R.I.P. George Perez 4 4

[Math Teacher]

RIP, George. The work of George and Marv Wolfman made the New Teen Titans required reading.

[Jayman]

Thank you George Perez. 

[D84]

Goodbye George. May a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Sorry if I misquoted that. I'm tired.

[supapimp]

RIP and Godspeed 

[mytastebud]

Neil Adams now George Perez 

Batman 440 is one of my favorite books of all time. A Lonely Place to Die I Bought 41 copies. You should have seen the comic book shop owners face when I dropped 40 of the same book on the counter.  I asked if it was ok and he shrugged and said he'd pick up more. Something about that purple black and yellow cover with Batman perched on a gargoyle with the bat signal. Just super cool. Another great gone.

[Zonker]

As much detail as the man put into his work, even when he really didn't have to (think of all those crowd scenes!), he obviously really loved his work.  And if that's not the definition of the Good Life, I don't know what is.  RIP Mr. Perez.

[Rip]

One of my favorite artists of all time. Loved his run on Titans, Avengers, FF, Wonder Woman, and most anything else he touched.

Crisis on the Infinite Earths may be the greatest mini series ever made.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Rip

[RockMyAmadeus]

It is impossible to overstate the impact on my life that George Perez had. He and Marv Wolfman changed the course of my entire life.

I didn't buy comics as a kid. I remember owning a single comic as a kid, Rom #47. I read books, mostly fantasy/adventure type stuff like the Oz books, LOTR, Jack London, John Steinbeck, Encyclopedia Brown, Choose Your Own Adventure, stuff like that.

In the summer of 1989, I was 17, and working at a Boy Scout camp in Willits, CA, north of Ukiah. I was an avid reader of books, so I haunted used book stores to find stuff I'd be interested in. In town, there was a used book store, so on my day off, I decided to check it out. I discovered there that they had comics for sale, too. I wasn't too interested, but I noticed a "50 cent" bin. Since I'm a notorious cheapskate, I decided to see what was there. I found, to my delight, that there were comics with cover prices of $2.50 and even $2.95...for 50 cents! I could sell these for COVER price, and make a HUGE profit!

Little did I know, of course...

At the same time, Batman the movie was all the rage, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. So, I looked at the new comics rack, and they had the latest issues of Batman (#437-439, Year 3) for sale. I bought them as well. They didn't have #436, as this was August, and Batmania was in full swing. I read #437-439 anyway, and though I didn't get the whole context, enough of it was there that I could piece together the story.

Well, I took that small pile of comics home with me, and promptly moved on to other things. While I completely loved the Batman movie, the comics were just a casual purchase, an attempt to perhaps cash in on the hype, and not anything I even thought about once I got home and put them in a box.

But that fall, I made some new friends who were much more into comics than I was, so in January of 1990, we went to an actual comic book store for the first time in my life...the Land of Nevawuz, in Danville, CA. I can, to this day, 32+ years later, still remember exactly what the circumstances of that first visit were...the sights, the look of the store, everything. On that fateful night, the store had this book on the rack:

The best part is...it was FREE!! Well, I couldn't say no to THAT! And that may have well been the very first comic book I actually read since that Rom #47 years before. And in that book was reprinted a section from The New Teen Titans #39...the prelude to the Judas Contract. I was totally intrigued, and knew I'd have to track down the rest of this storyline. I had no idea who "Marv Wolfman" or "George Perez" were, but I knew that I was really fascinated with what I had read, and needed more.

Of course, I had missed "A Lonely Place of Dying" completely, so I was a little miffed. After searching the local Bay Area comic stores, I found that some of them had Batman #440 and #442...for $5 each! ARGH! Now I HAD to have them, but I was determined not to pay "full market retail" for them. I continued my hunt, and eventually was able to track down the entire storyline, as well as my missing #436, and then I read them. The fact that all of these books tied in with one another just made it all the more fascinating, and by then, I was completely hooked. When I finally read Lonely Place of Dying, I so much connected with Tim Drake, as the "anti" Jason Todd (the Collins/Starlin Todd), that my very first eBay user id was "Timdrake72."

As a result of that first initial contact, and then kickstart, comics became the major theme of the rest of my life. For nearly 33 years, with few exceptions, comics have been the major focus of my life, as a collector, as a part-time dealer, and, for good chunks of my life, my sole source of income. And I've loved nearly every minute of it.

