So…what do ya wanna know?

It’s been a while since I’ve done an open Q&A. Actually, not since my back surgery. So…throwing it open to questions. Anything you guys want to ask about whatever?

A couple of stipulations:

1) One question per person.

2) Please don’t bother asking about the wing speed of an unladen swallow, the answer to life, the universe and everything, or similar questions. It was funny the first time. And second. By the tenth time, the charm has worn off.

3) I reserve the right not to answer.

PAD

448 comments on “So…what do ya wanna know?

    1. It was a blast working with Greg and the crew. I was thrilled to have the opportunity, and I can’t wait to see them air. Unfortunately, since my first one is episode 18 and we’re up to episode 3, obviously I’m going to have to.
      .
      PAD

  1. hi peter,

    This is my first time writing to you…or typing lol
    I’m a big fan from south-africa and have been for some time, but only recently started reading your new x-factor series(i import them from america and this shipment took like 3 months to arrive) …i know it came out in 2005 but its still a breath of fresh air compared to the other umm yeah out there, so I’m only at issue 20 so excuse me if I’m asking something that already might have been cleared up in the run… So in issue 12 you kill my favourite dupe…i was realy disappointed…I loved him in issue 1… And would have loved it if he was handled like ichigo’s hollow side in earlier episodes of the japanese anime called bleach…but allas. I wanted to know if each dupe is a facet of james personality, does it mean if one dies he losses that facet completely? So for example if the dupe representing his will to live(or self preservation) dies he as well will loose that part of himself?( wanted to use the libido dupe as an example, but umm refrained from it) the reason why I ask this is if the dupes are just representations and not extensions of himself that means that my favourite dupe can be ‘regenerated’ right? Oh and thanx for being my favourite comic book writer since the original x-factor way back! (which I also had to source from the states… Lol)

    1. That’s a good question, and I’ve gotten it before. Basically you’re asking if the death of a particular dupe effectively lobotomizes a section of Madrox’s personality. I would have to think no, definitely not. The dupes are drawn from his consciousness and subconsciousness, given form by his power, but they are simply DUPLICATES of parts of his brain. Otherwise, if Madrox produced an incredibly brave dupe, then it would mean that Madrox Prime would instantly become cowardly. But we’ve seen no impact on Madrox Prime when the dupes are created; the core personality remains.
      .
      PAD

  2. Hi Peter,
    This is my first time corresponding with an author. I am a 50 year old woman who has been a Star trek (all tv series)fan since the begining in the sixtes. However New Frontier, the only book series I read, is my favorite group of characters. I have just finished Treason (I was not aware of it when it was originally published)so my question maybe a repeat. How could you let Dr Selar die??? She is,was,my second favorite character after Burgy in the books. Such a strong complicated character that had great deal more to offer. I actually cried! That rarely happens to me. I am holding out hope that she comes back like most of the main characters that happen to die off when you write the next book, however it won’t be the same, I find it really unforgivable! And on that note, stop being so dámņ involved in, well just about everyhing, and continue the series,soon…please! I also want to add my thanks .. you’re an excellent writer, a great storyteller, extremely humorous and can obviously appeal to more than 18-24 year old nerdy males.I’m a married mother of three almost grown women, how’s that for outside the demographic?

    1. I’m actually not sure what our Trek demographic is. If the attendance at a normal Trek con is any indicator, you’d find quite a bit of company there.
      .
      As for killing off Selar, it was simply the direction the story went. It was pretty brutal, I know. Then again, if the only characters I ever killed off were characters who no one gave a dámņ about, it would have no impact.
      .
      PAD

      1. Not to belabor the point but your’s is not just any fictional book, it’s Trek and I’m pretty sure there’s an unwritten law passed down by the Almighty Roddenbery that only never before seen crewman X dies in each story…..just sayin >:)

      2. ARGH, I haven’t gotten to Treason yet (I loaned my copies to a friend a couple years back, and she just won’t give ’em back for some reason… I knew it was a mistake LOL)
        .
        As for Tasha Yar… I’m pretty sure the rule doesn’t count if the actress wants to quit. Other than that, I’m pretty sure Eve’s law is what goes *g*

      3. Nah, DS9 killed that one off when they did likewise to Torah Ziyal. Recurring characters are fair game.
        .
        Of course, Selar was a regular, so I guess Plakson wanted out of her contract.

