THE PEREZ ARCHIVES!
A Complete Look at the Work of a Master Comic Artist!
A Complete Look at the Work of a Master Comic Artist!
THE PEREZ ARCHIVES
Written and published by Andy Mangels
Released July 19, 2001
A Benefit Book for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Working with the aid of George Pérez — and helped by a large group of fans — Andy Mangels assembled The Pérez Archives, an unequalled collection of artwork and information about the career of superstar artist George Pérez.
The Pérez Archives project generated around $7000 initially for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and has since brought in hundreds of dollars more with a handful of copies that have been made available in online auctions and convention auctions.
Read what the CBLDF had to say about the project below, as well as the introduction messages from Andy and George from the Archives.
A second edition of The Pérez Archives is being discussed for 2007 release, again to benefit comic-based charities. Anyone who has sketches or original artwork by George Pérez is asked to contribute photocopies or scans of the work. Please contact Andy Mangels for further details.
The Pérez Archives (Regular Edition) is:
150 black and white pages
4 color pages
2 color covers (front and back) with inside covers
Includes the most comprehensive and detailed checklist of all published work by Pérez.
Includes 191 black-and-white images and seven color images by Pérez (including unpublished work, sketches, character designs, and more).
Covers are a new wraparound image by Pérez.
Printed 8.5x11" on 60# paper, with heavy stock covers, clear plastic over-cover, and black vello-binding.
All copies bought through mail were signed by George Pérez and Andy Mangels on the front cover. Some convention copies are unsigned or signed by only Mangels or Pérez.
Limited to 200 copies.
The Pérez Archives (Deluxe Edition) features 34 extra pages of more rare, unpublished, and impressive published artwork, 64 images in all!
Limited to 250 copies.
The Pérez Archives (Hardcover Edition) is a privately bound volume which was distributed to those few people who have provided a substantial amount of artwork (in excess of 50 pages) of rare material to Andy Mangels' archives of Pérez material. It is not available for sale, though at some point, a copy MAY be auctioned for charity. Covers and binding color are different for each numbered edition.
Limited to 15 copies.
WORK HAS BEGUN ON THE PEREZ ARCHIVES II
Despite what you may have read elsewhere though, The Perez Archives II will not be released until mid-2007.
We are collecting work to appear in the second edition now. If you have sketches, commissioned art, or original art pieces by George Perez, please email Andy Mangels. We would like either a photocopy or a hi-res scan.
from the CBLDF newsletter BUSTED vol. 2 #13
published January 2003
A CLASS ACTION
At a dinner preceeding Baltimore Comicon, George Pérez at long last received his Defender of Liberty Statue. Pérez has been one of the Fund's most generous supporters over the years. His donations of time, art, and money have kept the Fund strong, particularly in the early stages of the Jesus Castillo defense. It was with a great deal of pride that the Fund was able to show our appreciation to George at the show.
Beyond his work for the Fund at conventions, Pérez and long-time archivist Andy Mangels created one of the Fund's most successful benefit books, The Pérez Archives, volume 1. the project was published in 2001 and sold out in less than a year, generating nearly $7,000 for the CBLDF.
Mangels compiled the book after a life-long interest in the work of George Pérez. "I've been archiving George's work since I was a teenage and keeping a checklist of his work. Because of this I've gotten an incredible amount of unpublished artwork that are cool examples of his genius. I wanted to do something with them that would showcase his work and raise money for a good cause," Mangels said.
Mangels spent over 400 hours compiling the book, which included hundreds of unpublished drawings by Pérez and a comprehensive checklist of the artist's work. "Because this was supposed to be the most comprehensive examination of George's career. I couldn't miss anything," Mangels tells Busted! "George and I went over it line by line, and ended up adding even more artwork and entries." All the time Mangels spent on the book was donated to benefit the CBLDF.
