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". David is noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real world issues with humor and references to popular culture. He also uses metafiction frequently, usually to humorous effect, as in his work on the comic book Young Justice. David is Jewish, and lives in Long Island, New York.
Comic book work
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 in issues #107-110 of that title. The story focused on the death of the eponymous 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 an aneurysm in 1991.
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 recurring themes of Bruce Banner's struggle to deal with the childhood abuse he suffered by his father (a theme first introduced by writer Bill Mantlo), his periodic changes between the more rageful and less intelligent Green hulk and the more streetwise, cerebral Gray hulk, and of being a journeyman hero (trying to find a new home after leaving The Avengers) gave The Hulk what many felt was 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). David’s other Marvel Comics work include runs on Wolverine, the New Universe series Merc and Justice, a run on the original X-Factor, the futuristic series Spider-Man 2099, about a man in the year 2099 who takes up the mantle of Spider-Man (the title character of which David co-created), and the 2000 and 2002 versions of Captain Marvel.
At DC Comics David wrote a 7-issue, 1990 miniseries, The Atlantis Chronicles, about the history of Aquaman's home of Atlantis, which David has referred to as among the written works of which he is most proud. He would later write a 1996 Aquaman miniseries subtitled Time and Tide, which would lead to a relaunched monthly Aquaman series, the first 46 issues of which he would write from 1994 - 1998. His run on Aquaman gained notoriety, for in the book's second issue, Aquaman lost a hand, which was then replaced with a hooked spear, a feature of the character that endured for the duration of David's run on the book. He also wrote the Star Trek comic book for DC from 1988 - 1991, when that company held the licensing rights to the property. David's run on that title was also a fan favorite, again highlighting his use of humor, stories with strong ties to Trek's existing continunity. David also enjoyed considerable runs on Supergirl and Young Justice, the latter eventually being cancelled so that DC could use that book's characters in a relaunched Teen Titans monthly that would coincide with the debut of a new animated television series based on that team.
David's work for Dark Horse Comics has included the teen spy adventure, Spy Boy.
Other comics series David has worked on include his creator-owned Soulsearchers and Company, which is published by Claypool Comics, and the Epic Comics title Sachs and Violens, with art by George Pérez, which is also creator-owned. David also took over Dreadstar during its First Comics run after Jim Starlin left the title.
In 2003, David began writing his newest creator-owned comic, Fallen Angel, for DC Comics. DC cancelled the title after 20 issues, but David re-started the title at IDW Publishing at the end of 2005.
Also for IDW Publishing, David wrote a Spike: Old Times one-shot and the Spike vs. Dracula mini-series, both based on the character from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel television shows.
Also in 2005, David briefly returned to Incredible Hulk, though he left after only several issues because of his workload. He also started a new series, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, beginning with a 12-part crossover storyline called "The Other," which, along with J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man, and Reginald Hudlin's run on Marvel Knights Spider-Man, depicted the webslinger as he discovered he was dying, lost an eye during a traumatic fight with Morlun, underwent a crysalis and emerged with new abilities, and new insights into his powers. As tends to be the case when fundamental changes are introduced to long-standing classic comics characters, the storyline caused some controversey among readers for its introduction of retractable stingers in Spider-Man's arms, and the establishment of a "totem" from which his powers are derived.
David also wrote a MadroX miniseries that year, whose success led to a relaunch of a monthly X-Factor by David. This was a revamped version of the title starring both Madrox and other members of the former X-Factor title that David had written in the early 90's, now working as investigators in a detective agency of that name.
On February 11, 2006, David announced at the WonderCon convention in California in that he had signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics. Fallen Angel, Soulsearchers and Company and David's Spike miniseries were "grandfathered" into the contract, so as to not be affected by it. [1] The first new project undertaken by David after entering into the contract, which he announced on April 5, 2006, was scripting the comic book spinoff of Stephen King's The Dark Tower novels, which would be illustrated by Jae Lee. [2]
Novels
David has published dozens of novels, many of which have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. His Star Trek novels are among those for which he is best known, including Q-in-Law, I, Q, Vendetta, Q-Squared, and Imzadi, one of the best-selling Star Trek novels of all time. He created the ongoing novel series, Star Trek: New Frontier, a spin-off from Star Trek: The Next Generation, with John J. Ordover in 1997. He has also written five Babylon 5 novels, three of which were originals, two of which were adaptations of the tv movies Thirdspace and In the Beginning.
