Fun news — WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS #2 has sold out at the distributor level and is getting a second printing with a new cover of gorgeous interior art from Gang Hyuk Lim and Federico Blee! Please do ask your local retailer to order a copy for you today! (H/T Sanctum Santorum Comics for the tip and the image!)
In previous news, WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 also sold out and is getting a gorgeous second printing cover by Jeehyung Lee featuring Luna Snow. That second printing hits comic shops on June 12.
Because of your tremendous support the new Agents of Atlas team featured in WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS is getting its own series starting this August! AGENTS OF ATLAS, written by yours truly with interior art by Nico Leon and a cover by Jung-Geun Yoon, will follow Amadeus Cho, Jimmy Woo, Silk, Wave, and the other heroes of the WOTR: NAOA miniseries as they grapple with the creation of Pan, a cross-Asian portal city made up of slices of neighborhoods of Asian neighborhoods from across the globe!
You can read all about it in this AP article. Here’s an excerpt:
The man leading the heroic charge is veteran comic book writer Greg Pak. Pak is credited with ushering in a new era of Asian characters in co-creating Amadeus Cho, a Korean-American genius teen. The character first appeared in 2005. A decade later, he absorbed the Hulk’s powers and started going by Brawn.
“It’s always been my dream to do a team book using a bunch of Asian and Asian American heroes,” said Pak, who thinks there’s more appetite for representation with the success of the movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” ″There’s literally never been a better time in my memory with more opportunities for doing work that specifically includes Asian and Asian American characters.”
AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 will also include a backup story by Jeff Parker and Carlo Pagulayan that will reveal what’s going on with Jimmy Woo’s original Agents of Atlas team.
The response to this announcement has been overwhelming and I’m so grateful to everyone who’s made this possible! Please do contact your local comic book shop and ask them to pre-order every issue in the series for you today! The more pre-orders the book gets, the better the chances that we’ll be able to keep the series going for a long time.
Two big comics in stores today! Ask your local shop to hold copies for you today!
WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS #2, written by yours truly with art by Gang Hyuk Lim, colors by Federico Blee, letters by Clayton Cowles, cover by Woo Dae Shim.
STAR WARS AGE OF REBELLION: JABBA #1, written by yours truly with art by Marco Turini, Roland Boschi, Emilio Laiso; colors by Andres Mossa, Rachelle Rosenberg, Neeraj Menon; letters by Travis Lanham; and a main cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson.
Fun stuff — tonight I’m doing a live podcast show with the Radical Geeks at Anyone’s Comics in Brooklyn! The event’s from 6 to 9 pm at 1216 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY.
I’ll also be bringing free comics for everyone who comes to the event.
Thrilled to report that THREE of my books are in comic shops today! Ask your local retailer to hold ’em for ya!
STAR WARS AGE OF REBELLION: LANDO CALRISSIAN #1 is a one-shot written by yours truly with art by Matteo Buffagni, colors by Tamra Bonvillain, letters by Travis J. Lanham, and a cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson. This is my first time writing Lando and I loved the experience. Check out the preview here!
JAMES BOND 007 #7 was drawn by Eric Gapstur, colored by Rosh, and lettered by Ariana Maher. It’s already gotten a 10/10 review from AiPT.com — check it out!
FIREFLY #6 continues the Boss Moon saga with art by Dan McDaid, colors by Marcelo Costa, letters by Jim Campbell, and a main cover by Lee Garbett. Check out the preview here!
This Wednesday, WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 finally hit comic book shops, and the response has been absolutely mind-blowing. Thank you so much to everyone who’s bought, reviewed, or spread the word about the book. It means so much.
WOTR: NAOA #1 was written by yours truly, drawn by Gang Hyuk Lim, colored by Federico Blee, lettered by Clayton Cowles, and edited Mark Paniccia and Tom Groneman, with a main cover by Billy Tan. The book tells the story of a pan-Asian group of superheroes who come together to fight Sindr, Queen of Cinders, as she tries to turn the Pacific region into a fiery new Muspelheim. The book features the debut of the Filipina superheroine Wave, co-created by artist Leinil Yu and me, as well as the comics debuts of Luna Snow, Crescent, and Io from the Marvel Future Fight video game and the US comics debut of Aero from the NetEase Chinese Marvel webcomics.
I’m hard pressed to remember seeing so many selfies on social media of folks holding a book I wrote. Multiple people wrote about crying at work when they saw Wave for the first time. The signing for the Wave variant cover drawn by Mico Suayon at the Comic Odyssey comic shop in Manila drew hundreds and earned a big write-up in the local news. And folks all around the US have been telling me the book is sold out in the local shops — even though Marvel overshipped the book as a special promotion to comic shops.
