Comixtreme raves about “Magneto Testament” #3

Adam Chapman has posted a rave review of “Magneto Testament” #3 at Comixtreme.com. Here’s an excerpt:

This issue is particularly harrowing and emotional, as Max and his family try to smuggle themselves out of the Warsaw Ghetto, and sees turning points in Max’s young life, which inexorably brings him to Auschwitz. [Greg] Pak is truly writing one of the best mini-series he’ll probably ever write, he’s taken such care and dedication to making this series just right, to avoid any possibility of trivializing such a serious topic as the Holocaust. He’s treating it anything but lightly, and it really does show through in his script and his plotting.
The artwork by [Carmine] Di Giandomenico is absolutely brilliant, this is his second mini-series under the MK imprint, and I’ll most definitely be there for the next one. His style is very expressive, and he captures the pain, the emotion, the heartache, the sadness, every emotion that Pak weaves into the story, he portrays it brilliantly on the page.

Click here to read the whole thing.

Greg Pak talks about Skaar in “Hulk Family”


The upcoming “Hulk Family” anthology book features a Skaar, Son of Hulk, story written by Greg Pak with pencils by Jheremy Raapack. Here’s an excerpt from the Marvel.com article in which Pak discusses the story:

“[It’s] called ‘School for Savages’ and depicts the first meeting between the young Skaar and the mysterious Shadow person known as Old Sam who serves as his mentor in the ongoing series,” Pak reveals. “For fear of spoiling too much, I’ll just say someone thinks he’s going to teach someone something and gets taught a lesson or two in return. With bonus cutfrog venom poultices and creepy cannibals and a loin cloth joke! And, most importantly, Skaar paints!”

“Hulk Family” hits stores on December 3.

Newsarama interviews Greg Pak about “War Machine”


An excerpt:

NRAMA: With your work on Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, you’ve become associated with the epic story, the larger than life setting an action. Are you heading that way with War Machine, or are you looking at a “smaller” story in a sense with Rhodey?
GP: We may be approaching epic in terms of scope and emotion and even mythic scale. But one difference between the Hulk/Skaar stories and War Machine is that War Machine is very much set in the real world. Or at least, the Marvel Universe analogue to the real world. If you strip away some of the superhero trappings, almost every story we’re telling has an antecedent in real world conflicts and atrocities. We’re not using the names of actual countries — mainly because I don’t want to pretend a superhero can or has resolved the horrific conflicts from which actual human beings are suffering around the globe. But Rhodey’s new global mandate means we have a shot at investing his stories with a level of immediacy, realism, and relevance that’s deeply compelling to me both as a writer and a fan.

Click here to read the whole thing.
“War Machine” #1 hits comic book stores on December 17. Ask your local store to preorder a copy for you today. And check out the 8 page preview story for free at Marvel.com!

VOTE!

It’s Election Day! So exercise your right and fulfill your responsibility by VOTING!
And for all the comics fans in the house, see below for an inspirational video from Patricio Ginelsa — featuring comic book artist Whilce Portacio!

Impulse Creations interviews Greg Pak about “Magneto Testament”

Stephanie Carmichael of Impulse Creations has interviewed writer Greg Pak about his Marvel Comics miniseries “X-Men: Magneto Testament,” which follows a boy and his family as they struggle to survive against the Nazi onslaught from 1935 to 1945. Here’s an excerpt:

Impulse: We get a really interesting family dynamic going on here, too. What made you decide to portray Max’s family in this way? I mean, what were some of the things you thought were important and that you wanted to clearly portray when showing his home life?
Greg: The key was always to make Max’s family completely understandable as the kind of everyday, decent, funny, brave, and sometimes goofy folks any of us might know and love. They’re not faceless, helpless victims; instead, we wanted to depict them as everyday heroes struggling to make sense of their suddenly insane world in ways with which readers could completely identify. Most importantly, I wanted to find ways to show the tremendous love Max’s father has for his family—especially his son. My favorite moments in the series have been little interactions between Max and his father—the tiny gestures, the little jokes, and the awkward embraces. I love Max’s father as much as any character I’ve ever created.
Impulse: You handle the oppression and rise of the Nazis with such finesse in the comic. It’s subtle at some points (even though the reader is certainly aware, from knowing about what Magneto went through growing up and also the historical context), and dramatically strong at others. Why did you feel this route would work, and how does it play into the overall story, especially regarding Max as a character? Was there anything that influenced you in the way you chose to tell it?
Greg: I wanted to begin the story relatively early so that we could get to know Max and his family as human beings before the full gravity of their situation sank in. And I knew we should see almost everything from Max’s point of view. That would let us discover things bit by bit at the same time he does and help us understand how the Nazi rise and the Final Solution crept up around and then swept away their victims.

