Greg Pak: Mech Cadet Yu

In the MECH CADET YU comic book series, a janitor’s kid bonds with a giant robot and joins the elite Sky Corps Academy — who face an invasion of monsters from outer space! The series was written by Greg Pak with art by Takeshi Miyazawa, colors by Triona Farrell and Jessica Kholinne, letters by Simon Bowland, and published by BOOM! Studios.

The series won the 2018 Mike Wieringo Spirit Award and is coming to Netflix as an animated television show in 2023!

Buy the signed LOS ROBOS comic that started the whole thing from the Greg Pak Shop.

2023-09-13 – DARTH VADER #38 and MECH CADETS #2 hit comic shops!

DARTH VADER #38 cover by Leinil Yu and Sunny Gho. Showing Vader being attacked by a small disk droid that's causing purple sparks. In the background are a bunch of infected droids attacking Stormtroopers.

I’ve got two books coming out on Wednesday, September 13! Dontcha dare miss DARTH VADER #38 and MECH CADETS #2, both written by Greg Pak (hey, that’s me!).

DARTH VADER #38 was drawn by Raffaele Ienco with colors by Federico Blee and letters by Joe Caramagna. Check out the lettered preview here!

MECH CADETS #2 was drawn by Tak Miyazawa with colors by Ian Herring and letters by Simon Bowland. Check out the preview pages here!

Please do feel free to ask your local comic shop to hold copies of both books for you!

MECH CADETS #2 cover by Takeshi Miyazawa with colors by Ian Herring. Showing Olivia in her mini robo suit fleeing a giant Sharg while carrying Franklin and the little alien.

MECH CADETS hits the Top Ten list on Netflix!

Netflix graphic showing a big number 5 alongside a promo image from the MECH CADETS animated show showing Stanford touching the face of his robo. Netflix graphic showing a big number 5 alongside a promo image from the MECH CADETS animated show showing Stanford touching the face of his robo.

A little over a week ago, MECH CADETS debuted on Netflix and promptly hit the Top Ten list of the service’s most viewed television shows in the US. I’m blown away and grateful and have a lot of people to thank!

MECH CADETS is a Netflix animated television series based on the MECH CADET YU comics, written by yours truly with line art by Takeshi Miyazawa.

Huge love to the MECH CADET YU comics team, including Tak Miyazawa, Triona Farrell, Jessica Kholinne, Raúl Angulo, Simon Bowland, Cameron Chittock, Eric Harburn, Filip Sablik, and Matt Gagnon. And huge love to the new MECH CADETS sequel comics team, including Tak, Simon, Eric, Ian Herring, and Shantel LaRoque.

And huge congrats to Jane Lee and company at Netflix; Jack Liang, Patrick Awa and company at Polygon; Stephen Christy, Mette Nørkjær and company at BOOM; and the incredible MECH CADETS writers room of Aaron Lam, Ashley Eakin, David Shayne, and Mercedes Valle.

Massive high five to all of the voice actors who worked on the show, including Daniel Dae Kim, Ming-Na Wen, Brandon Soo Hoo, Victoria Grace, Josh Sundquist, Anairis Quinones, Debra Wilson, and so many more. And enormous thanks to all of the animators, designers, musicians, and other creative folks who worked on the show so hard for all these years.

Many thanks to so many people at BOOM! publishing, past and present, who worked so incredibly hard to promote MECH CADET YU and now its sequel book MECH CADETS every step of the way, including Stephen Christy, Arune Singh, Steph Hocutt, Morgan Perry, Mel Caylo, Ross Richie, Ryan Matsunaga, Harley Salbacka, Josh Hayes, Anthony Mauro, and so many others!

And a giant thank you to Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow, and Jerry Ma, the editors of the SHATTERED Asian American comics anthology, where the original LOS ROBOS story that eventually became MECH CADET YU first appeared.

Finally, I’m hugely grateful to every reader, reviewer, and retailer who ever said kind things about the books, and to everyone who’s tuned in to make the television show a hit. Please do keep spreading the word, watching the show, and reading the new comic book series!

You are all my favorite.

2023.08.09 – MECH CADETS #1 hits comic book shops – check out the preview and first review!

MECH CADETS #1 cover by Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring. Featuring the heroes of the MECH CADET YU series posed before the Hero Force 2 robo against a starry sky.

I’m thrilled to report that MECH CADETS #1 hits comic book shops this Wednesday, August 9! The series is the sequel to the original MECH CADET YU series and is drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa with colors by Ian Herring, letters by Simon Bowland, and script by yours truly.

Check out this excerpt from the first advance review from Comic Book Revolution:

Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa once again team-up to deliver a can’t miss comic book in Mech Cadets #1. The characters continue to progress as they deal with what it means to be heroes in a world where they have rules they’re told to follow. The depth in the story along with a strong artistic presentation taps into everything that makes Gundam and other mech genre franchises great.

And check out a lettered preview at Graphic Policy!

Panel from MECH CADETS #1 showing Oliva Park on the verge of tears. The word balloon says ">sniff<."

I’m hugely proud of this book and I love that we’ve shifted our emphasis to focus on Olivia Park, the antagonist of the last series, as she grapples with her relationship with her father and her new status quo as the most powerful person on the planet. Big action, big heart. Please do feel free to ask your local comics shop to hold a copy for you today!

