PEREZ @ THE SHOW: TALKING TO GEORGE PEREZ

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

Catching up with George Perez is no easy task. It's been a busy year for the artist. In between his time working on the interiors of the seven-part mini-series Infinite Crisis, a recent issue of JSA and the upcoming Brave and the Bold ongoing title for DC Comics, he's been churning out amazingly detailed covers for the Infinite Crisis.

But fans are lucky -- Perez does sit still for a little while when he's at comic book conventions, and he's got quite a few of them on his schedule for this summer. So, as he worked on one of over 50 sketches he completed at this past weekend's Pittsburgh Comic-Con, Newsarama had a quick chat with Perez to get the inside scoop on his latest work and a few more details about what he's doing next.

Newsarama: So it's finally happening? Months after it was announced that Mark Waid was writing a Brave and the Bold ongoing for DC with you as penciller, you're finally working on the series?

George Perez: Yes! I was supposed to start in November, but because of Infinite Crisis and JSA, and Mark being caught up in 52, it got delayed more and more. But I'm starting on the first issue, and it looks like a lot of fun. The first teaming up is Batman and Green Lantern -- in Vegas! So I've got to keep freeze-framing CSI" I believe, from what I gather, Supergirl will probably be the next character that's spotlighted.

NRAMA: So, basically, you'll get to draw a lot of different characters, something that obviously plays to your strengths.

GP: Right. Mark has asked me who I want to draw. And of course after doing the Crisis books and JLA/Avengers, I'm running out of characters I haven't drawn! So it's always going to be a welcome challenge no matter who it is.

NRAMA: Did you give him any names of characters you'd like to draw?

GP: I tried to name a couple characters, but I had to actually think about it. I've never actually done a spotlight of Zatanna. I've done Zatanna in a few books -- obviously JLA/Avengers -- and she's a fun character. And Hawkman is always a visually exciting character to work with. And of course, at one point during my run on Brave and the Bold, I'd like to do Wonder Woman as a lead character. So there are a lot of characters like that.

I was tempted to mention how I'd like to do the Legion of Superheroes in there, but maybe I'll just wait until after I'm done with Brave and the Bold, because the idea of me actually working on a real Legion of Superheroes story -- it's something everyone says needs to happen.

NRAMA: And you agree? Is Legion of Superheroes a book you'd like to do?

GP: The Legion was favorite comic when I was a kid, and ironically, I've never drawn an issue of Legion of Superheroes. I'd say that's a wrong that has to be righted.

NRAMA: The cover you did for Infinite Crisis #7 was just released in black and white. Without a calculator handy, it's tough to tell -- how many DC characters did you draw for that cover?

GP: There are 56 characters. There would have been more, but that really was a rush. I had to do it in three days.

NRAMA: You drew that cover in three days?

GP: I had to rush because they needed it sooner than usual because of the lamination process.

NRAMA: That seems like a lot of characters to draw in three days, particularly with so much action happening on the page.

GP: Well, Jim Lee upped the ante by putting the most characters you could ever have on a cover! I think he had more characters in that cover than all the other covers combined! I don't know how many characters Jim did. I did 56. But he didn't have any background! He's got a lot of space back there! I had to draw Metropolis!

NRAMA: Good point! That's a lot of detail. That's got to count for something.

GP: The way I work, I did all of Metropolis in pencil first, then started erasing and putting all the characters on top of there, like an animation cell. That way I don't lose track of where does that line start, or where does that line end on the other side of the character.

NRAMA: That cover and the others for Infinite Crisis are certainly an accomplishment, but you've been doing a lot of the interior work for the mini-series as well.

GP: I just finished my part on Infinite Crisis #7 on Wednesday. And you know, I'm glad that Crisis is over. As much as I'm glad it's a success, I just want to get back and do one of my own books. That's why I'm looking forward to Brave and the Bold and enjoyed doing that JSA story.

NRAMA: That JSA story was for February's issue #82, where you teamed up with writer Paul Levitz for the first time.

GP: I've known Paul Levitz since we were teenagers, so it was great that we finally got to work together.

NRAMA: How did you know him?

GP: Oh, we were fans. We're both from New York. And we had mutual friends.

It was a lot of fun for me because I got to work in a kind of retro style. For the first time, I felt like I was really drawing the Superman I grew up with. I was deliberately having to draw the '40s to '60s Superman, and ditto with Batman. The pre-new-look Batman. So I had a lot of fun. And even Wonder Woman, I was drawing in the Ross Andru style of the 1950s. There are a lot of little in-jokes in there.

