INTERVIEW CORNER #29: Greg Pak

Comment Written by Θωμάς Παπαδημητρόπουλος on January 11th, 2011 – 16:37

Υπάρχουν πολλά είδη ιστοριών που μπορεί κάποιος να αφηγηθεί. Υπάρχουν ιστορίες καθημερινές, ιστορίες που περιέχουν έστω μια λεπτομέρεια με τη δυνατότητα να τις μεταμορφώσει, ιστορίες με θέματα και πρωταγωνιστές “larger than life”, ιστορίες με καταστάσεις που απαιτούν το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της φαντασίας του συγγραφέα αλλά και του αναγνώστη, προκειμένου να σταθούν και να πραγματευτούν έννοιες που ελάχιστοι μπορούν να περιγράψουν. Και, φυσικά, όλες οι παραπάνω ιστορίες απαιτούν ανθρώπους με ταλέντο, οι οποίοι θα τους δώσουν σάρκα και οστά – όπως ο καλεσμένος αυτής της εβδομάδας, Greg Pak.

Ο Pak έχει διηγηθεί πολλές από τις παραπάνω ιστορίες, εδώ και μερικά χρόνια – ειδικά αυτές που μπορούν να χαρακτηριστούν “larger than life”. Αποτελεί, άλλωστε, τον writer του INCREDIBLE HULK από το 2007, όταν ξεκίνησε να γράφει το storyline που έφερε τον Hulk στην πόρτα του limited series WORLD WAR HULK. Και από τότε, είναι αυτός που μπορείτε να κατηγορήσετε για όλα τα δεινά που περνά ο πράσινος γίγαντας της Marvel.

Και ο Hulk δεν είναι ο μόνος larger than life χαρακτήρας που τέθηκε στην υπηρεσία της πένας του Greg Pak. Είχαν ήδη προηγηθεί (το 2005 και 2006) τα ιδιαίτερα αγαπητά στο κοινό limited series, PHOENIX: ENDSONG και WARSONG, ενώ λίγα χρόνια αργότερα, ανέλαβε για μερικά τεύχη το INCREDIBLE HERCULES, με πρωταγωνιστή, φυσικά, τον Έλληνα ημίθεο. Επιπλέον, το Φεβρουάριο, αναλαμβάνει ένα νέο limited series, με πρωταγωνιστή έναν ακόμη εντυπωσιακό χαρακτήρα, τον Silver Surfer!

Στον αντίποδα, ο Pak είναι γνωστός (λιγότερο ίσως) και για κάποιες άλλες, πιο προσγειωμένες ιστορίες. Εκτός από το πέρασμά του σε άλλους τίτλους της Marvel (όπου δημιούργησε και ένα νέο χαρακτήρα, τον Amadeus Cho), έχει στο βιογραφικό του και δύο creator-owned comics, τα THE CITIZEN και RIO CHINO, τα οποία έχουν δημοσιευθεί σε ανθολογίες. Επιπλέον, έχει γράψει, σκηνοθετήσει και πρωταγωνιστήσει σε ταινίες μικρού και μεγάλου μήκους, με γνωστότερη αυτών το ROBOT STORIES, το οποίο έχει συγκεντρώσει 35 βραβεία φεστιβάλ κινηματογράφου!

Επιπλέον, τόλμησε να κάνει κάτι, που εγώ, τουλάχιστον, δεν έχω ξανασυναντήσει. Έγραψε το comic THE VISION MACHINE, το οποίο υπόκειται σε κάποιους ιδιαίτερους νόμους, όσον αφορά στα πνευματικά του δικαιώματα. Συγκεκριμένα, το VISION MACHINE μπορεί να αποκτηθεί, να μοιραστεί και να “επαναπροσδιοριστεί” από τον καθένα (για μη κερδοσκοπικούς σκοπούς, φυσικά)! Το THE VISION MACHINE πραγματεύεται μια σχετική τεχνολογία του μέλλοντος που ισοπεδώνει τα πνευματικά δικαιώματα (και αργότερα και τις ελευθερίες) και επιτρέπει στον καθένα να εμπνευστεί από την ιστορία του και να την εκμεταλλευτεί δημιουργικά, είτε αλλάζοντάς τη, είτε πατώντας πάνω της για να πει τη δική του. Τα δύο πρώτα τεύχη μπορείτε να τα κατεβάσετε εδώ.

Αποτελεί σίγουρα ένα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον πείραμα, για τα πρώτα αποτελέσματα του οποίου (και για πολλά άλλα θέματα) μας μίλησε ο καλεσμένος αυτής της εβδομάδας, Greg Pak:

Apart from writing comics, you have also written and directed movies. Would you like writing a superhero or animated movie in the future?
You bet! I actually made a short film about a superheroine years ago, before I ever started writing comics. It’s called SUPER POWER BLUES and you can watch it here. I have my hands pretty full in the comics world right now, but it’d be a blast to play with those themes again in film. Some day!

