A Marvelous Bit of News

Posted By: Kathleen DavidPosted On:

Yes. The news is true.
Peter has signed an exclusive with Marvel.
He is quite happy about it.

“Fallen Angel” & ‘Soulsearchers and CO.” were grandfathered into the contract as was his Spike mini-series.

Oh I am very happy about it too but then I have been happy about it since last year. *grin*

106 comments on “A Marvelous Bit of News”

  1. I have also just read the interview at Comic Book Resources – what wonderful news! I am very happy for you.

    By the way, the new New Frontier book “Missing in Action” should be out any day now in the USA and hopefully will find its way to Amazon UK soon afterwards. I have read the excerpt at SimonSays – it starts very promising indeed!

    I also keep looking when the next Knight book will be listed at Amazon.

    Do you have any good news concerning your books as well?

  2. Congratulations PAD!

    This is great news all around. It’s great to see Marvel rewarding someone who’s had the kind of longevity of excellent work that you have produced over the years. I can’t wait to see what new projects Marvel gives you.

  3. Well this is good news, I just bought a copy of The Incredible Hulk animated series DVD that Disney’s DVD service did in getting ready for all the press on 2003’s Hulk movie, Peter and Stan Lee have interviews on it. Some good stuff.

    Now Peter, You have already written the Spider-Man, Hulk, and Fantastic Four Movie Novelizations, will you be doing the Spider-Man 3 novelization too?!

  6. So I’m guessing the next 3 years will be a good time to get all of those various medical checkups you’ve been putting off. Few things involving the word “probe” are pleasent but it helps a little when you aren’t paying full price for them.

  7. Just for clarification Soulsearchers #78 is solicited for May

    Thanks for the info, Justin. Sometimes you just don’t know if there’s a delay (for whatever reason) or a book has been ended.

    Oh, and since there’s no other good place to mention it: going on vacation to Florida and getting stuck with 50 degree temps SUCKS.

    If I wanted that kind of crappy weather, I wouldn’t have left Denver. 😛

  8. Oh, just saw the news about the blizzard in the northeast. That’s what happens when you don’t watch tv all day.

    Hope you enjoyed SF, PAD. Or are still enjoying it if you aren’t or can’t get home yet. 🙂

  9. Congratulations to my favorite liberal. 🙂 I have particularly liked the new X-Factor, in spite of my better judgment. Nice to know you won’t disappear like you did on the old run. The classic PAD X-Factor was my favorite PAD — until now. In just 3 issues, I know this one will far surpass what has come before.

    Iowa Jim

  10. Congratulations!! What else can I say. I look forward to everything you write for Marvel! nuff’ said.

  11. Right now, Marvel is the place to be for Peter.

    DC Comics is going off the deep end with all their crap stories lately, and their staff look and sound like they are smoking something illegal.

  12. Craig, I didn’t know you lived in Denver. Is Sushi Den still open? Le Central? The Tattered Cover?

    Lived there for 3 years, loved the town. Nice folks, good food, Rocky Mountains just a short drive away.

  13. Is Sushi Den still open? Le Central? The Tattered Cover?

    Haven’t heard of the first two, although it’s not a challenge to find a sushi bar in Denver; it seems like that type of restaurant is the latest fad or something.

    Tattered Cover is still in LoDo, but they’re moving their store that’s just outside Cherry Creek Mall to another part of Denver, which sucks. They also have a third store in Highlands Ranch.

    Anyways, I’m off to suffer another mid-50’s day, this time at Disney World (as oppossed to SeaWorld yesterday). 🙂

  14. Congrats, PAD, although this may not bode well for me. I picked up the first 2 issues of X-Factor because I was curious. Then I got #3, and I fear I’m hooked. It reads like a well-made TV show/movie. Which is bad, because I get addicted to those.

    So, the bad for me could be if PAD ends up writing more Marvel books that I have a nostalgic connection to, and also are inclined to get me addicted to them.

    I’m more or less just a caveman lawyer. Your talk of exclusive deals scares and frightens me. What really are the bennys? Eligibility for the Marvel medical plan? Better pay? Guaranteed pay? I know these seem to be all the rage, but what the why? My mind is still in 90s comic mode, where freelance was the way to go, after years of the Marvel Bullpen, where you had your DC creators, and your Marvel creators, and never the twain should meet. What’s up with the exclusives?

  15. That’s some good news, there. It’s good to have bennies. That’s why I signed on for full-time at my current job. Though, you have a much cooler and harder job than I do (I work in the kitchen at an assisted living facility). Also, you haven’t been doing all that much work for folks like DC in the last couple years anyway. So, a Marvel exclusive with exemptions made for your current IDW and Claypool work makes good sense.

    Good luck and may the Marvel work keep coming.

  16. Since I don’t read Marvel under ANY circumstances, this news is quite sad for me as there’s no possibility for any DC work. However, I’ll still enjoy “Fallen Angel” and PAD’s prose work.

  17. Congratulations, PAD. The fact that there will be a few titles at Marvel that Bendis isn’t writing may encourage me to pick up more books from them.

