Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Kingsway West
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://gregpak.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://gregpak.com/about/ * http://comicsalliance.com/greg-pak-kingsway-west-interview/ * http://ew.com/article/2015/09/18/greg-pak-kingsway-west-comic/ * https://www.newsarama.com/25055-go-west-with-greg-pak-in-kingsway-west.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: nr 99021867
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/nr99021867
HEADING: Pak, Greg
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372 __ |a Comic books, strips, etc. |2 lcsh
374 __ |a Motion picture producers and directors |2 lcsh
670 __ |a Fighting grandpa, 1998: |b credits (a film by Greg Pak)
670 __ |a Greg Pak WWW site, Jan. 13, 2017 |b (Greg Pak; Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker; author of children’s books) |u http://gregpak.com/about/
PERSONAL
Born August 23, 1968, in Dallas, TX.
EDUCATION:Attended Yale University, Oxford University, and New York University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and filmmaker. Director/writer of short and feature films, including “Asian Pride Porn,” “Mister Green,” “Happy Fun Room,” “Fighting Grandpa,” “Mouse,” “Cat Fight Tonight,” “The Penny Marshall Project,” and Robot Stories.
AWARDS:Gold Medal, 25th Studen Academy Awards, for Fighting Grandpa; numerous film festival awards, for Robot Stories; Best Ongoing Series, Wizard Magazine, 2007, for Incredible Hulk; Best Miniseries, IGN, 2008, for Magneto Testament; Pipedream Screenwriting Award, IFP Market, and Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship, for Rio Chino.
WRITINGS
Also, author of Worlds’ Finest, DC Comics (New York, NY), vol. 4, with Paul Levitz, 2014. Author of Secret Origins, vol. 1, with numerous others, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2015. Author of Batman/Superman, DC Comics (New York, NY), vol. 1, 2014, vol. 2, with Paul Levitz, 2014, vol. 3, with Jeff Lemire, 2015. Author of Superman: Action Comics, DC Comics (Burbank, CA), vol. 2, with Aaron Kuder, Peter J. Tomasi, and Gene Luen Yang, 2016vol. 5, 2015, vol. 6, 2015, vol. 7, with Sholly Fisch, 2015, vol. 8, with Aaron Kuder, 2016, vol. 9, with Kuder and Peter J. Tomasi, 2016. Author of numerous other comic books. Writer of screenplays for films, including Rio Chino, Robot Stories, and MVP.
SIDELIGHTS
Greg Pak is a filmmaker and writer best known for his work in comics and graphic novels. He attended Yale University, Oxford University, and New York University. While at New York University, Pak studied film. He has released several short films, as well as a feature film called Robot Stories. In an interview with Alex Chester, contributor to the Hapa Magazine website, Pak explained how he came to work in the comics industry. He stated: “I’ve been reading comics since I was six or seven years old. The earliest comics I ever read were probably the early Peanuts strips, reprinted in those old Fawcett paperbacks. My first superhero comic was that big Marvel Treasury Edition Spider-Man reprint book, which I adored. I was also drawing comics from a very young age.” Pak continued: “My mom was the kind of mom who gave her kids crayons and paper instead of coloring books, so I was always drawing as a kid. I drew cartoons for my high school and college papers and beyond. After studying political science as an undergrad at Yale, and history at Oxford, I circled back to my original passions and went to film school at NYU and then eventually moved sideways into writing comics.”
Robot Stories, Incredible Hulk, and X-Men
In an interview with James Whitbook, contributor to the iO9 website, Pak stated: “I wrote and directed a movie called Robot Stories about fifteen years ago that was made up of four different short stories about love, death, family, and robots. I’ve had different stories with all different kinds of robots and artificial intelligence in my head for years.” The film won thirty-five awards at various film festivals. In 2005, Pak released Robot Stories: And Other Screenplays. As the title suggests, the volume includes the screenplay for the film, as well as screenplays for four additional films. Each of the stories finds humans interacting with machines or other forms of advanced technology. A California Bookwatch writer noted that the contrast between the technology and the natural world in the works created “a compelling dynamic.”
In Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk, Pak continues the adventures of the classic Marvel character. In this volume, Hulk finds himself on Planet Sakaar after an ill-fated space journey. The planet’s evil king captures him and makes him a gladiator. Hulk bands together with other gladiators to escape the king. Eventually, Hulk brings together the factions on the Sakaar and kills the Red King. The happy citizens make Hulk the new king. George Galuschak, reviewer in Kliatt, called Incredible Hulk “one of the best graphic novels … [of the] year.” Galuschak added: “It is … interesting to see The Hulk’s character grow, from angry loner to born leader.”
Pak worked with Carmine DiGiandomenico on X-Men: Magneto Testament, part of Marvel’s successful “X-Men” series. The volume tells the backstory of Magneto, an antihero in the series. Before he became Magneto, he was Max Eisenhardt. When Hitler comes to power, Max is living with his Jewish family in Germany. He and his family try to escape before they are rounded up with other Jews, but Max is caught and placed in a concentration camp. Max longs to have revenge on his captors, but, following his father’s advice, he waits for the perfect moment. Meanwhile, he pines for his love, who has also been place in a camp and will soon be put to death. “This is an inherently powerful story, handled with grace and care, delivered in a haunting, painterly style,” asserted a Publishers Weekly critic.
Incredible Hercules and Make Comics Like the Pros
Pak collaborated with Fred Van Lente, Reilly Brown, and Ariel Olivetti on Incredible Hercules: The New Prince of Power. At the beginning of the book, there is a short section offering information about characters and action that has happened in previous volumes in this series. This volume focuses on Amadeus Cho, a teenager in Arizona and also close friend of Hercules, a god. When Hercules is killed, Amadeus finds that, if people follow very specific steps, they can become gods, too. A contributor to Publishers Weekly suggested that Incredible Hercules was “well-paced.” The same contributor added: “For those with a background in mythology of the Marvel kind, this should be an entertaining outing.”
Pak and Van Lente are the authors of Make Comics Like the Pros: The Inside Scoop on How to Write, Draw, and Sell Your Comic Books and Graphic Novels. In this nonfiction volume, the two offer tips on connecting with publishers, honing one’s storytelling skills, and working with fellow artists. Pak and Van Lente share stories from their own lives as examples of how to function in the comics industry. Library Journal critic Heather Halliday asserted: “Aspiring artists and others will appreciate this inside look.”