His other novel adaptations include those of the movies The Return of Swamp Thing, The Rocketeer, Batman Forever, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Hulk, and Fantastic Four, and the adaptation of an unused Alien Nation television script, "Body and Soul".
David has also written original fantasy works. His first novel, Howling Mad, is about a wolf that turns into a human being after being bitten by a werewolf. His novel Knight Life, about the reappearance of King Arthur in modern-day New York City, was also one of his earlier novels, and became a trilogy with the sequels One Knight Only, and Fall of Knight, the latter of which is scheduled to be published June 6, 2006. His Sir Apropos of Nothing trilogy, Sir Apropos of Nothing, The Woad to Wuin and Tong Lashing, features characters and settings completely of David’s own creation.
Other published work
Before David became a professional writer, he was a prolific author of fan fiction, including The Tardis at Pooh Corner.
His opinion column "But I Digress" appears in Comics Buyer's Guide, a monthly comic-book industry newsmagazine.
David assisted Star Trek actor James Doohan with Doohan's 1996 autobiography, Beam Me Up, Scotty.
David's instructional book, Writing Comics with Peter David, is scheduled to be published by Writers Digest Books in June 2006.
Other media
David has written for several television series. He wrote two scripts for Babylon 5 (the second-season stories Soul Mates and There All the Honor Lies), and one (Ruling from the Tomb) for its sequel Crusade. With actor/writer Bill Mumy, he is co-creator of the television series Space Cases, which ran for two seasons on Nickelodeon. He has also written and co-produced several films for Full Moon Entertainment and has made cameo appearances in some of the films as well.
Public persona
On 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 occurrence in comics, departures of creators whose books are fan favorites, as David’s often are, tend to generate more notoriety and press within the comic community.
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 several public disagreements with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane through much of the 90s as the comic book imprint McFarlane's co-founded, Image Comics, came into prominence. This came to a head during a public debate they participated in at Philadelphia's Comicfest convention in November 1993, which was moderated by artist George Perez. The topic of the debate was McFarlane’s claim that Image was not being treated fairly by the media, and by David’s weekly "But I Digress" column in the Comics Buyer's Guide in particular. The three judges, Maggie Thompson, editor of the Comics Buyer's Guide, William Christensen of Wizard press, and John Danovich of the magazine Hero Illustrated, voted 2-3 in favor of David, with Danovich voting the debate a tie. David has also engaged in public disagreements with Erik Larsen [3], John Byrne, and Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada.
Trivia
Bibliography
- Howling Mad, Ace Books, 1989. ISBN 0441346634
- Psi-Man: Mind-Force Warrior (as David Peters), Diamond/Charter, 1990. ISBN 1557733996
- Psi-Man: Deathscape (as David Peters), Diamond/Charter, 1991. ISBN 155773450X
- Psi-Man: Main Street D.O.A. (as David Peters), Diamond/Charter, 1991. ISBN 1557734925
- Psi-Man: The Chaos Kid (as David Peters), Diamond/Charter, 1991. ISBN 0441007457
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- A Rock and a Hard Place, Pocket Books, 1991. ISBN 067174142X
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Vendetta, Pocket Books, 1991. ISBN 0671741454
- The Incredible Hulk: Ground Zero, Marvel Comics, 1991. ISBN 0871357925
- The Rocketeer, Bantam, 1991. ISBN 0553293222
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Strike Zone, Pocket Books, 1991. ISBN 0671746472
- Star Trek: The Rift, Pocket Books, 1991. ISBN 0671747967
- Psi-Man: Stalker (as David Peters), Diamond/Charter, 1991. ISBN 1557736170
- Star Trek: The Disinherited (with Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger), Pocket Books, 1992. ISBN 0671779583
- Psi-Man: Haven (as David Peters), Diamond/Charter, 1992. ISBN 1557737096
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- The Siege, Pocket Books, 1993.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy -- Worf's First Adventure, Simon & Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0671852124
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy -- Line of Fire, Simon & Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0671870858
- Alien Nation: Body and Soul, Pocket Books, 1993. ISBN 0671736019
