2010.03.17 - "Hercules: Fall of an Avenger"

"Hercules: Fall of an Avenger" #1, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with art by Ariel Olivetti, hits comic book stores on March 17.

War Rocket Ajax podcast features Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente

War Rocket Ajax, aka The Greatest Comic Book and Pop Culture Podcast in the World, features "Incredible Hercules" co-writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente!

Click here to listen to Pak and Van Lente talk and talk and talk with Sims and Euge!

Awesome pix of fans dressed as Amadeus Cho and Delphyne

Via @bikinikrill come awesome photos of fans dressed up as Amadeus Cho and Delphyne, characters from Greg Pak's and Fred Van Lente's "Incredible Hercules" series. Click on the images below to enlarge. Enjoy!

"Prince of Power" artist Reilly Brown posts Amadeus Cho redesign images

The supercool Reilly Brown has posted all of his sketches along with commentary for his redesign of Amadeus Cho for the upcoming "Heroic Age: Prince of Power" miniseries. Check it out here, here, and here.

Marvel releases solicits for "Incredible Hulk" #609 and "Heroic Age: Prince of Power" #1

Marvel.com has posted the solicitations and cover art for the May Hulk-family books -- including "Incredible Hulk" #609, written by Greg Pak, and "Heroic Age: Prince of Power" #1, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. Here's the text:

HEROIC AGE: PRINCE OF POWER #1

Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Art by REILLY BROWN
Issue #1 Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
THE HEROIC AGE IS HERE
The Lion of Olympus has fallen. And as the Heroic Age dawns, the Golden Mace of Hercules passes to a new Prince of Power...who just happens to be Herc's best friend, Korean-American kid genius, Amadeus Cho. But when Amadeus finally reveals what he plans to do with his new power, the heavens themselves may shatter as Marvel's mightiest pantheons are shaken to the core! And wait a minute...what's THOR doing on the cover of this book? Fan fave writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and beloved "Thorcules" artist Reilly Brown bring the thunder with the next essential chapter in the mind-blowing, heart-wrenching, and gut-busting epic that is the "INCREDIBLE HERCULES" experience!
Rated T …$3.99

INCREDIBLE HULK #609
Written by GREG PAK
Art by PAUL PELLETIER
WORLD WAR HULKS CONTINUES!
"Planet Hulk" was big. "World War Hulk" was bigger. Now with "World War Hulks," the Marvel Universe explodes with the biggest emotional story ever to hit Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk! Following the mindbending twist ending of "Fall of the Hulks," everything Bruce Banner knows has been turned upside-down -- and everything he's ever desired may be just a heartbeat away. Written by Greg Pak (PLANET HULK, WORLD WAR HULK) and drawn by Paul Pelletier (WAR OF KINGS, FALL OF THE HULKS: ALPHA), don't miss the insane action and non-stop revelations as Skaar, Son of Hulk, enters his most brutal battle, Bruce Banner faces his greatest temptation, and the secret identity of a certain scarlet smasher is finally revealed!
Rated A …$3.99

2010.02.24 - "Incredible Hercules: Sacred Invasion" harcover

Ask your local comic shop to order you the "Incredible Hercules: Sacred Invasion" hardcover, which contains ten giant issues of "Incredible Hercules" goodness, including the "Secret Invasion" and "Love and War" storylines. Written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Rafa Sandoval, Clayton Henry, and Salva Espin.

2010.02.17 - "Incredible Hercules" #141

The finale of "Assault on New Olympus" from writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and penciller Rodney Buchemi!

"Incredible Hulk" #607 and "Incredible Hercules" #141 previews!

Comic Book Resources has posted previews of "Incredible Hulk" #607, written by Greg Pak with pencils by Paul Pelletier, and "Incredible Hercules" #141, written by Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by Rodney Buchemi.

Click here to check out "Incredible Hulk" #607, the second installment of the series' "Fall of the Hulks" tie-in.

