NEW YORK (NY TIMES) - George Perez, 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 on Friday (May 6) at his home in Sanford, Florida. He was 67.
The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, said Ms Constance Katsafanas-Eza, a family friend.
Perez, 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, revitalising a group of junior heroes, to critical acclaim. It became a bestseller.
Perez 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," Perez said in December 2021. "It was a great success that gave me an incredible sense of fulfillment."
One of Perez'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.
Perez, who was born June 9, 1954, in New York City to Puerta Rican parents, announced in a Facebook post in December 2021 that he had a life expectancy of six to 12 months after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Testimonials came quickly after his announcement and included articles like How George Perez 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.
