SDCC: Spotlight on George Perez

Spotlight on George Perez

One of comics’ most popular artists for over 30 years, George Pérez has a résumé that contains a who’s who of comics’ most memorable characters. Now working exclusively for DC, and an integral part of their recent Infinite Crisis, George talked about his career and opens up the floor to Q&A.

On the future of the unpublished graphc novel, GAMES: "It's a dead issue," George declared. Shortly after he signed exclusive with DC, he was assigned some new projects; And he did say he enjoyed doing new things. He was alos pleased that Marv Wolfman has been getting some work at DC, specifically on NIGHTWING. He did say, "Never say never" as a final word.

On when he decided he wanted to stay on TITANS: With NEW TEEN TITANS #8, the "Day In The Life" issue; It was then that George started to really like them. At that point, he was glad Marv talked him into doing the book. He talked about how the Titans became very special - and how he was thrilled to see new people discovering the characters through the cartoon series. His absolute highlight on TITANS was NEW TEEN TITANS #38, "Who Is Donna Troy?" He liked that Donna was the "girl next door" and he thought that was a very emotional story for her. He also thought the story proved that Dick Grayson was a worthy detective.

On influences: French illustrators [and their level of detail]; Norman Rockwell ["Curt Swam was the Norman Rockwell of comics", says George]; Dali; Escher; and a host of others.

On the Death of the Golden Age Superman: In INFINITE CRISIS, George said he wanted to treat that scene very carefully: "Dammit, if he's gonna die, I'm going to treat him with respect" George did the scene in shadow, so you didn't see his mangled body. And the last panel initially called for two shining stars in the night; But George changed it to the image of the Golden Age Superman and Lois Lane in their prime. He wanted the last shot of Superman to appear just as he did when he started.

On the Deaths of Flash and Supergirl in CRISIS: It was a war. There had to be casualties. And they had to matter - not just be "Star Trek Red Shirt" deaths.

On the possibility of doing something with the current version of Titans: George felt he has "said all that needed to be said" with the Titans. He had a good run and even returned to the title later. He did add the disclaimer, "Never say never."

On his latest project: Perez redrew the double page spread of One Year Later characters for INFINITE CRISIS #7 in the upcoming special edition version. The spread features over 120 characters - and a redesigned version of the Metal Men - including a new member. He also mentioned that he always liked the Metal Men.

On tackling Legion: George mentioned how he would like to one day do some Legion work, since he has not done any interior art on Legion. He cited Bouncing Boy and Chameleon as his favorites - and the "Legion babes" as well. "Girls in Spandex and mini-skirts. What's not to like?"

George also stated that he's still thrilled to see his name in the credits. And he feels lucky and blessed to have such a fulfilling career and dedicated fan base. He wanted to especially thank all his fans before the close of the panel.

George Perez. A legend and a gentleman!