"Amadeus Cho is probably the strongest character in Marvel’s stable of properties today..."
-- EyeOnComics.com
A Marvel Comics character created by Greg Pak for a special anthology issue of "Amazing Fantasy" #15, Amadeus Cho was featured in "Incredible Hulk" #100 and #106 to #111 and is now the co-star of "Incredible Hercules."
How great is Amadeus Cho? Greg Pak has handled every aspect of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk brilliantly, but his elevation of Amadeus Cho has been a great bonus.
Mastermind Excello is a wonderful character. Not only is he defined by his intellect, but he’s a youthful rebel. ... [Greg] Pak’s script not only paints him as a genius, but as something of an innocent whose perspective manages to cut through politics and shades of grey. If Marvel doesn’t direct Pak to do more with this wonderful character, and soon, it’s wasting some great potential.
The shining star of this issue is Greg Pak's "Mastermind Excello," featuring a genius teen's efforts to live life on the lam, out of the hands of those who would try to control him and put his brain to nefarious use. Pak cleverly compares this being of pure brains to a being of pure brawn, but despite being at opposite ends of the power spectrum, they have a lot in common. Miyazawa's art is a great choice for the property, as the artist captures the main character's youth and almost mischievous nature quite well. More importantly, he also manages to turn his wholly non-visual powers into a dazzling display (no doubt thanks to some direction from the writer).
... the story and art place this in that rare category, a genuine middle ground between US comics and manga. Good work from Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa, and one I’d like to see again.
An excerpt:Pak and Van Lente keep the plot moving at light speed and pepper the ish with plenty of light-hearted moments, which make the action even splashier when the danger quotient rises. Marvel might want to consider a new adjective...
"Incredible Hercules" #118, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Rafa Sandoval, hits comic book stores today -- and it's already scored a rave review from ComicsBulletin.com! Here's an excerpt:Pak and Van Lente continue to do...
Marvel has announced that "Incredible Hercules" #117, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Rafa Sandoval, has sold out at the distributor level. The book will go to a second printing with a variant cover featuring...
From Chris's Invincible Super-Blog:In this comic, a Japanese god of evil who speaks only in Haiku fights a polar bear. So really, there’s no possible way that this isn’t the best comic book of the week. Maybe the year.Click here...
Alex, Justin, and Pete all sing the praises of "Incredible Hercules" #117 in their latest batch of Stack reviews. Check the video out here. The review begins around the 4:20 mark. "Incredible Hercules" #117 was written by Greg Pak and...
IGN continues to rave about "Incredible Hercules," written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and now with pencils by Rafa Sandoval. Here's an excerpt from the review of #116:Incredible Hercules seems to be getting really formulaic. That formula being...
J. Caleb Mozzocco has declared "Incredible Hercules" his "favorite Marvel comic" in Newsarama's Best Shots review column. Here's an excerpt from his review of "Incredible Hercules" #115:If it were just big, action-packed, melodramatic, funny fun The Incredible Hercules would still...
The raves keep on coming for "Incredible Hercules" #115, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Khoi Pham. Here's the latest from PopCultureShock.com:It’s great that Marvel was able to take the momentum Hercules gathered from Civil...
Nick Marino drops four stars on "Incredible Hercules" #115 in his review at ComicsNewsI.com. Here's an excerpt:How can you develop this character that’s been explored so thoroughly and deeply that every facet of his fictional history has been picked apart...
Paul Brian McCoy at ComicsBulletin.com loves "Incredible Hercules" #115. Here's an excerpt from his advance review:... let me just say that the relationship between Herc and Amadeus, particularly with regards to the notions of anger, revenge, justice, and responsibility, make...
Comixtreme continues to love "Incredible Hercules" -- here's an excerpt from Adam Chapman's review of issue #114:Two years ago, the thought of a high-profile book starring Amadeus Cho and Hercules would not even have been a consideration, not even enough...