Mangels, whose science fiction and popular media books - and comics works - have put him on bestseller lists, is no stranger to good causes. For years he has been the leading gay activist in comic books, editing the awarding winning Gay Comics for eight years and working to improve the profile and working conditions of gay cartoonists in this medium. He chose the CBLDF as the beneficiary of the project for two reasons: "I really wanted to do the book because of my long interest in George's artwork and I was raised to really believe in causes and to help out other people. Although George has donated to various charities over the years, the one that he supported most and I felt the most passion about myself was the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. As a member of a minority group that faces adversity in a legal fashion - and homosexuality is still a crime in fourteen states - picking the CBLDF as our charity really hit home with me."
"Censorship of any kind is more of a crime than anything that could be published." Mangels says. "It doesn't mean that everything has a place on the bookshelf, but it also doesn't mean that things I don't want on my bookshelf shouldn't be published. For these reasons, even these days I'm not working much in the comics industry and instead am doing novels, my commitment to the comic industry and the project of creator rights is still very strong."
Right now Andy and the Fund are considering venues for a second edition of The Pérez Archives. In the meantime, here's some work by the master that has not yet been published. Enjoy!
INTRODUCTION PAGE TEXT
A Brief Introduction from Andy. . .
If you're reading this, I don't have to tell you who artist George Pérez is. You're likely familiar with his spectacular award-winning hyper-detailed fan-favorite comics. If you're lucky, you also know the wonderfully good-natured, caring, and philanthropic man behind the work.
I first became a fan of the former with Fantastic Four #184 in 1977, the cover of which astonished me. I was 10 years od, and Pérez was the first comic artist whose name I started watching for. By 1985, I had been researching and archiving George' work, and had a checklist and trivia section published in Fantagraphics' Focus on George Pérez. It was my first published work, and since that time, I've interviewed George for magazines all over the medium.
I became a fan of George as a person when I first met him in 1983 at the San Diego Comic Con. I was a young fanboy, and he treated me with the same respect and enthusiasm that I've seen him do with fans of all ages in the times since. I don't know a single industry pro who has anything other than a positive view on George. He really is a wonderful guy!
After trying to get this project going with several publishers, I decided to self-publish The Pérez Archives, as a benefit for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) - a favorite charity of George's and an extremely important group in the comic industry. Inside this publication you'll find a complete checklist of every item which has featured artwork by Pérez in the comic book field, the book publishing arena, licensing, theatrical productions, and other areas. It also features a selection of artwork by George, including convention sketches, unpublished pages, pin-ups, covers, character designs, and more.
I hope you enjoy The Pérez Archives. I'm sure you'll find all sorts of work here you never knew about. And if you find that you have something not in here - or can answer a few of the questions posed within - please let me know for future volumes. I'll turn this over to George now for a few words, and sign off so you can go marvel (no pun intended) at the work of a true comics master. . . and a true friend.
Best,
Andy Mangels
www.andymangels.com
A Few Words From George
I am truly flattered and amazed by all the work that my friend Andy Mangels has done in producing this massive checklist. There are items here that I'd all but forgotten. From the famous to the obscure, from the better to the worse, it's all here in one impressive volume.
While my ego is definitely stroked by this project, I am more excited by all the money this could raise for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, an organization near and dear to my heart and one that deserves the support of everyone who has ever read and enjoyed a comic book. Without the freedom of creative expression, comics, like all art forms, are an endangered species.
For those who've enjoyed my work throughout the years this is a book you'll want to have. For those, like me, who simply love comics, CBLDF is the group you'll want to support.
George Pérez
Click below for other projects Mangels has worked on with artist George Perez, up until present day:
Back Issue #1
Modern Masters: George Perez
George Perez: Storyteller
Sketch Magazine #10
Gay Comics #20
Comics Interview #50
Amazing Heroes #156
Amazing Heroes #135
Focus on George Perez
Since 2001, Mangels even uses a George Perez likeness on his business card! See image at right!
Click on images below for larger versions
The image below is composite drawing of Andy Mangels by George Pérez for the front cover of The Pérez Archives
(see row 2, above Wonder Woman).
Andy now uses the art on his
business card!
(see row 2, above Wonder Woman).
Andy now uses the art on his
business card!
A condensed version of the ARCHIVES checklist was published as a 13-page section of Dynamic Forces' GEORGE PEREZ: STORYTELLER in late 2006!
