George Perez's Most Influential Comics

In his book "George Perez Storyteller," the author covers the origins of Perez's career in great detail and spotlights how he had a happy life as a young married man working at a bank but still dreamed of more. "Nothing was going to stop me from being a comic book artist," he said. Fate would lend a hand when artist Rich Buckler hired Perez to be an assistant, helping pull reference material from old comics. But before long, Buckler gave him his first published work: a two-page, fourth-wall-breaking gag story featuring Deathlok in the pages of "Astonishing Tales" #25 in 1974, when he was just 20 years old.

Just a year later, George Perez began his first major work on "The Avengers." Beginning with his first issue, "Avengers" #141, he joined a comic that was already a well-established, popular book. The overarching story of his run involved the Squadron Supreme, a team from an alternate Earth that was patterned after DC Comics' Justice League. Over the course of his time on the title, he showed off his impeccable craftsmanship, strong layout skills, and timeless character design, contributing to the creation of new characters like Hellcat. His work on the big team comic — which features dozens of characters — helped establish him as a skilled illustrator and get the attention of Marvel's rival DC Comics, who also happened to need a new artist for their top superhero team title.

At the same time that he was working on the end of his "Avengers" run and continuing through his tenure on "Justice League of America," George Perez was brought over to the distinguished competition for the first time to launch a new superhero group book, "The New Teen Titans." Back in those days, it was not at all uncommon for artists to illustrate more than one book a month, and Perez became known for drawing team titles, so DC must have felt that this was a natural fit. A resurrection of a lesser-known teen team from the 1960s, the original version was little more than the teenaged sidekicks of the bigger DC heroes, with a lineup that featured Robin, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Kid Flash. The team had seen an attempted revival in the '70s, but DC just couldn't seem to make the group stick. Until George Perez and writer Marv Wolfman revamped the concept for the 1980s, that is.

Overhauling the membership, Wolfman and Perez added the likes of Changeling (later known as Beast Boy), as well as three characters that the pair had created for an issue of "DC Comics Presents": Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire. It can't be overstated how influential this run would be, as this roster became the same group that lead two highly popular animated series and boosted the popularity of characters like Cyborg. During his time on the book, Perez also co-created Deathstroke, one of the most enduring of DC's villains to be introduced during the '80s.

In the aftermath of the events in "Crisis on Infinite Earths," DC's greatest heroes suddenly found themselves with new backstories and conglomerations of different depictions seen over the years melded together to form a single, unified canon. "Superman" received a new comic book series by artist John Byrne that introduced fans to his new history, while Batman's revamp was spearheaded by Frank Miller. "Wonder Woman" wasn't left out, receiving her own relaunched title courtesy of George Perez. But this time, he wouldn't just be drawing the superhero action — he'd be writing it too, and in turn establishing much of the new Wonder Woman mythology that has continued to follow the character in the nearly 40 years since.

This new post-Crisis series delved much deeper into Wonder Woman's origins in her native Themyscira, the island of women warriors, than previous stories had. It retconned much of her older comics and formed an entirely new backstory, taking elements from previous stories and merging them with Perez's new ideas. It was his run on this "Wonder Woman" title that heavily influenced Patty Jenkins' movie version of the character, and Perez's series that has become the basis for nearly everything that has come since, with later retcons maintaining most of what Perez established. It was Perez who turned what might have been little more than DC's female Superman into a unique and special hero, with her own corner of the DC universe all to herself. According to Perez, he may have even saved the character from becoming "a raunchy sex object."

Having already illustrated a run on Marvel's flagship "Avengers" title as well as the mega-crossover event series "Crisis on Infinite Earths" some five years earlier, George Perez was the perfect choice — nay, only choice — to take on Marvel's own epic landmark event series, "The Infinity Gauntlet." In a 2019 interview, Perez noted that he accepted the assignment on the series simply so he could have the opportunity to draw as many classic Marvel characters as the story offered. The story altered the course of a number of characters in the Marvel comics, and of course, the event formed the basis for the culmination of 10 years of MCU films in "Endgame," with imagery from the two-part film story often being directly inspired from Perez's illustrations. Several once-obscure heroes would garner renewed attention thanks to the series and the story that leads up to it — including Adam Warlock and Drax the Destroyer — while turning Thanos into one of Marvel's premiere super villains. 

Unfortunately, Perez bowed out of the series halfway through after the third issue citing overwork thanks to his commitment to DC's "War of the Gods," only providing inks on the fourth before leaving entirely. "Silver Surfer" artist Ron Lim ably stepped in to complete the series, and while he did fine work to round out the story, nobody could illustrate the epic story the way Perez could.

After yet another run on DC's "Teen Titans," this time solely as the series' writer, George Perez was the man chosen to bring the classic Avengers team back to comics. Throughout the 1990s, flashy younger artists had stolen the spotlight from long-time industry stalwarts like Perez, but by the end of the decade, the industry was again shifting. After a controversial and unsuccessful diversion called "Heroes Reborn" that saw Marvel cancel "The Avengers" and relaunch it with a continuity-smashing reboot by trendy Image Comics creator Rob Liefeld, Marvel was ready to relaunch a classic "Avengers" book. Originally asked to write and draw the new series, Perez opted to simply illustrate the book, while Kurt Busiek was chosen as the title's author. Ditching the flashy gimmicks and trendy characters of recent versions, this new volume of "The Avengers" went back to its roots, with a team consisting of its classic roster mainstays: Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, The Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Vision, and Hawkeye.

At the center of it all, though, was George Perez. The book was a smash hit, consistently placing in the top ten — something it hadn't done in years. It brought Perez back to the top of the biggest names in the industry, with his involvement in the line-wide relaunch "Heroes Return" even helping to attract talent, as would be revealed in his book "George Perez Storyteller." His run on this new series was some of his best work to date — perhaps ever in his career — and allowed him to spread his wings on a variety of story arcs that included villains like Morgan le Fay, the Squadron Supreme, and robotic tyrant Ultron. 

In 1998, a new comic book company emerged that would make major waves in the industry. While it didn't last long, it marked a shift in who gets behind new upstart companies and who joins them, how talent gets recruited, and how they exploit their properties. They were called Crossgen Comics, and owner Mark Alessi wanted to try and save the industry by treating talent better. His idea was simple: Crossgen hired its writers and artists as full-time salaried employees — with healthcare benefits to boot — who would work out of an office building in Tampa, Florida. This would give comic creators unprecedented financial security, as companies like Marvel and DC hired creators freelance, and indie outfits like Image Comics paid creators from the profits, often making it pretty risky business. 

When George Perez was announced to join the stable of creators at Crossgen, it was major news. While there was some strong talent already at the company — including some established names — Perez's presence showed that it wasn't just young up-and-comers or journeymen veterans, but superstar talent too. Though his time at Crossgen didn't produce any all-time classics and his output deteriorated due to health issues, his attachment to the company showed the industry that creators across the board weren't just looking to own their work — they wanted to be respected as valued employees too. While Crossgen didn't survive long, its impact in that regard can still be felt, and Perez was a big part of it.