Click here for Part 1 of the interview.
Click here for Part 2 of the interview.

Michael Turner tribute book hits stores next week

Newsarama has posted an interview with Aspen’s Vince Hernandez about the 80 page Michael Turner tribute book that hits stores next Wednesday. Here’s an excerpt:

NRAMA: Who are some of the creators that contributed to the book?
VH: There’s an incredible cover by Alex Ross. And of course we have all of our Aspen artists, like Micah Gunnell, Marcus To, Francisco Herrera, Ale Garza, and Sana Takeda. And we also have writers who’ve worked with Aspen, like Geoff Johns and Jeph Loeb. There’s Joe Benitez, who worked with Mike at Top Cow and will be finishing the volume of Soulfire for Mike. There are some new guys in here we’ve never really worked with, like Marc Andreyko and Brad Meltzer, who we’ve worked with, but never on an Aspen story. Greg Pak had a touching story about an experience he had with Mike at a con. And all the big name artists that you can think of, like J. Scott Campbell, Joe Mad [Madureira], Humberto Ramos. And there’s a piece by Joe Quesada and a tribute by Dan DiDio. We also have Jim Lee in there. Anybody you can think of. Gary Frank is in there, and Marc Silvestri did a piece. Even people who are newcomers wanted to participate.
NRAMA: And all the money you make from this goes toward charity, right?
VH: Yep. All the proceeds from this go to the American Cancer Society and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Those are Mike’s two favorite charities, so we definitely wanted to honor that and make sure proceeds from the book would benefit that. So all the creators and fans are doing something in his name that helps these causes.

Click here to read the whole thing and ask your local store to hold a copy of the book for you.

Greg Pak comic book pull list for November/December 2008

The best way to guarantee you get the comics you want is to provide your local retailer with a “pull list” of the upcoming comics you wish to buy. Now, at long last, Pakbuzz is providing nifty forms to make it incredibly easy for you to create a pull list of upcoming Greg Pak comics.
Click here for a PDF form you can use to preorder Greg Pak comics for November and December from your local retailer. Just check the boxes next to the comics you want, fill in your name and contact info, and take the form to your local retailer! Ask nicely if he or she will preorder the comics for you and you’re set!
To find your local retailer, visit www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-COMIC-BOOK.

Comic Book Resources interviews Greg Pak

Robert Taylor has interviewed writer Greg Pak for the “Reflections” column at Comic Book Resources. The interview covers all of Pak’s current books, including “Incredible Hercules,” “Skaar,” “Magneto: Testament,” and “War Machine.” Here’s an excerpt about “Skaar”:

How much has the character evolved from your first idea of him back when you created him in “World War Hulk?”
From the beginning, I knew that Skaar would be born in fire and raised by monsters before heading out into a savage world where society and government have been swept away by cataclysm and war. That’s all stayed the same—as have the big themes of exploring what heroism means in a world gone mad. But there are some elements of Skaar’s look and personality that have evolved. Originally, I envisioned the adult Skaar roaming the deserts wearing a metal faceplate. Joe pretty reasonably pointed out that we might be able to identify with the character more if we could see his face. At one point, I’d also toyed with the idea of Skaar as a more spiritual, mystic figure—someone who is consciously on a sort of dreamquest. But as we developed the book, I realized the richer dynamic would be for the people around Skaar to be pushing him on that dreamquest—while the savage Son of Hulk himself might have totally different motivations for doing what he does.

Click here to read the full interview, which also includes six page previews of “Incredible Hercules” #122 and “Skaar: Son of Hulk” #4, both of which hit comic book stores tomorrow.

George Lin, Rest In Peace

It’s with great sadness that I learned that George Lin, the programmer of the San Diego Asian Film Festival, died on October 14. George was a great colleague and friend whose gentle humor, commitment to the community, and enduring support will be sorely missed.
Please read Lee Ann Kim’s beautiful tribute to learn more about George, and see below for information about his memorial service and memorial fund.
UPDATE: Here’s George’s obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune and here’s a Facebook page dedicated to George.
— Greg Pak

GEORGE LIN MEMORIAL SERVICE
Saturday, October 25 at 2PM
7940 Rufus Court, San Diego, CA 92129
The family asks in lieu of flowers and gifts, that charitable donations be made to the George C. Lin Memorial Fund, which will provide grants to institutions that provide scholarships to students studying film, and for pheochromocytoma research and education. Please send checks to:
The San Diego Foundation
2508 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92106
Please write the name of the fund, George C. Lin Memorial Fund, on the memo line of your check.