Iterview w/ Perez at newsarama, Brave and the Bold finally starting

Assassin · Apr 25, 2006

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68322

by Vaneta Rogers

Catching up with George Perez is no easy task. It's been a busy year for the artist. In between his time working on the interiors of the seven-part mini-series Infinite Crisis, a recent issue of JSA and the upcoming Brave and the Bold ongoing title for DC Comics, he's been churning out amazingly detailed covers for the Infinite Crisis.

But fans are lucky -- Perez does sit still for a little while when he's at comic book conventions, and he's got quite a few of them on his schedule for this summer. So, as he worked on one of over 50 sketches he completed at this past weekend's Pittsburgh Comic-Con, Newsarama had a quick chat with Perez to get the inside scoop on his latest work and a few more details about what he's doing next.

Newsarama: So it's finally happening? Months after it was announced that Mark Waid was writing a Brave and the Bold ongoing for DC with you as penciller, you're finally working on the series?

George Perez: Yes! I was supposed to start in November, but because of Infinite Crisis and JSA, and Mark being caught up in 52, it got delayed more and more. But I'm starting on the first issue, and it looks like a lot of fun. The first teaming up is Batman and Green Lantern -- in Vegas! So I've got to keep freeze-framing CSI" I believe, from what I gather, Supergirl will probably be the next character that's spotlighted.

NRAMA: So, basically, you'll get to draw a lot of different characters, something that obviously plays to your strengths.

GP: Right. Mark has asked me who I want to draw. And of course after doing the Crisis books and JLA/Avengers, I'm running out of characters I haven't drawn! So it's always going to be a welcome challenge no matter who it is.

NRAMA: Did you give him any names of characters you'd like to draw?

GP: I tried to name a couple characters, but I had to actually think about it. I've never actually done a spotlight of Zatanna. I've done Zatanna in a few books -- obviously JLA/Avengers -- and she's a fun character. And Hawkman is always a visually exciting character to work with. And of course, at one point during my run on Brave and the Bold, I'd like to do Wonder Woman as a lead character. So there are a lot of characters like that.

I was tempted to mention how I'd like to do the Legion of Superheroes in there, but maybe I'll just wait until after I'm done with Brave and the Bold, because the idea of me actually working on a real Legion of Superheroes story -- it's something everyone says needs to happen.

NRAMA: And you agree? Is Legion of Superheroes a book you'd like to do?

GP: The Legion was favorite comic when I was a kid, and ironically, I've never drawn an issue of Legion of Superheroes. I'd say that's a wrong that has to be righted.

NRAMA: The cover you did for Infinite Crisis #7 was just released in black and white. Without a calculator handy, it's tough to tell -- how many DC characters did you draw for that cover?

GP: There are 56 characters. There would have been more, but that really was a rush. I had to do it in three days.

NRAMA: You drew that cover in three days?

GP: I had to rush because they needed it sooner than usual because of the lamination process.

NRAMA: That seems like a lot of characters to draw in three days, particularly with so much action happening on the page.

GP: Well, Jim Lee upped the ante by putting the most characters you could ever have on a cover! I think he had more characters in that cover than all the other covers combined! I don't know how many characters Jim did. I did 56. But he didn't have any background! He's got a lot of space back there! I had to draw Metropolis!

NRAMA: Good point! That's a lot of detail. That's got to count for something.

GP: The way I work, I did all of Metropolis in pencil first, then started erasing and putting all the characters on top of there, like an animation cell. That way I don't lose track of where does that line start, or where does that line end on the other side of the character.

NRAMA: That cover and the others for Infinite Crisis are certainly an accomplishment, but you've been doing a lot of the interior work for the mini-series as well.

GP: I just finished my part on Infinite Crisis #7 on Wednesday. And you know, I'm glad that Crisis is over. As much as I'm glad it's a success, I just want to get back and do one of my own books. That's why I'm looking forward to Brave and the Bold and enjoyed doing that JSA story.

NRAMA: That JSA story was for February's issue #82, where you teamed up with writer Paul Levitz for the first time.

GP: I've known Paul Levitz since we were teenagers, so it was great that we finally got to work together.

NRAMA: How did you know him?

GP: Oh, we were fans. We're both from New York. And we had mutual friends.

It was a lot of fun for me because I got to work in a kind of retro style. For the first time, I felt like I was really drawing the Superman I grew up with. I was deliberately having to draw the '40s to '60s Superman, and ditto with Batman. The pre-new-look Batman. So I had a lot of fun. And even Wonder Woman, I was drawing in the Ross Andru style of the 1950s. There are a lot of little in-jokes in there.

NRAMA: In-jokes such as...?

GP: In the car where you see Lois and Clark driving, it's the same car that was driven in the Superman TV show in 1952. Clark Kent is actually wearing the George Reeves suit and Lois Lane is wearing the Phyllis Coates' outfit for the TV series.

And if you look at the page -- and people on the internet have spotted this -- where Superman is flying down while Batman is reading the newspaper, in the background it says Alyn, Wilson, Lowery & Reeves Costuming, paying tribute to Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery, Kirk Alyn and George Reeves who played Superman and Batman prior to the 1952 time.

NRAMA: It sounds like you really looked into the history.

GP: I actually had the DVD of the Superman TV show so I could freeze-frame and follow a bit of that. I think that's why it was set in 1952. That's the year the series premiered. So it was a fun job.

NRAMA: Despite everything you're doing, you seem to have a full convention schedule this year.

