Huntress & Power Girl Feature in Perez & Maguire's "Worlds' Finest" #1 Pages

[americanwonder]

I'm really looking forward to this: Huntress + PG + Perez = WIN!

[Flashpoint]

for the Win!

My Perez thread and all the detailed examples I listed trumps that image and everything else said here criticizing Perez's artwork. By a mile.

[gwydion]

Well, the first reviews are in, from Rama, and both Worlds' Finest and Earth 2 get a 9 out of 10 rating from them. The reviewer praises both Levitz, (who he admits he's normally not a fan of), and Perez, (though he reserves his highest art praise on that book for Maguire). He compares Worlds Finest to Simone's BOP, and notes it's all about the two ladies and their personalities.

Earth 2 gets called "epic", and Robinson gets praise for his world building, while Scott is lauded for her art.

By way of comparison, Dial H gets a 7 out of 10, and GI Combat only 3 out of 10.

[Fused]

Well, the first reviews are in, from Rama, and both Worlds' Finest and Earth 2 get a 9 out of 10 rating from them. The reviewer praises both Levitz, (who he admits he's normally not a fan of), and Perez, (though he reserves his highest art praise on that book for Maguire). He compares Worlds Finest to Simone's BOP, and notes it's all about the two ladies and their personalities.

The review seems to think they have likeable personalities. That's good at least. The review also states "Character first, costumes second."

I can get behind that, unfortunately it seems like it's "character first, costumes eight-hundred and thirty-seventh".

[gwydion]

The review seems to think they have likeable personalities. That's good at least. The review also states "Character first, costumes second."

I can get behind that, unfortunately it seems like it's "character first, costumes eight-hundred and thirty-seventh".

You'll note that he praises every visual depiction of the characters EXCEPT for Power Girl in her costume!

[Flashpoint]

Well, the first reviews are in, from Rama, and both Worlds' Finest and Earth 2 get a 9 out of 10 rating from them. The reviewer praises both Levitz, (who he admits he's normally not a fan of), and Perez, (though he reserves his highest art praise on that book for Maguire). He compares Worlds Finest to Simone's BOP, and notes it's all about the two ladies and their personalities.

Earth 2 gets called "epic", and Robinson gets praise for his world building, while Scott is lauded for her art.

By way of comparison, Dial H gets a 7 out of 10, and GI Combat only 3 out of 10.

Since you mentioned it, here's the money quote from Nrama's review:

Speaking of one-two punches, the art in this book will nail you right between the eyes. I've praised editor Wil Moss on juggling multiple artists over on the dearly departed T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and he continues his Midas Touch with Worlds' Finest. George Perez focuses on the mostly talky present-day scenes, and it's his skill with drawing a dinnertime conversation that is perhaps even more impressive than his detailed action beats. Perez's characters are beautiful, but not in a trashy or unrealistic way (and the one semi-evocative scene in the book Perez and Levitz save with a cocked eyebrow and the best line in the book). But I think Kevin Maguire might impress me even more, as he draws Helena and Karen's traumatic trip out of Earth 2. The inking is so smooth it just might lift your wallet, reminding me a lot of Ryan Sook, and the way that Maguire composes his shots he really sells the Robin, Supergirl and (especially) the Huntress costumes. Looking at the detail in Helena's armor as she dives through a skylight — it's utilitarian rather than arbitrary, with a wonderful sense of heft and depth. At least at first blush, I could watch Maguire draw a Huntress book for months.

Yet I'd argue that the most important thing about Worlds' Finest is that, like Gail Simone's Birds of Prey before it, these are some three-dimensional, personality-driven female characters that aren't defined by sex appeal or directed by their make counterparts. It feels more appropriate to call them Helena and Karen rather than Power Girl and Huntress, because those are the people we know and we root for. I've never been a die-hard Paul Levitz devotee like many Legion fans, but here he delivers an important lesson on accessibility and reader investment: Character first, costumes second. Talk about making a good impression — the Worlds' Finest may live up their name yet.

I like how the reviewer says that Paul Levitz succeeded on accessibility. That's wonderful news.