  3. What story, be it book, movie, comic, or play, impressed you so much, it made you say, “Ðámņ, that was…wow?”

    1. “Dexter.” One of the few series that is absolutely must-seen, appointment television for us.
      .
      A close second: “Spartacus.”
      .
      There was also a huge “wow” factor in “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” during the Spidey/Goblin battle sequences.
      .
      PAD

  4. Not sure if this was ever asked before, apologies if it was.
    .
    What was the first comic you remember reading, which got you interested in comics?
    .
    (If you wanted to throw in the first one you remember reading as a bonus answer, that would be cool. I remember the first one I read, which was different from the one which acted as my “gateway” into comics as a whole.)

  5. Peter stated in the April 2007 Q&A thread that the first comic book he remembered reading was a Casper the Friendly Ghost comic in a barbershop. This is also in his Wikipedia article, along with a lot of other information from these Q&A threads and other blog posts of his. 🙂

  6. Slightly off the beaten track here but I’ve heard you mention in passing that you’re a fan of (in my view) one of the finest sitcoms ever produced, “Blackadder”.

    As a Blackadder fan, just wondering – do you think the rumours circulating of a 5th series should come to fruition, or should the show’s swansong (as a sitcom) be – fittingly – “Goodbyeeeeee”?

    It seems to me that as an entire nerdy generation grows up or enters middle age all of these shows and movies we remember with such fondness – from smallish cult hits like Blackadder right up to Indiana Jones – get wheeled out and somewhat inevitably fail to measure up to our memories. Although to be fair, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was just plain awful.

    As a writer, do you think it’s up to the writers involved to knuckle down and make sure legacies aren’t wasted, or is it an impossible job?

    1. I don’t think it’s impossible at all. I mean, plenty of us have tons of fond memories of watching “Doctor Who” in the old days. I don’t think the new incarnation failed to measure up at all.
      .
      Now, if you’re limiting it to people revisiting previous characters: Well, it didn’t last tremendously long, but I enjoyed the hëll out of “Bret Maverick,” the series in which James Garner revived his character of Maverick. David Carridine revived a modern day version of Caine who wasn’t measurably different from his previous incarnation in “Kung Fu.” And sure, “Star Trek: TMP” was a disaster, but “Wrath of Kahn” was one of the best Trek adventures ever. It can be done if you have the talent and the writing.
      .
      Long story short, a “Blackadder” revival has been rumored for ages. If the writers and cast are game for it, then I say why the hëll not? If it’s great, then it’s great. If it’s lousy, it’s not going to retroactively make the previous series suck.
      .
      By the way, I hear there’s a new “Red Dwarf” in the works.
      .
      PAD

      1. By the way, I hear there’s a new “Red Dwarf” in the works.
        .
        It wasn’t very long after the “Red Dwarf: “Back To Earth” mini-series premiered that there was talking of doing a new, full season.
        .
        Apparently that was still only rumor until the other day, when it seems Craig Charles let slip in a radio interview that, yes, there will be another series.
        .
        And then Robert Llewellyn felt he had to respond to the tons of questions he received on Twitter about Charles’ comments with a blog entry at http://llewblog.squarespace.com/red-dwarf/
        .
        “Back To Earth” wasn’t the best, but I became an instant fan of Red Dwarf after the first time it aired on IPTV nearly 15 years ago, and I’ll take anything new at this point. 🙂

    2. .
      Hey Laurence, “Goodbyeeeeee” wasn’t the swan song for the series. If you haven’t seen it, there’s a millennium special they did that’s a part of the full series packs and sold as a stand alone. It may even be an instant play on Netflix since most of the rest of series is.

      1. Thanks Jerry I appreciate the tip. I did know about “Blackadder Back And Forth” (and about “The Cavalier Years” and “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” too), I just meant Goodbyeee was the swansong for sitcom episodes. But as I say thanks for the tip – didn’t think much of “Back and Forth” personally, which I guess is part of why I fear the prospect of a subpar 5th series.

  7. Peter, would it possible to modify the site so that the post/text fields are wider, previews return, and making spaces in between lines requires only using the Enter/Return key, instead of having to to insert a period?

  8. I have two questions I’d like to ask and can’t decide which one to choose, so if you could, answer the one you want. Also, sorry for my English, it’s not my first language.

    1/ If I recall correctly, before the end of your “Supergirl” run you planned to make it sort of a team book starring pre-Crisis Supergirl, Linda as Superwoman and Power Girl. Do you remember any interesting story you wanted to tell with these three?

    2/ In X-Factor, there was a issue when Madrox met his dupe who suppose to be the best detective in the world or something like that (I don’t have any issues before 200 with me at the moment, so I may be mistaken about details). This dupe killed himself to prevent Jamie from knowing about something terrible. Some people assume from his last words that he was talking about Josef Huber alias Isolationist, but personally I’m not convinced. Mostly because I didn’t see Isolationist as that much terrifying to make dupe kill himself. So my question is – was it really about him? And if yes, what information about him made dupe kill himself?

