“Batman/Superman” #3, written by yours truly with art by Jae Lee and Yildiray Cinar, hits stores today! And if you remember a certain classic story involving these characters, you definitely want to grab this issue. Huge tip of the hat to the great Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.
Check out the lettered preview at IGN.
Ask your local shop to hold a copy for you.
Or buy it digitally at Comixology!
Chris Arrant at Newsarama interviewed me about the “Eternal Warrior” book that launches on September 11, written by yours truly and drawn by Trevor Hairsine. Here’s an excerpt:
Newsarama: Greg, you’re no stranger with writing superheroes, swordsmen and immortals. So when you were approached to write Eternal Warrior for Valiant, what was the challenge and the intrigue that led you to sign on the dotted line?
Greg Pak: I love these kinds of characters. There was something familiar here about Gilad, and I was hungry to jump on. I felt like I could do a good job on this kind of character, who’s both a warrior and an immortal. Those are things I’ve enjoyed exploring in the past as you’ve mentioned.
What’s specifically intriguing about Gilad is two things. One, he is just a normal dude. Yes, he is one of the greatest soldiers and hand-to-hand combatants ever born, but he has the soul of a mortal – he wasn’t born as an immortal. So for him witnessing the rise and fall of civilizations and seeing everyone he loves turn to dust, it’s not something he can just shrug off and get over. Humans like you and me – and Gilad – weren’t built to go on forever. We’ve essentially evolved to die; evolved to have short lifespans. Our minds and our bodies aren’t built to go on forever and to watch everyone you know fade away. So despite his moniker of the Eternal Warrior, he’s got the soul of a mortal and his predicament troubles him… and that’s an intriguing thing to tackle.
The other part that interests me about him is that he’s a warrior; that’s what he does best. And he serves the Earth, a mysterious entity that’s been giving him his missions for millennia. This idea of an immortal warrior is an intriguing thing; someone who has basically seen all of recorded history, but through a very specific filter: war. That seemed like a worthwhile thing to explore. There’s a lot of story there
Click here to read the whole thing!
And ask your local shop to order a copy for you today!
“Magneto Testament,” a miniseries telling the story of Max Eisenhardt, a German Jewish boy struggling to save his family from the rise of the Nazis and the Final Solution, has been named one of the Greatest X-Family Stories of all time by readers of Comic Book Resources.
“Magneto Testament” was written by yours truly with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, and letters by Dave and Natalie Lanphear, covers by Marko Djurdjevic, assistant edited by Alejandro Arbona, and edited by the great Warren Simons. Working on the book was one of the most intense experiences of my career and I’m hugely grateful to Warren for giving me the opportunity. Many thanks to CBR and all the readers who mentioned it.
I’m so ridiculously pleased with the work artist Takeshi Miyazawa and colorist Jessica Kholinne are doing on “Code Monkey Save World.” The final colors for all of issue #1 came in today, and since I can’t contain myself, I’m sharing page 11 with you. Enjoy!
Hey, friends. I’m about to send Monkeybrain the cover to the first issue of “Code Monkey Save World.” See above for what it looks like at the moment.
It’s gorgeously illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa and colored by Jessica Kholinne. But I figured I’d use the internet hive mind to make sure I’m not missing something here with the logos and trade dress — please let me know if it looks all right to you!
UPDATE: Okay, based on some feedback on the Twitter, I tried alleviating some of the heavy action on the left column by moving the Monkeybrain logo to the bottom right. What say youse?
Valiant Comics has released another lettered preview of “Eternal Warrior” #1, written by yours truly with art by Trevor Hairsine, colors by Brian Reber, and letters by Simon Bowland. Pretty proud of the way this book’s coming together — please do feel free to contact your local comics shop and ask them to order you a copy! The book goes on sale September 11.
I love love love these “Code Monkey Save World” panels from artist Takeshi Miyazawa and colorist Jessica Kholinne. First issue coming soon, y’all!
