Your one-stop shop for Real World News that may or may not relate in some way to a Greg Pak comic book or film project.
Help get Yunah Hong's Anna May Wong documentary on public television!
By Greg Pak
My friend Yunah Hong is two-thirds of the way towards funding the film footage licensing fees necessary to distribute her documentary about Anna May Wong. Check out her Kickstarter pitch below, and feel free to donate if you see fit! Just seven days left!
Read about Bill Mantlo's tragedy; donate to his ongoing care
By Greg Pak
LifeHealthPro's Bill Coffin has written a tremendously moving article about the great comic book writer Bill Mantlo, who was struck by a hit-and-run driver in 1992 and suffered traumatic brain injury. Please, go read the article, then click the button below to send your donation to Bill's brother Mike for Bill's ongoing care.
Bill Mantlo has had a huge influence on me as a writer and reader. His "Micronauts" stories blew my mind as a kid and his "Incredible Hulk" run laid the groundwork for the themes I explored my five-and-a-half year run with the character. In the afterward to "Incredible Hulk" #635, I dedicated my run to Mantlo, and a couple of months ago devoted my Newsarama column to singing his praises and letting folks know how to donate to his ongoing care.
Thank you so much, Bill Coffin and LifeHealthPro, for shining a light on someone who brought so much joy to so many people.
And here's a note from Bill's brother Mike, reprinted from that Newsarama column:
First off, I send out a big THANK YOU to everyone that has helped support Bill over these past 19 years (!). Every donation, no matter how big or small, and every card or letter is greatly appreciated. Bill's condition remains the same (he suffers severe cognitive impairments, anger, and depression), and these factors keep him very much isolated from "the outside world." Aside from my visits, and the kindness of my beautiful wife and some of the attendants at the nursing home/rehabilitation facility he resides in, his contact with other human beings is virtually non-existent. But the support and encouragement of fans, and industry professionals like yourself, helps to bring a little ray of sunlight into his dark and dreary days. When I (or my wife) engage Bill in conversation, his spirit emerges and is as strong and pure as it ever was! So, once again, I can't thank ALL of you enough!! I strongly believe in the power of practicing random acts of kindness, and with that belief I hope that ALL of your kindnesses will be returned to you many, many times over!
Cards, letters or donations to Bill Mantlo can be sent to:
Mike Mantlo
26364 East Pintail Road
Long Neck, DE 19966
Please make out any checks to “Michael Mantlo” — Bill’s legal guardian.
Donate $20 to Japan relief charity of your choice, get "Vision Machine" trade!
UPDATE 4/1/11 4:15 PM: The tally is now $4011 for Japanese relief. I'll keep sending "Vision Machine" trades for a while yet, so keep on donating!
UPDATE: Final Japan relief report: the original goal was $1000. We raised $3142. You are all amazing. I'm still giving out free trades to folks who donate, so keep it coming!
UPDATE: Friday, 10:31 am. We just hit $1786. Love you guys. New goal: $2500 by midnight. I DON'T THINK YOU CAN DO IT! PROVE ME WRONG!
UPDATE 5: Friday, 1 am - and we've hit $1502! New goal - $1750 by the end of Friday!
UPDATE 4: It's Thursday night and you've blown way past the $1250 goal -- we're up to $1417! Let's make a new goal of $1500 by the end of Friday!
UPDATE 3: You guys are amazing. We hit $1037 Thursday morning. New goal: $1250 by the end of Friday!
UPDATE 2: Up to $827!
UPDATE 1: We've raised $707 so far -- let's see if we can hit $1000 by the end of Friday!
After a few days of trying to figure out how to help raise some dollars for Japan, I've come up with what I hope is a simple plan. Here's how it works:
Donate $20 to any charity doing relief work in Japan.
Then send an email with your US mailing address to japan at pakbuzz dot com. In your email, tell me what charity you donated to and confirm that you are 18 or over. (And sorry for limiting it to US mailing addresses -- little to complicated for me to mail large numbers of packages overseas right now.)
Support Pakistan flood relief by buying signed Greg Pak comics!
By Greg Pak
According to the Daily Herald, the UN says the Pakistan flood is the largest humanitarian crisis ever.
Now you can help support Pakistan flood relief -- and get some signed comics! I'm auctioning off twenty grab bags of signed comics via eBay's Giving Works program for just $29.99 a pop. All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders for Pakistan flood relief. You get five comics in each grab bag.
Donate to Pakistan flood relief, get free signed comic book
By Greg Pak
The Pakistan floods have killed thousands and put millions in danger. According to UNICEF, 3.5 million kids are in desperate need in Pakistan. Meanwhile, donations for Pakistan flood relief have totaled less than a third of what was raised for Haiti - for a crisis with ten times as many victims.
It's incredibly easy to help. If you have a cellphone, just text "FLOODS" to 864233 to donate $10. The money goes to UNICEF.
As an added incentive, once you've donated, just email pakistanhelp@pakbuzz.com with your mailing address and I'll send you a free signed comic book. (You must be 18 or over and I can only ship to the US.)
