By Greg Pak
Over the next few months, I’m reworking the format of my “Pak Talks Comics” column for BrokenFrontier.com. The new and improved column should appear towards the end of the summer. But in the meantime, I’ll continue the Reader Q&A portion of the column right here at PakBuzz.com, so keep those questions coming and read on for answers to the latest batch!
WARNING: Some spoilers ahead for a few recent issues of “Incredible Hercules,” “Skaar,” and “Magneto Testament.”
Hrungr: With the Olympians now on Earth along with the Asgardians, does anyone remember that the Celestials had ordered them to stop interfering with humanity? Or is it a case where humanity has grown to the point that the gods are simply another group of superpowered beings?
GP: Thanks for the question, Hrungr. As you’ll see, Bill has a similar question about the nature of the gods below – I’ll answer them together in a second. Also, since we’re on the subject, “Incredible Hercules” #129 hits comic book stores today — feel free to check out the preview!
Bill Frank: I just want to start out by saying that I am really enjoying your and Van Lente’s run on “Incredible Hercules.” You both seem to have caught the real feel for a mythological character that some writers miss. With that in mind, I was wondering a few things about your run that can be roughly divided into three sets of questions, if you don’t mind:
In universes like Marvel’s there are a myriad of super powerful beings with powers and abilities rivaling if not surpassing gods. Some beings like Eternals have been mistaken for gods in the past and have almost identical power-sets except they are science based instead of magic based. When writing a series like “Incredible Hercules,” what separates gods from other super powered beings? What distinguishes Hercules, an immortal super-strong man from other immortal super-strong men like Gilgamesh or Wonder Man or makes him different from being just some ancient superhero?
GP: I’m not saying this is the case, but it’s within the realm of possibility that all of the powers of Herc and his relatives could be explained via Marvel science; maybe they’re not gods, just immortal superhumans. But for millennia, Herc has been told he’s literally a god and has been worshipped as a god. So a huge part of his story is this struggle with questions of a god’s prerogatives and responsibilities. Characters like Wonder Man and the Hulk and Wolverine, who might be functionally immortal, haven’t had that millennia-long struggle with the question of godhood that Herc has, nor do they come from a family and culture of fellow gods struggling with the same issues. Those are major differences that create different animating themes for these characters.
Greg Pak: Citizen
A comic book story written by Greg Pak with art by Bernard Chang. Appearing in the Secret Identities: The Asian American superhero Anthology book published on April 15, 2009.
Sequential Tart covers Greg Pak and “Secret Identities” at the NYCC
Sequential Tart has posted an extremely thorough pair of articles by Margaret O’Connell covering the “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology” panels at the New York Comic-Con, which included Greg Pak, writer of “The Citizen.”
Just an excerpt:
During the related panel on “The Multicultural Mask” the next day, [Greg] Pak expanded on the theme of comics’ relative openness to prominent roles for nonwhite characters, pointing out that Marvel has a relatively long heritage of introducing ethnically diverse characters. Even if their initial portrayals now seem dated, as with the blaxploitation-tinged “Sweet Christmas!” 1970’s depiction of original “Hero for Hire” Power Man/Luke Cage, these characters are still established parts of the Marvel Universe who are already there available for use. Pak cited African-American longtime Iron Man supporting character James Rhodes/War Machine, who has recently headlined his own title, as a prime example of this phenomenon.
Click here to read Part 1
Click here to read Part 2
Click here to buy “Secret Identities” for 32 percent off at Amazon.com.
AICN loves “Secret Identities” — and “The Citizen”
Ain’t It Cool News has posted a rave review of “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology,” with special praise for “The Citizen,” written by Greg Pak with art by Bernard Chang. Here’s an excerpt:
Greg Pak and Bernard Chang’s The Citizen should be immediately put out as a miniseries to satisfy my deep cravings.
Click here to read the whole thing.
Click here to buy the book at Amazon.com.
CBR interviews Pak and Chow about “Secret Identities” and “The Citizen”
“Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology” hits stores today — and Comic Book Resources has interviewed co-editor Keith Chow and “The Citizen” writer Greg Pak about the book. Here’s Pak discussing “The Citizen,” his contribution to the anthology:
On the surface, it’s just a crazy buddy story with the president and a super soldier fighting Nazi gremlins. How much bigger and goofy comic book can you get? But on a deeper level, without even talking about it, it creates an image of an Asian American who is a symbol for America. That’s useful symbolically just because there has been a trend forever for Asians to be associated with aliens. Asians and Asian Americans have long been treated as foreigners.
Click here to read the whole interview.
Click here to watch the trailer.
Click here to buy the book online at a 32 percent discount!
First review for “Secret Identities” — with props for “The Citizen”
Von’s Comics has posted an advance review of “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology.” Here’s an excerpt:
The anthology is worth the cover price simply for one of the least publicized appearances by Barack Obama in recent publication, and certainly the most hilarious.
That would be the President in “The Citizen,” written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Bernard Chang. Check out the trailer below for more Presidential action, and click here to buy the book for 32 percent off at Amazon.com.
Newsarama interviews Pak about “The Citizen”
Matt Brady at Newsarama has interviewed writer Greg Pak about “The Citizen,” Pak’s contribution to “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology.” Here’s an excerpt:
NRAMA: Speaking about the tone of the story – it seems like it could be straight-ahead super-hero adventure, but is there a hint of anything else in there?
GP: With a patriotic superhero and the President of the United States as your central characters, you’re in for a tasty, heaping portion of political subtext, supertext, and satire. On one level, the story gives us a chance to explore and challenge very different interpretations of what it means to be a patriot and a citizen. But we’re also having a lot of goofball fun with giant airships and Nazi gremlins and whatnot.
“The Citizen” was written by Pak with art by Bernard Chang. The full six page story will appear in “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology,” which hits stores on April 15.
Click here to read the whole interview.
Click here to watch the “Citizen” trailer.
Click here to buy “Secret Identities” from Amazon.com.
Greg Pak’s “The Citizen” trailer debuts!
“The Citizen,” written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Bernard Chang, tells the story of Franklin D. Murakawa, a soldier turned superhero incarcerated six years ago for trying to arrest the President of the United States for war crimes. But now there’s a new President in town — and he needs the kind of help only the Citizen can provide.
“The Citizen” appears in “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology,” which hits stores on April 15. You can pre-order “Secret Identities” now through Amazon.com.
The trailer above was edited by Greg Pak, scored by David Libby, and voiced by Kim Ima and Victor Varnado.
2009.04.15 – “The Citizen” in “Secret Identities”
“The Citizen,” a comic book story written by Greg Pak with art by Bernard Chang, will appear in “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology,” which hits bookstores everywhere on April 15.
For more about the anthology, visit SecretIdentities.org.
Click here to buy the book at Amazon.com.
And for more about “The Citizen,” visit www.pakbuzz.com/citizen.