    1. 1) It was gonna be called “Blonde Justice,” I remember that much. But I hadn’t really worked up stories yet; it was very much in the nascent stages.
      .
      2) There was more to it than that, actually; stuff about Madrox himself that the dupe didn’t want him to know. Oooooo…
      .
      PAD

  9. Hi, Peter. Not sure if you heard, but Wizard and Toyfare are ceasing publixation today. I’m not sure how much contact you had with them over the years, but what are your thoughts on the fall of the publication?

  10. You did this just to have a thread count longer than the recent Political Dialogues, didn’t you?

  11. Hi, Peter – I just wanted to say that I was so excited to get to meet you at the 2010 Comic Con! And I thank you for giving me the tip about the Sir Apropos of Nothing graphic novel. I got a copy when I got home from Comic Con and loved it! I absolutely love your writing style, but the Apropos line has been my favorite of all of your work, probably because it’s your own original storyline.

    My question is…do you expect to put out any more Apropos books or stories, or another original storyline?

    …Or am I missing one that you’ve already put out?

    Thanks!

  12. Glad to have Fallen Angel back! Really eager to see what happens next.

    Also LOVING “Little Sisters of Eluria!” Salem’s Lot is one of my favorite King books and it is very reminiscent of that.

    How are things with the Dark Tower books going? How far out do you see this going?

    1. They’re going well enough that we’re still doing them, so that’s something. I’m hoping it continues.
      .
      PAD

  13. How would you feel to be the writer of a major storyline, only to have the whole thing spoiled at midnight on the day of the final issue’s release (already a day earlier than usual) because your publisher seems to care a lot more about getting some attention from the media?

    1. I’d feel that Marvel figured it was going to be blown by the Internet within 24 hours anyway, so they had nothing to lose and everything to gain in terms of prompting additional people to buy the book.
      .
      I mean, let’s face it: the last time I asked fans to try and keep a story spoiler free, some people attended to my request, but quite a few reacted as if I was some sort of presumptuous idiot who was making unreasonable demands and had no business doing so.
      .
      PAD

      1. Well, it’s one thing if everybody knows once the issue is released, but to have it spoiled the first thing when people get up in the morning before the stores even open? Oi.
        .
        I hope this makes Marvel rethink a bit their desire for media attention.

      2. It’s not a shock, but more because I simply have no reason to believe he won’t be back in a year. After all, that’s when they’ll get to push another anniversary issue. Death in the Marvel U hasn’t held much meaning for awhile now.
        .
        As for Bradley calling it, he had 1-in-4 odds, and other publicity materials (such as The Thing being in something for The Avengers) made it that much easier.
        .
        I read somewhere somebody saying that the only real way to shock anybody with this if they had killed 3 out of the 4, and left one alive. 🙂

      3. Craig, maybe the problem is the sites you’re going to. The websites that I went to all had huge spoiler warnings on the news. If you go to the right sites, you should be able to avoid finding out spoilers like this.

      4. Jason, the problem is that you just don’t know until the site pops up whether it’s going to spoil or not.
        .
        For me, it was the front page of Yahoo. It was right there in the headlines.
        .
        I’d seen it pointed out that the AP had an article prepped and released at midnight, so who knows how many sites had spoiled it in the end.

    2. Illuminati #5 was spoiled for me the day it shipped. I checked Marvel.com to see which issues were out, and top story was the big reveal in issue 5–RELEASED THAT DAY.

  14. I’ve been following this thread and trying to think of a good question, but not having much luck yet. For now I’ll just throw out some random praise.

    First: Thanks for keeping Darwin around (at least it appears that he will stick around) – he seems to have a ton of potential, and non-white X-characters tend to be rare.

    Second: Thanks to you (and the powers that be at Marvel!) for sticking with the title for this long. Maybe I’m old school – but *this* is what I want in a Marvel comic. Not a string of partially finished and modified plots by 5 writers in 5 years… I want long term character development, and I appreciate it when it’s done with a diverse cast.

    Three: Special props for rolling with the crossover punches as well as you have. With every new one you’ve managed to bring

    Random Note: I may have told you this (here) when my son was born… but just in case: we named our second boy “Madrox”, and he is coming up on his 2nd birthday. We have yet to meet another.

    Finally thought of a question:

    Do you have an “endgame” in mind for how and/or when you’ll wrap up your X-Factor threads?

