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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Aquaman Art Gallery: George Perez

sg
This con sketch of Aquaman with Mera appearing in somewhat ghostly form behind him comes with a story, so I'll let newest F.O.A.M. member Kent G. Hare tell it:

"I'm a bit dilatory in submitting this, but would like to share it with you in anyway. Last weekend I attended Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con where I had the pleasure of meeting George Perez and getting a sketch from him of my first favorite comic book character, Aquaman. There's a funny story to accompany it.

The fact that Perez was doing sketches at all was a surprise to me because, as I understand it, he no longer does so at cons because of the overwhelming demand and pressures on his time. Instead, he normally draws commissions that have been allocated by lottery. Expecting to get only a few books signed by him, I considered myself exceedingly fortunate to have the opportunity to get a sketch. I decided to push it a little and asked if he could possibly do one of both Aquaman and Mera, but he regretfully told me he was only doing single-character head-sketches. I wasn't too disappointed since I'd expected that answer.


I watched as he sketched it, but of course I was on the other side of the table and therefore seeing the image forming upside-down. I wondered what all the little squiggles were, but figured they were fish. I settled up with him without really stopping to take a good look at the finished product right-side-up, then immediately made a bee-line for the door and my vehicle to get it out of the fray as quickly as possible before something could happen to it. I had come totally unprepared for properly carrying a 9"x12" sketch. I carefully deposited it in my car and returned to the con.


It was only several hours later, after the end of the day's con activities and a two-hour drive back to where I was staying, that I took a proper look at it. And realized exactly what he had done, working in an ethereal image of Mera's face peeking around from behind Aquaman himself. I burst out in amazed (half-maniacal) laughter that my sixteen-year-old son characterizes as 'Bwahhahhahhh!' I was, needless to say, delighted.


Incidentally, I saw the couple dressed as Aquaman and Mera several times over the course of the day. I was, however, never in a position to get a good snapshot of them. All I had was my iPod Touch camera anyway. The pictures that have subsequently appeared on the Internet, including on the Shrine, are better. They were magnificent--especially her.


I really enjoy your blog and have it feeding both to my own blog's list of favorites and to my Facebook page. Thanks for everything you do.
"

Thank you, Kent,
and welcome to F.O.A.M.!


sg

6 comments:

cリnical said...

I also met George Perez at Wizard World New Orleans. He was incredibly nice... no, ludicrously nice.

The Aqua Couple were super cool, also! They came dressed as Green Lantern and Wonder Woman on Sunday.

As for the sketch, I am beyond jealous. That is just fantastic!

I didn't leave empty-handed, however. I got him to sign my copy of CRISIS on Infinite Earths #7 (the death of Supergirl). ;)

ari said...

'Bwahahahha'

Best ever!

Wings1295 said...

Wonderful piece & a fun story!

Kent G. Hare said...

Thank you all, and especially rob!. CYnical, you are spot on regarding Perez. He truly seemed to enjoy being there. I was at the con for about six hours, noon to six, and every time I passed his table he was cheerfully sketching away or signing books. I don't have a whole lot of con experience, but I have enough to have interacted with creators who, in contrast, look like being there is a chore and fans are a bother.
I would have loved seeing the royal couple as GL and WW! Do you know of any pictures up anywhere?

Earth 2 Chris said...

They don't call him Gentleman George for nothing. Perez is one of the nicest pros you'll ever meet. And since he's one of the greatest living masters of the form, that says tons about him.

Great story!!!

Chris

Alys said...

That sketch is wonderful! George is truly a master at his craft. He is also one of the nicest people in the comic world, as evidenced by the little surprise. That is a wonderful present.

All day Saturday he was extremely busy, so we kept waiting to approach him. Eventually I decided to interrupt the line because I only wanted to say hi; we had met at Dragon*con last year. He jumped up from his table to get our picture and to pose with us. People in line took pictures also and were generally nice about us disturbing the artist. George is always super nice to costumers and is excited to see people bring the characters to life. He even mentioned that he had had four requests for Aquaman and even one request for Mera that day!

Thanks Kent and Cynical, for the compliments. I have a few pictures up on my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/54794118@N05/

Also George’s fan Page photos
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150512016332273.371605.385542437272&type=3