Corey Henson has written a rave review of "Incredible Hercules" #114 for Newsarama's Best Shots. An excerpt:Much like Walt Simonson's classic run on The Mighty Thor in the 80s, writers Van Lente and Greg Pak are mixing Hercules's mythological history...
IGN calls it a "miracle book." the-isb.com says, "I could read this stuff all day." WizardUniverse.com writes, "I’m absolutely loving how this book is finally doing justice to the son of Zeus!" Written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente...
"Incredible Hercules" #114, which hits comic book stores Wednesday, February 20, has scored a rave review from Blake M. Petit at Comixtreme.com. An excerpt:As I’ve come to expect from Greg Pak, this was a highly entertaining, truly exciting issue. He...
In his "2007 in Review" column at ComicCritique, Adam McGovern has named Greg Pak the Writer of the Year -- and has some very nice things to say about "Hulk" and "Hercules" editor Mark Paniccia. Here's the blurb:Pak was the...
An excerpt:That Greg Pak, along with co-writer Fred van Lente, has managed to not only maintain my interest in a storyline starring Hercules but mesmerize me with it says volumes about the strength of his writing.... This is everything one...
... this time from Blake Petit, writing for Comixtreme.com. The money quote:... this second issue of Hercules’ story is even stronger than the first, and it’s rapidly on its way to becoming one of the best comics Marvel is publishing.Click...
Writing for ComicsNewsi.com, Nick Marino has posted a rave review of "Incredible Hercules" #113. Here's the money quote:The plot, dialogue, and art are merging together to tell what may go down in history as the definitive Hercules comic book story.Click...
Luke Handley and Paul Brian McCoy call "Incredible Hercules" "one of the best books Marvel is putting out at the moment" in their rave advance review of issue #113 at ComicsBulletin.com. Here's the quote in context:...this is well worth the...
Luke Handley on "Incredible Hercules":... this could prove to be a welcome and unexpected breath of fresh air, especially given the presence of Amadeus Cho, who’s turning out to be one of the best new characters to come out of...
Newsarama has posted a review of "Incredible Hulk" #112 from J. Caleb Mozzocco. The money quote:I found this issue enormously satisfying, and am really looking forward to the next one.Click here to read the full review. "Incredible Hulk" #112 was...
Comixtreme.com has posted another four star review of "Incredible Hulk" #112, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Khoi Pham. An excerpt:In the last couple years, Hercules has had a renaissance, as he was extremely well...
"Incredible Hulk" #112, the first issue of the "Incredible Hercules" storyline, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Khoi Pham, has gotten a rave from Nick Budd at ComicPants.com. An excerpt:Pretty close to being perfect. Yeah,...
Graeme McMillan at the Savage Critics nods approvingly at "Incredible Hulk" #111, written by Greg Pak and Jeff Parker and pencilled by Leonard Kirk. An excerpt:It's a good sign, too, that the new/old book will be worth checking out, as...
Full of praise for Amadeus Cho, Hannibal Tabu has added "Incredible Hulk" #110 to his Buy Pile at ComicBookResources.com. Here's an excerpt:Amadeus Cho seems beyond brilliant, tossing out bon mots and abstract geometry with equal ease (to the new Scorpion:...
An excerpt:How great is Amadeus Cho? Greg Pak has handled every aspect of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk brilliantly, but his elevation of Amadeus Cho has been a great bonus.Click here for the full review....
Adam Chapman has give "Incredible Hulk" #109 a four star rating. An excerpt:... the nicest surprise, is how Pak has handled the Renegades. Angel hasn't had such a great appearance in a long time, and Hercules once again gets some...
"Incredible Hulk" #107, written by Greg Pak with pencils by Gary Frank, has nabbed two "Must Read" ratings from the review crew at IGN. The book continues the tale of boy genius Amadeus Cho's quest to assemble a team of...
WizardUniverse.com has named "Incredible Hulk" #106 the "Book of the Week." Written by Greg Pak with pencils by Gary Frank, "Incredible Hulk" #106 features the first salvo of the summer comics event "World War Hulk" -- and the return of...
