Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: peter david, rip

Comic Book Folk Mourn, Celebrate And Remember Peter David

Comic book folk remember Peter David, from Paul Levitz to Robin Riggs, Colleen Doran to Valentine De Landro, Paul Cornell to James Gunn

Yesterday, we ran the sad news of the death of comic book writer, novelist, screenwriter and columnist Peter David at the age of 68. Many comic book creators and friends have been sharing their thoughts and memories of the great man on social media. Here are just a few:

Paul Levitz: "How do you say farewell to a friend who has taken you to fantastic places, changed your view of favorite figures, and personally fought for your profession? It should have been no surprise that Peter David passed, but he had battled his health crises with the tenacity of the Hulk, Kathleen chronicling each combat as sharply as any tale he told. Like the Hulk, his strength seemed fueled by his emotions, and like his vision of Aquaman, undettered by his own pain and tragedy. I knew Peter from his early work with Carol Kalish in Marvel's direct sales department, from his imaginative comics, from his long running columns, and perhaps best from his time on the board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Whatever his role, he always fought to make comics a better place. Sad as I am to know his voice is gone, I'm grimly satisfied that his own fight is over. Hugs to Kathleen, Caroline and the rest of his family…and to all our friends in comics who will miss him too."

Robin Riggs: RIP Peter David. Peter has been responsible for more of my career than anyone else. I spent two years inking the Hulk over Liam Sharp and Angel Medina during Peter's lengthy run on the title. Then I inked Supergirl for four and a half years over Leonard Kirk (that's the three of us in the photo) while Peter was writing that title. I then had the great honour to draw Peter's own character Sir Apropos of Nothing when he brought the character from his novels to comics. In recent years Peter introduced me to his sister Beth Goodwin and I've been drawing commercial comics projects with a medical theme for her. So much of my work has been directly attributable to Peter. I was a big fan of his writing long before I got to work with him and I enjoyed every minute of working on his books. I will miss him and his work tremendously. My thoughts are with Kathleen and the rest of his family.

Colleen Doran: Peter David, one of the most important writers in the comic book industry, has passed after a long and difficult struggle. Working with Peter was one of the highlights of my entire career in comics. I was fortunate to draw his "Little Match Girl" take on Spider-Man in FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1, a story entitled "Leah" dedicated to our mutual friend Leah Adezio. This little tale is still passed around and commented on today. Peter had immense heart, and behind the scenes stood up for me during a difficult contract negotiation on a major project. He never bragged about his kindnesses. And he and Stan Lee brought me in to draw Stan's life story in AMAZING FANTASTIC INCREDIBLE STAN LEE, Stan's first the New York Times bestseller. There are many takes on the Aquaman mythos, but his work with Estabon Maroto on THE ATLANTIS CHRONICLES was a standout and my personal favorite. Peter had an encyclopedic knowledge of comics lore, and the industry. A vast treasure of intelligence, fierce loyalty, creative imagination, and humor has left us. Peter, it was an honor.

Paul Cornell: I'm so sorry to hear of the death of Peter David, a lovely man who took superhero comics in a new direction, relying on character, humanity and fun. I was very fond of him. Much love to his family and friends. His Star Trek novel Imzadi directly inspired me to write Human Nature

Scott Lobdell: Peter David had a way with words and stories to which a mortal like me could only aspire. I still marvel, 25 (?) years later at his contribution to Fatal Attractions. It wasn't something he wrote down — rather we were all brainstorming trying to figure out a jaw-dropping show-stopping previous-issue topping moment and we X-Writers and Editorial kept coming up short. Peter thinking out loud loudly blurts out "Magneto should just rip Wolverine's Adamantium right out of him!" There was a moment of stunned silence as we all processed this off the cuff stray thought. "Wha—" he added. "I was just tossing it out there. I know we could never do it." That's when the room exploded in excitement at the sheer audacity of it all! Not only would we do it — we HAD to do it! That was Peter's brilliance to me: even his toss away ideas were without peer — and he was always generous with his remarkable talent. I think he would agree with me if I said "If there was a Mount Rushmore of Comic Writers…he would go see it. Love you, Peter. And see you soon at great comic con in the sky

James Gunn: RIP Peter David, who reinvented Aquaman in the '90's and gave him a cool hook for a hand and wrote classic Hulk and X-Factor runs – not to mention Young Justice and Supergirl. I was always happy to see his name in a comic book. All my love to his family and friends.

Val De Landro: Years ago, the powers that be at Marvel offered me the assignment for X-Factor. I was going to draw stories for Peter David. My imposter syndrome went into overdrive. After the "Baby Sean" issue was off to the printer, I came home to a voice message from Peter, telling me how happy he was with how it turned out. We had never spoken before, but he made the effort to find my number. A small gesture for him but it meant a lot to me. I wish I still had the message. I'm thankful for the handful of times that we were able to hang out; I was a tag-along, but he always spoke to me like a peer. And I'm thankful for the stories we were able to create. My condolences to Kathleen, his daughters, and his family.

