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Radiation Interrogation: Greg Pak
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Location: Blogs Atomic Fallout |
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| Posted by: Atomic Online |
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 7:48 PM |
Atomic Comics - Some would say (including me) that your run on World War Hulk was some of the best Hulk ever! Your return to the Hulk in this month’s Incredible Hulk 601 is truly exciting. What can we expect going into this new arc?
 Greg Pak - Bruce Banner’s back, baby. As we learned in Jeph Loeb’s awesome “Incredible Hulk” #600, the Red Hulk stripped Banner of the ability to transform into the Hulk. But rather than retire to a quiet life of testing new gamma bombs (or whatever brilliant de-Hulkified nuclear physicists do with their time), Banner’s found a brand new mission involving his savage barbarian son Skaar that throws him into the kind of action that the Hulk himself would be hard pressed to survive. It all starts with “Incredible Hulk” #601, which hits stores this Wednesday. Dontcha dare miss it!
AC - What are your plans, if any, for the Red Hulk during your upcoming run?
GP - For our first few issues, we’re focusing on Banner and Son. But Red Hulk is a looming presence and will play a huge role as we move into “World War Hulks” at the end of the year. Jeph and I have been in our secret lair planning the most epic of showdowns for a couple of years now, and it’s gonna be insane.
AC - PS: can you tell us who the Red Hulk is?
GP - Papa Smurf. We finally nailed down the licensing deals and it’s official. And you know what? It’s Papa Smurf AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE!
AC - When we last saw Bruce he was “Hulk no more”. Now he has to come face to face with his son. But is it really Banner’s son or is it Hulk’s son?
GP - That’s an excellent question, sir, and it goes right to the heart of the story we’re telling. Skaar and Banner may have very different answers to that question, which could lead to some interesting conflicts.
AC - How is Skaar showing up on Earth and hanging around with Bruce going to be treated by the other Marvel heroes?
GP - Bruce Banner is going to pick a lot of fights during the course of this storyline. The heroes may have a tough time deciding whether the real threat here is Skaar or Banner himself.
AC - You guys have Ariel Olivetti working on the book. How awesome a decision is that? The pages that we have seen have looked awesome!
GP - I’ve had my eye on Ariel for a couple of years now and could not be more thrilled with the work he’s doing on the book. The most cursory glance at his recent output will tell you he was born to draw massive gamma powered heroes. But what’s really exciting is how well he gets the puny human component of the book. His Banner is fantastic and funny and he’s nailing every little character nuance.
AC - Another amazing book you worked on was Magneto: Testament. This covered the early years of Magneto’s life. Was it difficult at any point learning and researching the subject matter involved in putting this story together?
GP - “Magneto Testament” was the hardest creative project I’ve ever undertaken. Over a three year period, I went through a six foot bookshelf of Holocaust-related histories, memoirs, comics, and film, which was a lot to deal with on many levels. But from the beginning, editor Warren Simons and I felt an enormous responsibility to be as historically accurate as possible and to really do the material justice. The entire creative team went above and beyond on the book -- I’m enormously grateful to artist Carmine DiGiandomenico and colorist Matt Hollingsworth in particular for the incredible sensitivity they brought to the story and all the last minute tweaks and adjustments they made along the way for the sake of historical accuracy.
AC - Dealing with the Holocaust without sensationalizing it in a comic is a difficult task. But you were able to tell this story without a problem. What was your motivation behind this project?
GP - This was a project Warren had wanted to do for years. And from the minute he described it to me I knew I was going to take the job. It honestly scared me at first -- but I knew I’d never forgive myself if I passed on the chance to tackle a project like this. And Warren was the best creative partner I could imagine for this story. We talked through every page of every issue to get the tone and nuances just right.
AC - We went to check out gregpak.com but the page told us to go to pakbuzz.com … when we went there it was a Pakistani Opium Pipe site … what’s up with that???
GP - Aw, man. Hacked again. Pakbuzz is actually my organic beekeeping outfit. ‘Cause kids love honey, baby! Check it out!
AC - So your Asian Pride Porn video is simply awesome! You need to fix the URL on your site – broken link :)
GP - Man, you guys are rocking beta testers. Too bad my site’s... in alpha. Sheesh.
But yeah, “Asian Pride Porn” was a crazy li’l digital comedy I directed ten years ago when I was young and fearless (foolish?). As a filmmaker, I’d like to think I’m best known for my feature “Robot Stories,” but my two porn spoofs, “Asian Pride Porn” and “All Amateur Ecstasy,” have almost probably been seen by about a million more people.
Speaking of film, I’m back in the saddle again -- just shot a brand new short called “Mister Green.” It’s a science fiction story set in the near future that’s kind of a parable for change in an era of global transformation. I’ll say no more, but keep an eye at PakBuzz.com for much more news in the coming weeks.
AC - If you could write a “Hulk fights ???” story with any characters from any company other than Marvel, who would it be?
GP - Hulk versus Wonder Woman. A fan once asked me and Gail Simone which of those two would win in a fight, and I immediately said “Wonder Woman, of course.” Call me crazy, but there’s a great story in there that would be a blast to write someday. |
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