- But I Digress, Krause Publications, 1994. ISBN 0873412869
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy -- Survival, Simon & Schuster, 1994. ISBN 0671852140
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Q-In-Law, Pocket Books, 1994. ISBN 0835911055
- The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect (with George Perez), Marvel Comics, 1994. ISBN 0785100296
- The Best of Marvel 1994 (with Mark Gruenwald), Marvel Comics, 1995. ISBN 0785100717
- Babylon 5: In the Beginning (based on a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski), Del Rey, 1995. ISBN 0345483634
- Batman Forever (with Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler, Akiva Goldsman, and Bob Kane), Warner Books Inc., 1995. ISBN 0446602175
- The Incredible Hulk: What Savage Beast, Diane Pub Co, 1995. ISBN 0756759676
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Q-Squared, Pocket Books, 1995. ISBN 0671891510
- Star Trek: The Captain's Daughter, Pocket Books, 1995. ISBN 0671520474
- Soulsearchers and Company: On the Case! (with Richard Howell, Amanda Conner, Jim Mooney), Boffin Books, 1996. ISBN 0965310914
- Beam Me Up, Scotty (with James Doohan), 1996. ISBN 0671520563
- The Incredible Hulk: Ghost of the Past (with Dale Keown), Marvel Comics, 1997. ISBN 0785102612
- Onslaught: Eye of the Storm, Marvel Comics, 1997. ISBN 0785102833
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- Wrath of the Prophets (with Robert Greenberger and Michael Jan Friedman), Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0671538179
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- House of Cards, Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0671013955
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Into the Void, Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0671013963
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- The Two Front War, Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0671013971
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- End Game, Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 067101398X
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Martyr, Pocket Books, 1998. ISBN 0671020366
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Fire on High, Pocket Books, 1998. ISBN 0671020374
- Supergirl (with Gary Frank and Terry Dodson), DC Comics, 1998. ISBN 1563894106
- Star Trek: New Frontier (collection), Pocket Books, 1998. ISBN 0671019783
- Babylon 5: Thirdspace (based on a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski), Del Rey, 1998. ISBN 0345424549
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Imazadi, Pocket Books, 1998. ISBN 0671026100
- Star Trek: The Captain's Table: New Frontier -- Once Burned, Pocket Books, 1998. ISBN 0671020781
- Dinotopia: The Maze, Random House Books, 1998. ISBN 0679882642
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Double Helix -- Double or Nothing, Pocket Books, 1999. ISBN 0671034782
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Imzadi II: Triangle, Pocket Books, 1999. ISBN 0671025384
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- The Quiet Place, Pocket Books, 1999. ISBN 067102079X
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Dark Allies, Pocket Books, 1999. ISBN 0671020803
- Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 1 -- The Long Night of Centauri Prime (based on an outline by J. Michael Straczynski), Del Rey, 1999. ISBN 0345427181
- Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 2 -- Armies of Light and Dark (based on an outline by J. Michael Straczynski), Del Rey, 2000. ISBN 034542719X
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Excalibur, Book 1: Requiem, Pocket Books, 2000. ISBN 0671042386
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Excalibur, Book 2: Renaissance, Pocket Books, 2000. ISBN 0671042394
- Young Justice: A League of Their Own (with Curtis Johnson), DC Comics, 2000. ISBN 1563896265
- Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 3 -- Out of the Darkness (based on an outline by J. Michael Straczynski), Del Rey, 2000. ISBN 0345427203
- Spyboy: Deadly Gourmet Affair (with Pop Mhan and Norman Le), Dark Horse, 2001. ISBN 1569714630
- Spyboy: Trial and Terror (with Pop Mhan and Norman Le), Dark Horse, 2001. ISBN 1569715017
- Spyboy: Bet Your Life (with Pop Mhan, Carlos Meglia and Norman Le), Dark Horse, 2001. ISBN 156971617X
- Star Trek: Gateways: New Frontier -- Cold Wars, Pocket Books, 2001. ISBN 0671042424
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Excalibur, Book 3: Restoration, Pocket Books, 2001. ISBN 0743410645
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Being Human, Pocket Books, 2001. ISBN 0671042408