Kingsway West
Kingsway West follows the adventures of the title character, an Asian gunslinger living in an alternate version of the Old West. China, Mexico, the Confederates, and the African-Americans are all vying for power in the region because of Red Gold, the natural resource that can be found there. West hopes to redeem himself for his violent past. He collaborates with two women during his journey. One is African-American, and the other is of Mexican heritage.
In the interview with Chester, Pak discussed including an Asian-American as the lead role in his works. He stated: “There will always be people who will tell you that making your characters Asian-American will hurt your project and limit its audience. In some cases, there will be gatekeepers who will reject your project because it features Asian-American characters, but if we don’t make those projects, who will?” In the interview with Whitbrook, Pak remarked: “Having a few Asian American characters as leads out there is fantastic. But the real juice comes when you have many, many different Asian Americans in all different kinds of roles. Diversity within diversity is where the really interesting things happen, where you can get into deeper nuances of different experiences.”
A reviewer in Publishers Weekly offered a favorable assessment of Kingsway West. The reviewer commented: “Pak … builds an American adventure around minority characters without having it seem like … a political statement.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
California Bookwatch, June, 2006, review of Robot Stories and More Screenplays.
Kliatt, September, 2007, George Galuschak, review of Planet Hulk, p. 28.
Library Journal, October 1, 2014, Heather Halliday, review of Make Comics Like the Pros: The Inside Scoop on How To Write, Draw, and Sell Your Comic Books and Graphic Novels, p. 82.
Publishers Weekly, July 6, 2009, review of X-Men: Magneto Testament, p. 42; November 29, 2010, review of Incredible Hercules: The New Prince of Power, p. 36; June 12, 2017, review of Kingsway West, p. 50.
ONLINE
Greg Pak Website, http://gregpak.com/ (April 11, 2018).
Hapa, https://www.hapamag.com/ (April 11, 2018), Alex Chester, author interview.
Immedium, http://www.immedium.com/ (April 11, 2018), author profile.
iO9, https://io9.gizmodo.com/ (August 1, 2017), James Whitbrook, author interview.
Greg Pak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greg Pak
9.12.12GregPakByLuigiNovi3.jpg
Pak at an October 2012 signing for
Doctor Strange: Season One at
Midtown Comics in Manhattan.
Born August 23, 1968 (age 49)
Dallas, Texas
United States
Residence New York City, New York
United States
Nationality American
Education New York University
University of Oxford
Yale University
Occupation Writer, comics creator, director
Employer DC Comics
Marvel Comics
Known for Action Comics
Batman/Superman
Planet Hulk
World War Hulk
Incredible Hercules
Storm
Awards Rhodes Scholar
Website Official website
Greg Pak (born August 23, 1968) is an American film director and comic book writer, known for his work on books published by Marvel Comics, including X-Treme X-Men and several titles featuring the Hulk.[1] As of early 2016, Pak writes The Totally Awesome Hulk for Marvel, Action Comics and Teen Titans for DC.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Filmography
4 Bibliography
4.1 Marvel Comics
4.2 DC Comics
4.3 Other publishers
5 References
5.1 Inline citations
5.2 General references
6 External links
Early life
Pak was born in Dallas, Texas to a Korean-American father and a Jewish American mother.[2] He graduated from Hillcrest High School. He studied political science at Yale University, where he wrote for the campus humor magazine, The Yale Record,[3] NPR. July 10, 2012.[4] and was a member of the Purple Crayon improvisational group. In 1991 he went to study history at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar with the intent of becoming a politician. He then entered New York University's graduate film program.[3][5][6][7]
Career
His New York University (NYU) student film, Fighting Grandpa, about his Korean grandparents, won the Gold Medal at the 25th Student Academy Awards. His short film "Asian Pride Porn", starring playwright David Henry Hwang and director Michael Kang, was licensed to Atom Films. Pak's feature film Robot Stories won 35 film festival awards. He collected his critically acclaimed screenplays in the recent book Robot Stories & More Screenplays, whose foreword was written by David Henry Hwang, and which has been used in college classes in writing, film, and Asian American studies.
Pak began writing for Marvel Comics in September 2004 and signed an exclusive deal with them in July 2005.[8] He has worked on such titles as Warlock,[9] Phoenix: Endsong,[10] Phoenix: Warsong,[11] Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Dynamite Entertainment's spin-off series based on the Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica.
His 2000s projects include Incredible Hercules,[12][13][14] World War Hulk: Warbound and Skaar: Son of Hulk,[15] all spinning-off from World War Hulk, as well as Magneto: Testament[16] and War Machine.[17][18][19] Pak is one of the featured contributors to Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology.[20]
Richard Lui, Jeff Yang, Greg Pak, Erin Quinn at a panel discussion for the new show Fresh off the Boat
In June 2013, Pak began writing Batman/Superman for DC Comics.[1] In November 2013, he began writing Action Comics with issue number 25.[21]
Filmography
Robot Stories (2003)
Bibliography
Marvel Comics
Warlock #1-4 (5th series) (with Charlie Adlard, 2004)
X-Men:
X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong #1-5 (with Greg Land, 2005)
X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong #1-5 (with Tyler Kirkham, 2006–2007)
Magneto: Testament #1-5 (with Carmine Di Giandomenico, 2008–2009)
Astonishing X-Men #44-47, 60-61 (with Mike McKone and various, 2012-2013)
X-Treme X-Men #1-13 (with various, 2012-2013)
Storm #1-11 (with various, 2014-2015)
Weapon X #1- (with Greg Land, April 2017–ongoing)
Marvel Nemesis: The Imperfects #1-6 (with Renato Arlem, 2005)[22]
Iron Man: House of M #1-3 (with Pat Lee, 2005)
Marvel 1602: New World #1-5 (with Greg Tocchini, 2005)
Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #15 (with Patrick Scherberger, 2006)
What If: Submariner (with David Lopez, 2006)
Hulk:
Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #92-112 (with various, 2006–2007)
World War Hulk #1-5 (with John Romita, Jr., 2007–2008)
World War Hulk: Warbound #1-5 (with Leonard Kirk and Rafa Sandoval, 2008)
Skaar: Son of Hulk #1-12 (with Ron Garney, 2008-2009)
Incredible Hulks #612-635 (with various, 2009-2011)
The Totally Awesome Hulk #1– (with Frank Cho, December 2015–ongoing)
Hercules:
Incredible Hercules #112-141 (with co-author Fred Van Lente and various, 2008–2010)
Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1-2 (with co-author Fred Van Lente and art by Ariel Olivetti, 2010)
Heroic Age: Prince of Power #1-4 (with co-author Fred Van Lente and art by Reilly Brown, 2010)
Herc #1-10 (with co-author Fred Van Lente and art by Cliff Richards, 2011)
War Machine #0-12 (with Leonardo Manco, 2008-2009)
Alpha Flight Vol. 4 #0.1-8 (with co-author Fred Van Lente and art by Dale Eaglesham, 2012)
Silver Surfer #1-5 (with various, 2011)
Red Skull #1-5 (with Mirko Colak, 2011)
DC Comics
Batman/Superman #1–27 (with Jae Lee and various, 2013-December 2015)
Action Comics #23.2, 25–50 (with Aaron Kuder, November 2013-March 2016)
Secret Origins a segment in #1 (with Lee Weeks, 2014)
Teen Titans #17–19 (with Ian Churchill, February 2016–April 2016)
Other publishers
Dynamite Entertainment:
Battlestar Galactica #0-12 (with Nigel Raynor, 2006–2007)
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #1-ongoing (with various artist, 2014-...)