    1. Thanks for all the praise, random or otherwise. Your son is really named Madrox? Wow. Of course, if you have a third or fourth son, you can name them Madrox as well.
      .
      I try not to embark on threads without having an idea of how I wrap them up, but with any luck I introduce new threads at the same time.
      .
      PAD

      1. Yes, he really is :). We alternate on first/middle name with the kids and it was my turn for the first. It was on a list of 3 or 4 names that I liked that she approved. I don’t think she would approve it twice, but I’ll bring it up …
        .
        X-Factor and Fables are the only comics I can get her to read, so there’s some more random praise.
        .
        My bit about the crossovers got cut off, I meant to say that you’ve managed to integrate your own plots and bring something new in from the crossovers as well. Very impressive. It makes me dread them much less.

  15. Ah, yes. Tasha Yar. Although the logical part of me says that all of us make the best decisions we can based on the info available at the time I can’t help but wonder if there are at lest some moments when Denise Crosby says to herself:
    What was I THINKING? (And when Micheal Dorn says, “Thank you” since his role was said to be expanded with Tasha’s demise.)

    1. So? Eve’s point–to which Peter offered Yar as a response–was that Gene Roddenberry apparently enacted an unwritten law that only never before seen crewman X dies in each story. Peter’s point illustrated that it obviously wasn’t true. How do Crosby’s wishes mitigate that response?

      1. Well, I don’t believe Roddenberry would have killed off a main character just for the sake of the story, unless the character reamerges as someone altered,(like what Peter does in his books). He (Roddenberry) just didn’t have any other options,Crosby wanted out. It wasn’t his choice. I suppose he could have transfered her to another ship for some reason or another but that would require rearranging story arcs or something and I know almost nothing about behind the scene filming, time tables etc so maybe he didn’t have the time… Peters characters aren’t people who’s contracts are up or movie deals in the works etc…I still stand by what I said.. either way it doesn’t change anything, Dr Selar gone and I’m going to miss her!

      2. “He (Roddenberry) just didn’t have any other options,Crosby wanted out. It wasn’t his choice. ”
        .
        Eve, I have to disagree. Unless some network executive force Roddenberry to kill off the character when Crosby annouced her departure Roddenberry did have a choice. The doctor in TNG was changed and then changed back and in both cases the fate of the previous doctor was explained in a couple of throwaway lines. I have to believe that it would have been very easy to start an episode without the character and have Picard say to Riker: “I hope Lieutenant Yar is doing well in her new assigment.”

      3. Eve: Roddenberry just didn’t have any other options,Crosby wanted out. It wasn’t his choice. I suppose he could have transfered her to another ship for some reason or another but that would require rearranging story arcs..
        Luigi Novi: There were no “story arcs” on NextGen, especially during the first season, when Yar was a regular. The fact remains that he could’ve transferred her, or recast another actress in the role. He didn’t because he didn’t want to.
        .
        And as Peter pointed out, Spock died in Wrath of Khan.
        .
        Other characters who died in episodes that were not “never before seen crewman X” included Lt. Carey and Seska.
        .
        The bottom line is that there is no such “unwritten law”.

  16. Hi Mr. David! I was wondering if you’re going to get into Rictor and Shatterstar’s relationship prior to their time in X-Factor.

    I’m a trade-waiter so perhaps you’ve gotten to this already, but it seems there was some sort of behind-the-scenes relationship while they were in X-force which no one was aware of. There have been jokes an innuendo since the 90s but I don’t believe it’s been chronicled.

  17. Hi, Peter. Any news on when The Highness of the Low will be coming out? I’m not much of a fan of fantasy novels but I really loved The Darkness of the Light and am eager to see what happens next.

    1. Funny thing. I turned the manuscript into Tor in June…of 2009. By their own contracted publishing schedule, it should have come out this week; instead the editor hasn’t even edited it yet. It has been sitting on his desk for eighteen months. They’re claiming that it won’t see print until winter of 2012. I’m in the process of telling them they’re wrong. I will offer updates as they occur.
      .
      PAD

      1. This disappoints me very much, as I have been looking forward to the next book. I had presumed it was a no-go.
        .
        Still, “it’ll be here” is a better answer than “they canceled the series,” I guess!

      2. Why does everyone keep treating you like the Rodney Dangerfield of writers? They cancel Supergirl, even when that last arc sold well. They cancel Young Justice for some stupid cartoon that only ran for a few seasons, and now they’re creating a cartoon of YJ. You had an amazing 12-year run on Hulk, one that didn’t involve the mindless, rampaging version, and they insist on letting you go just to publish that version. They won’t publish new Apropos books, but they wont’ let anyone else do so either. And now Tor with this. What the hëll is wrong with all these people? Christ!
        .
        Speaking of which, now that Disney owns Marvel, Peter, might this mean that you have a new avenue on which to explore getting that Little Mermaid story published featuring the death of Ariel’s mom?