- Spyboy: Undercover, Underwear! (with Pop Mhan and Norman Le), Dark Horse, 2002. ISBN 1569716641
- Spider-Man, Del Rey, 2002. ISBN 0345450051
- Sir Apropos of Nothing, Pocket Books, 2002. ISBN 0743412346
- Star Trek: Gateways #7 -- What Lay Beyond (with Diane Carey, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Christie Golden, Robert Greenberger, Susan Wright), Pocket Books, 2002. ISBN 0743456831
- SpyBoy: Spy-School Confidential (with Pop Mhan and Norman Le), Dark Horse, 2002. ISBN 1569718342
- Spyboy/Young Justice (with Pop Mhan, Norman Le, Jamie Mendoza, and Todd Nauc), Dark Horse, 2003. ISBN 1569718504
- Hulk, Del Rey, 2003. ISBN 0345459679
- Captain Marvel: Nothing to Lose, Marvel Entertainment Group, 2003. ISBN 0785111042
- Knight Life, Ace, 2003. ISBN 0441010776
- The Woad to Wuin, Pocket Star, 2003. ISBN 0743448324
- Supergirl: Many Happy Returns(with Ed Benes), DC Comics, 2003. ISBN 1401200850
- Tong Lashing, Pocket Star, 2003. ISBN 0743449126
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Gods Above, Pocket Books, 2003. ISBN 0743418581
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1 (with LeSean), Dreamwave, 2003. ISBN 0973278684
- Star Trek: Imazadi Forever, Pocket Books, 2003. ISBN 0743485106
- Spyboy: The M.A.N.G.A. Affair (with Pop Mhan and Norman Lee), Dark Horse, 2003. ISBN 1569719845
- Captain Marvel: Crazy Like a Fox (with Michael Ryan, Paul Azaceta, Chris Sotomayor, and Andy Schmidt), Marvel Comics, 2004. ISBN 0785113401
- Spider-Man 2, Del Rey, 2004. ISBN 0345470540
- One Knight Only, Ace, 2004. ISBN 0441011748
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Stone and Anvil, Pocket Books, 2004. ISBN 0743496183
- Captain Marvel: Odyssey (with Aaron Lopresti), Marvel Comics, 2004. ISBN 0785115307
- Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, Volume 1 (with Todd McFarlane), Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0785115412
- Madrox: Multiple Choice (with Pablo Raimondi), Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0785115005
- Spyboy: Final Exam (with Pop Mhan, Norman Lee and Dan Jackson), Dark Horse, 2005. ISBN 1593070179
- Fantastic Four, Pocket Star, 2005. ISBN 1416509801
- Essential Wolverine Volume 1 (with Chris Claremont, Archie Goodwin, John Buscema, Bill Sienkiewicz, and John Byrne), Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0785118675
- The Incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit (with Lee Weeks), Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0785115439
- Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, Volume 2 (with Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, and Jeff Purves), Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0785118780
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- After the Fall (paperback edition), Pocket Books, 2005. ISBN 0743491858
- X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David Volume 1 (with Larry Stroman), Marvel Comics, 2005. ISBN 0785118721
- Star Trek: Death Before Dishonor (with James W. Fry and Arne Starr), 2006. ISBN 1845761545
- Star Trek: New Frontier -- Missing in Action, Pocket Books, 2006. ISBN 141651080X
- Spider-Man: The Other (with Reginald Hudlin, J. Michael Straczynski, Pat Lee, Mike Wieringo, and Mike Deodato), Marvel Comics, 2006. ISBN 0785121889
- Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, Volume 3 (with Jeff Purves, Alex Saviuk, and Keith Pollard), Marvel Comics, 2006. ISBN 0785120955
- Wolverine Classic Volume 3 (with John Buscema), Marvel Comics, 2006. ISBN 078512053X
- Fall of Knight, Ace Hardcover, 2006. ISBN 044101402X
- Writing for Comics with Peter David, Writers Digest Books, 2006. ISBN 1581807309
- Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom (with Luke Lieberman and Will Conrad), Dynamite Entertainment, 2006. ISBN 1933305967
- Spike (with Scott Tipton and Fernando Goni), IDW Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1600100309
- Untold Tales Of The New Universe (with Tony Bedard, C. B. Cebulski, Tony Lee, Arnold Pander, Fred Van Lente, Jeff Parker, Javier Paludo, Carmine Di Giandomenico, M. D. Bright, and Leonard Kirk), Marvel Comics, 2006. ISBN 0785121854
- X-Factor: The Longest Night (with Ryan Sook), Marvel Comics, 2006. ISBN 0785118179
- Fallen Angel Volume 1 (with J.K. Woodward), IDW Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1933239778
- Spike vs. Dracula (with Joe Corroney and Mike Ratera), IDW Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1600100120
- Star Trek: The Trial of James T. Kirk (with James W. Fry and Gordon Purcell), Titan Books, 2006. ISBN 1845763157
- Battlestar Galactica -- Sagittarius Is Bleeding, Tor Books, 2006. ISBN 0765316072