Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: dark crisis, dc comics, george perez

DC Comics To Celebrate George Pérez's 68th Birthday in June

Published Fri, 22 Apr 2022 11:14:09 -0500

This week's Avengers #55 from Marvel Comics ran a tribute page to George Pérez. In a DC PR-arranged call with retailers last night, Josh Williamson talked about a George Pérez tribute that DC Comics will be publishing in June. Last year, legendary comic book creator George Pérez told family, friends and the world that he had stage 3, inoperable pancreatic cancer. That he had chosen not to receive further medication. And had a life expectancy of six months to one year. The outpouring of memories and well-wishes from comic book creators and fans was a torrent. And there were calls and a petition for Marvel and DC to republish his JLA/Avengers comic book series, which recently happened, and George got to see it.

Now DC Comics will celebrate the 68th birthday of George Pérez, one of the titans of the comic industry, with a two-page spread featuring some of his most beloved characters in each of its June periodical releases. Working from a layout designed by Dan Jurgens, some of the industry's biggest names including Jim Lee, Walter Simonson, Alex Ross, Dave Gibbons, Todd McFarlane, Daniel Sampere, Jerry Ordway, Nicola Scott and many more, collaborated on the piece

"When I was asked to come up with a design and layout that would honor George Pérez and his many incredible contributions to DC Comics over the years, I was truly honored," said Dan Jurgens. "I have admired George's work since I first saw it and have had the good fortune to work with him in different capacities, on a number of projects. More importantly, I've been able to see the way George treats fans and readers, always smiling, gregarious and approachable. It was a joy to watch this cover come together and I'm sure everyone who contributed feels the same way."

The tribute features the following DC characters that Pérez is most known for, as well as the man himself, drawn by a number of the top artists in the industry and colored by Hi-Fi. Accompanying the spread on a separate page will be a key highlighting the characters and artists that participated.

The Monitor & Anti-Monitor – Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Trigon – Todd McFarlane
The Spectre – Alex Ross
Darkseid – Walter Simonson
Firestorm & The Justice League Satellite – Scott Kolins
Ares & Hippolyta – Phil Jimenez
Cheetah & The Amazons – Colleen Doran
Lady H.I.V.E. & H.I.V.E. Agents – Scott Koblish
Vigilante – Dave Gibbons
Cheshire – Joëlle Jones
Brother Blood – Darryl Banks
Blackfire – Mike McKone
Gizmo & Mammoth – Klaus Janson
Shimmer – Bruno Redondo
Psimon – Mikel Janín
Neutron & Jinx – Dan Mora
The Legion of Super-Heroes – Francis Manapul
The Justice Society of America – Jerry Ordway
Power Girl & Huntress – Kevin Maguire
The Justice League of America (and the background) – Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
Superboy-Prime & Alexander Luthor – Ivan Reis
Supergirl – Gary Frank
Harbinger – Adam Hughes
Pariah – Daniel Sampere
Jericho & Kole – Nicola Scott
The New Teen Titans, Deathstroke & George Pérez – José Luis García-López

In addition to being included in all of DC's June issues, the tribute will also be featured as a variant cover for Dark Crisis #7. Each issue of the series will feature a cover highlighting a previous crisis event from DC's history, starting with Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez for issue #1. "George Pérez is one of my favorite comic storytellers of all time. To say he's a 'great artist' is a massive understatement," said Dark Crisis Writer Joshua Williamson. "His work on the original Crisis of Infinite Earths inspired so much of my love for DC Comics. When I saw DC editors pull together this incredible piece with so many amazing legendary artists celebrating George, I won't lie, it was emotional. And now it's an honor to have this tribute be a cover to Dark Crisis."

A special version of the Dark Crisis #7 variant cover will be available for sale by The Hero Initiative to raise funds for one of Pérez's favourite charities. Pérez is a founding member of Hero Initiative's board of directors and has served as chair of its Disbursement Committee.

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