used.

My first shot at working on a more extensive story was “Gulliver of Mars” for Monsters Unleashed.

Rich and I had pretty much parted ways at that point. Jim Salicrup and Tony Isabella suggested that I do the “Gulliver of Mars” story. I was hungry enough that I jumped at it, and as a result I ended up getting other series that no one else wanted.

They were supposed to be for one issue, but they kept on going. My first Deadly Hands of Kung Fu was ghosted by Denny O’Neil (under the name Jim Dennis) and then the stories went on to Bill Mantlo. Bill was happy to work with a new artist, so I became the regular illustrator. I was then partnered with Dave Kraft on “Man-Wolf ” in Creatures on the Loose. Both of those assignments became regular gigs.

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‘ the

Rich was responsible for my first work, a two-page gag strip for Astonishing Tales #25, the first Deathlok issue. He thought it was something I could do less harm to than something more workintensive. The only thing I didn’t draw in that two-page gag strip was the Deathlok figure; Deathlok was Rich’s baby, and no one was going to draw him other than Rich. He worked more closely with other assistants like Keith Pollard and Arvell Jones, whom he had known longer and worked more in his style.

THE ART OF GEORGE PÉREZ

CHAPTER 1 • THE ‘70s

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I began working with Rich Buckler in 1973, after I got married. My whole time there lasted only about six months. That was pretty much it; by the time I had been there for six months, editors had gotten used to seeing my face and they knew what I could do. They knew I was Rich’s assistant, but they also knew that my style was changing quite a bit and that I didn’t just draw like Rich.

Monsters Unleashed #8 Page 66 inked by Duffy Vohland 1974

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