Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's about time we took a look at the first published work of the amazing Mr. George Perez, don'tcha think? Mr. Perez's art has been wowing us for three-and-a-half decades on titles like the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Justice League of America, New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman, Action Comics, Infinity Gauntlet, JLA/Avengers, Brave and the Bold, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, and so much more. But like everyone else, George had to start somewhere--and that somewhere was with a two-page filler in the back of Astonishing Tales #25 (the premiere of Deathlok--remember?) in May of 1974. Here's another look at the "real origin" of Deathlok, written by Doug Moench with art by Perez and Mike Esposito for all'a you with short memories.
But Ol' Groove ain't gonna stop there! We wanna see George's first, full-length comic, don't we? Well, buried deep within the yellowing pages of Monsters Unleashed #8 (August 1974), we find the treasure we're looking for--the final Gullivar Jones, Warrior of Mars* story! Titled "A Martian Genesis", this story wrapped up the Gullivar Jones saga that had begun in Creatures on the Loose #16 (December 1971).
Not bad for a start, huh? From there, George would do more black and white work most notably on Sons of the Tiger--where he helped co-create White Tiger-- in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. He'd soon start his first series, Man-Wolf in (surprise!) Creatures on the Loose, beginning with ish #33 (October 1974). From there it was on to the Avengers and super-stardom. Of course, Perez would continue to grow and improve, his art would become more intricate and stylized, his storytelling skills would become among the best in comicbook history. We love ya, George! Especially those of us who knew ya "when"!
[*More on Gully in the future. Meantime, check this out!]
"Creatures on the Loose featuring Man-Wolf" was the first George Perez work I ever saw, as I was a regular buyer of the Man-Wolf series. It's amazing how much he improved over the next few years. He hit a stride and never looked back! Seems to be a great guy, too!
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%, Chris! I love how Perez's art, from the very beginning, was growing, evolving, improving, but still highly recognizable. He's one of the all-time best, for sure.
ReplyDeletesweet post, Groove, mate. I've never seen that before. George Perez almost feels like an old friend to me, almost like the two of us've grown up together. I'm feeling all emo, like, seeing these pages. cheers!
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