Click here for the "Incredible Hercules" #141 preview, the massive climax to the "Assault on New Olympus" storyline!

Both books hit comic book stores on February 17.

(Oh, and both books feature Amadeus Cho, who's on Twitter now, if you didn't hear already.)

Amadeus Cho headlines "Heroic Age: Prince of Power" in May

Today Marvel announced that the "Incredible Hercules" saga would continue in May 2010 via the "Heroic Age: Prince of Power" miniseries, starring Amadeus Cho, Herc's best friend and the Marvel Universe's most incorrigible teen genius.

The mini will be co-written by "Incredible Hercules" regulars Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with pencils by beloved "Thorcules" artist Reilly Brown. A number of websites have featured interviews with the creators -- here are a few excerpts:

Marvel:

"Keep your eyes open for Amadeus' big-brained colleague Bruce Banner and a certain long haired individual of the Norse persuasion whose name starts with a T and ends with a-oh, heck, he's on the cover," Pak gives up. "We're talking about Thor! The Odinson plays a massive role throughout this storyline. An extra bonus is that [artist] Reilly Brown, who knocked the 'Replacement Thor' storyline out of the park, is back on board for PRINCE OF POWER.' He draws an incredible Thor-and his upgrade of Amadeus's look is swoon-worthy."

Pak: Fred and I have made an extra special effort to make Prince of Power new-reader-friendly. Yes, we're paying off some major things we set up earlier in the series and launching an insane new era in the "Incredible Hercules" saga (just wait 'til you see how this baby ends!). But if you've been tempted to check the book out, this is a great place to start.

Van Lente: Remember, kids: If you read one title about a wiseass teen genius billionaire myth-slayer this year, let it be PRINCE OF POWER.

"At certain points during our ongoing storyline, we've had stories that are just larks. Like the 'Replacement Thor' storyline in 'Incredible Hercules' where Herc dressed up as Thor and Thor dressed up as Herc and mayhem ensued. Storylines like that are a little bit more wacky fun, even though they're still building our characters," Pak continued. "And at other times we've had storylines where the stakes seem higher and the feel is a bit more epic. Our 'Secret Invasion' tie in was a storyline like that, and I think we're entering that kind of a phase again. So the emotions and the stakes are sky high. At the same time, we are continuing the vibe and feel that we've had in our stories all throughout."

IGN Comics: Is there anything else you'd like to add about Prince of Power at this point?

Brown: There are going to be notable appearances by other major Marvel heroes, like Banner and especially Thor, who I'm excited to work with. There's also going to be a whole lot of villains and classical monsters who are going to need to be designed/redesigned, which is something I always love doing. This is going to be a fun book to work on, and I think readers will really enjoy it.

Van Lente: You can't have a great hero without being complemented by a great villain. In this case we have a couple: Amadeus starts out fighting a classic Marvel foe that actually battled Hercules when he was with the Champions of Los Angeles, so he gets to prove his mettle that way.

Then also in #1 Cho encounters his arch-nemesis, and befitting the book's pedigree he's an Incredible Hulk villain we haven't seen since Peter David and Dale Keown/Gary Frank's classic run back in the 1990s, when he was supposedly killed... But has been known to run around with pantheons, or should I say Pantheon...

Greg, stop me if you think I'm being too subtle.

Pak: They'll never figure this one out.

Greg Pak is AngryAsianMan.com's Angry Reader of the Week

AngryAsianMan.com has featured Greg Pak as its Angry Reader of the Week! Here's an excerpt:

I'm in the business of escapist entertainment. But I'd argue that the greatest escapist literature doesn't just let us avoid our problems; it gives us a safe space to explore new ways to deal with our real world challenges. One of the reasons I've been so drawn to the Hulk, for example, is that he's insanely fun because we can all vicariously enjoy his anger and smashing. But what makes him a truly great character is that his stories almost always explore the price of all that anger and smashing. There's a process of emotional discovery in those stories that's incredibly attractive to me as a reader and a writer.