Eternal Warrior #1-8(with Trevor Hairsine and Robert Gill, Valiant Comics, 2013-2014)
Mech Cadet Yu (2017)
Kickstarter:
Code Monkey Save World #1(with Takeshi Miyazawa 2013)
Princess Who Saved Herself! (with Takeshi Miyazawa 2015)
References
Inline citations
Truitt, Brian (February 21, 2013). "'Batman/Superman' showcases meeting of DC Comics icons". USA Today.
http://www.halfkorean.com/?page_id=6377
"Greg Pak: You Wouldn't Like Him When He's Angry"
The Yale Record. New Haven: Yale Record. Spring, 1990. p. 2.
"25 NEW FACESOF INDIE FILM 2003". Filmmaker. Summer 2003
Evans, William (August 13, 2014). "The Carcosa Interview: Greg Pak". The Nerds of Color.
"RHODES SCHOLARS SELECTED FOR 1991". The New York Times. December 10, 1990
Tramountanas, George A. (July 11, 2005). "Greg Pak Makes His Marvel - Signs Exclusively With Publisher". Comic Book Resources.
Weiland, Jonah (July 18, 2004). Warlock Stories: Greg Pak talks "Warlock". Comic Book Resources.
Weiland, Jonah (August 20, 2004). Greg Pak talks 'X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong'"., Comic Book Resources.
Singh, Arune (June 2, 2006). "It's Not Over Till She Sings: Greg Pak Talks 'X-Men: Phoenix- Warsong'". Comic Book Resources.
Richards, Dave (March 17, 2008). "GREEK WEEK Part I -Pak & Van Lente talk Hercules' Past". Comic Book Resources
Richards, Dave (March 20, 2008). "GREEK WEEK Part IV- Pak & Van Lente on Herc's Past & Future". Comic Book Resources.
Richards, Dave (September 4, 2008). "Love, Olympian Style: Pak & Van Lente talk 'Incredible Hercules'". Comic Book Resources.
Richards, Dave (June 10, 2008). "Hulk Slash! Pak talks 'Skaar: Son of Hulk'". Comic Book Resources.
Richards, Dave (May 31, 2008). "WW Philly: Pak talks 'Magneto: Testament'". Comic Book Resources.
Brady, Matt (July 25, 2008). SDCC '08 - Pak & Rosemann Talk War Machine. Newsarama.
Richards, Dave (July 25, 2008). "CCI: Pak, Rosemann on 'War Machine'". Comic Book Resources.
Brady, Matt (November 10, 2008). "Greasing the Gears: Greg Pak Talks 'War Machine'". Newsarama.
Secret Identities. The New Press. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
Phegley, Kiel (June 24, 2014). "Greg Pak & Aaron Kuder Take Over 'Action Comics'". Comic Book Resources.
Goldstein, Hilary (March 21, 2005). "Marvel Nemesis Unveiled". IGN.
General references
Greg Pak at the Grand Comics Database
"Robot Stories & More Screenplays" Book Collection with Original Commentaries
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greg Pak.
Official website
Greg Pak at the Comic Book DB
Greg Pak on IMDb
"Asian Pride Porn". AtomFilms.com
"Robot Stories" Official website
About
Greg Pak is a Korean American filmmaker and comic book writer best known for his award-winning feature film Robot Stories, his blockbuster comic book series like Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, and his record-breaking Kickstarter publishing projects with Jonathan Coulton, Code Monkey Save World and The Princess Who Saved Herself.
Pak’s recent comics projects include Mech Cadet Yu, a creator-owned series from BOOM! Studios, Kingsway West, a creator-owned series from Dark Horse; The Totally Awesome Hulk and Weapon X for Marvel; and John Wick for Dynamite. Other projects include Action Comics and Batman/Superman for DC; Battlestar Galactica for Dynamite; Dead Man’s Run for Aspen and Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla; and Magneto Testament, Storm, Incredible Hercules (co-written with Fred Van Lente), and many others for Marvel. With artist Takeshi Miyazawa, Pak co-created the character of Amadeus Cho, who won a 2005 Marvel.com fan favorite poll, co-starred for four years in Incredible Hercules, and is now the star of Totally Awesome Hulk. Pak’s run on Marvel’s Incredible Hulk was named the Best Ongoing Series of 2007 by Wizard Magazine and Pak’s Magneto Testament was named the Best Miniseries of 2008 by IGN.
