In praise & defense of George Perez: the man who transformed DC Comics

[Jim Thompson]

Which seems true of pretty much every artist today who's working on more than one book a month, and that makes him more contemporary than ever!

I read Supergirl #8 the other day, and I was blown away by how good it was. Perez makes really efficient use of panel space and gives you more bang for your buck. And he also tends to add energy to scenes that could easily be 'meh' in lesser hands.

When people think of Perez as dated, I think they're probably thinking of the 80s costume designs he's known for that don't gel with modern sensibilities. But of course, he isn't drawing those anymore...his stuff is perfectly in keeping with the tone of the books he's on.

There's certainly a sense of energy he brings to each and every panel in any book he's working on I think sometimes goes unappreciated. Also, like Byrne, I generally think he doesn't get a lot of credit for the detail of his backgrounds. Seriously, look at the tables, chairs, desks and such in his art; it's really well done.

[Darrell D.]

We will never know the full story. The problem I have with Giffen's claim is that TCJ put panels from Ambush Bug side-by-side with panels from Alack Sinner and they were virtually identical. The most infamous of these was probably a panel of Ambush Bug's hand hold a pan in which he was frying an egg. Next to it was a panel from Alack Sinner. The two were, for all intents and purposes, identical down to the pencils and inks.

Yeah, I remember that. It's weird, because that new style was the first time I actually LIKED Giffen's art. His Legion stuff with Levitz was always so boring to me, so it was really exciting to see that he was attempting to grow as an artist.
I really loved the style he developed for Trencher.

[David Walton]

There's certainly a sense of energy he brings to each and every panel in any book he's working on I think sometimes goes unappreciated. Also, like Byrne, I generally think he doesn't get a lot of credit for the detail of his backgrounds. Seriously, look at the tables, chairs, desks and such in his art; it's really well done.

One might argue that he does so well with detail, it's easy to miss. Much like paying attention to your surroundings in the real world.

[Jim Thompson]

One might argue that he does so well with detail, it's easy to miss. Much like paying attention to your surroundings in the real world.

I can see that.

"What do you see?" - Madam Simza Heron
"Everything. That is my curse." - Sherlock Holmes

[David Walton]

I can see that.

Love that quote!

I wonder if super-powered beings started throwing lightning bolts at each other in a crowded room who'd be like, "No two chairs in this room are exactly alike! It's incredible!"

[Jim Thompson]

Love that quote!

I wonder if super-powered beings started throwing lightning bolts at each other in a crowded room who'd be like, "No two chairs in this room are exactly alike! It's incredible!"

Holmes would.

[David Walton]

Holmes would.

Yep...which is why RDJr. was such an inspired choice. He pulls off the vibe of a guy who's maybe not paying enough attention to the bullets flying overhead because there's a bigger picture. I loved the line in the first film about solving an ancient theological problem that would reconcile several religions while he was meditating on a case. I've only seen it once, so I could have butchered that line!

[Jim Thompson]

Yep...which is why RDJr. was such an inspired choice. He pulls off the vibe of a guy who's maybe not paying enough attention to the bullets flying overhead because there's a bigger picture. I loved the line in the first film about solving an ancient theological problem that would reconcile several religions while he was meditating on a case. I've only seen it once, so I could have butchered that line!

I don't remember the line exactly, but that is the crux of it.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Perez is the best in our time IMO. No one could do what he did in COIE or Infinite Crisis. The fact he could draw all those hero's on one page and not make it look like a cluster&%$# just shows the talent this man has.

Anyone who says he is not one of the greatest artist ever is not to even be bothered with.

This is the correct answer.

Too many people want to supplant the greats with the newbies. Don't get me wrong, some of the newbies are greats, but you cannot bury the older dudes under the newbies.

Perez always was and always will be my fave artist.

[Mr. Holmes]

Holmes would.

Indeed. 10char

[cgh]

When I was a little kid reading New Teen Titans, I was always so excited for GP's artwork. Somehow my little-kid brain understood that this was transformative stuff. Even with the limited colouring of the time, it still looks awesome, especially crowd scenes. Everything is so clean and precise. I grew up in a place with some big-time winter and some of my best memories are sitting with a stack of NTT comics and reading them over and over while the snow piled up outside.

I still have the run from #1-20something, although they aren't in awesome shape. Unfortunately, the writing doesn't hold up quite as well as the art.

[glennsim]

Here's my position. I personally LOVE LOVE LOVE George Perez's art. He hooked me on comics with the original New Teen Titans, and I even had some Avengers and Fantastic Four that I realized later had been drawn by the same guy. I will pretty much buy any DC or Marvel book he draws, and I am very much looking forward to World's Finest.

However...I do not personally expect anyone else to like his current work based on anything he did in the past. I think they should respect the man for what he brought to the table, but if someone doesn't like his World's Finest work, I don't think anything he did prior to that should invalidate their opinion.

As with any other artist, we can debate those things like anatomy and storytelling, and ultimately there's going to be people who appreciate certain aesthetics and some who want different things. But the fact that George created different faces for the Teen Titans members back in 1984 has nothing to do with whether his World's Finest art is good or bad.

[maximiliani]

Which seems true of pretty much every artist today who's working on more than one book a month, and that makes him more contemporary than ever!

I read Supergirl #8 the other day, and I was blown away by how good it was. Perez makes really efficient use of panel space and gives you more bang for your buck. And he also tends to add energy to scenes that could easily be 'meh' in lesser hands.

When people refer to Perez as dated, I think they're probably thinking of the 80s costume designs he's known for that don't gel with modern sensibilities. But of course, he isn't drawing those anymore...his stuff is perfectly in keeping with the tone of the books he's on.

Powergirl's new suit isn't very stylish. World's Finest is showing his troubles with arthritis as things look a bit off, heads and faces. Maybe its the inking but I do sense a sense of datedness (their haircuts?) that is unfortunate. He was great and can still produce good stuff, he's just not at the caliber he used to be.

[Buried Alien]

I initially had the same problem but I really liked his rendition here:



But then again I've always been a mark for George's Superman renditions.

This one works better, but mainly because the UPC box and Supergirl are blocking our vision of Superman's boots.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[carabas]

Overrated. He's the Rob Liefeld or Scott Lobdell of his time. Has his place, but too pop in the end.

Okay, that's just crazy talk.