Renowned comic book creator George Pérez died from pancreatic cancer on May 6, 2022 in Sanford, FL.
With a career spanning over 40 years, Pérez was known for contributions at both of the major comic book companies, Marvel and DC Comics.
Chief creative officer and publisher of DC Comics, Jim Lee, shared on Instagram the great impact Pérez had on both companies as a legendary artist, writer, and creator.
“We lost another of the absolute greats this weekend with the passing of the legendary artist, writer and creator George Pérez,” Lee said. “His career is truly a testament to what one can achieve in life when singularly focused on what one loves to do. And George loved comics. Everything about it.”
During the 70s and 90s, he worked on Marvel’s world-famous Avengers that are at the center of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, including issues of “Infinity Gauntlet” which influenced the films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
At DC Comics, he and writer Marv Wolfman created The New Teen Titans in the 80s as a revamped team which became a bestseller as the series showed that young heroes could be more than sidekicks.
Wolfman and Perez also collaborated on DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, an attempt to streamline the messy continuity of a whole universe of characters while also celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary.
Additionally, he led the 1986 reboot of Wonder Woman, a version that was younger and brought closer to her roots in Greek mythology.
His editor on the series, Karen Berger, said in an email to George Gene Gustines for the New York Times, “What set George apart on Wonder Woman was that he really approached the character from a woman’s perspective — I found her relatable and authentic.”
It was in 2003 that Pérez broke new ground with the release of a four-part story that united DC Comics’ Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers, overcame company politics, and completed a passion project of the artist. The series was a success with collected editions all selling out.
Recently, his DC and Marvel crossover JLA/Avengers had a reprint of 7,000 copies with the proceeds going to the Hero Initiative, the charity dedicated to helping comic book creators in medical or financial need, of which Pérez was a founding board member.