Pak’s feature film Robot Stories, starring Tamlyn Tomita and Sab Shimono, played in 75 festivals, won 35 awards, screened theatrically across the country, and is now available on DVD from Kino. Pak’s feature screenplay Rio Chino won the Pipedream Screenwriting Award at the IFP Market and a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship. Pak wrote the screenplay for the feature film MVP, which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
Pak’s most recent short films are “Mister Green,” starring Tim Kang, and “Happy Fun Room,” starring Cindy Cheung, near-future sci-fi stories that were funded by ITVS for its Futurestates series. Pak’s short film “Fighting Grandpa” won 20 prizes, including a Student Academy Award, and played in over 50 film festivals. Pak’s comic shorts “Asian Pride Porn” and “All Amateur Ecstasy” were among the most viewed films at AtomFilms.com. His shorts “Mouse,” “Po Mo Knock Knock,” “Cat Fight Tonight” and “The Penny Marshall Project” have won awards and screened in dozens of film festivals around the world.
Pak’s other projects include the sci-fi graphic novel and iPad app Vision Machine and the acclaimed Make Comics Like the Pros how-to book, co-written with Fred Van Lente. Pak’s first prose novel, Planet Hulk, is based on his beloved graphic novel and comes out in October, 2017.
Pak has crowdfunded four publishing projects through Kickstarter, including Code Monkey Save World, a graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton, which is Kickstarter’s highest grossing original graphic novel of all time. Pak’s other Kickstarter projects include the children’s books ABC Disgusting and The Princess Who Saved Herself and a book of Kickstarter tips called Kickstarter Secrets.
Professional film and television inquiries can be directed towards Greg Pak’s agent, Sandra Lucchesi, The Gersh Agency, Los Angeles.
QUOTED: "I wrote and directed a movie called Robot Stories about 15 years ago that was made up of four different short stories about love, death, family, and robots. I’ve had different stories with all different kinds of robots and artificial intelligence in my head for years."
"Having a few Asian American characters as leads out there is fantastic. But the real juice comes when you have many, many different Asian Americans in all different kinds of roles. Diversity within diversity is where the really interesting things happen, where you can get into deeper nuances of different experiences."
COMICS
Greg Pak On Loving Giant Robots and Championing Asian American Heroes in Mech Cadet Yu
James Whitbrook
8/01/17 3:00pmFiled to: BOOM STUDIOS
11.5K
25
11
Image: Boom Studios. Cover art by Marcus To
Comics fans might best know Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa as the creators of Amadeus Cho—one of the smartest heroes in the Marvel universe, and as the Totally Awesome Hulk, one of its most prominent Asian American superheroes. Now the duo are back together for a new series, and a new Asian hero to welcome into the fold.
For Boom Studios’ new four-part miniseries Mech Cadet Yu, longtime collaborators Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa are reunited alongside colorist Triona Farrell and letterer Simon Bowland to tell the tale of Stanford Yu—a young boy working alongside his father as a janitor at a high-tech academy for pilots destined to bond with a group of interstellar mecha who’ve come to Earth to help defend it from an impending alien invasion. Naturally, hijinks ensue, and suddenly Stanford finds himself building a surprising rapport with a mech that’s chosen to bond with him instead of one of the myriad highly trained kids at his academy.
Aside from being a story about giant robots beating the snot out of equally giant aliens, Mech Cadet Yu—inspired by a story Pak and Miyazawa originally wrote for a short anthology series revolving around Asian heroes in genre fiction—is a story about underdogs and finding a place in the world around you, even if that place is outside of the station that society originally pegged you for. Check out our interview with Pak below, as well as a preview of the first issue, which sees Stanford encounter his future robot partner for the first time.
io9: What can you tell us about Stanford Yu and where we find him at the start of Mech Cadet Yu?
Greg Pak: Stanford Yu is our underdog hero, a janitor’s kid who works at the Sky Corps Academy in Los Robos, Arizona. He’s got it coming and going—the elite kids sneer at him and his mom scolds him for feeling sorry for himself. He knows he’s at the bottom of the hierarchy at this elite school, with zero chance to be one of the chosen kids who bond with a giant robot when the mechs arrive once every four years. But he’s a fixer with a heart of gold, always ready to scrounge and repair things rather than throw them away. And when he meets a giant robot who’s something of an underdog himself, suddenly anything becomes possible.
io9: Mech Cadet Yu has history in a past collaboration of yours and Takeshi’s, the “Los Robos, Arizona” story you worked on for Shattered. What inspired the two of you to return to this story, and why now?
Pak: We always knew we wanted to tell a bigger story—I’ve got an outline with at least 12 issues of material. And then during one convention a couple years ago, Boom Studios editor Cameron Chittock introduced himself and asked if I had anything that might be a fit. I pitched him the story as “Harry Potter meets Pacific Rim,” and his eyes just lit up. And here we are!
io9: What do you think it is about the idea of giant robots that makes them such a compelling idea for science fiction?
Pak: As a kid, I loved any story in which a kid made friends with some kind of animal or monster. I think there’s something hugely compelling about that situation for a kid. Kids are small and relatively weak, and their encounters with adults and other kids are often fraught with violence or threats of violence. So, I think there’s something really powerful for kids about this fantasy of making friends with something that’s very, very strong. And what’s stronger than a 40-foot-tall giant robot?
io9: Would you say Mech Cadet Yu is inspired by any particular take on giant robots, or did you intentionally want to tell a story that subverted the sort of mecha stories people are familiar with?
Pak: I wrote and directed a movie called Robot Stories about 15 years ago that was made up of four different short stories about love, death, family, and robots. I’ve had different stories with all different kinds of robots and artificial intelligence in my head for years. With Mech Cadet Yu, I wasn’t setting out to pay homage to or subvert anything, necessarily. I just had this idea of a story that’s almost a kind of fable, in which mysterious giant robots from outer space descend upon a specific spot in the desert to bond with kids. And then the idea came into my head that the military would want to get in on this and control it, so they build a military academy on the site to prepare kids for this bonding process. And then of course there would be alien monsters that our heroes would eventually have to fight, and the world came together from there.
io9: The link between a pilot and their mecha is often a key part of these giant robot tales. What can you tell us about how Stanford bonds with his robot companion in the series?
Pak: I don’t want to spoil too much, but Stanford and his robot are both underdogs. When you read the first issue, I think it’ll be clear why they were meant for each other.
io9: You’ve described the series in the past as being mostly set in a world like our own... with giant robots and space aliens as the added twist. What drew you to that clash of the weird and ordinary for this story, instead of leaning into the scifi elements more?
