Comic book artist who gave new life to Wonder Woman dies

George Pérez, a celebrated comic book artist and writer who gave new life to Wonder Woman in the 1980s and helped create series for DC Comics and Marvel Comics that brought together some of the biggest heroes of the comics world, including The New Teen Titans, died Friday at his home in Sanford, Florida. He was 67.

The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, said Constance Katsafanas-Eza, a friend of the family.

Pérez, whose career spanned more than four decades, was known for his richly detailed drawings and his enthusiasm for stories filled with superheroes — the more capes and cowls, the better.

He drew the Avengers, a group that unites many of Marvel’s flagship characters, in the 1970s and again in the 1990s.

At DC, he and writer Marv Wolfman created The New Teen Titans in 1980, revitalizing a group of junior heroes, to critical acclaim. It became a bestseller.

Pérez was also at the helm of the 1986 reboot of Wonder Woman, which presented the character, who had originally appeared in 1941, as a new superheroine. His version was younger, and he leaned into the Greek mythology rooted in her origin story. “Wonder Woman had to rise or fall based on me,” Pérez said in a telephone interview in December. “It was a great success that gave me an incredible sense of fulfillment.”

His editor on the series, Karen Berger, said in an email interview, “What set George apart on Wonder Woman was that he really approached the character from a woman’s perspective — I found her relatable and authentic.” Patty Jenkins, director of the “Wonder Woman” films, cited this version of the character as an influence.

One of Pérez’s crowning achievements came in 2003 with the debut of a four-part story uniting the Justice League and the Avengers, the marquee heroes from DC and Marvel, traditionally fierce rivals in the comic book marketplace. It was the completion of a passion project for Pérez that had originally been planned for 1983 but had become mired in company politics and was canceled.

When Pérez announced in a Facebook post in December 2021 that he had a life expectancy of only six to 12 months after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the testimonials came quickly. They included articles like “How George Pérez Changed Comics Forever,” which noted his enjoyment of comics that teamed up superheroes, his depiction of female characters with a diversity of body types, his positive interactions with his fans and his charitable initiatives.

“We lost another of the absolute greats this weekend,” Jim Lee, chief creative officer and publisher of DC Comics, wrote in an Instagram post. “His career is truly a testament to what one can achieve in life when singularly focused on what one loves to do.”

George Pérez was born on June 9, 1954, in the South Bronx of New York to Jorge Guzman Pérez, who worked in the meatpacking industry, and Luz Maria Izquierdo, a homemaker. Both were from Puerto Rico and had met in New Jersey. They survive him, along with his wife, Carol Flynn, and brother, David.

Pérez was a self-taught artist who got his start in 1973 as an assistant to comic book artist Rich Buckler. He received his first professional credit the next year for a two-page satirical story for Marvel about the character Deathlok.

In 1975, he and writer Bill Mantlo created the White Tiger, the first Puerto Rican superhero in the series Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu. The editor of the series was Wolfman, who was initially critical of Pérez’s grasp of anatomy and perspective.