Greg Pak: Astonishing X-Men

The best things I wrote in 2017

We’re coming to the end of 2017, and I’m ready to kvell a bit. Here’s a list of the work I’m the most proud of in 2017. Hope ya dig!

MECH CADET YU tells the story of a janitor’s kid who bonds with a giant robot and joins the elite Sky Corps Academy. Drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa with colors by Triona Farrell and letters by Simon Bowland, the book was originally approved as a four issue miniseries. But because folks like you went nuts for it, BOOM! Studios upgraded it to an ongoing series!

I’m not supposed to say which children are my favorite. But you guys, MECH CADET YU is my favorite. I absolutely love working on the book, I love all my creative collaborators, and I love our kid heroes and all their robots and all the monsters and mystery surrounding them. Ask your local comics shop to order the first trade paperback and issue #5 for you today — both hit stores on January 10!

The PLANET HULK PROSE NOVEL came out in October, and it’s my very first prose novel! I loved every minute of working on this book and I won’t lie — I think it’s pretty great.

If you loved the original PLANET HULK comics, the prose novel’s full of extra development and revelations and a bit of a shocker of an ending that you won’t want to miss. If you’ve never read a Hulk comic in your life, I humbly propose that this novel might be a great introduction to the massive emotion and glory of the character.

And holy cow, you can get it for JUST TWO DOLLARS right now for the Kindle!

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #15, drawn by the great Mahmud Asrar with colors by Nolan Woodard and a stunning cover by Stonehouse, may be one of my favorite single issue comics I’ve ever written. It starts the “Big Apple Showdown” storyline, which is most infamous for featuring what I’m pretty sure is the biggest team-up of Asian American superheroes ever seen in mainstream comics.

I adore my editors for letting me follow this crew of heroes around as they perform at an Asian American bone marrow registry awareness benefit, get Korean barbecue, fight over the check, and sing karaoke before defending New York from an alien invasion. I love it for the diversity within diversity, with Asian Americans of different backgrounds and generations discovering their conflicts and similarities. And I absolutely love Mahmud’s and Nolan’s gorgeous art, which brings out all the emotion, action, and sheer fun of the story.

And you can buy the collected digital volume (which also includes a two-issue story co-starring the great Jeremy Lin) for a scandalously discounted price of just $2.75 at Amazon/Comixology today!

Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men, live with Greg Pak at the Rose City Comic Con

The podcast of the superfun Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men panel I did at the Rose City Comic Con has gone live! Check it out here!

Had a blast on that panel. Realized I’ve written a heck of a lot of X-Books over the years — X-Men Phoenix Endsong, X-Men Phoenix Warsong, Magneto Testament, Astonishing X-Men, X-Treme X-Men, Storm… even Alpha Flight with Fred Van Lente, which is kind of X-Adjacent. And we talked about a ton of those books! Especially Magneto and X-Treme X-Men.

Jay and Miles are very, very funny and the audience was incredible. Enjoy!

(You can also subscribe to the X-Plain the X-Men podcast right here via iTunes.)

“Astonishing X-Men” #44 in stores now – check out the raves!

“Astonishing X-Men” #44, the first installment of a storyline written by yours truly with art by Mike McKone and colors by Rachelle Rosenberg, hit stores on Wednesday. Ask your local comic shop to hold a copy for you — or buy the digital version online now at Comixology!
And check out the reviews:

“…this is the perfect jumping on point. What Pak and McKone present here is a minimal-knowledge-required, action-packed issue that shows all the trademarks of Pak’s best work: high action without sacrificing good characterization.”
— Joey Esposito, IGN
“Pak gets in a fantastic one-two punch by reminding us of how great a character Storm can be before throwing a curve-ball that would make Lucy (the gold standard of football yankers) herself cry tears of prideful joy. Seeing as the man has a knack for turning out consistently entertaining comics that are willing to swing for the bleachers with every crazy idea that comes his way, I for one cannot wait to see what Pak has up his sleeve for this title.”
Dad’s Big Plan
“Astonishing X-Men #44 is the perfect jumping on point for new readers…”
— Peter Lin, Here Be Geeks
“I loved the Whedon/Cassaday run… and came back for Pak and McKone. I’m glad I did. As enjoyable as it is to see the X-Men carve out a sovreign nation, this is harkening back to the Claremont/Byrne era of straight up science fiction fun.”
Bureau42

And a few interviews, including sneak preview images from “Astonishing X-Men” #45:

“There’s a significant emotional story for every character in the book, so I’m doing my best to raise the stakes with every scene,” [Pak] says. “Sometimes the characters are deflecting with humor; other times the drama breaks through in much more searing ways. There’s a moment in issue #45 involving a Spider-Man lunchbox that sort of crept up on me. And there are some key interactions between Cyclops and the guy on the cover of issue #46 that felt pretty great.”
Marvel.com interview
“[X-Men editor Nick] Lowe promises “action, drama, romance, a ton of insanity and a conflict that will really make you think” in Pak’s run, and the writer is taking inspiration from his favorite X-Men writers — from Whedon to Chris Claremont to Grant Morrison— who all emphasized character and relationships.”
USA Today interview

A bit more about Greg Pak’s upcoming “Astonishing X-Men” run

Newsarama attended the X-Men panel at the New York Comicon and published a live report — now replayable here. Here’s an excerpt about Greg Pak’s “Astonishing X-Men” run, which begins in November with issue #44:

Pak on Astonishing X-Men: “What is up with that? Storm kissing Cyclops!”
“I love the X-Men,” Pak continued, saying they’re characters that bring a “tear to his eye.”
“This is a book where you are going to see some major emotional repercussions coming off of Schism, Cyclops and Storm in particular,” Pak said, adding that some characters who might not meet up in any other books will be interacting in interesting ways in Astonishing.

2011.10.14 – 10.16 – UPDATED! Greg Pak at the New York Comicon

“Astonishing X-Men” and “Dead Man’s Run” writer Greg Pak will attend the New York Comicon from Friday to Sunday, October 14-16. When he’s not at panels or signings, he’ll be at table N3 in Artists Alley, where he’ll give out free copies of “Vision Machine.” The rest of his schedule:
Friday, October 14
1:30 – 2:30 pm – The Comics HIstory of the World Panel, 1A02. Pak will discuss his historically-based Marvel books, “Magneto Testament” and “Red Skull Incarnate.”
3:00 – 4:00 pm – Signing at the Comics News Insider booth
Saturday, October 15
10:45- 11:45 am – Aspen Comics Panel. Pak will discuss his new Aspen book, “Dead Man’s Run.” The #0 issue will be on sale at the Aspen booth — check out the Tony Parker cover on the right!
3:30 – 4:30 pm – Signing with Fred Van Lente at the Hero Initiative Booth, #1059
5:00 – 6:00 pm – Signing at the Marvel Booth
11:59 pm – Upright Citizens Brigade “Matt and Brett Love Comics” show!
Sunday, October 16
1:30 – 3:00 pm – Signing at the Aspen Booth
3:30 – 4:30 pm – Marvel: X-Men Regenesis Panel. Pak will discuss “Astonishing X-Men.” His run with artist Mike McKone begins in November with issue #44.