Broken Frontier

Please click here, dear readers, to submit your own questions for the column. (We'll start running them in the next installment - ed.)  

In the meantime, I’ll continue answering questions from our celebrity guest question-asker, my esteemed colleague Michael Kang, the director of “The Motel” and “West 32nd” (click here  for the first bit of this Q&A in Tuesday’s column).  Mike has a great list of questions about everything from “World War Hulk” to the challenges of moving from screenwriting to comics writing.  So let’s go!

MICHAEL KANG: Who's idea was it to bring Amadeus Cho into the World War Hulk series? Was it something you pitched or was there a plan for that all along?

GREG PAK: Genius-kid-on-the-run Amadeus Cho is a character I created for Marvel’s “Amazing Fantasy” #15 anthology book in 2005. In his first appearance (which has just been reprinted in the “Planet Hulk” hardcover), Amadeus learns that he with his big brain and the Hulk with his big brawn have certain things in common—like an enormous suspicion of authority and serious anger-management issues.

So, when it came time to tell a story in “Incredible Hulk” #106 to #110 about the characters who side with the Hulk when he returns to Earth, Hulk editor Mark Paniccia and I agreed that Amadeus was a perfect fit. 

MICHAEL KANG:  Being Korean American yourself, are there things about Amadeus that you feel are distinctly Korean American (even if it is stuff we haven't learned about him yet)?

GREG PAK: His total hotness, natch.  And although we haven’t seen him eating it yet, his favorite food is a Korean seaweed soup called mi yuk guk.  Mmmm.  Mi yuk guk...

MICHAEL KANG: What has been the most difficult thing in adapting to writing scripts for comics as opposed to films?

GREG PAK: Every once in a while when I’m writing a comic book, I find myself imagining a soundtrack that could instantly set the tone and establish the pace of a scene.  But that’s extremely difficult to convey on a comics page. 

I pulled it off once in “Incredible Hulk” #95 (also available in the “Planet Hulk” hardcover) by using percussion—as the Hulk and his gladiator allies head into the Great Arena, soldiers pound out a tocsin on great drums.  Since it’s percussion, sound effects like “TONG T-TONG TONG!” could carry the scene.  But I’m still trying to figure out how to convey a melody on the comics page.

Someday, I’d like to create a soundtrack that folks could listen to online while reading the comic. Clearly a bit too complicated for people to do on a regular basis, but it would be a great experiment.

MICHAEL KANG: I would imagine that the lack of limitations in production value is great, but do you find it harder to get some of the subtler character traits across in a 2-D medium?

GREG PAK: Honestly, this is a place where comics and movies are on completely equal footing.  Great comics artists are like great actors—they’re geniuses at bringing out the emotional truth in the subtlest character moments.  And the medium really lends itself to certain kinds of emotion.  There’s something beautiful about the silent panel, for example—comics can depict those moments of quiet realization or introspection with an aching poignancy.

MICHAEL KANG: Speaking of this transition to comics, I am attempting to start a graphic novel adaptation of my new film "West 32nd." Any advice in terms of approach to storytelling?

We (my writing partner Edmund and I) want to make sure the graphic novel is its own piece of work that can stand alone as well as act as a companion piece to the film. We want to make sure it is not just a straight translation of the movie. Do you think there are mistakes that first timers make? 

GREG PAK:  Big question!  Now a caveat—I haven’t yet adapted one of my own films or screenplays to comics, so I haven’t done exactly what you’re undertaking.  But I am writing the “Battlestar Galactica” comic for Dynamite, which is a tie-in to the Sci Fi series.  And based on that experience, I think you may be on the right track in planning something that can stand alone. 

With the “Battlestar Galactica” comic, we had no interest in doing a straight adaptation—repeating something that folks could already see on television or DVD seemed like a waste of an opportunity.  Instead, we’ve told new stories that fit into the existing continuity and build on the themes and relationships established in the television series.  At the same time, I made every effort to ensure that someone who had never seen the show could pick up the comic and understand everything that was going on.

In your case, an added incentive to tell new stories that tie into the world you’ve created with “West 32nd” is that your comic book will be your own intellectual property—and could be optioned to a production company to make another film.  Clearly, a straight adaptation of your existing film won’t have the potential for that kind of action that a new story would.