Aaaand here are a few excerpts from the rave reviews:
“…Pak maneuvers the large cast of characters into the conflict against the main villain (while also citing some history for longer term readers). The dialog is snappy, clever and has more than enough familiar moments of “oh, yeah. I definitely had that conversation before.” …. Lim’s artwork is a brilliant complement to the text. Their depiction of the New Agents of Atlas is dynamic and engaging, and the primary set pieces are jaw-droppingly gorgeous staging for the inciting incidents. It’s a wonderful pairing that works on multiple levels.” — Black Nerd Problems
“Pak and Lim raise the bar by providing enough culturally rich moments that readers of any race can enjoy while more than delivering on the superhero action. Giving the often ignored continent a new team to defend it, Pak and Lim have set the stage for a rollicking, action-packed story that makes Asian representation in the Marvel Universe get its overdue expansion.” – CBR
“Having read a bunch of War of the Realms tie-ins, I gotta say this might be my favorite. The action is great, the art (by Gang Hyuk Lim, Federico Blee, and Clayton Cowles) is beautiful, and there’s some really fantastic character work that helps you identify with the characters, even if you (like myself) don’t share their common Asian heritage.” – Rogues Portal
Again, thank you so much. A book like this is only possible because of the support you’ve already given for years for characters like Amadeus Cho. And to see this massive surge of new and old readers alike? Absolutely incredible. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
(And please do feel free to ask your local comic shop to order the rest of the four issue series for you! And pre-order the AERO and SWORD MASTER books that start in July and feature characters from the series!)
Hey, I launched a Patreon last week! Please do check it out — it’s gonna be awesome!
If you’re interested in learning more about the practical craft of comic book writing, my Patreon is the place for you. I’ve written a number of articles and big Twitter threads about comic book writing and co-written a book called MAKE COMICS LIKE THE PROS with my frequent collaborator Fred Van Lente. But now I’m writing a whole book about the very specific things I do as a comic book writer to get the job done — and as a backer of the Patreon, you’ll see this book develop in real time, as I write it, in a series of incredibly practical posts and articles.
It’s gonna be great! Hope you come along for the ride! Thanks for your consideration and all the best!
A WAR OF THE REALMS TIE-IN! As Sindr, Immortal Queen of Muspelheim, and her legions of Fire Demons march on Asia, it’s time for a new band of heroes to unite to protect the Pacific Rim. Having brought together a ragtag team of heroes to defend the Earth from an alien invasion in the past, can Amadeus Cho reassemble his “protectors” — Shang-Chi, Silk and Jimmy Woo to save the world from incineration? And where is Kamala Khan? And just who are Crescent, Io and Luna Snow??? Featuring Marvel’s newest heroes from China, AERO and SWORD MASTER, and a mysterious new Filipino heroine named WAVE!
Written by Greg Pak, art by Gang Hyuk Lim, colors by Federico Blee, letters by Clayton Cowles, cover by Billy Tan.
THE HUNTER’S HEART! As the implacable bounty hunter who tracked down HAN SOLO, BOBA FETT earned his reputation as one of the greatest villains in the galaxy. But what happens when Boba Fett picks up the trail of an actual villain? Find out what kind of heart — if any — beats under that MANDALORIAN armor!
Written by Greg Pak, art by Marc Laming, colors by Neeraj Menon, letters by Travis Lanham, cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson.
Though the Island’s shelter provides protection, Hana can no longer watch the slaughter on the mainland and leaves her home with General Sato to save the Shogunates’s civilians. Kenichi reluctantly joins her, with his own motivations for the island’s protection in mind.
Written by Greg Pak, art by Giannis Milonogiannis, colors by Irma Kniivila, letters by Simon Bowland.
For the first time in my fifteen year comics career, I’ve contributed to a book that’ll be given away for free on Free Comic Book Day! No, wait, I’ve contributed to TWO books that’ll be given way for free on Free Comic Book Day!
BOOM! Studios’ WELCOME TO THE WHEDONVERSE book will include a FIREFLY story written by yours truly with gorgeous art by Ethan Young that tells an untold story about Boss Moon, the breakout antagonist of the ongoing series.
And Marvel’s MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU preview book includes some pages from the STAR WARS AGE OF REBELLION: BOBA FETT story written by yours truly with art by Marc Laming and colors by Neeraj Menon.
And if you’re in the New York area, you can get them both signed by me at Fourth World Comics, 33 RT-111, Smithtown, New York 11787, from 1-4 pm, Saturday, May 4!
A couple of weekends ago at Star Wars Celebration, Marvel announced that I’ll be the new writer for the ongoing STAR WARS comic book starting with issue #68 in July and illustrated by the great Phil Noto — check out the cover above!
In the meantime, you can continue reading my STAR WARS one-shot stories as part of the STAR WARS AGE OF REBELLION miniseries. So far, the Leia, Tarkin, and Han books are out in the wild. Next Wednesday, you’ll be able to pick up STAR WARS AGE OF REBELLION: BOBA FETT #1, with gorgeous art from Marc Laming and colors by Neeraj Menon.
Aaaand now you can read an interview at Marvel.com by Jim Beard in which I talk about all these books and more! Please do check it out! Here’s an excerpt:
Marvel.com: Greg, basic question, but an oh-so important one: What’s your favorite of the ten Star Wars feature films and why?
Greg Pak: I was eight when A New Hope came out—although we just called it Star Wars back then—and eleven when The Empire Strikes Back hit. So as much as I love the new movies, and I love, love, love ’em, that first trilogy will probably always be my sentimental fave.
The Empire Strikes Back is probably at the top of my list, in part because of how mind blowing it was to see after waiting three years as a kid for the next chapter, and how shocked we were by the big choices and character moments throughout. It’s such a classic now that it’s a little hard to express how hugely risk-taking it felt at the time and how much it opened up and made possible that Star Wars mythology we almost take for granted now. And I just love so many of the acting beats in that second movie. All of Mark Hamill’s moments with Yoda in those early scenes on Dagobah are just phenomenally good—so real and so endearing and so critical for making the fantastical scenario work on a human level.
