Marvel writer Greg Pak unveils new comic in Philadelphia

Those who were lucky enough to attend a free question-and-answer session with Greg Pak at the 2010 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival were treated to an extensive oral history of the many hats that Pak has worn – or continues to wear – to date in his professional life.  He has degrees from Yale (political science), Oxford (history, as a Rhodes Scholar) and NYU (film).  He was a stand-up comedian for a number of years.  He even worked for Governor Ann Richards in his native Texas with brief aspirations of becoming a politician.

But to cinema junkies who have followed his trajectory, Pak is a masterful storyteller and filmmaker.  His short film repertoire has run from the silly (a family’s “Ode to Margaret Cho”) to the subtly political (the environmentally-themed “Mr. Green” starring Tim Kang of “The Mentalist,” which screened at the Festival).  It was his breakthrough anthology feature, “Robot Stories,” that served as the catalyst for his comic book writing career.  A thought-provoking science fiction work that included four short stories featuring a predominately Asian cast, “Robot Stories” swept numerous awards in the Asian American film festival circuit.

Pak then joined Marvel Comics in 2004, having penned titles such as “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man” and “Incredible Hercules.”  Comparing writing for comics versus writing for film, Pak outlined three major differences: meeting constant deadlines (as opposed to none in film); creating “hooks” for the reader to keep turning the page to read more (as opposed to timestamps); and figuring out how to show progressive movement over a series of panels (as opposed to simply cutting from one scene to the next).  His latest project, a new digital comic titled “Vision Machine,” is available to you readers for distribution via the Creative Commons license, and he encourages you to share it with your friends.  Click on the images below to download all three parts.

“Vision Machine” – Part 1 of 3
Pak Man Productions (gregpak.com), 2010

“Vision Machine” – Part 2 of 3
Pak Man Productions (gregpak.com)

“Vision Machine” – Part 3 of 3
Pak Man Productions (gregpak.com)