Pak: The emotional core of this story is this scrappy, underdog kid fighting to find a place in this elite academy that doesn’t really seem to want him. That struggle of a young person to find a place where he can belong and serve felt like a very real, very universal story, and I wanted to make that feel as real and honest as possible. From the beginning, I always saw it as happening in a world very much like our own where just about everything would be recognizable except the giant robots themselves. That just felt like the best way to get the most emotional impact possible.
I’m also a big fan of taking one simple idea and seeing how it changes the world rather than cramming too many elements into a story and changing up everything just for the heck of it. As a writer, one of my vices is having too many ideas—I wanted to try out everything. But with Mech Cadet Yu I tried to be disciplined and stay focused and really explore how the world would change with just this one big difference.
io9: What’s it been like collaborating with Takeshi again for this series? I would imagine you’re a well-oiled partnership at this point given your past work.
Pak: Oh, man, I absolutely love working with Tak. He reads me like a book and I just love all the emotional nuance and sheer fun he brings to every panel and every page. He’s also so, so good at drawing everyday people—particularly young people—and making them feel three dimensional, emotionally complex, and incredibly relatable. And he absolutely loves giant robots. I never thought of doing this book with anyone but him.
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I’d also love to plug colorist Triona Farrell and letterer Simon Bowland, who are doing beautiful work on the series, and our editors Cameron Chittock and Eric Harburn, who are helping us make the book as good as it possibly can be.
io9: Speaking of your previous collaborations, our readers probably know you both as the creators of Amadeus Cho over at Marvel, who’s become one of their most prominent Asian American characters lately. Having created another Asian American hero in Stanford, what are your thoughts on the state of Asian American representation in comics at the moment? How important was it to you to further that representation in Mech Cadet Yu?
Pak: I grew up at a time when there were only the barest handful of non-stereotypical Asian American characters in mainstream television shows, movies, or comics. So ever since my earliest short films in the 1990s as an NYU film student, I’ve done my best to cast all my films and books diversely—with a certain special interest in getting Asian American characters out into the world. Folks would sometimes ask me why I’d cast certain films with Asian American actors, and I’d honestly say it was because that’s the way the story came into my head, so why not cast it that way?
I’m hugely proud to have co-created Amadeus with Tak back in the day and am thrilled by how far he’s come over the years. But of course, I want more. Having a few Asian American characters as leads out there is fantastic. But the real juice comes when you have many, many different Asian Americans in all different kinds of roles. Diversity within diversity is where the really interesting things happen, where you can get into deeper nuances of different experiences. In Totally Awesome Hulk, we got to do a hugely fun story a few months ago that starred six different Asian American superheroes, which I think was the biggest team up of Asian American heroes in mainstream superhero comics ever. And that opened the door to exploring some deeper points of bonding and conflict between these characters, the kinds of nuances that wouldn’t be possible to explore without that kind of diversity within diversity. It’s pretty exciting to be making comics at a time when that kind of thing is possible.
With Mech Cadet Yu, I love that we’ve got five different Asian Americans in different key roles—in a variety of different ages, social statuses, socioeconomic backgrounds, and temperaments. Life is complicated and complex. It’s a blast working on stories that reflect that reality.
Author Profiles
Greg Pak
Greg Pak is an award-winning writer and director, and author of Robot Stories and More Screenplays, which collects the best film scripts of his career to date.
His first feature film, "Robot Stories" starred Tamlyn Tomita and Sab Shimono, played in over dozens of international and American festivals, and won over 35 awards. Greg's screenplay "Corporis Vesalius" won the Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Award. Greg's comic shorts "Asian Pride Porn" (which features Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang) and "All Amateur Ecstasy" are among the most viewed films at AtomFilms.com. His short film "Mouse" won Best Narrative Short at the 2000 San Diego Asian Film Festival.
All these screenplays, including "Cat Fight Tonight" and "Rice World" are collected in the new book Robot Stories and More Screenplays, whose introduction is written by the famed playright David Henry Hwang. Wizard magazine recommended the book in its 2005 Holiday Gift Guide.
After writing "Famous Long Ago" for Antidote Films, Greg broke into comics and has quickly become a fan favorite scribe. Recognizing his writing talent in Robot Stories, Marvel Comics hired him. Greg soon produced critically-acclaimed runs on the new "Warlock", the bestseller "Phoenix Endsong" (illustrated by Greg Land), and sequels "Phoenix Warsong" and "1602: the New World" (originally created by Neil Gaiman). In addition to a stint with "Ironman", he has created a new Asian American protagonist named Amadeus Cho, aka "Mastermind Excello."
With his star rising with the comics adaptation of the new TV version of "Battlestar Galatica", Greg grabbed the horns of the jolly green giant and hasn't looked back. His interpretation of The Incredible Hulk has reinvigorated the character and led to his penning Marvel's flagship 2007 crossover series "World War Hulk." Quickly Wizard magazine has named him one of the Top 10 hottest writers in the US comic book industry, in whose ranks he is now a monthly regular. Now he works his magic on the spin off "Skaar: Son of Hulk" and "Incredible Hercules." Plus he has just tacked the mutant master of magnetism in "Magneto: Testament."
Greg edits FilmHelp.com and AsianAmericanFilm.com. He was the cinematographer of "The Personals," an Academy Award winning short documentary, and was recently named one of 25 Filmmakers to Watch by Filmmaker Magazine. Greg studied political science at Yale University, history at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and film production at the NYU graduate film program.
His recent comics series include Incredible Hercules, Vision Machine, Chaos War crossover, and the Silver Surfer.
Reviews
"Greg Pak’s writing is great in this issue...Vision Machine #2 is fabulous. It would be a must buy if you could buy it. Since it’s free there is absolutely no reason to not try this series out. Greg Pak has created a world that feels like it could really be coming. More importantly, he has used that world to create a compelling story. Perhaps the best compliment you can give a comic book, I can’t wait for the next issue."
- Platform Nation
QUOTED: "I've been reading comics since I was six or seven years old. The earliest comics I ever read were probably the early Peanuts strips, reprinted in those old Fawcett paperbacks. My first superhero comic was that big Marvel Treasury Edition Spider-Man reprint book, which I adored. I was also drawing comics from a very young age."
