After concluding its third and final season in October 2018 on Netflix, Marvel’s Daredevil returned this March on Disney+ with Daredevil: Born Again. With it comes the return of plenty of familiar faces like Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page and Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson. But at the center of the political intrigue and at the top of Murdock’s client list is Hector Ayala.
Also known as White Tiger, the Puerto Rican superhero is played by the late Puerto Rican actor Kamar de los Reyes. And for those unfamiliar with the hero co-created by writer Bill Mantlo in 1975, he’s a lasting representation of Puerto Rico as the first Puerto Rican superhero. For comic book scholar, Frederick Luis Aldama, who praised the Puerto Rican hero in his book Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics, the success of White Tiger is attributed to its co-creator and artist George Pérez, who based Hector’s look on his brother’s face and even his name on the neighborhood kids he grew up with.
The Pérez family joined the nearly century-long Puerto Rican diaspora to New York City in the 1950s. His parents, Jorge Guzman Pérez and Luz Maria Izquierdo met in New Jersey while looking for work but were originally from Caguas in Puerto Rico. The couple moved to New York, where Jorge worked in meatpacking and Luz Maria as a domestic worker. It was in the South Bronx where George Pérez and his younger brother David were born and raised.
From a young age, Pérez aspired to be an artist, even drawing on paper bags as a child because anything was a canvas. That followed him into adulthood. In an interview with The Comics Journal in January 1983, Pérez recalled how he applied and was accepted at the School of Art and Design; however, his mother wanted her son to have a Catholic education. As a dutiful son, Pérez attended Cardinal Hayes Memorial in the Bronx, which he remembered as a “version of war-torn Berlin.”
Originally a bank teller, Pérez was a self-taught artist. When he received his first professional appraisal, he recalled feeling like he had “been bombed from above.” And when he started in the industry, he remembered that many considered him “one of the worst in the business, and it was quite a reputation to get away from.” But that didn’t stop him. Pérez acknowledged his shortcomings in his early career, such as a lack of background, a lack of perspective, and a lack of anatomical knowledge. When veteran artist Rich Buckler brought on Pérez as an uncredited assistant for Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3, the young penciller received Marvel’s attention, gaining the nickname “Pacesetter” due to the heavy workload he began to receive after the debut of his bi-monthly Inhumans series in October 1975.
The South Bronx-born artist and writer went on to have a prominent career with the two comic book industry giants: DC and Marvel, even partnering with Kurt Busiek for the limited series crossover between the two JLA/Avengers in 2003. Pérez also served on the creative team behind the landmark series, Crisis on Infinite Earths and partially penciled Infinity Gauntlet (both limited series were adapted as part of the Arrowverse and Marvel Cinematic Universe). Unfortunately, Pérez passed just months before Marvel announced their plans for Daredevil: Born Again at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022.
From an untrained artist and the child of migrants, George Pérez formed perhaps one of the most definitive careers for the industry and fandom we know today. And with Daredevil: Born Again introducing new fans to White Tiger, his legacy as an artist will continue on.
