George Perez: Comics Romantic
Star TrekStargate:AtlantisFireflyGeorge Perez was wearing one of the shirts his wife made for him at the Phoenix Comicon, this one with dinosaurs. Before the doors opened, he was outside the Mesa Convention Center giving autographs and talking to the fans waiting in line. I almost didn’t approach him for an interview because what could I ask him that he hasn’t already been asked a thousand times? It was pretty intimidating.
It turned out that there was nothing for me to be intimidated about. George Perez was really friendly and even let me sit behind his table and watch him sketch for The Hero Initiative, a non-profit organization dedic
ated to helping comic creators in need.
Pink Raygun: I’m a baby when it comes to comic books. I’ve only really discovered them within the past two years.
George Perez: Oh, you are an infant!
PRG: You’ve had such a long and varied career, so you have an overwhelming amount of work out there. For a girl that’s new to comics and your work, where would you recommend she start?
GP: Quite easily, the comic I did that had a large female following was when I wrote and and drew Wonder Woman, which is closing in on 20 years ago. I wrote and drew the newest incarnation of Wonder Woman in the 1980s and it had a large female following. Teen Titans also had a large female following. There were beautiful female characters and a little shot of beefcake as well. It’s equal opportunity! But those two for whatever reason had a particularly large female following.
PRG: One of the things I’ve noticed about your work is how much detail you put into each panel. It’s almost dizzying. What drives you to cram so much into every image?
GP: I do team books, which almost necessitates that. And I do team books because I enjoy drawing for the sheer love of drawing. I feel like I should give readers their money’s worth. I feel like if I’m doing less work then I’m running away with the cash! I’d be doing this for nothing otherwise because I really love to draw. I’m of the romantic school. I like to make things look as real as possible and put in all the extra nuts and bolts. If I’m drawing a crowd of characters I’ll draw them as individual characters rather than as a varied mass because that’s just the way I do it. now I’ve created a Frankenstein with my career because, sure I could simplify my work and maybe make more money if I worked faster, but now people will notice that. I can’t simplify myself now if I tried.
GEORGE PEREZ NEW TEEN TITANS D. TROY ORIGINAL COVER ART
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Batman Black & White George Perez Statue LOW NUMBER #74
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Modern Masters George Perez Vol 2 TwoMorrows
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GEORGE PEREZ Agency Photo EMPIRE OF THE EAGLES, etc.
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PRG: Do you find that the writers you work with write specifically to that tendency?
GP: Oh no. Writers know I’m fearless. One of the greatest compliments I’ve gotten from a writer was “When I work with George, I don’t have to worry about holding back because he may not want to draw something. There’s nothing that George won’t draw.” There are certain things I’m not as proficient in, like mechanical objects, airplanes, cars. They’re not my favorite things to draw. I like the more organic stuff, but if it’s called for in the story then I’ll do the best I can. Ditto with horses and other types of animals. Those aren’t easy for me, but I don’t want any writers to think that a horse might work really well in a story and leave it out because I won’t want to draw it. I never want them to hold back on a creative idea because its not what I’m strongest at. I like surprising people and myself and the more I bitch and moan when I get a plot, the better an artist I turn out to be. I like the challenge.
PRG: What do you think is the most challenging part about collaborating with a writer on a project?
GP: Sometimes, unless the writer is really knowledgeable about comics, they can make the mistake of not doing the story visually. They may have things that sound great as a concept and would look great in a novel, but trying to crystallize that into a single image, or images in sequence, is almost impossible. Then the artist tries to rework it to make it visual. The best writers are those who, if its not their strongest suit, they leave that to the artist to do. And if they are very visually oriented, they can describe it with just enough information for me to take it to the next phase of development.
PRG: Out of your entire body of work, which project are your the most proud of?
GP: So many. Teen Titans because they launched my career in a major way. Wonder Woman because I did something that no one thought was possible by making the character commercially viable again. And my personal fanboy dream, the JLA/ Avengers. As a child, I was always teaming up those characters, but I finally got to do that fanboy wet dream. With all the stuff that I’ve done artistically, the thing that I’m proudest of in my career my 25 1/2 year marriage to a woman I absolutely adore. (Perez actually glowed when he said this. It was the cutest thing!)
PRG: What advice would you give someone trying to break into comic art?
GP: For one thing, draw for the sheer love of drawing, not just as a way of making a living. You have to love to draw. If you’re going to be doing comics, think first and foremost that you’re doing a story. Think as if you’re storyboarding a silent movie, where much of the info is told visually, so when the writer comes in all she has to do is give motivation and explanation of the inner workings of the character. But, the second that writer has to explain what is visually on that page, you haven’t done your job as a comic artist.
Stumble it!
