Writer Edd McCracken has graciously given Pakbuzz.com permission to post the following excerpt from his recent story “The Men Who Make Superheroes,” which ran last week in the Sunday Herald in Scotland. In the excerpt, he interviews “Planet Hulk” writer Greg Pak about what makes everyone’s favorite green goliath so compelling:
GREG PAK IS… THE HULK
When writer Greg Pak talks about The Hulk he deepens his voice and flexes his muscles, like a reflex. “I’ve been Hulking it up for nearly a year,” he booms, before relaxing. “I’m sorry, when you work on The Hulk for a while you fall back on the mannerisms,” he says gently. “But he is a tonne of fun.”
In the Marvel universe The Hulk cuts one of the most tragic figures. A misunderstood monster with the most savage mood swings in literary history, he’s the eternal outsider. As if to stress that point, Greg has decided to exile The Hulk on a remote planet with a band of gladiator rebels in the current storyline.
“The Hulk TV show was my first introduction to tragedy as a child – I went straight from that to Macbeth,” says Greg. “That whole notion that this man is a monster and no matter what he does he will always be misunderstood, kills me.”

Greg might have grown up with The Hulk, but it was film-making he turned his attentions to initially, making the critically acclaimed Robot Stories, before Marvel asked him to pitch some ideas for comic books. There was only one hero he wanted to write for. “The Hulk was the character I was hungry for.”
Polite to a fault, and hidden behind a beard and a large pair of glasses, Greg is probably the most unlikely custodian of Marvel’s green machine of rage. It’s an irony not lost on him.
“When you look at all comic books, pretty much all of them are based around a physical fight, and when you look at the people who create them, very few of us get into fights on a regular basis,” he says, sipping his fresh orange juice. But he adds there’s a bit of The Hulk’s rage in us all. “Everyone wants to Hulk it up. Kids can totally get it because they’re pushed around and told what they can do and what they can’t do. Every day, walking down the street, at school or at work, we’re confronted with enraging situations. So the notion of creating a character who when confronted by these situations doesn’t bottle it up, instead he loses it, is hugely satisfying. That’s a great vicarious pleasure seeing the Hulk smash things.”
So does he write a story set on Planet Hulk to let off some steam?
“I wish it was that easy,” he laughs. “What’s great about The Hulk is he taps into these eternal truths – if you are going to give into your rage, you’re going to pay for it. Rage is wrong. There’s times when that reaction is the only reaction – but it’s still wrong. All the great Hulk stories recognise that.”
The next issue in the “Planet Hulk” epic is “Incredible Hulk” #95, which hits comic book stores on May 31 (June 1 in the US due to the Memorial Day holiday). Use the Comic Shop Locator Service to find a store near you.