"Incredible Hercules" artist Reilly Brown auctions original art for Haiti
The fantastic Reilly Brown, fan favorite penciller of the "Incredible Thorcules" storyline that ran in "Incredible Hercules" #132, 134, and 136, is auctioning off some original art as part of the Heroes4Haiti initiative to benefit the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
The auctions include the first appearance of Thorcules (Herc dressed as Thor, natch) from "Incredible Hercules" #132 and page 20 from "Cable & Deadpool" #50.
The bundle includes every "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" issue, the "1602: New World" mini, all of Pak's "Skaar: Son of Hulk" comics, a few "Incredible Hercules" issues that feature the Hulk, and Pak's current run on "Incredible Hulk" up to issue #606. Here's the big list:
Every Hulk-related comic book ever written by "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" writer Greg Pak -- signed, plus extras!
"1602: New World" #1-5 - featuring the 1602 Banner and Hulk
"Amazing Fantasy" v2 #15 - First appearance of Amadeus Cho
"Incredible Hulk" #92-105 and "Giant Size Hulk" #1 - the "Planet Hulk" epic
"Planet Hulk Gladiator Guidebook"
"World War Hulk" #1-5
"Incredible Hulk" #106-111 - tie-ins to "World War Hulk"
"World War Hulk: Aftersmash"
"What If Planet Hulk"
"Marvel Spotlight: World War Hulk"
"World War Hulk: Gamma Files"
"Warbound" #1-5
"Incredible Hulk" #112, "Incredible Hercules" #126, and "Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide" - "Incredible Hercules" issues involving the Hulk
"Skaar: Son of Hulk" #1-12
"Skaar: Son of Hulk: Savage World of Sakaar"
"Hulk Family: Green Genes" #1
"Planet Skaar Prologue" #1
"Incredible Hulk" #601-606 - Pak's current "Incredible Hulk" run, including the first installment of the "Fall of the Hulks" story
"Dark Reign: The List: The Hulk" #1
Extras include:
Black Bolt variant covers for "World War Hulk" #1
Sketch variant cover for "World War Hulk" #3
Frank 3rd printing variant for "Incredible Hulk" #106
Frank 2nd printing variant for "Incredible Hulk" #107
Garney 2nd printing variant for "Skaar" #1
McGuinness Hulk variant cover for "Skaar" #12
Heroes4Haiti auction: Last hour to bid on Greg Pak's "Planet Hulk" concept art
By Greg Pak
We're in the home stretch of my first Heroes4Haiti benefit auction, and you now have just over an hour to bid on original concept art for "Planet Hulk."
The special election to fill Edward Kennedy's Senate seat is down to the wire, and there's still time to vote. So if you're registered to vote in Massachusetts, please drop this blog and get to the polls!
All funds received will go to Doctors Without Borders via the eBay charity system.
Check out the auctions from other creators at Heroes4Haiti.com -- and absolutely feel free to donate directly to Doctors Without Borders if you're so inclined by clicking the image below.
Heroes4Haiti auction: Greg Pak sells "Planet Hulk" concept art to benefit Doctors Without Borders
By Greg Pak
Heroes4Haiti is an initiative organized by Mike Cavallaro to encourage comic book creators to sell original art, services, or books via eBay's charity tools to benefit Haiti relief.
I'm kicking in with original character design concept art that I created during the "Planet Hulk" run. There are two pieces of art being sold together. The featured characters are Miek and his "Native King" daddy and the "Green King" Hulk. These images were published in the collected edition of "Planet Hulk" -- here's your chance to own the originals! All funds received will go to Doctors Without Borders via the eBay charity system.
Heroes 4 Haiti encourages comic book creators to use eBay to raise relief money
By Greg Pak
Heidi MacDonald has just passed on word about Heroes 4 Haiti, a website organized by artist Mike Cavallaro with a plan for how comic book creators can help raise money for Haiti relief. The idea is for individual creators to create their own eBay auctions using the eBay charity tools to sell art or books. The proceeds will then go directly to Haiti relief. Creators can then post links to their auctions at the Heroes 4 Haiti site.
Sounds like a great idea and I'll try to contribute shortly.
Real World News: Donate to Haiti relief via text messages
By Greg Pak
If you have a cell phone, text messaging capabilities, and five or ten bucks to spare, right now is the time to donate towards relief for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. It's incredibly easy. From Wyclef Jean's website:
... you can use your cell phone to text “Yele†to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill)...
The public can also help by texting “Haiti†to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
Other great places to donate include Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF. For more suggestions, check out the lists at Hullabaloo, CNN, and MSNBC. Finally, take care to avoid the scammers, who will soon be out in force with fake websites and emails -- but please don't let that stop you from donating to any of the legitimate relief efforts above or by clicking on the Doctors Without Borders image below.
My feature film "Robot Stories" opens with a story called "My Robot Baby," in which Tamlyn Tomita and James Saito have to take care of a robot baby before they're allowed to adopt a real one. The world might be catching up. Via Designboom:
yotaro is an interactive robot that portrays a variety of facial expressions, movements and physiological characteristics all natural to babies. the device reacts to the user through a sophisticated emotion-control system that watches and senses what they are doing and provides an accompanying reaction. that baby can do a variety of things that make it much more sophisticated than the standard baby training dolls, like crying real tears on its 2-d face.
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UPDATE 4/1/11 4:15 PM: The tally is now $4011 for Japanese relief. I'll keep sending "Vision Machine" trades for a while yet, so keep on donating!
