The comic industry has lost a titan in Peter David. David’s passing is a tragedy. He was an amazing creator, and spent years working on the greatest characters in comics. Peter David was a man of multiple talents, writing everything from Star Trek novels to cartoons. David’s time on The Incredible Hulk for twelve years completely redefined what the character could be. Throughout the ’90s, The Incredible Hulk was extremely popular, and David’s opinion column, “But I Digress…” in CBG allowed readers to get to know him like they did few other creators. He was responsible for some of the greatest stories for multiple characters — Hulk, Spider-Man, Supergirl, Aquaman, Jamie Madrox — and left behind a body of work that will stand among the greatest comics of all time.
We’re here to talk about David’s work. This list will contain both entire runs and individual stories from those runs that are especially good. David’s runs were things of beauty, truly epic stories that were masterpieces of tone and character. You knew you were in for a treat when it came to his books, as he was going to take characters you never thought about much and make them into obsessions. All of Peter David’s work is worthy of praise, but these ten works are the best of them, books that you need to get your hands on.
10) Fallen Angel
David’s Supergirl ran for years, but he still had stories left to tell with the character after it was finished. This led to him and artist David Lopez creating Fallen Angel, a book that took many of the ideas behind David’s Supergirl and continued them. The book starred Lee, a superheroine known as Fallen Angel in the city of Bete Noire. The city itself is as much a character as Lee herself, a shifting landscape of perfect order during the day and complete corruption by night. Lee battles against the machinations of the Magistrate, as readers are drawn through one of the darkest and rewarding narratives ever. Fallen Angel was published by DC Comics and IDW, and it can be a bit tough to find. However, it’s definitely worth the hunt. David’s work on Fallen Angel is some of his best.
9) “The Death of Jean DeWolfe”
“The Death of Jean DeWolfe” is Peter David’s second professional comic work, and what a work it is. Police captain Jean DeWolfe, one of Peter Parker’s closest friends, is found dead and Spider-Man swings into action to find the killer. Daredevil gets involved when Matt Murdock is brought in to represent a group of muggers that Spider-Man brought in. The villain is revealed as the Sin-Eater, and Spider-Man is faced with a foe that he wants to kill. “The Death of Jean DeWolfe” is a Spider-Man classic and showed off what David was capable of with superheroes. Working with artist Rich Buckler, David created a page turning mystery that transforms midway through into a completely different story. This is one of the most beloved black Spider-Man costume series, and it led David to write for all four Spider-Man titles of the ’80s and ’90s — The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, and The Spectacular Spider-Man — and it’s all because of this classic story.
8) Supergirl
Post-Crisis Supergirl is an interesting story in itself, but the basics are this — in the post-Crisis DC Universe, Superman was the only Kryptonian. Supergirl was Matrix, a shape-shifting, protoplasmic being that took on her form after meeting her on an alternate Earth. David’s Supergirl kicked off with Supergirl saving the life of Linda Danvers, and the two beings merged. The mystery of who Linda Danvers was as a person is a major mystery in the series. Supergirl’s life as Linda changes her, and David takes the characters in directions that no fan ever thought they would have gone in. David paid homage to the Supergirl ideas of the past while completely remaking the character from the ground up. David worked with a lot of great artists over the run of Supergirl, which ran for 80 issues over seven years, but kicked the book off with his former artistic partner Gary Frank. Frank’s art is amazing, and every issue he draws looks fantastic. Supergirl is a perfect example of David taking a character that no one thought of very much and made her into a star.
7) Hulk: The End
Peter David is widely considered the best Hulk writer of all time, so Marvel gave him the honor of telling the last Hulk story. Hulk: The End re-teamed David with artist Dale Keown, to tell the story of the Hulk in the far future. Humanity is long extinct and the Hulk will not let Bruce Banner die. He is followed over the insect ridden planet by a device from an alien race, recording his actions as he tried to kill himself over and over again. It is just as dark as it sounds and is all the better for it. David captures the despair of both the Hulk and Banner, the last sentient being on Earth, trapped with the person they both hate the most. Keown’s art was at another level than it was when he worked on The Incredible Hulk with David, and Hulk: The End is page after gorgeous page of Hulk action, with images you’ll never forgot. Hulk: The End is the perfect ending for the Hulk, David’s final word on a character he changed forever.
6) Aquaman: Time and Tide
The post-Crisis DC Universe was a fertile places for new takes on old characters and David’s time working with Aquaman were one of the highlights of ’90s DC. David got the go ahead to completely reboot everything about Aquaman, starting with The Atlantis Chronicles (a truly excellent reimagining of the DC Atlantean lore) and soon got his chance to the do the same to Aquaman with Aquaman: Time and Tide, along with artist Kirk Jarvinen. Time and Tide was a new kind of Aquaman for the extreme ’90s, and David was able to use the lore that he had established before to give readers a new Aquaman. This story pit the Atlantean monarch against Ocean Master, beginning a new chapter in their decades long rivalry, and setting up the villain as Aquaman’s greatest foe, a position that was usually held by Black Manta. David’s Aquaman is the perfect version of the character, and Jarvinen’s art is fantastic, giving readers brilliant underwater action. Time and Tide was the perfect reimagining of Aquaman, and is worth the effort of hunting down.
