George Pérez Dies: Artist For ‘Crisis On Infinite Earths’ Comic Was 67

George Pérez, whose work for Marvel and DC made him one of the most acclaimed comic book artists over the last five decades, died today at age 67 of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Pérez worked on many top titles during his long career, including launching the New Teen Titans in 1980 with writer Marv Wolfman (they created Cyborg, Raven and Starfire and had Dick Grayson become Nightwing).

But their most massive achievement came late in the ’80s when they helped reshape the DC Universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths, a reboot that saw several major characters killed off in a multiverse saga that still resonates in popular culture.

Perez is also credited with rebooting Wonder Woman in 1987, and for two separate runs with the Avengers series.

Born in the South Bronx of New York City on June 9, 1954, Pérez went to work as a studio assistant at Marvel before he turned 20. Pérez’s first published comic book work came in 1974, Deathlok in Astonishing Tales #25 in 1974.

He soon moved on to his first regular feature, the Sons of the Tiger feature in the book the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.

He began drawing the Avengers in 1975, then added work on the Fantastic Four. He also began work for DC in the 1980s, drawing Justice League of America, which meant he had locked up the art for the most popular heroes of the era.

In 2014, he drew his last regular series, the Sirens miniseries for BOOM!

In 2017, Pérez was inducted into The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. In 2019, he officially retired from regular comic book art citing ill health.

Survivors include his wife, Carol. A memorial service will take place at MEGACON Orlando at 6pm on Sunday, May 22nd. It will be open to all.