"My mom was the kind of mom who gave her kids crayons and paper instead of coloring books, so I was always drawing as a kid. I drew cartoons for my high school and college papers and beyond. After studying political science as an undergrad at Yale, and history at Oxford, I circled back to my original passions and went to film school at NYU and then eventually moved sideways into writing comics."
"here will always be people who will tell you that making your characters Asian-American will hurt your project and limit its audience. In some cases, there will be gatekeepers who will reject your project because it features Asian-American characters, but if we don't make those projects, who will?"
Interview: Greg Pak
The Girls with Greg.JPG
TOTALLY AWESOME GREG PAK IS CREATING REPRESENTATION IN THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY
by Alex Chester
I love Comic-Con. I grew up going to San Diego’s Comic-Con, and when I moved to NYC, I started working their Con.
Not only have I found some of my favorite comic books at Comic-Con, but I’ve also gotten to meet the people that created these superheroes - which, in my opinion, is pretty damn neat.
I try not to turn into a crazy fan-girl stalker, but alas I think I did with this dude. You see, it’s not often one gets to meet the creator of The Totally Awesome Hulk. What made this even more awesome was the fact I was just wandering the floor with some of my Hapa gang, and we literally ran into his booth by chance. Of course we all freaked the fuck out. Sorry, Greg Pak. I’m so glad we didn’t scare you off!
For those of you that don’t know much about the comic book world, Mr. Pak is a legend amongst the Asian-American nerd community. It’s SO rare to find representation in the comic book world, but Greg is making that happen, both on the page and behind it.
totally-awesome-hulk.jpeg
MR. PAK TALKED TO ME FOR HAPA MAG!
I always start with this question, which is maybe hypocritical because if a non-Hapa person asks me this I tend to get annoyed. What makes you Hapa? Is it how you identify?
Greg Pak: Yeah, these are deceptively simple but very hard questions to answer, aren't they? I call myself Asian-American, Korean-American, and Hapa. I'm 100 percent all of those things, just like I'm also a Texan and a New Yorker and a writer and a bunch of other stuff. I'm Hapa specifically because I'm biracial, half-Korean and half-White.
What was it like for you growing up half-Asian?
GP: It was mostly great! I grew up in North Dallas in the 1970s and 1980s and had a pretty classic suburban American childhood, riding my bike to the comic shop, camping out with the Boy Scouts, playing D&D with my nerd friends, etcetera. As a kid, I think I identified pretty strongly as Asian rather than necessarily focussing on biracial identity partly because, at the time, I was more instantly recognizable as Asian.
I got my share of racist comments over the years, which were specifically anti-Asian rather than anti-biracial, but I was also aware of the specificity and rareness of being biracial -- and I kid you not, years later, I'm pretty sure that's where my interest in centaurs and half-elves in D&D came from.
How did you get into comic books? Did you grow up reading them?
GP: Yeah, I've been reading comics since I was six or seven years old. The earliest comics I ever read were probably the early Peanuts strips, reprinted in those old Fawcett paperbacks. My first superhero comic was that big Marvel Treasury Edition Spider-Man reprint book, which I adored. I was also drawing comics from a very young age. My mom was the kind of mom who gave her kids crayons and paper instead of coloring books, so I was always drawing as a kid. I drew cartoons for my high school and college papers and beyond. After studying political science as an undergrad at Yale, and history at Oxford, I circled back to my original passions and went to film school at NYU and then eventually moved sideways into writing comics.
The Hapa Mag girls with Greg
The Hapa Mag girls with Greg
Growing up I never saw any representation in comics that looked like me, however I did always think Neil Gaiman’s Death was Hapa. How did The Totally Awesome Hulk come about?
GP: Shortly after I started writing for Marvel, I got an invite to join a number of other new writers in creating new heroes based on old Marvel names. I picked the name "Mastermind Excello" and invented Amadeus Cho, a Korean-American super-genius teenager. The brilliant artist Takeshi Miyazawa co-created him, designing his look and drawing his first appearance.
Amadeus ended up playing key roles in the Incredible Hulk book during Planet Hulk and World War Hulk and later teamed up with Hercules in the Incredible Hercules book that I co-wrote with Fred Van Lente for 4 1/2 years.
Then a few years ago, I got a call from Marvel editor Mark Paniccia, who asked if I'd be interested in writing Amadeus as the Hulk. The editors had been talking about having someone else become the Hulk, and decided Amadeus made sense. I was thrilled to jump on board and have been writing him ever since. It's been a blast -- I love Amadeus and am thrilled to write him whenever I have the chance, and this has been a great chance to see him grow on a bigger platform than ever.
I’ve been going to both New York Comic-Con and San Diego Comic-Con for many years, and I have to say SDCC has become a nightmare. Do you think Comic-Con has ruined comics? Or has it made them more accessible to the general public?
GP: Well, big cons, like any big event, can be exhausting, but no, I don't think any con has ruined comics. On the contrary, I think the fact that there are now dozens if not hundreds of great Comic-Cons all around the country and world every year is fantastic for comics. Sure, some of these cons are really more Pop Culture-Cons than Comic-Cons, with a greater emphasis on film and television than actual comic books, but the overall impact of all of these cons is a greater awareness and interest in comics and dozens of places where comics creators can meet fans and sell books and work.
I know a pretty good number of comic creator colleagues absolutely depend on the income they make at cons as part of their business plan. Every time I do a con, I sell comics to someone who hasn't picked one up in years, so I think it's great cons are booming.
Mech Cadet Yu.jpg
Do you have a favorite comic book character you’ve created or worked on?
GP: Amadeus Cho, Bruce Banner, and Stanford Yu. Stanford's the hero of my new series, Mech Cadet Yu, which tells the story of a janitor's kid who bonds with a giant robot and joins the elite Sky Corps Academy. My buddy Takeshi Miyazawa is drawing the book, and I absolutely love every minute of working on it. Stanford's exactly the kind of scrappy underdog hero I love to write, and I've been thrilled that enough people have bought and spread the word about the book for it's been upgraded from a four issue miniseries to an ongoing comic. The first collected trade just hit comic shops -- ask your local shop to grab you a copy!
