This January, Dynamite is adding to its Disney lineup with Lilo & Stitch. This new adventure is from writer Greg Pak and artist Giulia Giacomino and features a new story about evil aliens hunting the blue-furred fan-favorite character.
The Beat chatted with Pak ahead of the release.
Deanna Destito: What drew you to working on Lilo & Stitch?
Greg Pak: I just loved the movie when it first came out; it’s still probably my favorite Disney movie of the modern era. On an aesthetic level, that hand-drawn animation and the watercolor-style backgrounds are just absolutely gorgeous. And the combination of big sci-fi hijinks, underrepresented, underdog heroes, and a deeply compelling emotional story hits all of my buttons. It’s a huge pleasure and privilege to have the chance to add to the stories of these characters and their world.
Destito: Where does this story pick up for our characters?
Pak: Pretty much right after the events of the original movie. We don’t specify an exact date, so there could be events that happen between the movie and our comics, but if you’ve watched the movie and picked up issue one of the comics, you won’t miss a beat!
Destito: The movie was all about family and found family. Does that theme continue and what else can readers look forward to?
Pak: Absolutely — that feels like the central theme for these characters, and we’re leaning into it! During the course of our story, Stitch gets separated from Lilo and ends up on a worldwide journey dodging his pursuers while trying to stay away from Lilo to keep her safe. So of course that gives us the chance to dig into all those essential themes and emotional journeys.
Destito: How has it been working with the creative team?
Pak: We’re still in the early days, but artist Giulia Giacomino is absolutely amazing. Just gorgeous, clean, fluid lines filled with so much life and character. Tremendous.
Destito: Who is your favorite character?
Pak: Aw, how can you ask me to pick? Lilo and Stitch are just a fantastic pair of characters. And I think what really makes them compelling are their flaws, which are enormous and hilarious but also really emotionally affecting as we see them struggle with their circumstances and the consequences of their actions. I’ve spent a big chunk of my career writing so-called monsters, so I’m really drawn to characters with big flaws, characters who make mistakes, characters who really struggle, and characters who feel like outsiders and underdogs. So I love ’em both!
But I’ll also put in a plug for a new character — one of our robot antagonists, who’s surprised me in some very fun ways as I’ve been working on the scripts. I’ll say no more, but I hope you dig!