      3. In case anyone is wondering, Luigi is referring to a story I wrote for the “Little Mermaid” comic years ago exploring the backstory behind the death of Ariel’s mother. The story was shot down with the assertion that Disney would never, EVER want to do a story about how Ariel’s mother died.
        .
        And the story couldn’t see print now because it’s moot, thanks to the story in the direct-to-video “Little Mermaid III: Ariel’s Beginning” which–of course–is a story about how Ariel’s mother died.
        .
        PAD

      4. Was that assertion made by someone at Disney, or by someone between you and Disney trying to guess what Disney would want?

      5. I wrote the story, my editor submitted it to his higher-ups, and then he came back to me and told me that he was informed that Disney felt the fate of Ariel’s mother was something that should never be explored.
        .
        PAD

      6. It sounds like you and PAD could write a book on ideas you’ve been told would never be explored, yet eventually were anyways.

      7. Peter, have you ever read The Experts Speak by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky? You might like it. It seems like you could write an edition of it based solely on what “experts” have told you. (“There are no female Borg!”) Some examples:
        .
        “We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out.” -Decca Recording Company executive turning down the Beatles in 1962
        .
        “Just a fad, a passing fancy.” – Chicago Cubs owner Phil Wrigley on the advent of night baseball in 1935
        .
        “Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” –Irving Fisher, professor of economics at Yale, October 17, 1929
        .
        “Forget it, Louis, no Civil War picture ever made a nickel.” -Irving Thalberg to Louis B. Mayer regarding Gone With the Wind
        .
        “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” -President of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977
        .
        “Reagan doesn’t have the presidential look.” -United Artists executive, regarding giving the lead role in the 1964 film The Best Man to the actor

  18. Hi Peter.

    Have you given any thought to working on Spider-man again? FNSM was a great read, but I felt that Marvel didn’t really give a dámņ about the book.

    X-Factor is still great, I came on board right around the Secret Invasion tie-in and bought all the back issues and such. I love how you’ve turned Longshot into an oblivious jáçkášš, and would love to see more of him in the book. My question is how do you manage to stay fairly self-contained in a sub-genre of X-books who are prone to spontanous cross-overs and cheap gimmicks?

    My last questions is – during these long runs of books you’ve done for Marvel and DC, there has to be moments where your personality and life experience, your thoughts and opinions, have bled into the storytelling. What part of yourself do you put in your stories?

    1. I’m really trying to keep it to one question per person. But I don’t want to disappoint you. So I’ll try to be succinct in order to be fair:
      .
      1) Yes.
      .
      2) It’s not easy.
      .
      3) All of me.
      .
      If you want me to expand on any of those, pick one.
      .
      PAD

      1. I would love more details about #1.

        (I’ve been procrastinating this long because I didn’t want to waste my question, and that’s the one I end up going with? I guess I just love your Spider-Man stuff too much.)

      2. Probably the most conspicuous was the death of Betty Banner in “Incredible Hulk.”
        .
        My editor, Bobbie Chase and I were discussing future directions for the series (unaware that, in the near future, she would be forced to fire me off the title.)
        .
        And she said, “Look, at the risk of bringing up a sort subject: you always said that Betty was your wife’s favorite character. And because of that, she’s the one character you would never kill off.”
        .
        I said, “Yeaaahhh…”
        .
        She said, “Well, not to put too fine a point on it: your wife’s filed for divorce.”
        .
        I said, “Are you suggesting we kill off Betty?”
        .
        She said, “Well, the way you’ve been writing them, Betty’s his anchor to the world. She keeps him emotionally stable. What if he were deprived of that anchor for good?”
        .
        And since I was pretty sure it would be a storyline to which I could relate, I said, “Fine. She’s dead.”
        .
        The date and time I had the doctor pronounce her dead was the exact date and time my divorce was finalized.
        .
        If, on the other hand, I’d known that I would be shoved off the book an issue or so later, I’d never have done it. But Bobbie’s superiors saw this as an opportunity for the Hulk to express his grief by running around smashing stuff in a brainless manner. I couldn’t relate to that. It seemed counter to the psychological depth with which I’d imbued the character. Having Bruce mentally check out and just become a mindless rampaging beast wasn’t interesting to me, if for no other reason than that I wasn’t dealing with my grief by smashing the crap out of things. So I said, “I’m not going to write that,” and they came back and said, “Fine, you’re gone,” and they brought in John Byrne to write exactly what they wanted, which promptly tanked as I knew it would.
        .
        PAD

  19. OK OK Peter I’m wrong! I concede defeat. Roddenberry kills off Spock, I forgot about The Wrath Of Kahn. The movie wasn’t one of my favorites. I enjoy the series more. But hey, Spock came back, and back,and back, hëll you can’t get rid of him.It’s still all about him in 2009.
    So I hope you don’t mind if I hold out hope for Selar Too!