I have to ask this… DC or Marvel?
GP: As a kid, I grew up mostly reading Marvel, but I have no bias towards one company or the other as an adult. I've had a fantastic time writing characters from both companies, and I've found that the experience of working for the two different companies has been pretty much the same -- it's all about doing our best to tell fun, compelling stories with these classic characters, and it's a blast.
You recently started a hashtag campaign on twitter #AsAmCreatorRollCall calling out all the Asian-American creators to share and support each other’s work, and you now have over 290,000 views! How do you propose to keep this ball rolling? Have you seen any changes in our community already?
GP: I was pretty blown away by the overwhelming response to the hashtag. I just felt like celebrating Asian-American creators -- everyone I know works so damn hard to tell amazing stories in a world where it can be incredibly difficult to get gatekeepers to give Asian-American stories a chance. So I figure the more we do to toot our own horns and talk up each other, the better off we all are.
Thousands of people shared the hashtag and hundreds of creators from all different fields shared their work. Even now, a month or so later, several folks a day are posting with the hashtag. I'll keep posting and retweeting other people's #AsAmCreatorRollCall tweets as long as folks keep posting them!
Mech Cadet Yu #5.jpg
Weapon H #1.jpg
What do you have next on your plate?
GP: I'm writing Weapon H, a big, fun, bombastic book about an ex-soldier who's been turned into a Hulk-Wolverine hybrid. Cory Smith is drawing and it's ridiculous and fun and actually deeply emotional. That debuts in March.
I'm also writing the DUO book for Milestone Comics, which will be published by DC. That's a book about a Korean-American scientist whose wife's disembodied consciousness ends up inside his own brain. That'll debut some time in the spring.
And I'm working on a couple of secret things that will be revealed in the fullness of time. At least one of them involves a multiracial character, by the way! For the latest, as always, please feel free to subscribe to my email newsletter.
Any words of wisdom for the aspiring comic book writer/creator? Specifically someone that wants to create Asian-American and Mixed-Asian characters.
GP: In terms of practical comics making advice, I'd point you to Make Comics Like the Pros, a how-to book I co-wrote with my good buddy, and Incredible Hercules co-writer, Fred Van Lente.
And once again, please do subscribe to my newsletter -- I'm making it a habit to drop comic-writing tips there.
In terms of making work featuring Asian-American or Hapa characters, my biggest advice is that if that's the way you see those characters, just do it. There will always be people who will tell you that making your characters Asian-American will hurt your project and limit its audience. In some cases, there will be gatekeepers who will reject your project because it features Asian-American characters, but if we don't make those projects, who will?
I do think it's a good idea if you want to do work-for-hire writing to make yourself comfortable writing all kinds of characters from all different backgrounds. You shouldn't feel obligated to make every original character you create reflect your own ethnic background, but if you have that special project with that special character or characters you really want to be Asian-American or Hapa, I recommend doing everything you can to stick to that dream.
I've done signings at comic shops and conventions during which little Asian-American kids came up with big stacks of well-read Totally Awesome Hulk books for me to sign. One kid even brought a rolled up Totally Awesome Hulk poster with tape marks on the corners -- he'd clearly had this hanging up at home and brought it in to be signed. I look at those kids and listen to them chatter about comics and the character, and my heart grows a million sizes. These characters are important. They tell kids they belong. Keep on writing, friends. Keep on writing.
QUOTED: "one of the best graphic novels ... [of the] year."
"It is ... interesting to see The Hulk's character grow, from angry loner to born leader."
Print Marked Items
Pak, Greg. Incredible Hulk; planet Hulk
George Galuschak
Kliatt.
41.5 (Sept. 2007): p28+.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Kliatt
http://hometown.aol.com/kliatt/
Full Text:
PAK, Greg. Incredible Hulk; planet Hulk. Art by Aaron Lopresti, Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Oeming.
Marvel. 416p. illus, c2007. 0-785-12245-1. $39.99. (hardcover) JS *
Planet Hulk takes the Green Goliath places he's never been before. Lured into a satellite and blasted into
outer space, the Hulk crash-lands on the planet Sakaar. He is enslaved by the Red King and forced into the
arena as a gladiator. The Hulk soon meets other monsters like himself, including Korg, a rock giant; NoName,
a member of an insect-warrior race called Brood (familiar to X-men fans); and a feisty bug named
Miek. They swear fealty to each other, forever, and become Warbound. Soon they escape the arena and flee
to the surrounding countryside. Sakaar's two major races--insect-like creatures and red humanoids--both
despise the Red King, but tribal hatreds prevent them from working together. It takes a unifying figure like
the Hulk (also known as The Green Scar, The Sakaarson, and The World Breaker) to make them work
together, however temporarily. After the Red King's death, the Hulk is crowned king. His reign lasts three
days.
Planet Hulk is one of the best graphic novels I've read this year. The full-color art, ably rendered by a
number of illustrators, is (of course) action-oriented and features plenty of smashing. Unlike mega-events
like Civil War, which have so many crossovers they feel incomplete, Planet Hulk is a self-contained
storyline. The world of Sakaar has been put together with a great deal of care, as illustrated by the Planet
Hulk: Gladiator Guidebook (included). It is also interesting to see The Hulk's character grow, from angry
loner to born leader. Planet Hulk contains lots of comic book violence; highly recommended for libraries
that collect superhero comics, though before purchasing, please note the hefty price tag. George Galuschak,
YA Libn., Montvale PL, Montvale, NJ
J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young
adolescents and their teachers.
S--Recommended for senior high school students.
*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.
Galuschak, George
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Galuschak, George. "Pak, Greg. Incredible Hulk; planet Hulk." Kliatt, Sept. 2007, p. 28+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A169022215/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=491c55a1.
Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A169022215
QUOTED: "This is an inherently powerful story, handled with grace and care, delivered in a haunting, painterly style."
X-Men: Magneto Testament
Publishers Weekly.
256.27 (July 6, 2009): p42.