NRAMA: In-jokes such as...?

GP: In the car where you see Lois and Clark driving, it's the same car that was driven in the Superman TV show in 1952. Clark Kent is actually wearing the George Reeves suit and Lois Lane is wearing the Phyllis Coates' outfit for the TV series.

And if you look at the page -- and people on the internet have spotted this -- where Superman is flying down while Batman is reading the newspaper, in the background it says Alyn, Wilson, Lowery & Reeves Costuming, paying tribute to Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery, Kirk Alyn and George Reeves who played Superman and Batman prior to the 1952 time.

NRAMA: It sounds like you really looked into the history.

GP: I actually had the DVD of the Superman TV show so I could freeze-frame and follow a bit of that. I think that's why it was set in 1952. That's the year the series premiered. So it was a fun job.

NRAMA: Despite everything you're doing, you seem to have a full convention schedule this year.

GP: I do have a lot of conventions. Like I said, I just finished my last part of Crisis on Wednesday, and I flew out for this con on Thursday. This one raises money for Make-A-Wish, so I always try to attend the Pittsburgh show. This is one of those rare years where not only do I have two conventions in one month, I've got them consecutive weekends. I'm doing Toronto next weekend. And a lot of the ones I'm attending this year are because I had to cancel so many last year because of health reasons. So I'm making up.

[c_andrew_s]

His work is amazing!!! Thanks for the great article.

[Stormbreaker]

A fun little Q&A, if I do say so myself. Perez always has fantastic work, and the level of depth and number of characters he puts into one image are just mindboggling and mesmerizing at the same time. I look forward to seeing more from him. Bring on the Brave and the Bold! And seeing him on Legion would certainly be very interesting as well.

[bishop-m]

Man do I miss George's pencils! He is one of the greatest artists working today! I can't wait for The Brave and the Bold to finally hit!

[connorfan]

Cool interview, Perez is a stud.

One minor thing: I'd really like to see a break down of who's who on the Perez's cover.

[Bakema NL]

Perez.....another one of the greatest names out there, mentioned in one breath with the likes of Kubert and Kirby. Instantly recognizable and a lot of artists after him were influenced by the man. Definitely looking forward to Brave and the bold and Perez on Legion of superheroes.........do I hear a hell yeah? Would be brilliant.

[IvCNuB4]

I just did a quick count of Lee's cover: 128 GLs plus PowerGirl, both Supermen, Martian Manhunter and SB-Prime = 133 characters (give or take).....

[MurrayC]

I KNOW the stories will be great... And I KNOW the art will be awesome...

But I am wondering if this book will be worth our while?

I am hoping the new series won't be just like the original Brave and the Bold series in that it realy didn't have any impact on the rest of the DCU. Every issue, while a fun read, didn't really accomplish anything.

The new Superman/Batman series is a new take on the old World's Finest series, but it takes it up a notch. The new SM/BM series introduced some new characters, used old characters really well, reintroduced Supergirl, and even had stories that affected the DCU.

I am hoping Waid will make the new B&B series a "must-read-first" book, and not just an attempt at mundane nostalgia.

[Soot]

Personally I would love to see George and Paul Levitz do an All-Star Legion min series. Paul could revisit the Legion and not be tied to the current incarnation (not to say anything is wrong with it). I've been following the Legion faithfully since Superboy 197 so I've seen it thru many ups and downs. Truly the two of them paired would be a major up!

[divebomb]

Im hoping to meet him at the Toronto Comicon this weekend

[jedifish]

I'm hoping to meet George at the Motor City con in few weeks.

[erudite]

did i read this right?

GP: I just finished my part on Infinite Crisis #7 on Wednesday.


As in Last Wednesday? i'm not trying to down the man or his work... but that seems like not a lot of time to get the pages to the editor/ colorist/ whomever and get them to the printer so it can be in our hot little hands May 10th. is another delay in our future?

I know that the folk at DC dont probably care as when this all gets traded- it will seem seamless? butthis lack of timeliness has really sucked.

[Dino1963]

I will pick up the Brave and the Bold, even though I haven't enjoyed Mark Waid's writing in quite a while. George Perez is one of the few artists I will buy a book just for the art. But if George does a Legion book, I hope it's any previous incarnation of the Legion. I'm not really feeling the new Legion.