If I hadn't visited the Land of Nevawuz on that fateful night, and picked up that free reprint book, and read that reprint of New Teen Titans #39, and been inspired to track down those missing Lonely Place of Dying and Year 3 books, so I could finally read them...I may never have gotten into comics at all. But because I was fascinated by the story I had read, and the collector bug in me to have the ones I was missing was strong, it sparked a lifelong avocation that has become a central focus of my entire life.

And it's all due to George Perez and Marv Wolfman.

George Perez quite literally changed my life.

And for that, I am deeply, deeply grateful.

PS. Though this is not the first copy of New Teen Titans #39...the story reprinted that I mentioned above...I ever owned, it was the nicest. I bought this for $2 in 1993 from the comic shop that bought out the Land of Nevawuz. The first time I saw that cover, I thought "man, this would be amazing to have sketched. Look at all that open white space! I know...I could get Nightwing on Dick's side, and Flash on Wally's side!"

It took me 22 years before the opportunity presented itself...but I finally got it. This one's a lifer:

PPS. I still have all those comics I bought in that used book store in Willits, CA. Never did make any money with 'em. That's ok. They're much more important to me now.

Edited May 7, 2022 by RockMyAmadeus

[BlowUpTheMoon]

[Logan510]

RIP 

[Cat]

Oh no. Sorry George, we'll miss you. We'll all miss you. 

[Timely]

Neal last week and George this week? A sad time for us all! 

[Point Five]

On 5/7/2022 at 3:04 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

It is impossible to overstate the impact on my life that George Perez had. He and Marv Wolfman changed the course of my entire life.

I didn't buy comics as a kid. I remember owning a single comic as a kid, Rom #47. I read books, mostly fantasy/adventure type stuff like the Oz books, LOTR, Jack London, John Steinbeck, Encyclopedia Brown, Choose Your Own Adventure, stuff like that.

In the summer of 1989, I was 17, and working at a Boy Scout camp in Willits, CA, north of Ukiah. I was an avid reader of books, so I haunted used book stores to find stuff I'd be interested in. In town, there was a used book store, so on my day off, I decided to check it out. I discovered there that they had comics for sale, too. I wasn't too interested, but I noticed a "50 cent" bin. Since I'm a notorious cheapskate, I decided to see what was there. I found, to my delight, that there were comics with cover prices of $2.50 and even $2.95...for 50 cents! I could sell these for COVER price, and make a HUGE profit!

Little did I know, of course...

At the same time, Batman the movie was all the rage, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. So, I looked at the new comics rack, and they had the latest issues of Batman (#437-439, Year 3) for sale. I bought them as well. They didn't have #436, as this was August, and Batmania was in full swing. I read #437-439 anyway, and though I didn't get the whole context, enough of it was there that I could piece together the story.

Well, I took that small pile of comics home with me, and promptly moved on to other things. While I completely loved the Batman movie, the comics were just a casual purchase, an attempt to perhaps cash in on the hype, and not anything I even thought about once I got home and put them in a box.

But that fall, I made some new friends who were much more into comics than I was, so in January of 1990, we went to an actual comic book store for the first time in my life...the Land of Nevawuz, in Danville, CA. I can, to this day, 32+ years later, still remember exactly what the circumstances of that first visit were...the sights, the look of the store, everything. On that fateful night, the store had this book on the rack:

The best part is...it was FREE!! Well, I couldn't say no to THAT! And that may have well been the very first comic book I actually read since that Rom #47 years before. And in that book was reprinted a section from The New Teen Titans #39...the prelude to the Judas Contract. I was totally intrigued, and knew I'd have to track down the rest of this storyline. I had no idea who "Marv Wolfman" or "George Perez" were, but I knew that I was really fascinated with what I had read, and needed more.

Of course, I had missed "A Lonely Place of Dying" completely, so I was a little miffed. After searching the local Bay Area comic stores, I found that some of them had Batman #440 and #442...for $5 each! ARGH! Now I HAD to have them, but I was determined not to pay "full market retail" for them. I continued my hunt, and eventually was able to track down the entire storyline, as well as my missing #436, and then I read them. The fact that all of these books tied in with one another just made it all the more fascinating, and by then, I was completely hooked. When I finally read Lonely Place of Dying, I so much connected with Tim Drake, as the "anti" Jason Todd (the Collins/Starlin Todd), that my very first eBay user id was "Timdrake72."