GP: I do have a lot of conventions. Like I said, I just finished my last part of Crisis on Wednesday, and I flew out for this con on Thursday. This one raises money for Make-A-Wish, so I always try to attend the Pittsburgh show. This is one of those rare years where not only do I have two conventions in one month, I've got them consecutive weekends. I'm doing Toronto next weekend. And a lot of the ones I'm attending this year are because I had to cancel so many last year because of health reasons. So I'm making up.
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I'm meeting waid and Perez next month, maybe i can get more scoop!

The Batman · Apr 25, 2006

Batman and GL? ALLLLLRRRIIIGGHHHT

Assassin · Apr 25, 2006

in vegas....

is this in continuity?

ToddIsDead · Apr 25, 2006

Brave and the Bold is going to be awesome! I can't wait.

The Batman · Apr 25, 2006

I dont think it is, actually....Waid mentioned its not really inline with the main DCU....i think he meant its like Superman/Batman, which dosent feel like its apart of the DCU either...

ToddIsDead · Apr 25, 2006

I don't care if it's in continuity or not, it's written by Waid and drawn by Perez, spotlighting various characters, it's going to be great. I'm going to be all over this.

Darthphere · Apr 25, 2006

The Batman said:

I dont think it is, actually....Waid mentioned its not really inline with the main DCU....i think he meant its like Superman/Batman, which dosent feel like its apart of the DCU either...
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Yeah that one took a really wierd turn.

Assassin · Apr 25, 2006

hey assassin, you dumb ass, it's spelled INTERVIEW

The Batman · Apr 25, 2006

Darthphere said:

Yeah that one took a really wierd turn.
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Sorry about that...what i'm trying to say is, it'll probably be like Superman/Batman in that its not affected by whats going on in the other DCU books...

Darthphere · Apr 25, 2006

The Batman said:

Sorry about that...what i'm trying to say is, it'll probably be like Superman/Batman in that its not affected by whats going on in the other DCU books...
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Oh I know im just saying, the first arc was dropping clues and hints left and right and then all of a sudden theyre travelling through time and different dimensions.

Assassin · Apr 25, 2006

at least we saw batzarro and terry mcginness

ToddIsDead · Apr 25, 2006

Yeah, it just kind of made a 180 after the Supergirl arc. It was weird. I still enjoy the book though.

Purple Man · Apr 25, 2006

I'll also be attending the Novi Comi-con, maybe I'll see you there.

I'm having the feeling that the lines to see Perez and Waid are going to be horrendous, but that's fine by me. I want my COIE trade and issue 1 of Legion autographed.

newmexneon · Apr 25, 2006

S/B was supposed to be a buildup for the crisis but because of all the delays it got really confusing as it didn't follow the rest of the DCU. If you think about they were kind of showing how a Mulitverse had somehow been created and supes and bats were bouncing around in them.

Assassin · Apr 25, 2006

Purple Man said:

I'll also be attending the Novi Comi-con, maybe I'll see you there.

I'm having the feeling that the lines to see Perez and Waid are going to be horrendous, but that's fine by me. I want my COIE trade and issue 1 of Legion autographed.
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i doubt it, no one ever goes there for the comic guys, last year when i saw mike grell, there was no one there, like he didnt exist

The Batman · Apr 25, 2006

Darthphere said:

Oh I know im just saying, the first arc was dropping clues and hints left and right and then all of a sudden theyre travelling through time and different dimensions.
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The only time S/B was really connected to the DCU was the first arc. The Supergirl arc was only connected because now she's all over the place....

Motown Marvel · Apr 25, 2006

anyone got a link to the IC #7 covers?

Assassin · Apr 25, 2006

they're both in the IC thread

TheCorpulent1 · Apr 26, 2006

Wow. I'm just stuck on the fact that he got that entire cover done in three days. That's ****ing phenomenal! I bet if anyone asked him about it he'd say he's slightly disappointed because he knew it could've been better if he'd had more time. Sheer insanity.

I'd love to see Perez do a fill-in for Kitson on LoSH. If it was his favorite series as a kid, his never having penciled an issue is definitely a wrong that needs to be righted.

I'm looking forward to B&B, too. The prospect of Perez and Waid with the entire catalogue of DC characters to work with is geekgasmic.

Purple Man · Apr 26, 2006

Hmm, how hard would I have to twist his arm to get him to draw me a Ultra-Boy sketch?

Waid will also be in Novi so maybe I can instigate something after showing Mark the sketch (if I get it)

UK_Stu · Apr 26, 2006

Perez is a legend, and by far my favourite. Hearing him talk passionately in this interview just reinforces that.

One of my most prized comic possessions, is a personalised, autographed Avengers print by Perez. Great he took the time to sign it for me

TheCorpulent1 · Apr 26, 2006

Purple Man said:

Hmm, how hard would I have to twist his arm to get him to draw me a Ultra-Boy sketch?

Waid will also be in Novi so maybe I can instigate something after showing Mark the sketch (if I get it)
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He's a nice guy, so I'm sure he'd do a sketch for you happily at a con. Provided you can get to him before all the other rabid fanboys bombard him with requests, at least. I think he and Adam Hughes were the most backed up on requests at the con I went to.

Darthphere · Apr 26, 2006

TheCorpulent1 said:

He's a nice guy, so I'm sure he'd do a sketch for you happily at a con. Provided you can get to him before all the other rabid fanboys bombard him with requests, at least. I think he and Adam Hughes were the most backed up on requests at the con I went to.
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A crisp $50 dollar bill doesnt hurt much either.

Assassin · Apr 26, 2006

i heard he charges somewhere around 200 and all th eprofits go to that retired artists thing..

i'm getting a earth 2 superman or a pre COIE Kara

ToddIsDead · Apr 26, 2006

So where is this con at that you'll all be seeing him at?

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