  18. Today, exclusivity;
    Tomorrow, Editor in Chief!

    Congrats, PAD!

    Now, can I borrow $5?

    (just kiddin’)

    😉

  19. Congrats to Peter. As a fan, I don’t care much one way or the other for creators going exclusive, but I do understand the financial benefits.

    Now, what’s this about Peter doing a Spider-Man series unencumbered by JMS’s recycling of the Spider-clone story?

  20. James–if your expenditures really equal the GNP of Patagonia, look at the bright side, at least you’ll have something to talk about to the original Dread Pirate Roberts.

    Paul–whattaya got against Marvel? Seriously? I mean, most DC books ain’t my cup of tea, but I still pick up a Bat book once in a while. Sorry, but stuff like that bugs me. Kinda like the whole Trek is gold/No, B5 is gold arguments that used to take place in college. You shut out a whole group like that, ya might miss out….

    And the thought of Peter redoing Power Pack…I don’t know, having Julie and Jack with Peter’s dialogue just doesn’t fit for me. It would be kinda like the Saved By The Bell cast doing Animal House, it just doesn’t fit.

  21. I read about the concept for your Wonder Man limited series at Newsarama, and though I’ve never really cared for the character much it sounds interesting.
    (Plus I figured out a long time ago that anything written by Peter David is not going to suck.) I’m going to have to pick this book up when it comes out.

  22. In the truest literal sense I only read Marvel when Peter David writes it. As soon as he was done writing the Hulk I packed up and left. More Peter David productions? Make mine Marvel!

  24. Possible Reasons not to read Marvel Ever
    1) You have a relative who works for DC
    2) You’re still pìššëd øff they turned Pittsburgh into the Pitt in the 1980s
    3) You didn’t get a no-prize when you should have
    4) They don’t use the Comics Code
    5) DC superheroes are cooler than Marvel
    6) Someone dressed in a Spider-Man suit ran over your dog

    I should make it clear I read Marvel, and I don’t subscribe to any of the above. I’m just brainstorming ideas of possible reasons.

  25. 7) Marvel has of late become overly dependent on mutants, puts Wolverine in every book, and seems to have an editorial policy that no plot shall be less than 12 issues long, six issues of which are devoted to Tony Stark sitting in his chair drinking a glass of water.

    Now, I love Marvel’s characters. I just hope PAD can reverse the above trend.

  26. no plot shall be less than 12 issues long, six issues of which are devoted to Tony Stark sitting in his chair drinking a glass of water

    As a huge Iron Man fan, that is just too true right now. He should bethe coolest character in my book. He is like Batman in that he is a normal (although very rich) human who has a cool suit of toys. The reality is, the writing of IM has been trash most of the time. Oh well…

    Iowa Jim

  27. “As a huge Iron Man fan, that is just too true right now. He should bethe coolest character in my book. He is like Batman in that he is a normal (although very rich) human who has a cool suit of toys. The reality is, the writing of IM has been trash most of the time. Oh well…”

    Isn’t that just the most frustrating thing? When a really cool character with tons of potential is wasted. When fans can casually think of better, more exciting ways to use that character. Granted, I think one of the hardest things to do is to be creative within the confines of someone else’s sandbox month after month, but with the rate the books seem to switch writers these days, you’d imagine that we’d see better overall use of the characters.

    When I actually think of all the cool things one could do with the Iron Man character, I actually start to look forward to a movie version. Even if it does have crazy Tom in it.

  29. fantastic news. at last the recognition you deserve. any chance of more Hulk in the future?
    Bill

  30. any chance of more Hulk in the future?

    Hulk is tied up in Planet Hulk for about a year right now (though in the summer we’ll get a new Planet Hulk story and a reprint of PAD’s Hulk: The End). But, from the first issue, it looks like alot of fun. Greg Pak is writing the same kind of “pìššëd øff” Hulk from PAD’s most recent run (which is sort of similar to the Grey Hulk, I would guess), and dropping Hulk in the middle of a huge sci-fi setting is too cool for words.

    Alls that said, I would love to see PAD come back on the book after Planet Hulk wraps up — the aftermath of Hulk getting ditched into space and comming back to Earth to kick booty would rule.

  31. Peter, I have a question: What is the benefit of such a contract from Marvel’s point of view? I mean, sure, they get a great writer, but they already have you on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and X-Factor. As I gather right now, exclusivity contracts are signed from a company’s point of view so that their competition can’t use them. But you yourself stated not too long ago (I think it may have been the Greenburger thread) that DC isn’t interested in using you right now. Given that, would Marvel really have been in danger of losing you? Sure, there’s Soulsearchers, Spike>, and Fallen Angel, but I don’t know if those would really be a threat, given that one’s probably not a high seller (is it still running?), the other’s a miniseries, and besides, they were grandfathered into the contract. So what’s Marvel’s motive/angle in this?

  33. All The Rage is reporting that Peter is doing a one shot in June Hulk vs the Champions taking place during the era when the Champions was being published. I can’t wait.