And I also appreciate all the praise for George's art. He deserves it.

[IronMagnus]

My Perez thread and all the detailed examples I listed trumps that image and everything else said here criticizing Perez's artwork. By a mile.

Nah. Not that Perez isn't great. He is. But so is Amanda Conner, and she shouldn't be short-changed. Amanda isn't the legend that Perez is, but I'd rather buy a Power Girl comic illustrated by Conner than Perez. And I know I'm not alone in this, as alot of the PG fans here are huge Conner fans as well.

Again, that's not a knock on George. It's more of an acknowledgement that Amanda is a wonderfully talented artist in her own right.

[Flashpoint]

I'm really looking forward to this: Huntress + PG + Perez = WIN!

Indeed. I also find it funny how fast Perez's detractors stopped posting the moment we started refuting their baseless arguments with the cold, hard facts.

[Flashpoint]

Nah. Not that Perez isn't great. He is. But so is Amanda Conner, and she shouldn't be short-changed. Amanda isn't the legend that Perez is, but I'd rather buy a Power Girl comic illustrated by Conner than Perez. And I know I'm not alone in this, as alot of the PG fans here are huge Conner fans as well.

Again, that's not a knock on George. It's more of an acknowledgement that Amanda is a wonderfully talented artist in her own right.

I'm not shortchanging Amanda Conner, either. She's a talented artist, too. But there are different benchmarks for her work than there are for Perez's. More importantly, there are huge stylistic differences between their work. Conner is more the cartoonist and her style is more cartoon-y. Perez aims for a more realistic style that is very heavy on detail and making characters as lifelike and realistic as humanly possible. The two of them are aiming for completely different goals in their work.

I have no quarrel at all if that cartoon-y style is more to your liking or to anyone else's. What I do strenuously object to is the characterization that Perez's art is "bad" or dated. By this metric, all superstar creators in comics who got their start in the Eighties and Nineties should be summarily dismissed for being "dated": Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Alex Ross, Mark Waid, et cetera.

Morrison and Gaiman are both in their Fifties. Jim Lee turns 50 in 2014. Most of the biggest names, the marquee superstars of the industry are in their 40s and 50s. Who gets to decide who's dated and who's still hip & cool? If you're basing that on sales and critical acclaim, then Perez still more than meets that standard.

[Lemurion]

Ummmmmmm, isn't the page in the article by Maguire? He's the one doing the trip from E2 to EnU.

[Nitz the Bloody]

Looking forward to this comic because it has A.) George Perez and B.) a setup that seems impervious to failing the Bechdel Test, a rarity for superhero comics.

[Flashpoint]

Looking forward to this comic because it has A.) George Perez and B.) a setup that seems impervious to failing the Bechdel Test, a rarity for superhero comics.

Amen. Hear, hear. And bravo!

[blackphoenix]

wish Power girls new outfit looked more like this, but with a smaller,thiner boob hole and dark red thigh high boots...... and probley a longer Cape

Why is it that all the fan created costumes for PG are better than the DC designed one? I seriously hope she has more than one costume like the Wasp from Avengers and that she switches out of that atrocity ASAP.

As to the art: Maguire's pages look so much better than Perez' pages. Is he (Maguire) only drawing the Earth-2 sequences? Speaking of Earth-2, I am not happy that Kara and Helena were actually the Supergirl and Robin of that reality! I don't really see how this adds anything to the mythos. I liked that they had their own identities in the original Eath-2 stories, and they weren't just knock-offs of Eath-1 characters. Besides, Huntress was more of a Batgirl character than a Robin!

[batmanjones]

They're dynamic, no doubt, but Ivan Reis comes from the Alan Davis school of art (along with Bryan Hitch).

And all three of them took class from Neal Adams.

[Zagreus]

It's a shame, I liked the writing in the preview, but I can't dig on Perez art. Never did. His supporters can like it all they want, and more power to you, I just think he has a heavy line, and his style is very old school comic-booky and I like something that seems a little more modern, energetic, and dare I say it, sexy- especially when reading about Huntress and Power Girl. This isn't about showing skin, or ass shots like Benes, but sexy the way a race car is sexy.