Peter David

Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956) is an American writer, best known for his work in comic books and Star Trek novels. David often jokingly describes his occupation as "writer of stuff".

Related Topics:
September 23 - 1956 - American - Writer - Comic book - Star Trek - Novel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David is Jewish (a fact he frequently references in his monthly column, "But I Digress" for the comics industry periodical Comics Buyer's Guide) and lives in New York.

Related Topics:
Jew - Comics Buyer's Guide - New York

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the early 1980s he worked for Marvel Comics in their sales department under Carol Kalish. While there, he submitted a storyline for The Spectacular Spider-Man entitled "The Death of Jean DeWolff". The story was published, illustrated by Rich Buckler, and ran as issues #107-110. The story focused on the death of a supporting character in the Spider-Man continuity and the characters' reactions to it. The story was acclaimed, both critically and popularly, and David left his sales job and became the regular writer of The Spectacular Spider-Man for a time. David credits Kalish for influencing him personally and for pushing him into a writing career, writing a moving eulogy to his former boss in "But I Digress" after her sudden death from heart failure in 1991.

Related Topics:
1980s - Marvel Comics - Carol Kalish - The Spectacular Spider-Man - The Death of Jean DeWolff - Rich Buckler - Spider-Man - Continuity

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soon after his run on The Spectacular Spider-Man, he began a lengthy run writing The Incredible Hulk, reviving interest in the flagging title and receiving a great deal of critical praise for his efforts. Many fans consider David's work on The Hulk to be the definitive interpretation of the character; David's reoccurring themes of Bruce Banner having to deal with psychological abuse by his tyrannical father (a theme first introduced by writer Bill Mantlo), his periodic changes between the 'Green' hulk (being more rageful) and the 'Gray' hulk (more cerebral) and of being a journeyman hero (trying to find a new home after leaving The Avengers) gave The Hulk much more emotional depth than had been seen before. (The notion of parental abuse was again seen in screenwriter Michael France's script of Ang Lee's theatrical adaptation of the character, Hulk).

Related Topics:
The Spectacular Spider-Man - The Incredible Hulk - Bill Mantlo - Michael France - Ang Lee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, on one more than one occasion, editorial problems or corporate pressure to modify or re-script his plotlines have forced David to leave books, particularly his decision to leave Marvel's X-Factor, due to constantly having to constrain his plots to accommodate crossover events planned around it and other "mutant" titles (such as X-Men, X-Force, etc). When David abruptly left The Incredible Hulk due to editorial pressures, some of the plot points of the character that David established were reversed by later creative teams. While such creative-editorial conflict is a commonplace occurance in comics, David's departures tend to get more notoriety and press within the comic community, in that the fact that his books often become fan favorites.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also as such, David's personality and high viability in the comics profession has led to creative or personal differences with some of his comic peers, in particular a long-lived feud with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane through much of the 90's as the comic book imprint McFarlane's co-founded, Image Comics, came into prominence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David is noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its deft mingling of real world issues with humor and references to popular culture.

Related Topics:
Humor - Popular culture

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

__NOTOC__

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~