MICHAEL KANG: Are there things that you find particularly difficult to adapt from a filmmaker’s way of thinking?

GREG PAK:  Here’s one thing that comes to mind...  The “Battlestar Galactica” television show does a brilliant job at the beginning of each episode of getting viewers up to speed through a fast-paced, evocative series of images and dialogue from previous episodes. 

I’d love to reproduce that kind of effect in comics, but it’s hard to show so many images from so many different times and locations in a small enough number of pages in comic form to make it work as a recap.  A film can compress time and overload on images at the same time; that’s a much harder thing to do in comics. I had to find other ways of recapping the material—sometimes using interior monologues of characters, sometimes putting succinct exposition into the mouths of characters as they plunge into the action of the book.

MICHAEL KANG: Lastly, how can I plug my first film "The Motel" in your column and let people know it is now available on DVD?

GREG PAK: Hm.  How ‘bout I just tell everyone that your first film, “The Motel,” is now available on DVD and www.themotel-film.com has all the deets?

Thanks, Mike!   You’re the best!

And now on to questions from Broken Frontier’s own Frederik Hautain, for questions related to “World War Hulk” #1, which just hit comic book stores everywhere.

WARNING:  “WORLD WAR HULK” #1 SPOILERS AHEAD!

FREDERIK HAUTAIN: As the regular Hulk scribe, what was your primary objective going from Planet Hulk into World War Hulk?

GREG PAK: "World War Hulk" is the culmination of an epic emotional story that began on page one of "Planet Hulk" a year and a half ago. So the goal was to be true to that emotional story and give it the massive impact that it deserved.

FREDERIK HAUTAIN: Did Marvel ever question having someone else write the storyline, or were you the only choice writing WWH?

GREG PAK: In the beginning, I was brought on board just as the writer of "Planet Hulk"—while I always hoped I'd be tapped to write "World War Hulk" as well, the decision wasn't mine to make. But I proceeded from the beginning as if the job were mine, building and planning an epic story that would carry all the way through "World War Hulk" and beyond.

The fact that editor Mark Paniccia and I had such a great creative relationship and the way that fans, reviewers, bloggers and retailers raved about "Planet Hulk" so much that the book actually increased its circulation numbers during its run no doubt helped me nab the job in the end. So thanks, everyone—you guys are awesome!

FREDERIK HAUTAIN: In an article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News Wednesday, you mentioned that John Romita Jr. is doing some of the best work of his career—why do you feel that’s not just a sales pitch?

GREG PAK: Sometimes in the movies, an actor and a role are just so perfectly matched that a kind of magic happens. When I open "World War Hulk" #1 and see those images of Hulk and Black Bolt and those eerie shots of the Avengers Tower and that final, stunning splash page, I just think JRJR on WWH was always meant to be.

FREDERIK HAUTAIN: What was your favorite moment of this opening round?

GREG PAK: I love this whole book. But one image that just tears at me is the profile of Hulk screaming "CAIERA!" Romita's given the Green Scar such a battered, craggy mug here that the emotion feels so visceral and painful—I love it.

FREDERIK HAUTAIN: Before flying towards the Hulk again, Iron Man mentions that taking the Hulk down in order to save the world is what Bruce Banner would have wanted. Now, we haven’t seen Banner for a long time—except for one brief moment at the emperor’s palace towards the end of Planet Hulk. Does he have a role somewhere in World War Hulk?

GREG PAK: Absolutely. Dontcha miss a single issue!

FREDERIK HAUTAIN: You’ve gone on record saying readers will learn of Hulk’s true nature in September’s Incredible Hulk #110 without going into any more details. Can you tease the BF audience just a little bit? This is your column after all!

GREG PAK: Heh. I'll just say it's the climax of the story of Hulk's Earthbound friends that started in "Incredible Hulk" #106 and that boy-genius-on-the-run and number-one-Hulk-fan Amadeus Cho precipitates more than even he might be prepared to handle.

FREDERIK HAUTAIN:  And speaking of teasers, how about giving one on what’s coming up in issue #2?

GREG PAK:  Word on the street says the Avengers learn what avenging's all about and the Baxter Building gets a visitor or two.

Click here to submit your own questions.  See ya next time!

© 2007 Greg Pak.  All rights reserved.  For more about Greg Pak’s comics and films, visit www.pakbuzz.com.