"It’s an important part of the overall tapestry, but reads well if you’re just arriving. [writer Greg] Pak continues to do a great job, and I’m very happy with the involvement of [penciler Gary] Frank. I know that we have a lot of epic to go, but if it all maintains the consistency and readability of these early chapters, we’ll be looking at one of the all-time definitive Hulk stories." -- Newsarama
"... the Mastermind Excello story he did with the incredibly talented Takeshi Miyazawa Amazing Fantasy #15 (reprinted for your convenience in this week’s World War Hulk Prologue) was the first thing of [writer Greg] Pak’s that I read and absolutely loved, so the idea that Amadeus Cho was going to be a huge part of the Hulk’s return to Earth and subsequent six-month non-stop beat-down already had me excited. Imagine my surprise, then, when the execution of the first part was even better than I’d imagined." -- Chris's Invincible Super-Blog
"Pak and Frank kick off the newest crossover in the mighty Marvel style. After only one issue, 'World War Hulk' is already a better Marvel comic than Civil War ever hoped to be." -- PopSyndicate.com
Don MacPherson particularly liked the backup story featuring Amadeus Cho, aka Mastermind Excello. Here's an excerpt from the review:Mastermind Excello is a wonderful character. Not only is he defined by his intellect, but he’s a youthful rebel. ... [Greg] Pak’s...
"Mastermind Excello is well done, and I particularly like the little caption-arrows pointing out important, and not so important, elements in the panels, a nice little bit of play with the comics medium." --SilverBulletComics.com
"... the story and art place this in that rare category, a genuine middle ground between US comics and manga. Good work from Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa, and one I�'d like to see again." --ShinyShelf.com
"Pak's Mastermind Excello is the longest of the bunch, and probably the strongest.� It's an interesting tale of the 7th smartest kid in the world trying to survive.� There's a highly coincidential cameo, but it's all in good fun, and makes for an entertaining scene." -- FanBoyReview
Don MacPherson of TheFourthRail.com has reviewed "Amazing Fantasy" #15, the anthology comic book featuring stories from six Marvel writers. Here's what he has to say about "Mastermind Excello," written by Greg Pak:The shining star of this issue is Greg Pak's...
Distinctions
In his "2007 in Review" column at ComicCritique, Adam McGovern has named Greg Pak the Writer of the Year -- and has some very nice things to say about "Hulk" and "Hercules" editor Mark Paniccia. Here's the blurb:
Pak was the one in 2007 to pick up the Grant Morrison banner and prove that crossovers can be art. In the main World War Hulk mini the relentless momentum of Pak’s narrative and the punishing physicality of John Romita Jr.’s bravura visuals conveyed anxieties run amok and real-life war-weariness raised to a hysterical pitch. Pak’s regular Incredible Hulk book was an even more fascinating narrative of the War’s underground factions and captive bystanders, conveying the human cost and psychic shockwaves of conflicts real and fantastic like few other comics of our war-torn decade. The other “fronts” in tie-in titles were almost all as interesting — especially the deranged displaced-persons/profiteer melodrama in Zeb Wells’ Heroes for Hire — and the ramifying followup books shaded the narrative across the genre spectrum, from the sober and humane postwar elegy of Pak’s Aftersmash one-shot to the inventive suspense and moral ambiguity of his lost-platoon Warbound mini to the offbeat insurrection comedy (!) of the Incredible Herc ongoing (!!), an on-the-road (and on-the-run) adventure with Hercules and Amadeus Cho alone against SHIELD in a battle where what’s most at risk is heroism itself (this last one a real-life dream-teamup between Pak and rising auteur Fred Van Lente as co-writer). Every precinct of what I think of as the Paniccia Comics Group — that most original and oddball corner of Marvel’s overall cosmos, under editor Mark Paniccia’s wise dominion — gave its all for the kind of epic that will hopefully become a trend; call it event-garde.