Jimmy Palmiotti: We have lost another great, PETER DAVID. One of my favorite series by him was one he wrote for my wife called SOULSEARCHERS. His work will live on.

Glenn Greenberg: Saddened to hear about the passing of my old colleague, comic-book writer and novelist Peter David, who had been battling health issues for quite some time. Before I got into the business, Peter was one of my writing heroes–his work on Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Star Trek clicked with me in a major way, as it brimmed with crisp dialogue, compelling stories, vivid characterization, sharp wit, and lots of laugh-out-loud humor. When I became a professional writer myself and worked on those very same properties, I certainly tried to emulate his style and approach to a certain extent. It's arguable how much I succeeded, but regardless, he was absolutely an inspiration for me. I recall him being friendly, helpful, and generous with his time even before I got into the business, when I was still a student at SUNY at Stony Brook and helping to run the annual science-fiction convention, I-Con, in my senior year. Peter was one of the guests at the con and he and I had several long and pleasant phone conversations in the weeks leading up to it. I was just a kid at the time, and he treated me like a peer. We didn't work together too much after I got to Marvel, but the few times we did, it always turned out well. And I have some fond memories of being at his house on a couple of occasions, at his kind invitation. In more recent years, I would occasionally send him an email just to compliment him on something he'd written that I had particularly enjoyed–the things that immediately come to mind are his run on CAPTAIN MARVEL and his too-brief return to THE INCREDIBLE HULK after he'd been forced off that title a few years earlier. We would occasionally have differences of opinion, some more fervent than others and a few occurring on social media for the world to see, but I never stopped being a fan of his. My deepest condolences to his family.

Bill Mumy: I was enjoying a family Sunday brunch at my home when I heard the sad news.
Peter David died last night. Peter was the most prolific, multi talented, enthusiastic, always ready writer I've ever known. Besides being friends, he and I were writing partners for many years.
We wrote many comic books, short stories, animation episodes, television scripts, feature length screenplays (yet to be produced) and our biggest and best collaboration was creating and writing two seasons of the live action Nickelodeon TV series, "SPACE CASES" together.
Most importantly, Peter was a pal.
He had suffered serious medical maladies for a long time.
I choose to believe he's free from suffering and is soaring with renewed inspiration and energy in another realm now.
My sincere condolences to his wife Kathleen, his daughters and grandchildren.
Peter leaves behind a huge catalog of work that will resonate forever.
This is hard. The hits keep coming.
Now… I return to my grandchildren and family with gratitude and I will summon up some joy in Peter's honor.

Jeremy Adams: Peter David was a singular talent. I met him ONCE. It was at a Supernatural fan event (he was a big fan of SPN) and he approached @jim_krieg
and I and said "Are you guys writers?" we replied in the affirmative. Then he quickly said "I am too! My name is Peter David!" In perfect scooby-doo syncronicty we both replied "PETER DAVID!?!!" We proceeded to bombard him with questions. Pick his brain on all things film, comics, and Star Trek. He was a prolific genius. I first encountered his work in the Hulk, then Star Trek novels like Imzadi, the crazy runs on X-factor and my faves – his work on some of the Trancer sequels. What an impact! What a writer! Rest In Peace Peter David. Heaven knows you didn't rest while you were here!

Gail Simone: Oh, dammit. Peter David is gone… I am very sad to hear of Peter David's passing. We didn't know each other well, but I was a big fan and we had some fun exchanges. I am so sorry for his family, friends and readers. This sucks.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: Godspeed, Peter David. Thank you for your foundational work on Hulk and other beloved characters, and for all the readers you entertained for a lifetime.

Mark Brooks: I'm so sad to hear of Peter David's passing. He was a giant that shaped comics in way that ripple through today including the movies, TV, and animation. He'll be greatly missed.

