Now George Perez has passed.

[Ruby Spears Superman]

As if the loss of Neal Adams wasn't bad enough, we also lost George Perez today. Perez was a seminal artist for both DC and Marvel. His most famous work is, of course, DC's reboot Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. He also worked with Marv Wolfman to revitalize the Teen Titans in the early eighties and on Marvel's Avengers and even drew the DC vs. Marvel crossover in 2002. He also helped write and drew Wonder Woman's reboot in 1987. He was a legend. This has not been a good week for comic fans. 

[nightwing]

I always viewed JLA/Avengers as a sort of apotheosis for Perez' career because, to me, he was the ultimate "crossover" artist, equal parts Marvel and DC.  Put Neal Adams or Don Newton on the Avengers or Dan Jurgens on Captain America or Thor and they were still "DC artists" to me, anyway.  Get John Buscema or John Byrne to draw Superman and they were still "Marvel artists drawing Superman."  But Perez?  He straddled the line perfectly, drawing glamorous, "pretty" faces and figures like Curt Swan, but often in dynamic, powerful poses like Jack Kirby.  Complex fictional technology, believable spaceships, beautiful women, martial arts action, idyllic domestic scenes, tender romance, he could do it all. 

I put all this in a tribute to George on my blog (http://davidmorefield.com/rip-george-perez/), but for me it was always obvious Perez genuinely *loved* comics, and it definitely came through in his work.  All the glitz and showmanship in the world is no competition for drawing from the heart, and George had a huge one.

Crummy week, indeed.