Today i want to write about Peter David. I've gushed about writers before. I've talked about Jack Cole and John Ostrander. People who know me well will talk of my annoying habit of calling Jack Kirby "Uncle Jack" or just referring to Neil Gaiman as "My buddy Neil"
My Fan Boy Worship of Peter David is different. Peter David is the Writer of Stuff, The man who saved the Incredible Hulk The defender of films like John Carter of Mars. He is the historian of Atlantis and the most entertaining extender of Arthurian Legend.
Idon't remember when I was first introduced to Peter David's work and I don't think it matters. He has been the writer and creator of many of my favorite things.
In many ways he achieved the impossible. He made an indifferent world care about Aquaman. He had to rebuild the legend from the ground up to do it by rewriting the history of Atlantis. The Atlantis Chronicles is still among my favorite limited series comics and stand out as one of the high points in all of comicdom.
The Man is credited with reinventing the Hulk, I believe that. more than reinventing, he course corrected the Hul by putting the Jekyll and Hyde aspect back into the book.
The Hulk went from being a rampaging Monster and turned into a real character with real problems. The psychological battle between the many parts of a person turned against themselves was peppered with intelligence, wit, and humor.
Intelligence, Wit. and Humor became what one could expect from anything written by Peter David. He raised the bar in comic writing by making characters likable or at least sympathetic. There was always something about the character with which you could connect.
I buy comic books lke i buy regular books. Sometimes it's because I like a character or a story sounds interesting, Mostly I buy a book based on the author.
Following Peter David has led me to Supergirl and Young Justice. Here he made me care ab out characters that were second stringers and sidekicks.
I believe it's the man's true gift to take characters that were meant to be one shots or throw aways or have the "cool power" and make them more human. He delves into their psychooogy. He's done it at DC, he's done it at Marvel, he's even done it for Star Trek.
Maybe he just likes the Tabula Rasa of creating the back stories on blank canvas. His masterpiece in my eyes will always be X-Factor. Guido, Madrox, Layla Miller and M, will forever be some of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe, and in the earliest forms I found them a little hokey and conceptually contrived.
I was in all my fan boy glory when i got to tell Mr. David that I loved the way her wrote Layla Miller. Apparently he had taken much grief from fans for including her in the book, but he made us care about her.
If all this wasn't enough for you. Peter David was the only writer to be able to bring back a lost Marvel concept without making the readers feel as if they were tricked or cheated.
The resurrection of the concept of Captain Marvel and the treatment of how when survives when they have the Cosmic Awareness was spectacular.
So...My big recommendation is that if you see the name Peter David on the cover of something. buy that thing and read it. It may just make you happy, it should, at least entertain you. It might make you laugh. It ight save your life. I'm n ot making any promises.
If you dont want to be seen reading comic books, that's okay. Some folks aren't that secure. I suggest you start here
but I offer no more hints. the rest of the journey must be yours.
So...In parting...I say Happy Birthday, Peter David
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