Another Great Loss to Comics: George Pérez

So soon after the death of Neal Adams on April 28, we've now lost one of the most-talented and prolific superhero artists to follow him, George Pérez, who died on Friday (May 6).

From USA Today:

George Pérez, the legendary comic book artist for Marvel and DC, has died after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 67. 

Pérez was the artist behind Marvel's "The Avengers" and DC's "Superman,""Wonder Woman,"  "New Teen Titans," and "Fantastic Four" among others. His death was announced on his Facebook page Saturday through his friend, Constance. DC and Marvel also confirmed his death with statements on social media.  

"George passed away yesterday, peacefully at home with his wife of (40 years) and family by his side. He was not in pain and knew he was very, very loved," the post read. "The world is a lot less vibrant today without him in it. He loved all of you. He loved hearing your posts and seeing the drawings you sent and the tributes you made."

We'll do some tribute posts to Pérez in coming days.

Comics Greats Honor the Work of George Pérez

A roster of star comics artists including Alex Ross, Nicola Scott, Joëlle Jones, Jerry Ordway, and José Luis García-López have contributed to a double-page spread in honor of the great George Pérez, which will appear in all of DC Comics' June titles. Pérez, who has pancreatic cancer, announced his retirement from comics work late last year.

Details:

DC will celebrate the 68th birthday of George Pérez, one of the titans of the comic industry, with a two-page spread featuring some of his most beloved characters in each of its June periodical releases. Working from a layout designed by Dan Jurgens, some of the industry’s biggest names including Jim Lee, Walter Simonson, Alex Ross, Dave Gibbons, Todd McFarlane, Daniel Sampere, Jerry Ordway, Nicola Scott and many more, collaborated on the colorful spread.

“When I was asked to come up with a design and layout that would honor George Pérez and his many incredible contributions to DC Comics over the years, I was truly honored,” said Dan Jurgens. “I have admired George’s work since I first saw it and have had the good fortune to work with him in different capacities, on a number of projects. More importantly, I’ve been able to see the way George treats fans and readers, always smiling, gregarious and approachable. It was a joy to watch this cover come together and I’m sure everyone who contributed feels the same way.”

The tribute features the following DC characters that Pérez is most known for, as well as the man himself, drawn by a number of the top artists in the industry and colored by Hi-Fi:

• The Monitor & Anti-Monitor - Jim Lee & Scott Williams
• Trigon - Todd McFarlane
• ​The Spectre - Alex Ross
• Darkseid - Walter Simonson
• Firestorm & The Justice League Satellite - Scott Kolins
• Ares & Hippolyta - Phil Jimenez
• Cheetah & The Amazons - Colleen Doran
• Lady H.I.V.E. & H.I.V.E. Agents - Scott Koblish
• Vigilante - Dave Gibbons
• Cheshire - Joëlle Jones
• Brother Blood - Darryl Banks
• Blackfire - Mike McKone
• Gizmo & Mammoth - Klaus Janson
• Shimmer - Bruno Redondo 
• Psimon - Mikel Janín
• Neutron & Jinx - Dan Mora
• The Legion of Super-Heroes - Francis Manapul
• The Justice Society of America - Jerry Ordway
• Power Girl & Huntress - Kevin Maguire
• The Justice League of America (and the background) - Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
• Superboy-Prime & Alexander Luthor - Ivan Reis
• Supergirl - Gary Frank
• Harbinger - Adam Hughes
• Pariah - Daniel Sampere
• Jericho & Kole - Nicola Scott
• The New Teen Titans, Deathstroke & George Pérez - José Luis García-López

Accompanying the spread on a separate page will be a key highlighting the characters and artists that participated.

In addition to being included in all of DC’s June issues, the tribute will also be featured as a variant cover for Dark Crisis #7. Each issue of the event series will feature a cover highlighting a previous crisis event from DC’s history, starting with the genre defining Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez for issue #1. Artwork and additional details on each of the covers will be announced at a later date.

"George Pérez is one of my favorite comic storytellers of all time. To say he’s a ‘great artist’ is a massive understatement,” said Dark Crisis Writer Joshua Williamson. “His work on the original Crisis of Infinite Earths inspired so much of my love for DC Comics. When I saw DC editors pull together this incredible piece with so many amazing legendary artists celebrating George, I won't lie, it was emotional.  And now it's an honor to have this tribute be a cover to Dark Crisis." 

A special version of the Dark Crisis #7 variant cover will be available for sale by The Hero Initiative to raise funds for one of Pérez’s favorite charities. Pérez is a founding member of Hero Initiative’s board of directors and has served as chair of its Disbursement Committee. 

 

"The Marvel Art of George Perez" spotlights an all-time great

From the 1970s to today, George Perez has been both a prolific workhorse (all those characters in the Avengers, JLA and other team books!) and a true artist with his own identifiable style. This book focuses on his Marvel work on said Avengers and more.

Out in July. Available for pre-order now from Amazon.

Celebrating the artistic legacy of a true Marvel Comics legend! George Pérez fi rst wowed fans in the 1970s, building a phenomenal reputation as a super-team illustrator without peer on AVENGERS, INHUMANS and FANTASTIC FOUR! His talents graced the super hero action of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, the martial arts mayhem of DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU and the monster madness of Man-Wolf in CREATURES ON THE LOOSE! Years later, Pérez demonstrated his cosmic grandeur by wiping out half the Marvel Universe along with Thanos in INFINITY GAUNTLET! And as the Avengers made a heroic return in 1998, so too did Pérez, joining writer Kurt Busiek to usher Earth's Mightiest into a new era of greatness. Nobody can draw an army of heroes in a single image better than George Pérez!

Wonder Woman by George Perez Omnibus - coming soon

Due out in August, this is available for pre-order on Amazon now.

Details:

One of the most popular artists working in comics over the last 30 years, George Pérez's resume contains a who's-who of the most popular characters in comics. From his co-creation, with Marv Wolfman, of THE NEW TEEN TITANS in the 80s and his work on CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and WONDER WOMAN to his mega-successful JLA/AVENGERS, George's work has thrilled comics fans for over 3 decades.

This omnibus collects the first two years of George Perez's revolutionary run on WONDER WOMAN in premium format, containing WONDER WOMAN #1-24 and WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1.

Avengers Week: Original comic art

Here's some original Avengers art by some of the series' classic artists.

George Perez:

John Buscema:

 

Don Heck:

 

Jack Kirby:

Avengers Week: George Perez covers