Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jun 6, 2025 | 5 comments

A FRANCO FRIDAYS (early) birthday tribute…

By FRANCO

We all knew George Perez was going to pass on. I knew it was coming and it still hurt.

Everything you’ve heard about George — whose birthdate was June 9, 1954 (71 years ago this Monday) — is what my experience was with him. I was a fan long before I ever met the man. When I met him I was in awe and I have to admit, a bit hesitant. They say never meet your heroes, but he was the nicest person. Fun, jovial, so full of energy.

When Art Baltazar and I we were working on Tiny Titans we met with him (in my mind it was to get his permission to use the Titans in the way that we were going to, even though we had signed a deal) and we showed him what we were doing and his eyes lit up! He loved it! Loved what we were doing storywise and he made sure to let us know in specific detail. Of course he was detail oriented. He was a master.

He, however, did ask if we could make one small change to Beast Boy’s costume… just a bit. We had originally conceived of him to be in the old Doom Patrol costume and George asked if we could put him in the red costume that was his design. What were we going to do? Say no? Of course we would change it!

Everytime we saw him after that, at a show, maybe a dinner afterwards, he would always stop and talk with us. He was so gracious and he was a comics fan.

We were fans of him! He will be missed all the days of my life and I will never forget the kindness he showed us and the opportunity we got to have with the Titans.

These are the two comics that stand out for me from my way back: The first I picked up the off spinner rack and the other I got in a trade. 1981’s The New Teen Titans #13 and 1977’s The Avengers #166. I clearly remember where and when I got these two specific comics and they have meant so much to me through my life. These two books were among my favorites and I look through them occasionally still to this day and smile.

When I was a kid, art was important but I didn’t really think about which artist was on which book. I never realized until years later that the artist on both of these was George. When I realized that, it kind of made sense why these were two of my favorites. If you’ve ever had a conversation with me about my favorites or have heard me at panels at conventions you’ve probably heard me talk about these specific issues.

I loved Teen Titans.

I got to work on Tiny Titans.

And in a way that was all George and his work.

Thank you, George.

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MORE

— The GEORGE PEREZ Comic That Inspired Me to Become a Pro. Click here.

— WHAT’S UP, UP AND AWAY, DOC? Why, It’s Mel Blanc’s Birthday! Click here.

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Franco and his forehead have traveled the world and he writes and draws stuff. Franco is the creator, artist and writer of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Aw Yeah Comics! Franco has worked on books/comics, including Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. Franco was also a high-school teacher and is one of the principal owners of Aw Yeah Comics retail stores. Dan made Franco add that he has won three Eisners.