Peter David, a prolific comics writer oft referenced as PAD among his many fans, died today at the age of 68.
It is a tragic passing in many ways, firstly because of his age, but also due to the heartbreaking health situation he had been in for many years now, and the fact that being an enormously successful comic writer for decades still somehow left him underinsured. His second wife had run multiple GoFundMe campaigns trying to keep up with expenses.
I first encountered PAD with borrowed works during university, and I can't recall which came first. A friend lent me the Star Trek TNG novel Vendetta, which pitted Picard and his crew against the Planet Killer from the original series, and the dazzling revelation that it was likely created as an anti Borg weapon. The cyborg assimilationists had only been spotlighted perhaps a year before, and David's novel showed not only a fantastic depth of knowledge of the original Trek canon, but he applied a willful and imaginative playfulness to it. Later on I went on to collect a lot of the Star Trek comics he did for DC, including The Modala Imperative and Who Killed Captain Kirk.
But when a friend loaned me issue 377 of The Incredible Hulk, which revelaed tormented Bruce Banner to actually be a victim of dissociative identity disorder (then referenced as multiple personality disorder). The idea that his alter ego Hulk was not just a Jekyll/Hyde phenomenon, a crude reflection of a timid scientist, but rather a manifestation of trauma wrought by an abusive father and seeing his mother killed in front of him. As a psychology major I found this all fascinating, as well as tragically compelling.
Guided for a time by superpowered psychotherapist Doc Samson, David took readers on a fascinating psychological journey that, in between building-shattering battles and villainous schemes, dealt with psyche, leadership, ego, love, death, responsibility and a host of other topics. He made perpetual teen sidekick Rick Jones (a cast member since page 3 of issue 1 and eventual partner to Captain America and Captain Marvel!) into a capable character in his own right, with an agency of his own to boot.
PAD wrote that book and that character for twelve amazing years, for even more issues than Stan Lee, the Hulk's creator did, putting an indelible mark on a legendary property while also showing how creatively established tropes can be repurposed.
David's list of works is long and impressive, but he was also an impressive person. He had strong opinions about the rights of comic creators, gay rights and several liberal causes, and shared them widely and articulately. But he also apologized when he found himself in the wrong; something that feels increasingly rare.
He wrote all his stories with an amazing blend of pathos, humanity, drama and especially humour. He also had an eye towards social justice, having been bullied as a child alongside his best friend, who was gay. Not many guys were writing about AIDS in the late 80s, but David was, eventually earning a GLAAD award for it.
I think the most recent book of his I purchased (as opposed to the volumes I read and re-read on the Marvel Unlimited app; including a current re-read of his epic Hulk run) was the comic autobiography he helped Stan Lee to write a decade ago, Amazing Fantastic Incredible. It's a good read that at least tries to address some of the controversies over how this legendary writer and promoter treated some of his collaborators.
Peter David has left enough work out there that I can keep discovering it for years to come, but learning his unique voice has been silenced far, far too early has really cast a pall upon my spring.
RIP, PAD.
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