UPDATE: Mike Mantlo, Bill’s brother, sent along his thanks and this beautiful photo of Bill and Mike’s wife Liz. Your donations absolutely help improve Bill’s quality of life — please read on and keep ’em coming!
Bill Mantlo and his sister-in-law Liz, August 10, 2013. Courtesy of Bill’s brother Mike Mantlo.
If you love Rocket Raccoon — or Rom or the Hulk or the Micronauts or Cloak and Dagger or any of the incredible characters Bill Mantlo wrote during his prolific career — please consider clicking the button below to send your donation to Bill’s brother Mike for Bill’s ongoing care.
UPDATE: In a February Bleeding Cool article, Bill’s brother Mike said, “Bill was treated in an exceptionally fair manner by Marvel/Disney” and that Marvel “has made incredibly generous gestures,” which is fantastic. But the cost of Bill’s care remains enormous and any donations you care make will be greatly appreciated by the family.
Bill Mantlo has had a huge influence on me as a writer and reader. His “Micronauts” stories blew my mind as a kid and his “Incredible Hulk” run laid the groundwork for the themes I explored my five-and-a-half year run with the character. In the afterward to “Incredible Hulk” #635, I dedicated my run to Mantlo, and a while back devoted my Newsarama column to singing his praises and letting folks know how to donate to his ongoing care.
Thank you so much, Bill Coffin and LifeHealthPro, for shining a light on someone who brought so much joy to so many people.
And here’s a note from Bill’s brother Mike, reprinted from that Newsarama column:
First off, I send out a big THANK YOU to everyone that has helped support Bill over these past 19 years (!). Every donation, no matter how big or small, and every card or letter is greatly appreciated. Bill’s condition remains the same (he suffers severe cognitive impairments, anger, and depression), and these factors keep him very much isolated from “the outside world.” Aside from my visits, and the kindness of my beautiful wife and some of the attendants at the nursing home/rehabilitation facility he resides in, his contact with other human beings is virtually non-existent. But the support and encouragement of fans, and industry professionals like yourself, helps to bring a little ray of sunlight into his dark and dreary days. When I (or my wife) engage Bill in conversation, his spirit emerges and is as strong and pure as it ever was! So, once again, I can’t thank ALL of you enough!! I strongly believe in the power of practicing random acts of kindness, and with that belief I hope that ALL of your kindnesses will be returned to you many, many times over!
Cards, letters or donations to Bill Mantlo can be sent to:
Mike Mantlo
26364 East Pintail Road
Long Neck, DE 19966
Please make out any checks to “Michael Mantlo” — Bill’s legal guardian.
…and there will be none.
In 2010, I wrote a graphic novel called “Vision Machine” that depicts a world in which a revolutionary piece of personal technology called the iEye allows us to record anything we can see or imagine and instantly share it with the world. Massive creative opportunities ensue — and then the other shoe drops with massive trademark, copyright, privacy and surveillance complications.
Even as we speak, Google Glass is bringing part of the world of “Vision Machine” to life. If you’re wearing Google Glass, you can be fairly certain that everything you see can be legally logged and monitored by business or government entities.
But assuming we maintain our current attitudes and policies regarding privacy and surveillance, it’s going to get much worse.
Within twenty years, someone will develop a true mind-machine interface that will allow us to directly upload and download information to and from our brains.Within a generation, everyone who hopes to compete in the world will acquire brain implants that allow for instant acquisition of information and faster processing of data.
But for the average person, these brain implants will only be available through corporations that provide backdoors to business and government entities to enable the tracking and monitoring of all information that passes through the devices.
In short, businesses and governments will be able to literally read our minds.
They will know and have a record of exactly what we are thinking.
I think I know what “Vision Machine II” will be about.
Am I wrong? I hope so. You tell me!
DC Comics has released a couple of gorgeous colored pages from the “Zod” book I’m writing and Ken Lashley is drawing. The book’s full title is “Action Comics #23.2: Zod,” so I guess it’s technically my first issue of “Action”! 😉
The book hits stores in September. Ask your local retailer to order a copy for you today!
For more Villains Month previews, visit CosmicBookNews.com.