By Greg Pak
I decided I was going to be a writer at the age of nine. So throughout grade school, middle school, high school and college, I wrote constantly — first with $1.49 Shaeffer fountain pens on three hole paper in blue denim binders, later on my mom’s massive Selectric typewriter and on the Mac Plus with the awesome 50mb Total Peripherals external hard drive that I lugged back and forth from college.
While poking through boxes in storage over the last few months, I found a number of files and notebooks containing hundreds of pages of these old stories. And, unsurprisingly, most of them are kind of fun but pretty horrible. But here and there something… almost… good glimmered through. Eventually, I’m hoping to release a ebook anthology of the best of these stories with commentary as a window into one writer’s beginnings.
But in the meantime, just for kicks, here’s the best short story I wrote during my thirteenth year on the planet, when Ray Bradbury was my literary hero, people still called Asian people “Orientals,” and Defender Stargate was the most awesome video game anyone had ever seen.
Enjoy!
THE GAME
By Greg Pak
05.16.1982
“Hey, Jackie!”
A small skeletal boy ran from a large cardboard box to the tall girl.
“Jackie!” he shouted. “Are we gonna play the game today? We gonna play the game?”
“Maybe,” said the tall girl curtly.
The boy silenced and fell into step behind her. They walked on through the charred field, passing the scraggly trees and piles of broken down automobiles and derelict washing machines.
“Well, I sure hope we do,” said the small boy, kicking the cracked ground. “There ain’t nothing else to do around here. Nothin’.”
“Shut up,” said the girl.
The boy did.
Soon they reached a red car. It was only a little rusted, and its shiny paint glinted in the burning sun. It was much better off than the others around it and stood alone, like a regal king surrounded by peasants.
“David!” cried the girl. “We’re going to play the game!”
A short, fat boy threw open the car door and puffed to the side to stand at attention. A long, muscular leg passed from the blackness, fluidly followed by the rest of the boy. The brown feet lifted dust from the ground as the tall black boy shaded his face with a hand, squinting.
“Good,” he said.
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Marvel has released solicitation info about a wild new direction for the Green Goliath in “Incredible Hulk” #626 and #627, written by Greg Pak with pencils by Tom Grummet. Both books ship in April — ask your local retailer to pre-order your copies today!
It’s January 12 and the entire “Vision Machine” graphic novel, as well as “Vision Machine” #3, the final single issue, are now downloadable for FREE at 
