News Comic writer Peter David has passed away

[kirk55555]

https://www.cbr.com/comic-creator-peter-david-dead-68/

The legendary writer, comic book creator, and Incredible Hulk luminary Peter David has tragically passed away at the age of 68.


Per a Facebook post from his wife, Kathleen O'Shea David, Peter David passed away sometime on the evening of May 24. "Since it is out there. Peter David passed away last night. We are devastated. More when I can write about it," she wrote. Peter David is survived by his wife and his four children, Caroline Helen David, Shana David, Ariel David, and Guinevere David.

One of my favorite comic writers of all time. His X-Factor, Captain Marvel and Supergirl runs are legitimately underrated classics in my opinion, and his Star trek work, from what I've read, was also very good. I definitely need to get around to reading his Aquaman and Hulk runs.

RIP Peter David

 

[DonIago]

David also contributed in multiple ways to the Babylon 5 universe. RIP.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Oh. This one hurts.

There was a time where I would legitimately claim that he was my favorite author. I loved his work for Marvel comics, although by the time he moved to DC I had moved on from DC.

This one's going to take a while to sink in.

 

[The Realist]

Very sad news. I saw David at conventions several times, and he was always an entertaining guest. I enjoyed his Trek work back in the day, and I’ll agree with kirk55555 that his Supergirl comics run was very good.

RIP.

 

[DarKush]

Mr. David was a great writer. First book I read from him was in the Photon series when I was in grade school. Later on, I loved a lot of his Trek novels, and his Babylon 5 Centauri trilogy was similarly epic. His pen will be missed.

 

[Tallguy]

Sad to hear. His run on the DC Star Trek (1990, right?) might be my favorite Star Trek comics of all time.

 

[USS Firefly]

My first Star Trek book I have read where his New Frontier books, i loved them especially the first four.
He died way to young

 

[the G-man]

I definitely need to get around to reading his Aquaman and Hulk runs.

He is hands down the best writer the Hulk ever had.

 

[Hardtarget]

I don't really post much but just wanted to chime in and say how sad this is. My thoughts are with his family, what a loss.

 

[Set Harth]

I think I bought two of his books, read at least three of them.

 

[BillJ]

RIP, Mr. David. Thank you for sharing your imagination.

 

[FreezeC77]

As a kid I didn't read much comics because financially it just wasn't there to buy them regularly. So my first experience with Peter David is the Star Trek novel Vendetta, which has always been one of my favorite Star Trek stories and I think it was one of the best Borg-related stuff in Star Trek. Obviously those novels are not 'canon', but always really liked it.

He did quite a few of those and later would be given the opportunity for his own original Star Trek series. New Frontier featuring a mix of original characters and some who had short appearances in Trek media.

I always liked how his Trek novels even when focusing on a specific series like say TNG was still willing to bring up or use elements from TOS or other series (as they later aired)

When I was working and able to buy comics (or rather at the time had a Marvel online subscription) I really liked his X-factor work a lot.

 

[Booji]

Peter David's X-Factor run is probably my favorite run of any Marvel book. RIP Pete

 

[Set Harth]

So my first experience with Peter David is the Star Trek novel Vendetta

Me too!

 

[CmdrJoe]

How sad to hear. I absolutely loved "Q-Squared."

 

[Procutus]

I am truly saddened to hear this. Peter's Star Trek novels were among my very favorites, with Vendetta and Imzadi being truly superb.

As Billj said above, thank you for sharing your imagination with us.

 

[Tallguy]

Someone let me know if I'm remembering these stories correctly. They are thirty five year old memories and they are also things I heard around conventions and such so I don't know if they were EVER true.

I heard that when PAD wrote Vendetta he was getting annoyed at the quality of his editing. So when he wrote Vendetta he put in lots of mistakes or problems or whatever that an editor would have to do something about. To his horror it sailed through without a peep. (Proving his point, of course.)

Similarly when he wrote the novelization of The Rocketeer he had been told by whoever it was the wrote the novelization of Dick Tracy (Max Allan Collins) that Disney got very cranky about the various 1930's pop culture references that he had tried to include in DT. So PAD tried to flood the zone, as it were, with The Rocketeer, figuring they couldn't catch them all. They didn't touch a one of them!

I haven't followed comics very much for about 20 years but I remember in the early 90's when he seemed to be everywhere. And everything of his that I read (and I only read a sliver of what he was putting out) was GOOD.

Oh! What was the Trek novel where he actually incorporated the complaint that Marina Sirtis had about Worf? She said, back in the day, that in The Child "Worf wanted to eat my baby!" (Very Marina.) Worf solemnly addressed Troi and explained that it is a myth that Klingons eat children.

Imzadi! And Imzadi II! He had a gift for taking concepts that on the face just should not have worked and making them the most natural things in the world.

 

[Procutus]

I had not heard that story about the editing on Vendetta and sadly, I no longer have my copy (the Missus and I unloaded a lot of books when we moved five years ago). And I can't say that I recall when reading it that I noticed a bunch of obvious mistakes, but as Tallguy noted, that was nearly 35 years ago.

 

[Set Harth]

I assumed that story meant he fixed the mistakes himself after witnessing the result of his little test.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

@Tallguy

I thought PAD was annoyed because he had a female Borg in Vendetta and was told by the higher up that Borg were asexual/gender neutral, so there had to be a disclaimer at the beginning of the book.
I think he also slipped in a few jabs at DC during his second run as well.​