Between Books - George Pérez

We’re Disney Adults…we’re used to our favorite art not being taken seriously!

I’ve long been a fan of the late George Pérez. If anything, I thought he may have packed too much into his comic pages. But to me, he was a master comic book artist who helped inspire the look and storytelling of two of the most important comic book movies of all time, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Apparently, there was more criticism of Pérez than I believed.

George Pérez by Patrick L. Hamilton is a biographical monograph that takes comic book art and the work of George Pérez seriously. The text opens with a discussion of who Pérez was as an artist and criticisms of his work. This includes the fact that he was often considered slow as an artist and did not complete to the end all of his comic assignments. Additionally, Hamilton points out the primary of writers over artists in praise of comic book work. Let’s be honest, Stan Lee jumps to the top of more minds than Jack Kirby. Hamilton next outlines artistic visual choices that Pérez took in order to populate a full world around his characters and use the page to create vibrant action. The final two chapters discuss how Pérez depicted disabled characters such as the Teen Titans Cyborg and Jericho along with female characters like Wonder Woman and Scarlet Witch. Hamiltons shows his readers a common thread in his depictions! Pérez looked to draw reality into his characters and sought to avoid comic book troupes. Along with the discussion of the artist’s life, Hamilton includes a number of color and black-and-white images that demonstrate Pérez’’s artist endeavors.

Really the opening, with it’s criticism, was eye opening to me. As a comic fan, I know all about the obstacles that slower artists, often many of them the best, face in reaching deadlines. Pérez was one of those artists. But I think as shown in the visual examples found on the page, that his lack of speed was a tradeoff to realism. Pérez drew people and places that were vibrant and full. His backgrounds were filled with the clutter we find in our own homes. And his characters acted out like we would expect them to behave in the real world. Hamilton shows how Pérez grew to bind his reality to our real world. And I think it was all for the better, knowing how the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is bound to reality, has used Pérez art as one of the guides to put comic pages into live action.

George Pérez by Patrick L. Hamilton is a trend I love. Academics are taking pop culture seriously as part of culture. This text is a serious academic work that can be used, and likely will be used, in college courses on art and sociology. It is published by an academic press! This is not a silly book about silly books. And you will feel like someone is taking beloved pop culture seriously.

For Disney fans, you will need to expect some discussion of DC comics, as comic creators often do shift from one company to another. For those who want to understand the evolution of an artist or get to know George Pérez and his legacy better, this is a short yet serious read that can challenge one about what they believe about silly comic art. I wish that when I was an undergraduate, or when I taught, that I had monographs like this available to better connect students to material they were familiar with while making serious points about culture and society. 

 

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Review Copy Provided for Review