COPYRIGHT 2009 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
X-Men: Magneto Testament
Greg Pak and Carmine DiGiandomenico. Marvel, $24.99 (152 p) ISBN 978-0-7851-3823-5
It takes a lot of nerve to use the Holocaust as setting for a superhero story, but villain/antihero Magneto's
background requires it, and the story by Pak and DiGiandomenico carries out the idea with respect. The boy
who would become Magneto is Max Eisenhardt, smart and athletic, living with his family in Germany in
1935. He watches in horror as the Germans invade Poland, prompting his family to flee; he sees them killed,
like thousands of others; he takes his place as a worker in a concentration camp. But all the while, it nags at
him that he should be fighting back, and his father's admonition to wait for the moment, "a time when
everything lines up, when anything is possible, when suddenly you can make things happen" rings in his
head, as does the face of the girl he has always loved, a girl who has ended up in a Gypsy camp, fated for
extermination. This is an inherently powerful story, handled with grace and care, delivered in a haunting,
painterly style--and filled with historical information and context. Extensive back pages include a teacher's
guide to using this series in the classroom. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"X-Men: Magneto Testament." Publishers Weekly, 6 July 2009, p. 42. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A203335777/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7a0d42e7.
Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A203335777
QUOTED: "a compelling dynamic."
Robot Stories and More Screenplays
California Bookwatch.
(June 2006):
COPYRIGHT 2006 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Robot Stories and More Screenplays
Greg Pak
Immedium
PO Box 31846, San Francisco, CA 94131
1597020001 $14.95 www.immedium.com
Filmmaker Pak provides not just the award-winning ROBOT STORIES screenplay, but four other tales
which are all infused with considerations about technology. It's not only the futuristic settings which link
these plots: it's an exploration of the problems between men and machines, the created and the natural
worlds, which creates such a compelling dynamic in these motion pictures. Small black and white shots
pepper the account, but it's the screenplays which are the heart of this fine title.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Robot Stories and More Screenplays." California Bookwatch, June 2006. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A148483654/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3c7cf904.
Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A148483654
QUOTED: "Aspiring artists and others will appreciate this inside look."
Pak, Greg & Fred Van Lente. Make
Comics Like the Pros: The Inside Scoop
on How To Write, Draw, and Sell Your
Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Heather Halliday
Library Journal.
139.16 (Oct. 1, 2014): p82.
COPYRIGHT 2014 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Pak, Greg & Fred Van Lente. Make Comics Like the Pros: The Inside Scoop on How To Write, Draw, and
Sell Your Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Watson-Guptill. 2014. 160p. illus. index. ISBN
9780385344630. pap. $22.99; ebk. ISBN 9780385344517. ART INSTRUCTION
Comics writers Pak (Batman; Superman) and Van Lente (Action Philosophers!) here focus on storytelling
and the process of getting one's comics and graphic novels published. They emphasize the highly
collaborative nature of the format and help readers understand how best to work with others in the course of
making sequential art. The authors, who collaborated on The Incredible Hercules series for Marvel Comics,
offer examples from their own careers as well as those of their fellow comics creators. All aspects of
production, from conceptualization to marketing and promotion are addressed. VERDICT Aspiring artists
and others will appreciate this inside look at what it takes to create a comic book or graphic novel.
HEATHER HALLIDAY, American Jewish Historical Soc., New York
Halliday, Heather
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Halliday, Heather. "Pak, Greg & Fred Van Lente. Make Comics Like the Pros: The Inside Scoop on How To
Write, Draw, and Sell Your Comic Books and Graphic Novels." Library Journal, 1 Oct. 2014, p. 82.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A383327281/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=06a239c1. Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A383327281
QUOTED: "Pak ... builds an American adventure around minority characters without having it seem like ... a political statement."
Kingsway West
Publishers Weekly.
264.24 (June 12, 2017): p50.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Kingsway West
Greg Pak, Mirko Colak, and Wil Quintana. Dark Horse, $14.99 trade paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-6165-5976-
2
Part alternate-history western, part pure fantasy, Pak (World War Hulk) builds an American adventure
around minority characters without having it seem like a vehicle for a political statement. At the center is
the title character, the archetypal gunslinger with a dark past and a desire to put it behind him. In this case,
though, he's an Asian man. In the world of the story North America is divided up, with the West under
control of warring Chinese and Mexican countries while the Northeast is dominated by the United States of
New York and other areas are controlled by African-Americans, Confederates, and other groups. These
factions are warring over a magical substance called Red Gold, but despite the largeness of the landscape,
Pak keeps the story intimate, focusing on West's personal quest and his relationships with two women, one
Mexican, one African-American. Colak's art serves the world-building well, walking a nice line between the
Wild West archetypes and the new ideas brought in by the fantasy elements. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Kingsway West." Publishers Weekly, 12 June 2017, p. 50. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495720691/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c722b056.
Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495720691
QUOTED: "well-paced."
"For those with a background in mythology of the Marvel kind, this should
be an entertaining outing."
Incredible Hercules: The New Prince of
Power
Publishers Weekly.
257.47 (Nov. 29, 2010): p36.
COPYRIGHT 2010 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Incredible Hercules: The New Prince of Power
Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Reilly Brown, and Ariel Olivetti. Marvel, $19.99 trade paper
(160p) ISBN 978-0-7851-4370-3
There's a new heroic age, and its champion is 17-year-old Amadeus Cho, a wunderkind living in Arizona
who once had Hercules as a friend. This graphic novel goes full out in terms of superpowers and
superheroes, though its references to mythology play fast and loose. For instance, ambrosia is described as
something that's drunk, when it's a food in the source material. A brief "What Thou Needst Know" page at
the beginning consists of some character descriptions and a threeline poem about Hercules's death. More
references to past happenings are brought up as the story continues, sometimes with starred notes from the
editors. Early on, Amadeus is fighting a griffin in a mall, though why he's doing such a thing isn't quite
clear. After Hercules dies, Amadeus learns of a new way people can become gods. They must collect
ambrosia, the apples of Idunn, spells from the Book of Thoth, and the moon-cup of Dhanvantari. In the
wrong hands, this method could do much harm. The full-color pages have a slick look, with attractive
characters and well-paced action. For those with a background in mythology of the Marvel kind, this should
be an entertaining outing. (Dec.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Incredible Hercules: The New Prince of Power." Publishers Weekly, 29 Nov. 2010, p. 36. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A243875500/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bca43f17.
Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A243875500