2013.10.10 – 10.13 – Greg Pak’s New York Comic Con Schedule!

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I’ll be at the New York Comic Con all four days this year, in Artists Alley Booth K1 and at the various events listed below. Can’t wait – it’s gonna be a blast and I hope to see you there!

(Please note that I have a few more events pending confirmation and will update this page over the next few days.)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Autographing
Location: Booth #2028

6:15 pm – 7:15 pm
New York Times OUT and Geeks Out present LGBT and Allies in Comics Panel
Location: 1A14
Speakers: Dan Parent, Daniel Ketchum, Greg Pak, Rich Bernatovech, Marjorie Liu
Description: The New York Times OUT and Geeks Out join forces to present a panel where LGBT characters and their allies will be discussed by comic book professionals. We will be discussing their use in mainstream comics, independent/creator-owned comics and comic book movies. Moderated by New York Times Book Review Staff Editor, Jude Biersdorfer

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11

11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Signing
Location: DCE SIGNING AREA Table EE1

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Signing, Epic Props/Secret Identities Booth
Location: Booth 2010

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
DC Comics – Superman Panel
Location: 1A22
Speakers: Charles Soule, Greg Pak, Tony Daniel, Tyler Kirkham
Description: The Last Son of Krypton is one of the most recognized pop culture icons of all time, and this year, as he celebrates his 75th Anniversary, Superman is set to soar to new heights! Come by for a panel on what makes The Man of Steel the hero that he is with the writers and artists that bring him to life!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Autographing
Location: Booth # 2010

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Valiant Comics: Must Read Valiant
Location: 1A01
Speakers: Dinesh Shamdasani, Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak, Hunter Gorinson, Matt Kindt, Robert Venditti
Description: MUST READ VALIANT. You’ve heard the buzz. You’ve read the reviews. Now, with UNITY just weeks away, join an all-star panel of Valiant creators and special surprise guests to find out why VALIANT is the MUST READ publisher of the year. X-O Manowar and the dawn of UNITY. The shocking surprises that lay in wait for SHADOWMAN ETERNAL WARRIOR’s next savage quest, ARCHER & ARMSTRONG and the mad, mad, mad fallout of SECT CIVIL WAR. Things getting (even more) complicated for QUANTUM AND WOODY. It all happens right here with an exclusive round of news and announcements, only at NYCC!

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Code Monkey Save World – Inside the Graphic Novel Kickstarter
Location: 1A03
Speakers: Greg Pak, Jonathan Coulton, Sean Chen, Drew Westphal
Description: Comics writer Greg Pak (“Batman/Superman,” “Planet Hulk”) and internet superstar musician Jonathan Coulton discuss their graphic novel “Code Monkey Save World,” Kickstarter’s highest grossing original comics project ever. Learn how they ran the campaign and get a sneak preview of finished pages! Also, free stickers!

2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Dynamite 10th Anniversary Celebration
Location: 1A08
Description: Dynamite celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2014. Join a panel of superstar creators and Dynamite’s editorial staff, and find out what surprises they have in store for next year! What’s the latest updates on projects by J. Michael Straczynski, Gail Simone, Steve Niles, James Robinson, Mark Waid and Peter Milligan (just to name a few)? What explosive stories will be told in the upcoming series TWILIGHT ZONE, BOB’S BURGERS, ASH AND THE ARMY OF DARKNESS, and more? And – most importantly – get ready for a whole new wave of mind-blowing announcements and 2014 SECRETS REVEALED!

Another version of my NYCC banner – please let me know what you think!

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Hey, smart people. Here’s another whack at the banner I’m making for my Artists Alley table at the New York Comic Con. Actual physical version will be 24 inches wide, 84 inches tall.

I’ve tweaked from the previous version to move the main characters higher up on the banner (since the bottom half of the banner will be partly obscured by the table and me) and to remove text and basically make it less busy.

Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions!

Many thanks!

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Got non-spoiler-request questions? I’ll try to answer!

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Fighting a cold and about to turn in. But if you have non-spoiler-request questions, I’ll try to answer.

As usual, I’ll just ask everyone to please not pitch projects or stories – I can’t read or respond to those!

Also, life is short, so rudeness, nastiness or personal attacks against anyone automatically get deleted.

Thanks a ton, and fire away!

Building characters

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The great comics writer Gail Simone emailed me and a number of other writers yesterday asking if we had one pointer about building characters for a workshop she was about run in Norway. Here’s what I sent her:

I try hard, particularly when introducing a character for the first time, to find that one, small, telling action that defines the character for me. Sometimes it’s big and showy, like the Hulk tearing open his own starship in rage at the beginning of “Planet Hulk.” Sometimes it’s small, like Bruce Wayne just sitting there, quietly watching and waiting while Clark Kent yells at some kids who are bullying another kid in a playground at the beginning of “Batman/Superman.” But in some way that initial action encapsulates the big emotional journey the character’s going to be going on during the course of the story. From that very first moment, the character does something that defines him or her and indicates the conflicts and struggles that he or she will face as a result. Once I figure out this moment, I usually have a pretty good grasp on what I’m doing with a character. If I don’t really nail this moment, then I might be in trouble — I might not have done all the work I need to do to really figure out who this character is, what he or she is trying to do, and what he or she is willing to do to get there.

When I reread that this morning, I found myself nodding and committing to work harder to follow my own advice.

This is why your questions about the process of writing are so interesting and helpful to me — they force me to think about what I do and get better at it.

So thanks, Gail — and thanks, everyone who asks these kinds of questions!

2013.09.11 – “Eternal Warrior” #1 signing with Greg Pak at Forbidden Planet NYC

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The first issue of my new “Eternal Warrior” series for Valiant Comics hits stores this Wednesday, and I’ll be doing a signing in New York City starting at 6:30 pm at Forbidden Planet, 832 Broadway!

Here’s the official solicitation for the issue:

Across ten millennia and a thousand battlefields, Gilad Anni-Padda has traversed the darkest, most mysterious corners of history. But the horror and bloodshed of constant warfare has finally taken its toll on the man myth calls the Eternal Warrior…and he has abdicated his duties as the Fist and the Steel of Earth for a quiet life of seclusion. But when a blood vendetta from the distant past suddenly reappears in the modern day, he must decide if he will return to the ways of war…for the child who betrayed him thousands of years ago…

And here are a few reviews and interviews:

Broken Frontier interview

AM New York interview

Comic Book Bin review

Den of Geek review

Stash My Comics review

See you there!

“Red Skull Incarnate” on sale TODAY ONLY for 99¢ an issue at Comixology!

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“Red Skull Incarnate,” a comic book miniseries written by yours truly with art by Mirko Colak, is on sale digitally at Comixology for just 99¢ an issue, today only!

“Red Skull Incarnate” tells the origin story of Marvel’s most evil villain, following an orphan as he struggles to survive and dominate during the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. The book’s gorgeous and disturbing covers were drawn by David Aja. Colors are by Matt Wilson and letters by Clayton Cowles. Alejandro Arbona edited.

“Red Skull Incarnate is a thorough psychological portrait that savagely avoids cliche. Pak never makes the easy choices in his storytelling, and each major turning point is delivered in unexpected ways. The ending, which everybody knows is coming, is still surprising, fulfilling, and even more ominous than foreknowledge prepares us for, and the characterization is on another level entirely. Watching Johann transform from an orphan boy into a powerful sociopath is seriously engaging, and Pak performs these feats without making excuses for Johann, and without making him unsympathetic. It might be Pak’s most skillful work to date.”

— John Parker, ComicsAlliance