Like Kirby, who is considered the godfather of modern superhero art and who essentially wrote many of the stylistic 'rules' of the genre, Pérez developed a storytelling style where every page counts, and in which every panel is a crucial beat in the plot at hand. (Image credit: Marvel Comics) (opens in new tab) Striking an eye-catching balance between the jam-packed linework of the era's prevailing sensibilities and the more open, unflinching art of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko (the earliest Marvel superstar artists), Pérez deftly bridged the artistic generation gap, offering up a roadmap for similarly-minded superhero artists to this day. While his contemporary rising stars such as Jim Starlin and John Byrne were developing styles of their own that echoed the esoteric, anti-nostalgic tenor of mid-'70s pop culture through the lens of hyper-realistic predecessors such as Neal Adams and Jim Steranko, Pérez rolled the clock back just slightly.

Immediately, Pérez's art stood out from his peers. After a short run on Marvel's Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (opens in new tab) title in which he co-created White Tiger (his first of many superhero costume designs, which we'll get into later), he quickly graduated to Marvel's then-flagship title The Avengers, solidifying his place as one of the publisher's early rising stars. George Pérez first hit the comic scene in 1974 at the ripe old age of 20, with artistic sensibilities far beyond his years.

Jla avengers george perez