Flying with the man behind the capes
窪蹋勛圖 alumnus Patrick Hamilton discusses his new book on influential comic book artist George P矇rez during Hispanic Heritage Month
When alumnus泭 was growing up, he, like many kids, found comfort in comic books. Im an almost lifelong comics fan, and specifically a fan of Avengers, Hamilton says.
As Hamilton continued enjoying comics and learning more about the people behind them, he eventually came across the name George P矇rez. Its a name you may not immediately recognize, and thats a key point Hamilton makes in his new book, , which hit shelves earlier this year. 泭
The main argument of the book [is] that P矇rez had a larger impact on comics than hes generally been given credit for, says Hamilton, an English professor at Misericordia University in Pennsylvania who earned his PhD in English at the 窪蹋勛圖 in 2006.
窪蹋勛圖 alumnus Patrick Hamilton (PhDEngl'06), a lifelong comics fan, highlighted the groundbreaking work of Marvel Comics and DC Comics artist泭George P矇rez in an eponymous new biography.
But in the comic book world, the name George P矇rez and his work turn headsnot just for his impact on the art, style and story structure of comics, but because he was one of the first Hispanic artists to become a major name in the industry and helped pave the way for greater diversity in the field.
P矇rez, who worked both as an artist and writer starting in the 1970s, played a significant role in blockbuster series such as 泭硃紳餃泭泭款棗娶泭. In the 1980s, he created ,泭which became a top-selling series for publisher . And he developed DC Comic's landmark limited series泭,泭followed by relaunching泭.
Hamilton says P矇rez is also pretty synonymous with large event titles, most prominently DC Comics revamp in 2011 and Marvels .
And he developed a reputation for a dynamic and hyper-detailed style, particularly in terms of the number of characters and details hed put into a page, that was highly regarded and ultimately influential in the 1970s and 1980s and beyond.
Hamilton says he sees his book as attempting to expand P矇rezs legacy.
Despite his acclaim and prominence, he hasnt really been seen as an artist that contributed to the style and genre of comics in ways artists before him are seen, he says. I argue in the book that P矇rez made contributions to the style of comics, not only in the layout of the page and what effects that could achieve, but especially in his way of building what we would call the story world around the characters, where he embraced the possibilities for the fantastic within comics.
Paving the way
The book also speaks to P矇rezs interest in representations of race, disability and gender, the latter of which Hamilton says P矇rez consciously strove to improve in his art over his career.
Artist泭George P矇rez was reknown for his work with both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. (Photos: DC Comics, left,泭and Marvel Comics, right)
Hamilton adds that he believes a lot of other Black, Indigenous and artists of color working today likely see P矇rez as an influence and as carving out a space for them within the industry.
I think you can look at the significant number of Hispanic and Latinx creators working in comics todaymany of them as artistsand see them as following, in some cases quite consciously, in P矇rezs footsteps.
He adds that P矇rez did much to help define the look and feel of modern superhero comics in the 1970s and 1980s, as did another Latino artist, Jos矇 Luis Garc穩a-L籀pez.
Garcia-Lopez, who, among other things, created the official reference artwork for DC Comics that is still much in use today. So, you have two Latino creators working in the late 20th century, when the comic book industry was even more predominantly white than it is today, and shaping the look of it.泭
Hamilton says one of the more interesting findings about P矇rez that meshes with how P矇rez has been overlooked is a kind of invisibility or transparency in his art.
It [his art] is never meant to overshadow and is always in service to the story or narrative. What surprised me is how much this was a conscious choice on P矇rezs part, that he never wanted his art to draw attention to itself in a way that was detrimental to the overall storytelling. Its kind of ironic, and surprising, because P矇rez does have one of the most recognizable styles in comics, but his goal as an artist was always to do whats best for the realization of the story first.
at age 67. You can see examples of his and his .
Top image: A group scene of DC Comics characters drawn by泭George P矇rez (Photo: )
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