WOW! (David Perez) (Mar 2011)
11B Press

In the storied list of accomplished Puerto Ricans, there’s one Boricua who has earned his fame in a field that is, perhaps, not as widely appreciated as, say, film or medicine. His name: George Pérez. His field: Comic book artist.

Born and raised in the South Bronx, George is an industry legend with over forty years producing jaw-dropping work on some of comic’s biggest titles, including Avengers, Justice League, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman, and his co-creation, The New Teen Titans.

In 1975, along with Bill Mantlo, he also co-created the industry’s first Puerto Rican superhero: White Tiger, a master martial artist who appeared in "Sons of the Tiger", a serialized action-adventure strip published in Marvel's long-running Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine. White Tiger’s secret identity was Hector Ayala, who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and then moved to New York where, as a student at Empire State College, he transformed into White Tiger through the power of Jade Tiger amulets, which gave him enhanced marital arts powers.

[ Read more Growing up with a Boricua comic book legend ]