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DC will celebrate what would have been the 68th birthday of iconic comic book creator George Pérez for the entire month of June with a special two-page spread honoring one of the most beloved figures in the comic book community.
Illustrated by a multi-generational all-star roster of artists including Alex Ross, Jim Lee, José Luis García-López, Todd McFarlane, Colleen Doran, Dave Gibbons, Dan Jurgens, and many more, the image features all of the DC characters Pérez was best known for drawing over his career in an homage to his signature style. The image also features Perez himself surrounded by the New Teen Titans and Deathstroke drawn by García-López.
The spread will appear in all of DC's periodicals on sale in June, in celebration of Pérez's birthday on June 9. A separate page features a key identifying the characters and artists that participated will also be included. Both images can be seen below.
Each artist worked from a layout designed by Jurgens, and the entire image is colored by Hi-Fi.
"When I was asked to come up with a design and layout that would honor George Pérez and his many incredible contributions to DC Comics over the years, I was truly honored," said Dan Jurgens in DC's announcement in April.
"I have admired George's work since I first saw it and have had the good fortune to work with him in different capacities, on a number of projects. More importantly, I've been able to see the way George treats fans and readers, always smiling, gregarious and approachable. It was a joy to watch this cover come together and I'm sure everyone who contributed feels the same way."
Here's a full list of all the characters featured in the image along with the artists who drew them, followed by the key page:
- The Monitor & Anti-Monitor - Jim Lee & Scott Williams
- Trigon - Todd McFarlane
- The Spectre - Alex Ross
- Darkseid - Walter Simonson
- Firestorm & the Justice League satellite - Scott Kolins
- Ares & Hippolyta - Phil Jimenez
- Cheetah & the Amazons - Colleen Doran
- Lady H.I.V.E. & H.I.V.E. agents - Scott Koblish
- Vigilante - Dave Gibbons
- Cheshire - Joëlle Jones
- Brother Blood - Darryl Banks
- Blackfire - Mike McKone
- Gizmo & Mammoth - Klaus Janson
- Shimmer - Bruno Redondo
- Psimon - Mikel Janín
- Neutron & Jinx - Dan Mora
- The Legion of Super-Heroes - Francis Manapul
- The Justice Society of America - Jerry Ordway
- Power Girl & Huntress - Kevin Maguire
- The Justice League of America (and the background) - Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
- Superboy-Prime & Alexander Luthor - Ivan Reis
- Supergirl - Gary Frank
- Harbinger - Adam Hughes
- Pariah - Daniel Sampere
- Jericho & Kole - Nicola Scott
- The New Teen Titans, Deathstroke & George Pérez - José Luis García-López
In addition to being published in all of DC's June titles, the tribute image will be featured as a variant cover for Dark Crisis #7, the finale of the monthly event series that begins in June.
A special version of the variant cover will be offered for sale by The Hero Initiative to raise funds for one of Pérez's favorite charities. Pérez was a founding member of Hero Initiative's board of directors, served as chair of its Disbursement Committee, and for years was a familiar face at fundraising events, at one time its single biggest fundraiser.
"The Hero Initiative is one of my greatest sources of pride," Pérez told Newsarama late last year.
Every issue of Dark Crisis features a variant cover highlighting a previous DC 'Crisis' event from DC’s history beginning with Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and Pérez for the first issue.
DC promised artwork and more details about the variant covers in the coming weeks.
"George Pérez is one of my favorite comic storytellers of all time. To say he's a 'great artist' is a massive understatement," said Dark Crisis writer Joshua Williamson. "His work on the original Crisis of Infinite Earths inspired so much of my love for DC Comics. When I saw DC editors pull together this incredible piece with so many amazing legendary artists celebrating George, I won't lie, it was emotional. And now it's an honor to have this tribute be a cover to Dark Crisis."
In December 2021 Pérez shared with the comic book community that he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and subsequently announced his plans to live out his remaining days celebrating comic books with his friends, co-creators, and fans, of which there are thousands of the former and millions of the latter.
DC's birthday tribute is the latest effort to celebrate him in light of his announcement and his death on May 6. On April 21 Marvel published a special tribute to Pérez in Avengers #55, and last month DC, Marvel, and the Hero Initiative teamed up to offer a limited new collected edition of JLA/Avengers, which had been out of print for years.
How George Pérez drew the entire Marvel and DC Universes and redefined the superhero genre.