    Perhaps, Peter is going to be the writer on a regular Champions title? Hmmm.

  34. Yeah, that PAD Hulk vs Champions thing sounds cool. I love Peter’s team stuff, as you get to see him take his pen to a variety of characters. I also can’t wait.

    Actually I am edge of my seat for loads of things PAD is doing, great time for fans.

  35. As I gather right now, exclusivity contracts are signed from a company’s point of view so that their competition can’t use them. But you yourself stated not too long ago (I think it may have been the Greenburger thread) that DC isn’t interested in using you right now.

    Pure and simple, it’s bragging rights. DC signs Busiek, Marvel retaliates by signing PAD. All about the headlines, and attracting attention to the company.

    As for whether Marvel was in “danger” of losing PAD to DC… sure, PAD is saying right now that DC hadn’t been calling him… but then again, everyone thought DC was done with Keith Giffen in the wake of Identity Crisis and Countdown to Infinite Crisis… and then lo and behold, they have him headlining one of their major events, 52. DC’s strategy is generally to poach whoever is most valuable to Marvel, so with the rave reviews PAD is currently getting, you can be sure he’d have been next on their list. Marvel knew that, and thus locked him up.

    In other words, for the next three years, if you want to see Peter David write the big superheroes, you have to make yours Marvel. And from Marvel’s standpoint, that’s good PR.

  36. The reason DC has not been calling Peter, is because DC Comics is an evil company, run by Time Warner which is even bigger joke, no wonder Carl Ichan wants to break the company up.

    Meantime Peter is back at Marvel, where I think he likes it better.

  37. Oh, please. Let’s not get into a debate over which company is “evil.” Both Marvel and DC have done things over the years from a management standpoint that I have thought were stupid, even grossly unfair towards creators.

    From simply a product standpoint, I think DC overall is producing the more dynamic and existing books. I’m not a big fan of the deconstructed style of 12 issue story arcs where a whole lot of nothing happens that writers like Bendis and Ellis seem to be obsessed with. Too many of Marvel’s books these days are following that model.

    But that’s a matter of personal tastes. I don’t think that makes Marvel “evil”.

    Peter, I’m looking forward to seeing your future projects at Marvel and I hope that your more dynamic writing style will help to reinvigorate the Marvel line in general.

  38. Pure and simple, it’s bragging rights. DC signs Busiek, Marvel retaliates by signing PAD. All about the headlines, and attracting attention to the company.

    That’s all it is. A few years ago, Busiek was exclusive to Marvel, now he’s gone to DC. The companies get headlines for signing popular creators. Based on Peter’s comments on this forum, this looks like the best deal for him today.

  39. No, it is not just bragging rights. Marvel also gets the assurance from exclusivity agreements that top talent won’t be working for the competition, DC. It also allows Marvel the luxury of planning its publishing schedule for the long haul.

  40. It wasn’t my intention to cause a stir of any sort when I made my post. Let’s just say that I have a personal greivance with Marvel stemming back from the mid-80s and that I won’t give my hard-earned money to a company that would allow its editorial staff to treat a part of its fan base (and income provider, however small the denomination) so reprehensibly. I may not agree with a lot of DCs editorial decisions, mind you, but at least on the rare occasions when I’ve spoken to members of its staff, I’ve been treated with respect.

  41. “Let’s just say that I have a personal greivance with Marvel stemming back from the mid-80s and that I won’t give my hard-earned money to a company that would allow its editorial staff to treat a part of its fan base (and income provider, however small the denomination) so reprehensibly.”

    I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. NONE of the people who were in positions of power at DC in the mid-80s are still there. The sole editor I can think of who is still around from the 1980s is Ralph Macchio, and who boycotts a company because of Ralph?

    “Marvel” is simply a corporate entity that owns characters and pays bills. “Marvel” doesn’t do anything. It’s the people who make the decisions, and if you’re protesting the people who aren’t there anymore and in most cases have been gone for over ten years…well, okay, but I just don’t get it.

    PAD

  42. Sorry, that should read “NONE of the people who were in positions of power at Marvel.” Curiously, DC has been far more stable in its personnel.

    PAD

  43. “I can think of who is still around from the 1980s is Ralph Macchio, and who boycotts a company because of Ralph?”

    The members of Cobra Kai?

  44. Congratulations! I’m happy that you’ll have the opportunity to write more books for Marvel, since I’ve been culling my pull list lately of authors whose work is boring me. You’re on the list of authors to add to the list of books I’m buying, which might keep me in better contact with the MU. 🙂

  45. My guess Marvel for why they wanted the exclusive:
    Marvel would have more comics written by him. He could cut down and focus on books or indies, but the contract will ensure Marvel that they will get more comics from him.

  46. I’m a little sad about the whole thing, as it means no DC titles from PAD. I am going to cross my fingers and hope that it will mean, at some point, at least one more whack at the Hulk.

  49. Excellent interview on ComicBookResources.com, Peter. This couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy and a great writer.

  50. I hadn’t thought of it that way, PAD. I’ll give my stance some thought and reconsideration.

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