    1. Please disregard my post above. I posted it before I came down to this message of yours, which was posted beforehand. 🙂

    2. Actually eve, Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer killed Spock. After, TMP was considered a behind-the-scenes disaster, Roddenberry, was, being a Paramount employee, kicked upstairs and was made “Creative Consultant”. Which meant he reviwed “Star Trek” scripts and make suggestions, but a wet noodle had more political power than Gene. And it is known publicly nowadays Gene did not want Spock killed.

      1. Yes, I did. Gene also didn’t like the destruction of the Enterprise in the third film
        .
        It still has no bearing on the notion of an unwritten rule against killing anyone other than redshirts. 🙂

      2. Eve–just for kicks, let’s say that Gene DID have an “unwritten rule” about deaths.
        .
        He had another unwritten rule that I know of as a fact for Next Gen: No conflict. No members of the Enterprise could ever disagree with each other. Everyone was always to be in accord and there were to be no arguments. Remember the old days of ST:TOS when Spock and McCoy would have epic disagreements and Kirk had to ride herd on them? Relegated to the past. They even changed the more aggressive term “briefing room” to the far more laid back “conference lounge.” Picard’s surrendering in the first episode was Gene’s way of sending a message: The STTNG was to be far more passive with no conflict among themselves and minimal with others. The only one in the crew allowed to be remotely belligerent was Worf, and that’s because he wasn’t human.
        .
        It drove the writers absolutely nuts. Any writer will tell you that drama hinges on conflict. No conflict, no drama. It was one of the reasons ST:TMP was so leaden. There was no conflict. It was just the crew standing around looking at stuff.
        .
        I have tons of respect for Gene and all he accomplished, but his “no conflict” rule was simply a bad idea. It ripped the guts out of his own creation and hammerlocked his writers.
        .
        Just because Gene had rules, unwritten or no, didn’t necessarily mean they were good ones.
        .
        PAD

    3. It’s not a matter of defeat, Eve. If nothing else, on all of the “Star Trek” series, if you killed off a major character, you were putting an actor/actress out of work. So from a human point of view, killing off a character is not something done lightly.
      .
      In point of fact, Roddenberry didn’t kill off Spock. Actually, he hated STII. He urged audiences not to go see it. He said it “wasn’t Star Trek.” So I was just curious whether you shared his opinion in that regard.
      .
      The advantage that NF has over other Star Trek novels is that I get to control the fates of the characters. “Next Gen” novels couldn’t kill off Picard, for instance, without trying to get clearance from Paramount. And good luck with that. If, in the next novel, I decided to kill off Calhoun, I can do that. That’s what makes NF a dangerous series: anything can happen. Unfortunately, as you know, sometimes that means bad things.
      .
      PAD

      1. Roddenberry also insisted that starships have an even number of nacelles. And yet, the future Enterprise-D in “All Good Things…” had three.

      2. Didn’t Roddenberry have any control over the old Star Fleet Technical Manual? ‘Cause I had one, and it described a scout-class vessel with one nacelle (much akin to the Kelvin from the newest movie), and a proposed dreadnought-class with three nacelles, one on the saucer section (similar to the future Enterprise in “All Good Things…”). These would seem to be departures from a rule about even numbers of nacelles…

      3. Peter, no I didn’t know he hated STII. It must be very difficult to see your work and your vision for it be at the mercy of exec producers and other big wigs on the money making end…very frusrating at least!….Please, please don’t even think about killing off Calhoun, thats madness <:)However if Shelby were to find herself in the hands of someone dangerous and suffer an unfortunate end, well…. I would certainly understand about bad things. ( I never really liked her, she rubbed me the wrong way on TNG and I never warmed up to her) Calhoun was more interesting single… you know when you marry off an exciting character the interest wanes, he could use some fun, maybe channel his inner Kirk. Just a thought from the female sector.