[The Funketeer]

Originally Posted by jedifish

I'm hoping to meet George at the Motor City con in few weeks.

I've tried for many years to get a sketch from Perez in Chicago and my advice to anyone wanting to meet him would be to get in line early. Early as in as soon as they open the doors. I once waited in line four hours only to be turned away at the end because his time was up (to be fair, I was told this might happen early on in my line standing experience but decided to take the risk that the line might move fast enough to get me in). He's a very nice and gracious con guest but he'll also draw sketches for the first 10 or 20 or so people who ask and he doesn't draw very fast. Given his lack of appearances last year and his high profile assignments right now, I'm pretty sure he'll be a popular guest this time around.

[Jack Burton]

Nice jobe Moonie! 3 days and all that detail. Perez is a freaking god.

[MCaputo]

Originally Posted by MurrayC

I KNOW the stories will be great... And I KNOW the art will be awesome...

But I am wondering if this book will be worth our while?

I am hoping the new series won't be just like the original Brave and the Bold series in that it realy didn't have any impact on the rest of the DCU. Every issue, while a fun read, didn't really accomplish anything.

The new Superman/Batman series is a new take on the old World's Finest series, but it takes it up a notch. The new SM/BM series introduced some new characters, used old characters really well, reintroduced Supergirl, and even had stories that affected the DCU.

I am hoping Waid will make the new B&B series a "must-read-first" book, and not just an attempt at mundane nostalgia.

Wow... we must be jaded when Waid and Perez on a team-up book isn't automatically "must-read-first". Actually, the old BATB was mostly written by a guy (Bob Haney) who didn't care for continuity; many of his stories ended up being another earth in the DCU multiverse, which the 1st (and better) Crisis ended up addressing.
I'm sure Waid will keep everything in continuity. Also, it's interesting that you acknowledge the S/B series as "in continuity" (quotes mine); I've been fighting an uphill battle for two years that it is - most people don't think so. How can it not be? So, thank you for that.

[thunder5x]

I'm dissapointed to hear that he will be working with Mark Waid, I hate what he's done to the Legion. Speaking of the Legion I would LOVE to see him draw the Legion, with another writer of course. I'm shocked and dissapointed that you did not ask him about the status of the Titans graphic novel. Perez is my God.
Mike

[HeX111]

He was so busy at the Pittsburgh show, I couldn't even get a chance to get him to sign my Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths... but since he is there literally EVERY year, I'll catch him next year... I figured he could probably also draw every character ever created in a 2 inch by 2 inch block... hahaha..

[Steve J.]

Originally Posted by jedifish

I'm hoping to meet George at the Motor City con in few weeks.

He's on the guest list for Motor City in May, but has he confirmed anywhere that he'll actually attend? MCCC has a tendency to list a lot of big names pre-show, then list a lot of cancelled big names at the last minute.

And Levitz and Perez on any Legion story would be awesome indeed!

[Gladiator X]

Originally Posted by Soot

Personally I would love to see George and Paul Levitz do an All-Star Legion min series. Paul could revisit the Legion and not be tied to the current incarnation (not to say anything is wrong with it). I've been following the Legion faithfully since Superboy 197 so I've seen it thru many ups and downs. Truly the two of them paired would be a major up!

I hear that!
Perez and Levitz All-Star Legion would be a dream come true.

[P.Bateman]

Don't put me in the troll category, but count me as one of the guys who just doesn't get the hoopla! I find Perez's work extremely dated in this day and age, and the only noteworthy aspect of his work is that he can draw a thousand characters into one panel. Guess what, anybody else can these days too... its called "Scale" in Photoshop.

[yenaled]

Perez rules so much! Such great work, can't wait for Brave and the Bold.

[Steve J.]

Originally Posted by Steve J.

He's on the guest list for Motor City in May, but has he confirmed anywhere that he'll actually attend?

I answered my own question: http://vu.morrissey-solo.com/moz/perez/news/051121.htm. He's the biggest name creator Motor City will have had in a long time. See ya there, Mr. Perez!

[Lord MaGnUs]

Perez is a great artist; I'm definitely picking up the new B&B... and I'd love to see him doing a Legion book.

Also, my last name is also Perez, so I kinda wish he was my uncle... :>

[jedifish]

Originally Posted by Steve J.

I answered my own question: http://vu.morrissey-solo.com/moz/perez/news/051121.htm. He's the biggest name creator Motor City will have had in a long time. See ya there, Mr. Perez!

Thanks for verifying that.