George Pérez has announced he is retiring from comics due to health issues. In a press release, the artist and writer announced “it’s been no secret that I’ve been dealing with a myriad number of health issues (diabetes, heart ailments, vision issues, etc.). They have indeed have forced me to, for all intents and purposes, formally retire from the business of creating new comic stories.”
Pérez will also retire from “privately commissioned drawings,” as the process was “becoming too much of a strain on my eyes to produce the fully rendered ink and pencil-tone pieces on a quality level that justifies the price I’m being paid for them.” He will continue doing sketches for fans at conventions, but he will no longer draw them there, and it is likely 2019 will be his last year attending them. More details on how to commission art from Pérez and his agent now can be found at CBR.
Born in 1964, Pérez is best known for revamping the Teen Titans with writer Marv Wolfman in 1980: they also created the epic 1985 maxiseries “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” which rebooted DC Comics continuity. Afterwards, Pérez plotted and illustrated the relaunched “Wonder Woman” title from 1987 to 1992. He is also well known for his work on Marvel’s “Avengers” during the 1970s, and the post-‘Heroes Reborn’ relaunch in the late 1990s. In more recent years, Pérez signed an exclusive deal with BOOM! Studios, creating the 2016 series “Sirens.”
Pérez concluded his announcement saying, “Long story short, I will be just fine. I’ve had a wonderfully good run doing exactly what I have wanted to do since I was a child. Now I can sit back and watch the stuff I helped create entertain whole new generations. That’s a pretty nice legacy to look back on. And so much of that is thanks to all of you, the GREATEST fans in the world. I am humbled and forever grateful.” You can look back at Pérez’s greatest hits in our Artist August feature from 2014.
