Peter David perhaps wasn’t quite a household name, but any comics fan from the late 1980s onward knew who he was. The acclaimed comics and novel writer died overnight at age 68.
David’s remarkable 12-year-run on the Incredible Hulk changed the character forever from the “Hulk smash” days, while his work on everything from Spectacular Spider-Man to Aquaman to X-Factor to Star Trek was always entertaining, full of humour and sharp dialogue. He wrote many novels and was also an excellent, underrated essayist with his long-running “But I Digress” columns in the late, great Comics Buyers’ Guide.
Simply put, he was a writer who knew the assignment, and delivered almost every time.
Unfortunately, his sadly early death wasn’t a shock, as he’d been in terrible health for ages. David suffered a stroke in 2012 and spent most of the last few years in hospital or rehab care due to kidney disease, diabetes, heart attacks and more strokes. As a fan, it was hard to hear news of his slow decline. Remarkably, he kept writing through most of it all.
Being funny is harder than it looks, but David often made it look easy. His relaxed, friendly style and deft hand with a one-liner stood out from the crowd when he began writing professionally after a long stint in sales for Marvel Comics.
Reading David’s early Hulk and Spider-Man comics back when I was in high school, his voice was an important influence for me in developing my own goofy comics writing style with Amoeba Adventures.
I’ve always been drawn to the sour and sweet combination of mixing dramatic moments with silly one-liners and slapstick, and David was a master at that balance. He knew when to go for the gag and to go for the gut. Not every joke landed or has dated well, but there was a lightness of spirit to Peter David’s best work that holds up well.
He was never an Alan Moore/Grant Morrison type writer who deconstructed the comics medium, but instead a steady journeyman like Kurt Busiek or Roger Stern who could be counted on for providing usually excellent comics soaked in that hilarious wit.
His death may not have been preventable, but the one thing that makes me truly angry today is how Peter David and his family spent so much of the last few years fighting to fund his health care. It was great to see so much support for crowdfunding his care when the call came – I donated a couple times myself – but with his death today, I wonder why it came down to GoFundMe to support a dying man and his family.
Disney, DC Comics and Sony made millions and millions from Peter David creations like Spider-Man 2099 in the Spider-Verse movies, the “smart” Professor Hulk as seen by Mark Ruffalo in Avengers: Endgame, the revamp of the dull fishy Aquaman into the sexy long-haired, bearded warrior that Jason Momoa turned into a worldwide movie hit, the Young Justice team of tween sidekick heroes who headlined a hit animated series – just for starters.
And yet twice, his family had to turn to GoFundMe for help as David’s condition worsened, as Medicaid cut off funding and his widow Kathleen spent an unfathomable amount of time wrestling with the unfair labyrinth of American health “care”. I’m not saying corporations owe it to creators to fund every moment of their lives, but David suffered for a long, long time in hospitals and rehab, and a million dollars jointly donated by Marvel, DC and Sony could have gone a long way and been a drop in the bucket for companies like Disney and Sony that earn billions every year.
Comics will break your heart, the Jack Kirby saying popularised by NZ cartoonist Dylan Horrocks goes, but Peter David’s last years could have been a bit easier with a little bit of corporate kindness. His life’s work amused and entertained millions. It would be nice to think his death might make a difference somehow, too.
Nik Dirga 