The Many Paths of George Perez, Part One
July 24, 2009 by Chris Fluit

I. The Early Years (1974-75)

George Perez broke into the comic book industry in the summer of 1974 (which also happens to be the season and the year I was born) but his story begins a little bit before that. Perez had graduated from high school and was working as a bank teller in 1972 and ’73 when a high school friend brought him to a comic book convention. Perez describes himself as a self-taught artist, but he brought his portfolio along with him anyway. He showed it to several editors and companies and received some fairly harsh criticism. Marv Wolfman, then an editor a Marvel, said that he didn’t know anatomy or perspective. Neal Adams, the head of Continuity Studios, told him to quit inking his own work because he obviously didn’t know how. (1)

Perez went home with the expressed purpose of proving his critics wrong. He could draw anatomy. He did know how to ink. But by trying to prove them wrong, he ended up proving them right. His anatomy, perspective, inking, everything improved as he worked harder on his craft.

Meanwhile, at least one other person showed some faith in him. Marvel artist Rich Buckler had also seen George Perez’s portfolio and remembered the young artist. When he needed help on a project, he gave Perez a call. George Perez completed two pages of a Deathlok story for Astonishing Tales #25, which was published with a cover date of August, 1974. Buckler was happy with how that project turned out and continued to throw small jobs Perez’s way. Perez even worked as an uncredited assistant for Buckler on Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3, which was published in November of that same year. Perez describes that Fantastic Four story as his big break into the industry. (2)

Even though he didn’t receive a credit for the Fantastic Four story, Perez did garner the notice of the editors at Marvel Comics. He was soon receiving work on his own merit. Superheroes were in a bit of a slump at the time, and other genres like monster stories and kung fu were on the rise. Perez got to do a bit of both. He was assigned “The Sons of the Tiger” back-up feature in “Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu” beginning in issue 6 (November, 1974) and then the Man-Wolf series in “Creatures on the Loose” (starting with #33, January 1975). Since one story was a back-up feature and the other title was bi-monthly, Perez was able to work on both series at the same time.

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