Sad News

 Yesterday we learned that one of my oldest friends in the comics business, who I met when we were both still just fans, is seriously ill.

I met George Perez when I was co-editing a fanzine called Factors Unknown and he submitted work to two of the three issues we published. He was already a far better artist than either I or my co-editor Jim Glenn and within a few months he was working as an assistant to Rich Buckler, and within another year, was doing his own art on a character he co-created at Marvel, the White Tiger.

He went on to become one of the most important artists of the 1980s and '90s, with seminal work at both Marvel and DC, notably on The Avengers and The New Teen Titans, which he co-created with Marv Wolfman. He was responsible for a resurgence in interest in Wonder Woman, when he revamped her for the post-Crisis DC universe.

Complications from diabetes forced George into retirement a few years ago.

Now, he has announced on his Facebook page that he has stage three pancreatic cancer, with a prognosis of six months to a year. He has decided to forego any therapy and let nature take its course.

Beyond his talent, George is beloved in the comics community for his humor, his friendliness, his charity. No "star" has ever been more open and available to his fans. At conventions, he would usually skip appearing on panels or even single interviews, preferring to sit at a table in "artists alley" and greet fans who asked for autographs and sketches. No one ever went away disappointed, even if all they wanted was a few minutes talking with a great artist.

I hadn't seen much of him since he moved to Florida a decade or so ago, but I cherish the time we had together. My prayers are with him and his wife, Carol, that they have longer together than the doctors are predicting.