As a result of that first initial contact, and then kickstart, comics became the major theme of the rest of my life. For nearly 33 years, with few exceptions, comics have been the major focus of my life, as a collector, as a part-time dealer, and, for good chunks of my life, my sole source of income. And I've loved nearly every minute of it.

If I hadn't visited the Land of Nevawuz on that fateful night, and picked up that free reprint book, and read that reprint of New Teen Titans #39, and been inspired to track down those missing Lonely Place of Dying and Year 3 books, so I could finally read them...I may never have gotten into comics at all. But because I was fascinated by the story I had read, and the collector bug in me to have the ones I was missing was strong, it sparked a lifelong avocation that has become a central focus of my entire life.

And it's all due to George Perez and Marv Wolfman.

George Perez quite literally changed my life.

And for that, I will be deeply, deeply grateful.

PS. Though this is not the first copy of New Teen Titans #39...the story reprinted that I mentioned above...I ever owned, it was the nicest. I bought this for $2 in 1993 from the comic shop that bought out the Land of Nevawuz. The first time I saw that cover, I thought "man, this would be amazing to have sketched. Look at all that open white space! I know...I could get Nightwing on Dick's side, and Flash on Wally's side!"

It took me 22 years before the opportunity presented itself...but I finally got it. This one's a lifer:

PPS. I still have all those comics I bought in that used book store in Willits, CA. Never did make any money with 'em. That's ok. They're much more important to me now.

Fantastic post, RMA!  

I probably haven't opened NTT #39 in 25 years or more, but remember it vividly. That scene where Wally sees the other Titans going gaga over Robin and broods to himself 'welp, there you go, I knew I never really fit in here' (or similar) was so poignant and has always stayed with me... I'm sure a lot of loner kids related to that. The series was so rich with nuances and moments like that.

It's worth remembering too that George started the series as the artist, but was billed as a co-writer/co-creator with Marv as time went on.

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by Point Five

[KirbyJack]

I got to meet George Perez at a comic show in Overland Park, KS. I am not a signature guy, and I generally don’t use my time at a show to talk to famous folk. But there he sat, completely alone. There was no line, and I loved the FFs he did so much, I had to go over. To this day, he was the nicest creator I’ve ever met.

Thanks for everything, George! 

[spideyfan68]

I was lucky enough to meet George 2X. One at the North Texas Comic Book Show that I think was 2017. It was in the Fair Park Building at the Cotton Bowl. It was February and about 30-40°F inside the building. He and Marv were both there and both couldn't have been nicer. George took his time with every fan and such a genuinely sweet person. There must have been over 300 people in line as the line went around the inside of the building. Fast forward to 2018 I believe and Bedrock City Comics had won a contest to have  George come to their store on a Saturday. I remember dragging my poor wife down to Houston and driving at about 3AM so we could make down there by no later than 8. When we got there there must have been 100-150 people already in line and he wasn't due in the store until around 1PM.While we stood in line we thought we came a long distance from Fort Worth but met people from Chicago, Ohio and California.   He arrived and by that time the line wrapped so far behind the store you could not see the end. We finally got to see George and at the time Infinity War was just about to come out and we talked about that and he signed by Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus. Then I asked if I could get a picture with him. He jumped from the table came around grabbed and gave me a hug as my wife took the picture. It meant a lot to me that he loved his fans as much as his fans loved him. From talking to Mr Bedrock he stayed in the store until almost 9PM so that everyone in line could have their moment with him. I've gotten to meet a lot of creators over the last 15 years or so and none had they way to brighten the room the way George did. He will be genuinely missed. Godspeed George you had an impact on so many people and the world is a sadder place without you. 

[Axelrod]

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

The MAIN reason I collect comics is for the nostalgia.  With all these legends passing away it does give me some solace that I have some of their work on my collection to enjoy and remember.

 

***To happy memories...RIP

[Domo Arigato]

On 5/7/2022 at 2:25 PM, spideyfan68 said:

What an awesome picture.  

I never got to meet George, but this sure makes me wish I had.

Just look at his face.......you can't fake that......the genuine love and affection he had for his fans.  I'm sure you were absolutely thrilled to get a picture with him......but he looks even more excited to be taking a picture with you.  

The hobby has truly lost someone great.

 

[wormboy]

Thank you for all the great memories - Love you George! 

[kimik]

Another big creator loss. My condolences to his family. Rest in Peace, George.