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5) Spider-Man 2099
Marvel’s 2099 comics were one of the ’90s most beloved line, and a big reason for that is Spider-Man 2099. Peter David, kicking the series off with legendary artist Rick Leonardi. David showed off his cyberpunk chops with Spider-Man 2099, the story of Miguel O’Hara fighting against the corporation that he used to work for — Alchemax — and the changing world of the Earth of 2099. David showed the limits of what could be done with this new setting, and Spider-Man 2099 is an example of perfect superhero goodness. Miguel O’Hara is a brilliant character, one that David presents to the reader from every angle. He also faithfully recreates the villains of Spider-Man for the future, his love for the character shining through all the time. The ’90s weren’t the greatest decade for Spider-Man fans but for 44 issues, readers got some of the best Spider-Man comics of all time from a master of the character.
4) Young Justice
The Teen Titans didn’t do very well in the ’90s, the glories of the past not enough to keep readers interested. By the mid ’90s, DC had introduced an all-new slate of teen sidekicks — Tim Drake, Cassie Sandsmark, Conner Kent, and Impulse — and they got to be pretty popular. DC gave Peter David and Todd Nauck a chance to make the teen heroes a big deal again with Young Justice. As a concept, Young Justice is basically just the Teen Titans under a different name, with David taking the young heroes to a boarding school environment, which was a nice touch. Young Justice was sold as the Robin/Superboy/Wonder Girl/Impulse book, but characters like Arrowette, Empress, and Secret kept readers coming back. Unlike the Teen Titans, Young Justice got their own Justice League mentor, with David bringing in Red Tornado. Young Justice was the epitome of what teen superheroes could be, with David proving that he could do teen heroes better than anyone in the industry.
3) X-Factor
Peter David wrote three separate runs on X-Factor since 1991. He wrote X-Factor (Vol. 1) #70-89, X-Factor (Vol. 3) #1-50, 200-262 (it reverted to legacy numbering), and All-New X-Factor #1-20. The first one premiered during the X-Men line’s 1991’s reboot, and was easily the most well-written X-Men book on the market at the time. His team was a masterpiece of character, digging into each and everyone one of them, making them better heroes. X-Factor (Vol. 1) #87 was the therapy issue, a comic which completely reinvigorated Quicksilver as a character. X-Factor (Vol. 2) was the Madrox book, spinning out of David’s work on MadroX, and saw X-Factor evolve into a detective agency. It’s constantly brilliant, and probably the best of the three. All-New X-Factor was X-Factor as a corporate superhero team, now with a hundred percent more Gambit. Peter David was a master of team storytelling, and his time on X-Factor gave readers some of the greatest team comics ever.
2) Aquaman
Aquaman was basically dead by the time the ’90s got underway. SuperFriends had ruined the character for an entire generation of DC fans, and no one had been able to make the character popular again. Peter David had seemingly taken it upon himself to fix Aquaman and make him a big deal again, with aforementioned The Atlantis Chronicles and Time and Tide setting up the pieces for a new Aquaman ongoing series. David and artist Jim Calafiore were able to make Aquaman one of the best DC comics of the mid ’90s, which is actually quite impressive even thought it doesn’t seem like it should be. David immediately threw a curveball at readers by having piranhas eat off Aquaman’s hand. This new hook handed Aquaman was a stone cold bruiser, and David threw him at everything from supervillains to sea gods. It was an amazing read every single issue, 44 issues of awesome Aquaman action.
1) The Incredible Hulk
Peter David wrote The Incredible Hulk for 12 years, working with artists like Todd McFarlane, Dale Keown, Gary Frank, Liam Sharp, Mike Deodato Jr., and Adam Kubert. David’s run kicked off with issue #331 and ending with issue #448. There are so many amazing issues throughout David’s run and he changed the Hulk forever, introducing readers to some of the most important pieces of Hulk lore. He changed the relationship between the Hulk and Bruce Wayne forever, digging into the psychology of the Hulk in a way that no other writer had tried to. He was able to write every kind of Hulk over his run, from the genius scientist Hulk to the monosyllabic savage Hulk. Every Hulk writer after his has used ideas that David laid the seeds for. He found a way to make Rick Jones vital in the ’90s, which is quite a feat. There are multiple eras throughout David’s run, and there’s something for everyone in this run. Personally, my favorite issues came from Gary Frank and Adam Kubert’s time with Peter David, but it’s all amazing.
What’s your favorite Peter David series (sorry Captain Marvel and Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, those are excellent too)? Sound off in the comments below.
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