Norwalk, CT, November 12, 2008: New York Comic Con (NYCC) has today revealed that George Pérez will be a Guest of Honor at the show where he will be making his first convention appearance in well over a year. Mr. Pérez is the second Guest of Honor announced for New York Comic Con where he will be joining J. Michael Straczynski whose Guest of Honor appearance was announced last month. Pérez will be appearing at New York Comic Con on behalf of the Hero Initiative, a non-profit enterprise strictly dedicated to helping comic book creators in need. While further details about his participation in NYCC are forthcoming, officials note that Pérez’s appearance will be anchored around a special workshop benefiting the Hero Initiative which will take place on Saturday, February 7, 2009.

New York Comic Con is the second largest popular convention in America and by far the largest to take place on the East Coast. This year, it will take place February 6 – 8 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. Tickets are on sale at www.nycomiccon.com and more personal insights about the show, programming and guests are available via Show Manager Lance Fensterman’s blog, www.MediumAtLarge.net.

“George Pérez is a major talent and a fabulous Guest of Honor for us,” Fensterman notes. “Of course, he’s hugely famous and will attract tons of fans, but the fact that he’ll be at our show to further the cause of the Hero Initiative makes it that much better! We’re getting an awesome guest, who is lots of fun, and we’re making room for a great cause at the same time. We’re very grateful to the Hero Initiative for helping to make all of this possible.”

GEORGE PÉREZ: Pérez is a multi-award winning, highly respected comics artist who has drawn many landmark comics in his long career, including THE NEW TEEN TITANS, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE, JLA, FANTASTIC FOUR, WONDER WOMAN, THE AVENGERS, JLA/AVENGERS, SACHS & VIOLENS, HULK: FUTURE IMPERFECT and the current hit FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF 3 WORLDS. 2009 marks Mr. Pérez’ 35th year in the comics industry and the New York Comic Con is his first comics convention appearance since April 2007. George is also a chairman of the Hero Initiative, a comics industry charity which is sponsoring his appearance and to whom George donating proceeds. Born and raised in the Bronx in 1954, George currently lives in Florida with his wife of 27 years, Carol Flynn.

THE HERO INITIATIVE: In late 2000, a consortium of comic publishers came up with the idea to create a financial safety net for comic creators, much in the same fashion that exists in almost any other trade from plumbing to pottery. By March of 2001, the federal government approved The Hero Initiative as a publicly supported not-for-profit corporation under section 501 (c) (3).

Since its inception, The Hero Initiative (Formerly known as A.C.T.O.R., A Commitment To Our Roots) has had the good fortune to grant over $200,000 to the comic book veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today.

The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays’ creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.

The first thing that struck me upon finishing this comic was how long it took me to read it.

I don’t mean that it was overly confusing or hard to follow; on the contrary, the basic story is quite the opposite, and the gist of the book and nuances of the characters could be picked up by a new reader. What I mean is the density. Geoff Johns and George Perez manage to pack story into a single issue in a way we don’t usually see these days. Sure, the extra eight-ten pages are a huge help, but it’s not just that – it’s the economy.

Every page, panel and word of this comic counts. On the rare occasions these two go for a double-page spread, it’s not to provide impact to what could be a single panel, it’s because there’s so much damn stuff to show that a single panel doesn’t cut it – for instance, the credit spread is a widescreen look at the Superman museum, and every inch of it is swathed with detail that, while all researched and accurate, in-story acts as a barrage of homage that overwhelmes both the reader and Superboy-Prime.

Regarding the art, this book is everything Brave and the Bold was criticized for not being – expansive, detailed, clear and futuristic. I expect a lot of it is Hi-Fi replacing Perez’s usual colorist Tom Smith; they bring a vibrancy and modernism to Perez’s art that Smith never did. Perez himself is at the top of his game; despite a humongous cast of characters that are, at this point, largely unknown to most readers, Johns and Perez present all of them as startlingly unique, from their dialogue to their mannerisms to their reactions. I’ve never been a Legion fan beyond following the Waid “threeboot,” but this comic makes me want to remedy that.

While many people think Johns can be guilty of using a character’s name and concept and then extending that to their every action – see Mirror Master’s cocaine addiction especially, as well as the rest of the Rogues and Black Hand’s sudden obsession with humping dead people – sometimes with large casts such as this it’s a blessing with establishing characterization. If he gets the ongoing later, let him work on them; a lot of the characters of the JSA are pretty interesting behind the plotcentric Kingdom Come wankfest. For this kind of five-issue miniseries – especially with such a huge number of characters unfamiliar to many audiences – it works.

The story itself is almost an afterthought; not for Johns, but for the reader – the character moments and character interactions steal the show, and the stuff about the Legion maybe being disbanded and etc etc etc is, while not boring, just a backdrop to see these characters Johns has such a clear vision of interact. It’s not lifechanging, it’s not philosophical, but it’s well-done and it’s fun.