      4. Peter, no I didn’t know he hated STII. It must be very difficult to see your work and your vision for it be at the mercy of exec producers and other big wigs on the money making end…very frusrating at least!….
        .
        Would you like to know the thing that torqued Gene the most? Remember when the worm creature crawls out of Chekov’s ear and Kirk phasers it? Gene’s contention was that Kirk has such respect for alien life that he would have picked it up and put it in a sample bag. When I heard that, I thought, No, Picard would have bagged it. Kirk would have shot it.
        .
        PAD

      5. Yeah, that scene kind of stuck with me.
        .
        The Ceti eel crawls out of Chekhov’s ear. McCoy: “My God! What is that?”
        .
        ZZAAP!
        .
        Me: “Well, you’ll never know now, thanks to ol’ Quick-Draw Jimbo here…”

      6. But it was character consistent for Kirk.
        .
        Every year at a convention called Shore Leave, Mike Friedman, Bob Greenberger and I do a show called “Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000” in which we screen for an audience, and snark on, an episode of “Star Trek.” And one of the jokes that’s always stuck with me is when we did “The Apple.” Kirk and Company are on a jungle world, and thanks to the hostile environment, red shirts are dropping at an even faster rate than usual. At one point, they suddenly become aware that one of the natives is spying on them. Does Kirk call to him, say, “We know you’re in there! Come out, let’s talk!” which is likely what Picard would have done? No. They maneuver around the guy and Kirk punches him in the face, assuming for no real good reason that the guy has hostile intent.
        .
        And as the punch landed, Bob said, “First contact!” which got a huge laugh.
        .
        It was also quintessential Kirk. The native was standing there wearing nothing but a towel and a confused expression, with no weapon in his hand, and Kirk’s default reaction was to clock him.
        .
        Then there’s “Friday’s Child.” While Kirk, Spock and McCoy are visiting with a tribe, the ruler is overthrown and killed. His wife (imperiously and wonderfully played by Julie Newmar) is aware that, since she is pregnant with the leader’s child, her life is forfeit. They’re about to execute her. She offers no protest; she’s ready to die. The Prime Directive could not be clearer in this situation: you don’t interfere. This is the business of the local population and it doesn’t matter whether it’s brutal and unfair: You. Don’t. Get. Involved. Picard might well have done nothing, considering his fealty to the Prime Directive.
        .
        What does Kirk do? Punches out the executioner, grabs the wife and goes on the run.
        .
        The difference between Kirk and Picard might well be summarized by an instance in “Generations.” There was a moment where the villain, Soran, is about to cross a bridge, and finds Picard blocking his way. And the audience reaction was dead silence. The question was: What’s going to happen now? Later on the exact same scene is replayed except Soran finds that, instead of Picard blocking his way, it’s a smirking James T. Kirk. The audience reaction? A huge cheer. Why? Because this was a situation which called for violence. If there’s a chance the villain can be reasoned with, you bring in Picard. If, on the other hand, the villain needs to get his ášš kicked, you want Kirk in there.
        .
        Kirk’s history is clear: If people, particularly his crew, is threatened, he’s going to punch or shoot whatever represents the threat.
        .
        So there he is in TWOK and a monstrosity has just inflicted horrible pain on Chekov, dropped him like a bad habit, and is crawling out of his ear. Kirk doesn’t know what it is, and doesn’t care. The thing’s a threat. He doesn’t know how fast it moves. Just because it’s crawling at that moment doesn’t mean it can’t suddenly put on a burst of speed, or jump like a flea. If he waits five seconds, the thing might suddenly leap into McCoy’s head, or his own, and start burrowing. Screw that. He’s got a clear shot; he’s taking it. Bam. Threat eliminated. Time to move onto the next thing.
        .
        Gene had this idealized view of the future which even his own original series didn’t actually reflect. Bigotry is eliminated by the time of Star Trek? Nonsense. If McCoy had called Sulu a slanty eyed gook, people would have been up in arms. But he made what were basically racist remarks about Spock all the time and no one cared. And Kirk had the diplomatic skills of an artichoke.
        .
        But by the time of STTNG, Gene clearly felt that it was time for the show to match up with philosophies that were, to a large extent, lip service in the first series. The ship’s doctor wasn’t going to be calling Worf a big-headed war monger anytime soon. In the show’s bible, Riker had major problems with Data’s lack of emotions that evoked the McCoy/Spock days, but that disappeared within an episode or two. The cowboy attitude of Kirk was unsuited to space exploration. A diplomat was called for. That’s what Picard was. Picard would have stuck the Ceti Alpha eel in a bag. Hëll, he probably would have opened up trade negotiations with it.
        .
        But Kirk? Kirk shoots it, no question.
        .
        Oh, and Han shot first, but that’s another discussion.
        .
        PAD

      7. I think Picard would have saved the woman in “Friday’s Child.” He played a better game of lip service than Kirk to the Prime Directive, but he was still willing to break it when he thought it was the right thing to do. He would have done it without punching anyone (a speech would have been involved), though, and he would have managed to agonize about it for the whole episode.

