The Hero Initiative, a nonprofit that provides assistance for comics creators in need, will print a new limited edition of the Marvel/DC crossover miniseries JLA/Avengers to honor artist George Perez. The 288-page paperback, which will be available from Diamond Comic Distributors, will be limited to 7,000 copies and will have an MSRP of $29.99.

Perez, who is a founding member of the Hero Initiative’s Board of Directors, was diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer (see “George Perez Announces He Has Pancreatic Cancer”).

The Hero Initiative edition will include 64 pages of additional content, including introductions by Stan Lee, the first writer and editor of Avengers, and Julius Schwarz, who edited Justice League of America.

The JLA/Avengers crossover was written by Kurt Busiek, drawn by Perez, and co-published by Marvel and DC in 2003 as a four-issue miniseries (see “JLA/Avengers Crossover Announced”). The first issue sold over 200,000 copies (see “JLA/Avengers #1 Breaks 200,000”). DC reprinted it in 2004 as a two-volume hardcover collector’s edition and as a trade paperback in 2008.