Don Perlin was a longtime comic book artist on comics like “The Defenders,” “Werewolf by Night,” and “Ghost Rider,” who is best known as the co-creator of Moon Knight and Valiant’s Bloodshot.
- Died: May 14, 2024 (Who else died on May 14?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 94.
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Don Perlin’s legacy
New York City-born Don Perlin took private art classes from “Tarzan” artist Burne Hogarth before breaking into the industry in the late 1940s. He spent a few years away, after being drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953, but came right back to comics after being discharged. Perlin worked on an array of genre comics for many different publishers throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, including illustrating horror stories, war tales, superhero adventures, romance, and more.
Perlin landed with Marvel Comics in 1974, beginning what would become a long working relationship. At Marvel, Perlin drew “Werewolf by Night” for four years and “Ghost Rider” from 1977 to 1981. He was the longest serving artist on “The Defenders” and drew “Transformers” for two years. His most notable contribution to the Marvel Universe was co-creating Moon Knight with writer Doug Moench. The character is still published today and was adapted into a Disney+ TV series starring Oscar Isaac.
In 1991, Perlin joined former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter at Shooter’s newly launched company, Valiant Comics. There, he co-created the character Bloodshot with Kevin VanHook and Bob Layton, and he penciled comic books like “Solar, Man of the Atom.” In 1997, Perlin won the National Cartoonists Society Comic Books Award.
Tributes to Don Perlin
Full obituary: Comic Book Resources