      8. Oh, I wasn’t disagreeing with you, PAD – it was perfectly in character for Kirk. Unfortunate, but in character.
        .
        Mention of the Prime Directive also calls to mind an exchange from the DS9 episode “Trials and Tribble-ations”, which, in an interview between Capt. Sisko and two agents of Temporal Investigations, lays forth what the bureaucracy would forever remember about James Kirk:
        .
        Dulmur: Be specific, Captain, which Enterprise? There’ve been five.
        Lucsly: Six.
        Sisko: This was the first Enterprise – Constitution-class.
        Dulmur: His ship!
        Lucsly: James T. Kirk.
        Sisko: The one and only!
        Lucsly: Seventeen separate temporal violations; the biggest file on record.
        Dulmur: The man was a menace.
        .
        (Incidentally, I once counted up the number of crimes Kirk should have been court-martialed for in STIII. I think I got 17, including theft of Starfleet property, two counts of assaulting a fellow officer, mutiny, and incitement to mutiny. And who could blame him for any of it?) 🙂

  20. Any question regarding your work that I could think of has already been asked so I’ll ask a personal question. My 23 month son will have a small surgery in March to remove his tonsils and adenoids. Did you went trought that experience with any of your kids and if so how was it?

    1. I had my own tonsils yanked when I was a child, and have fond memories of being able to eat as much ice cream as I wanted. My daughter Gwen had her tonsils pulled as well; it was done on an outpatient basis. She also got to have ice cream. Yes, all surgeries have some risk, but this one is pretty minimal.
      .
      PAD

  21. Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelizations for the first two, as well as prequels to both of them, “Ghosts of Yesterday” for the first, and “The Veiled Threat”. My question is whether or not you will write a prequel novel like Foster or possible something along those lines?

    1. I certainly had fun with the characters. And there were aspects of the script that would easily be expanded into a prequel novel. Sure, I’d do it.
      .
      PAD

      1. The first two what, the first two Star Trek movies?
        .
        I was going to ask something similar. With the TOS timeline now rebooted (or a new one being explored), is there now more open room for you to possibly write more TOS novels? I know writing movie-era stories is more difficult because of Kirk’s promotion prior to the first film, the tight back-to-back nature of the second through fourth films, and the crew’s age and retirement after the sixth. Does the new tabula rasa make the possibilities greater?

  22. On the subject of trek deaths, will we ever see Janeway again? My friend loves her to death and we have been debating if and when she might come back. I can’t wait for the next novel!

  23. Are you familiar at all with David McDaniel, who wrote several(rather good)MAN FROM UNCLE novels in the sixties? I’ve always been struck by the similarities in your styles – you both write licensed characters respectfully but with a slight tongue in cheek approach, you both fill your stories with “in jokes and Tuckerisms’ and you both establish your own universes within the established TV universes. I always wanted to see what McDaniel would have done with a Star Trek novel. I suspect it would have been very much like one of yours. Yes, that’s a compliment.

    1. Can’t say as I’m familiar with his work, no. But I’m flattered that you think a writer whose work you liked would have written something similar to me.
      .
      PAD

  24. Hey Peter

    I’ve tried to find the treatment of Angry man, which I was assured was on the net somewhere. Is it available because I’m very interested in reading it.

    many thanks in advance

    1. I’m not sure what you’re referring to. “Angry Man?” Did I write that? I mean, I’ve been doing this for thirty years, so some things slip through the cracks of my memory.
      .
      PAD

  25. Are we going to expect more characters from Batman: The Brave and the Bold to be appearing on Young Justice?

  26. Didn’t think this thread was still active, but since I see a new question and answer from yesterday… I was going to ask this on the IDW forums, but I noticed that when I went to the Fallen Angel section of the forum, the top thread had someone already asking this query, with no response from IDW in the last two months, so I suspect it’s pointless me asking it there.

    I recently picked up Fallen Angel Omnibus #0 (I know, I know, I should have been checking the series out earlier). Loved it, and went looking for Omnibus #1, only to find that it’s apparently out of print. So the question is, is there a likelihood of it going to another print any time soon? I know I could get the individual trades, and if the Omnibus isn’t coming back into print then I will do that, but I hate the idea of picking up the trades that won’t fit on the shelf well with a differently sized pair of Omnibii (have bought Omnibus 2, but not read yet for obvious reasons) and then finding out a little while later that Omnibus 1 is coming back out again.

  27. Do you have any interests in seeing DC heroine Traci 13 in Young Justice or DC Nation? I only asked because you have written Ben 10 episodes and Traci 13 was actually created by Joe Kelly who is one of the Man of Action guys.

  28. I’ve just got to tell you that you are an amazing author! I read “Darkness of the Light” I love how you can design many different cultures and peoples. As a wanna be fiction writer, how do you do that? How in did you come up with the different cultures and remember them all?

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