2023-06-23 – 06-25 – Greg Pak at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago!

Big news – I’m attending the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago as a guest of BOOM Studios! to promote MECH CADETS this weekend, and I’m also doing a DC Comics signing for CITY BOY! Come see, come see! Here’s my schedule:

Friday, June 23

6:00-6:30 pm – signing – BOOM Studios Booth 3626

Saturday, June 24

1:00-1:30 pm – signing – BOOM Studios Booth 3626

2:00-4:00 pm – GNCRT’S 2023 Magical Comics Tea – Hyatt Regency McCormick, Grant Park AB

4:30-5:00 pm – signing – BOOM Studios Booth 3626

Sunday, June 25

11:00-11:30 am – signing – BOOM Studios Booth 3626

12:00-12:50 pm – Ram V./Greg Pak – The Vigil and City Boy signing – DC Comics Booth 3520

2:30-3:30 pm – Worldbuilding panel – Chapter One Stage

New MECH CADETS comic book series coming this August!

MECH CADETS #1 cover by Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring. Featuring the heroes of the MECH CADET YU series posed before the Hero Force 2 robo against a starry sky.

Big comics news, friends! I’m thrilled to report that we’re launching a new MECH CADETS comic book series, a sequel to MECH CADET YU! MECH CADETS #1 hits comic shops on August 9, the day before the MECH CADETS animated show debuts on Netflix!

MECH CADET YU is one of my favorite of all the comics I’ve ever worked on, and I’m thrilled to be coming back for new stories about these characters with artist and co-creator Tak Miyazawa, colorist Ian Herring, and letterer Simon Bowland.

For more info about the series and a preview of the first four pages of the first issue, check out the ScreenRant article. Here’s my quote from the article:

Tak’s bringing all his magic to every page and every panel, with that special combination of incredible genre thrills, amazing humor, and fantastic emotional subtlety. And all of our characters are a bit older and the world has gotten a bit more complex, with some shocking twists and challenges. I’m biased, of course, but it feels vital and real and just as fun as ever, and I can’t wait for y’all to see it!

Please do ask your local comics shop to pre-order MECH CADETS #1 for you! And check out the glorious Sonny Liew variant cover for issue #1, featuring Olivia Park and her father, General Park, whose contentious relationship will play a huge role in the series!

Sonny Liew variant cover for MECH CADETS #1 featuring Olivia Park and her father, General Park, with Olivia's Hero Force 2 robo in the middle!

2023-05-17 – MECH CADETS BOOK ONE in comic shops!

Mech Cadets Book One cover featuring line art by Takeshi Miyazawa

MECH CADETS BOOK ONE, a collection of MECH CADET YU issues #1 to #12, hits comic book shops on May 17! The MECH CADET YU series has been made into an animated television series that will debut on Netflix on August 10 – see what the fuss is all about by reading the comics now!

MECH CADETS BOOK ONE was written by Greg Pak with line art by Takeshi Miyazawa, colors by Triona Farrell, Jessica Kholinne, and Raul Angulo, and letters by Simon Bowland.

Here’s the official solicit:

Every four years, giant sentient robots from outer space come to Earth and bond forever with a brand new crop of Sky Corps Academy cadets.

But this time, instead of a cadet, one mech bonds with Stanford Yu, a young kid working with his mom as a janitor at Sky Corps.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime for Stanford, but first he’ll have to earn the trust of his classmates and survive an uncompromising enemy…the Sharg!

Bestselling author Greg Pak (Ronin Island, Planet Hulk) and fan-favorite artist Takeshi Miyazawa (Runaways, Ms. Marvel) bring to life this underdog story as Stanford and the newest team of Cadets and Robos face relentless training, an alien invasion, and the threat of losing themselves and human existence.

They’ll realize the true sacrifice that comes with duty and service and what makes a hero in this full collection of Mech Cadets perfect as a jumping on point ahead of the animated series on Netflix!

Ask your local comic shop to hold a copy for you today!

Netflix announces cast and release date for MECH CADETS animated show

Pretty thrilled to report that Netflix has announced the cast and release date for the MECH CADETS animated show, based on the MECH CADET YU comic books written by yours truly with art by Takeshi Miyazawa!

The show will premiere on Netflix on August 10, and the cast will include Daniel Dae Kim, Ming-Na Wen, Brandon Soo Hoo, Debra Wilson, and Victoria Grace.  More details here!

2023-05-06 – Greg Pak at Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison, NY for Free Comic Book Day!

Cover art of the MECH CADETS and DC WE ARE LEGENDS comics available on Free Comic Book Day during the Greg Pak signing at Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison, NY.

Saturday, May 6, is Free Comic Book Day, and I’ll signing books from 12-3 pm at Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison, NY!

Come see, come see, and nab your free copy of the MECH CADETS book that includes the first issue of the MECH CADET YU series that the upcoming Netflix animated show is based on!

And also grab DC’s WE ARE LEGENDS sampler, that includes an introduction to the City Boy character who’ll debut in his own series later this month!

UPDATE: Also signing at the event: Franco, Jason May, Chris Gugliotti, Adam Wallenta, and Paul Kupperberg!