BY TONEY TAPIA

Greg Pak is an award-winning writer and director whose feature film, Robot Stories," starring Tamlyn Tomita and Sab Shimono, played in 75 festivals, won 35 awards, screened theatrically across the country, and is now available on DVD from Kino International. Pak's feature screenplay "Rio Chino" won the Pipedream Screenwriting Award at the IFP Market and a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship. Pak wrote the screenplay for the feature film "MVP," which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Pak is now writing comic books. Projects include "Incredible Hulk" and "X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong" for Marvel and "Battlestar Galactica" for Dynamite. 

TT:  What brought you into the world of comics?

GP: I’m trained as a writer and director for film.  I’ve made a ton of shorts over the years but am probably best known my first feature film “Robot Stories.”   When “Robot Stories” was hitting festivals, my agent told me that Marvel was looking for new writers.  She asked if I was interested — I told her absolutely.  I’d read and loved comics all my life but never knew how the industry worked and honestly never thought of trying to get work as a comics writer.  So my agent sent over the screenplay for “Robot Stories,” which the Marvel folks apparently liked, because within a few months I was working on pitches with various editors and a year or so later my first project, the “Warlock” miniseries, hit the stands.  

TT: Do you remember the first comic that you read?

GP: If we’re talking about comics of any kind, it’s Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts.”  We had a bunch of the paperback collections when I was a kid and I remember poring over them for hours, laughing my head off.  When it comes to comic books, I remember an old Richie Rich comic book I had for a long time when I was very, very young. But the first comic I remember really treasuring was an oversized Spider-Man book — a Marvel Treasury Edition — which included a reprint of the death of Captain Stacy.  Tragedy!  In comic book form!  Great stuff.

TT: You seem to be having a great time with The Hulk.  Were you a fan of The Hulk before you started working on his title and what do you have up your sleeves for the Banner and his Hulk in future issues?

GP: I’ve loved the Hulk since I was a kid and was hungry to get my hands on him from my first days at Marvel.  We have big, big plans for the Hulk — but I can’t reveal anything just yet for fear of spoilers.  But the Hulk is undergoing an epic emotional story/transformation during the course of the “Planet Hulk” storyline — every issue features huge action and shocking character revelations — dontcha dare miss it!

TT: Your work on past projects like Iron Man, Phoenix: End Song and 1602: New World, just to name a few, have been amazing!  Is there a certain character or different team book that you would love to work on?

GP: Many thanks!  I’ve had a huge amount of fun with every comic I’ve worked on — all the classic characters come with such powerful, rich mythic foundations that it’s a pleasure working on new stories with them.  There are a few characters I’d love to get the chance to work on — I won’t mention ‘em for fear of jinxing my chances.  But I will say that I’m eager to work on a team book.  There’s a great challenge in building the dynamic and tension necessary to sustain an ongoing team book — I have some big ideas and I’m eager to tackle ‘em.

TT: On an off day from writing, what do you like to do? Any hobbies?

GP: “Off day”?  Huh.  I don’t think I’m familiar with that term...

TT: So you're an award winning director and a writer for comics!  Which do you find to be a little more tough to work on?

GP: Writing for comics is actually more demanding than writing for film.  In a screenplay, I’d never go into minute detail about set design or framing or camera movement.  Those are details that may be implied in a screenplay, but they’re hammered out in preproduction or on set in hands-on work between the director, the creative crew, and the cast.  But in comics, much of the direction needs to happen at the script stage.  So my comic scripts tend to be much more dense than my screenplays, with detailed, panel-by-panel descriptions of everything on the page.  

But “directing” a comic book is admittedly less stressful than directing a film.  Both undertakings require the marshalling of physical and creative resources.  But making films has required me to do everything from help build a robot, dodge thunderstorms, ride cross country on a snow machine, and herd mice.  Compared to that, making comics is positively civilized.

TT: If you were stranded on a deserted island, with a portable DVD player that had enough power to watch one last film, what would that film be and why?

GP: Probably “Seven Samurai” because it’s one of the greatest movies ever made.  Then again, I might opt for “How to Survive on a Desert Island With Nothing but a Portable DVD Player.”

TT: Last but not least, What's your best advice that you can give to a writer who wants to get in the biz and do you recommend any books that he/she should read on how to become a comic book writer?

GP: I came in through the film world, so it’s hard for me to give advice to folks trying to break directly into comics.  But for anyone interested in dramatic writing -- meaning writing which depends upon telling a story in scenes via the interaction of characters -- I highly recommend “The Art of Dramatic Writing” by Lajos Egri.  The book’s discussion of “premise” is absolutely key and has been hugely helpful to me over the years.

Check out all the latest news on greg Paks website: http://www.pakbuzz.com/

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