Hulk has been through a lot during your run in THE INCREDIBLE HULK and the mini series he has starred in. What does the future hold for him?
The Hulk is clashing with the monstrous spirit of his dead father this month in INCREDIBLE HULKS #620, the final issue of our “Chaos War” tie-in. And then he takes his gripes to the gods themselves in INCREDIBLE HULKS #621 and #622. Next he heads to the Savage Land starting in #623 for a showdown with Miek the Unhived, a villain we haven’t seen since the climax of WORLD WAR HULK. All of these stories are building on the big theme of family that’s been running through the INCREDIBLE HULKS book — it’s all coming to a head later this year, so don’t miss a single issue!

Your two Phoenix/Jean Gray mini series, ENDSONG and WARSONG, have been very popular among the fans. Who or what should be credited for that fact?
Chris Claremont, who wrote the original Dark Phoenix saga, deserves the lion’s share of the credit for making Jean Grey such a beloved character. Grant Morrison brought the stories into the modern age with his amazing NEW X-MEN run. And I was hugely lucky with ENDSONG to be paired with artist Greg Land, who was clearly put on this Earth to draw Jean Grey and Emma Frost.

Let’s talk about VISION MACHINE, a comic which was not only distributed for free but also can be redistributed and “remixed” by anyone. What was the purpose of such a comic? Have you seen any interesting results yet?
Orlando Bagwell of the Ford Foundation approached me a couple of years ago to write a comic book that would help independent media makers imagine the social, political, and technological changes that will affect their field over the next fifty years. I came up with a big, crazy sci-fi story in which Sprout Computers introduces the iEye, a piece of personal technology with which you can instantly record, edit, add special effects to, and distribute anything you see. It’s digital utopia, a social and artistic revolution — until the other shoe drops. The more we talked about the project, the more clear it became that the story would be of interest to anyone with a video camera, smart phone or Facebook account, because questions of copyright, trademark, privacy, and surveillance are now affecting all of us, not just professional mediamakers.
Since the story dealt so closely with questions of copyright, trademark, and free culture, it only made sense that we put our money where our mouth was and release the book under a Creative Commons license that allowed for non-commercial copying, redistribution, and remixing. It’s been a pretty thrilling experience so far — a bunch of people have been sharing the book, uploading it to their own sites, and several filmmakers have told me they’re interested in making shorts that play out in the VISION MACHINE universe. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
We’re about to release the third and final issue of the series this week, actually. To download it, visit visionmachine.net tomorrow!

On the same subject, how can a creator gain from giving his work away for free?
It’s not a process that’s going to work for everyone or for every project, but many independent musicians, writers, filmmakers, and comics creators are giving away digital copies of their work online as a way to fuel sales of hard copies and other merchandise in real world venues. Or people might be banking on selling the film/television rights. Or maybe getting paid work for other projects based on the notoriety they receive from the freely distributed work. Some folks have had a great deal of success with variations of these models — the singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton comes to mind. Plenty of other people aren’t making anything yet. It’s new territory and everyone who’s entering it is learning as they go.
By the way, in the comics world, another creator who’s taking a stab at this is Vito Delsante, who’s released thirty original comic book characters under a Creative Commons license that allows anyone to tell stories with them. For more info on what Vito’s up to, check out his website.

You are the writer of the new SILVER SURFER mini series. Can you tell us what to expect from it?
Mind-blowing cosmic adventure, intimate human drama, and star-crossed romance. It’s a five issue miniseries starting in February, drawn by the brilliant Stephen Segovia, and featuring the Surfer as you’ve never seen him, the High Evolutionary as his terrifying antagonist, and an unexpected character I’ve written before in a huge supporting role. We’re doing something entirely new with the Surfer that nonetheless fits right into his continuity and history. It’s a big, scary, exhilarating undertaking and I can’t wait for you to see it.

I know you have been a Silver Surfer fan yourself. What has drawn you to the character as a reader?
The Silver Surfer might be the purest example of what makes Marvel great — combining massive, cosmic genre hijinks with utterly relatable emotional stories. I was blown away as a kid by the insane visual design and sci fi mythology of the Surfer and Galactus. But I was hooked by the emotional story — the sacrifice and heroism and tragedy of Norrin Radd, the man beneath that shimmering silver sheen.
For more about why I love the Surfer, check out my website for periodic blog postings on the theme: “The Surfer is Awesome.”

Do you have any other plans for the immediate future?
VISION MACHINE #3 is coming tomorrow — check out visionmachine.net for more! And in the next few months, I’ll be revealing at least three new comics-related projects, at least one of which involves my INCREDIBLE HERCULES co-writer Fred Van Lente. More news as always at my website and twitter feed.