George Perez officially retiring from the comic book industry

George Pérez, the legendary comic book writer/artist, known for co-creating Crisis on Infinite Earths and the New Teen Titans roster with Marv Wolfman, announced that he will be officially retiring from the world of superheroes and villains. In addition to public work, he is also no longer taking private comissions.

Pérez, 64, revealed his departure in a Facebook post today, writing:

“In recent months, there has been a great deal of speculation as to the future of my career, my health, my ability to draw and my future convention appearances. As a result, I would like to clear up everything first hand so that, hopefully, any rumors, speculation and misinformation can be laid to rest. With respect to future published work in comics and such … while I know 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."

In the lengthy and detail-oriented expository post, Pérez mentions that 2019 will most likely be his final year of attending conventions and meeting fans around the country. Even so, he is only visiting a total of six cons this year and one makeup event in 2020. His full schedule for 2019 includes Chicago's C2E2 and Atlanta's Dragon Con.

While no one can order private commission pieces from him anymore, he promises to do "five con-style head sketches, per convention day that I am in attendance which will be done at home to be collected at the conventions." These pieces will cost $100 a pop and must be picked up in person ("NO PROXIES") by the orderer—all money made from these is to be donated to charity.

"In closing, please don’t feel sorry for me about all these life and career changes," Pérez continues. "Thankfully I earn more than enough income through royalties to have a comfortable life wherein I may never need to work again. Unless, of course, something really tempting comes along and I’m given sufficient lead time. Hey, you never know. 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."

Coming from humble roots in the Bronx of New York, Pérez created a staggering comic book career over nearly five decades, tackling pretty much every major character from Wonder Woman to Thanos; he worked as a penciller on part of Jim Starlin's influential Infinity Gauntlet. Moreover, his contributions to Crisis on Infinite Earths helped rectify decades of convoluted DC continuity; the pragmatism of the multi-issue upheaval is still felt and referenced to this day.

Lastly, his co-conception of Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire with Wolfman in the early '80s helped turn the Teen Titans (also featuring Robin and Beast Boy) into one of the most famous and beloved DC groups in the history of the comic book publisher. The team-up of these heroes has endured for almost 40 years, spawning countless comic runs, two animated series, and a live-action show on DC Universe.