T J Burnside Clapp: I am so terribly sad to learn today of the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends, the wonderful writer Peter David. I met Peter nearly 50 years ago (!!) while I was in high school, and when he was still writing fanfic and parody skits for the August Party Star Trek convention in Maryland before moving on to his illustrious career as a novelist, DC and Marvel comic author, and TV and film screenwriter.
Over the years we had many adventures together, including some truly classic convention stage performances …Battlestar: Ponderosa; ST 2: The Snit of Khan (in which I played Lt. Saavik and Peter was Kirk); and Return to Jedi: Address Unknown, where I played Princess Leia (in slave girl garb) and had a hilariously awkward scene with Peter's brother-in-law as Luke. I think that one's actually on video tape somewhere.
In later years Peter's daughters Shana and Gwen would be the flower girls at my wedding (to Mitchell in 1989). I celebrated New Year's at the David residence several times, and Mitchell and I were honored to appear as characters in his ST:TNG novel "Q-in-Law"
Peter's novels are some of my very favorites, and not just the ones in the Star Trek and other SF media universes. Tigerheart, his re-telling of the Peter Pan story, is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read, and the ending made me cry like a baby.
My whole family loved watching Peter's DC animated shows. Young Justice is one we will always be willing to re-watch.
RIP, my old friend. You will be missed. The world is a sadder and emptier place without you. My deepest condolences to Kathleen O'Shea David and Peter's four daughters Shana, Gwen, Ariel, and Caroline. His memory will always be a blessing.

Yildiray Cinar‬: After reading Turkish reprints of The Hulk in the '80s as a lonely kid, I became a huge fan of the character. When I was 13, I discovered a bookshop that imported comics from the US. Naturally, the first one I bought was The Hulk—written by Peter David and illustrated by Jeff Purves, from the Joe Fixit era. I bought every issue monthly until Peter left the book, and over time, I completed the back issues as well. I still own all of them. They mean a lot to me. I can remember the exact moment I bought each one. Emotionally, they also represent some of the hardest times in my life.
Years later, when Marvel asked me to work on the JOE FIXIT series with Peter David, you can imagine what that meant to me. I literally had tears in my eyes. Life is strange—and sometimes, incredibly beautiful.
I just learned that Peter has passed away. My condolences to his family, loved ones and all his fans. I wish I'd had the chance to meet him in person…
Thank you, Peter, for all those stories and inspiration.
Rest in peace.

‪Kevin Church: Really sorry to hear about Peter David; his work with Star Trek was among the best of the '90s licensed material. I only met him once; it was when I would do part-time at the local comic shop for store credit.
We had a regular at the shop, a differently-abled young man who absolutely loved the Incredible Hulk. He was, of course, nicknamed Hulk Kid. One Sunday, he was rummaging through the back issue bins when a familiar-looking face from the Comic Buyers' Guide walked through the door.I greeted him, told him how much I loved his work and let him go about looking around the shop. Hulk Kid had just grabbed an issue of David's run with art by MacFarlane and didn't have enough money for it. I was explaining to him about why it was so expensive.
PD comes up with a stack of cheapish Marvel horror comics and smiles at us. He tells me to add the Kid's book to his tab and then introduced himself to him.
For the next 45 minutes or so, Peter David and Hulk Kid had a wide-ranging, deeply nerdy, and sometimes very funny conversation that I was lucky enough to listen to. It was obvious that he had some experience with the differently-abled; and he treated the Kid like an old friend.
One of the best impressions a comic creator has ever left on me.

Dennis L Barger Jr: Damn, Peter David, RIP BROTHER. We rarely agreed on politics but we had fun discussing the industry and the many different aspects of it. He was a great respectful man and made me a better debater because of it. 10 years of talking with him and considering him a genius. His Hulk is maybe my favorite run of it.
Fare thee well your friend.

Cindy Geppi Shockey: RIP to Peter David. You can now rest, your pain is gone my friend.
As a talented writer, Peter will live on through his comic books, novels, television series, films, and video games.
He was a part of the Farpoint Convention Family. There will always be a panel for you to join in should you so wish.
Love, hugs and strength to Kathleen, Caroline, Shana, Guinevere, Ariel and his grandchildren.

David Mack: I'm crushed to have learned just now that Peter David passed away last night. Through the years, Peter has been to me an icon, an inspiration, a peer, and a friend. The outstanding quality of his work for Star Trek inspired me to become a writer of media tie-in novels. The world is a bit dimmer now without his light. My deepest condolences go out to his wife, Kathleen O'Shea David, his family, his friends, peers, and fans. May his memory be a blessing to us all.

Gregg Katzman: Peter David's storytelling in Marvel Comics Presents #86 is what first ignited my love for the medium. A giant loss for the industry and his impact on it is undeniable. Deepest condolences to his friends and family. RIP.

Paul Jenkins: RIP Peter David. Mate, you always delivered entertainment value in everything you created. I'll miss seeing you on panels and at your table, or holding court in the green room. Fly safe, man!

Rob Liefeld: R.I.P. Peter David. You had a run for the ages. Condolences to his family, sorry for your loss.

‪Alejandro Arbona: Marvel could pay for my healthcare for the rest of my life for a fraction of 1% of profit from Spider-Man Noir, a character whose original comics I edited. For Peter David to die in medical debt, co-creator of Spider-Man 2099 and writer of countless seminal Hulk and X-Factor comics—that's a disgrace

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