Question for PeterDavid.net readers

Posted By: Kathleen DavidPosted On:

What would you consider the most iconic covers of Peter’s career? Or, for that matter, what would you consider iconic images from Peter’s career?

(Yes, we know this is kind of an odd question to ask: what are the images that define a writer? But we’re curious.)

114 comments on “Question for PeterDavid.net readers”

  1. It’s not so much that the question is odd, more that it’s one of the more grammatically confusing questions I’ve read.

    Are we being asked what magazine covers Peter has appeared on that we like? The covers to books that he’s written that covers what we think of him as a person?

    ‘What are the images that define a writer’? The covers to the Saturday Evening Post by Norman Rockwell?

  3. This is kind of embarassing to admit, but I was a naive little middle schooler when I read Captain Marvel #32, and the image of Marlo making out with Moondragon instantaneously seared itself onto my brain.

  4. I guess the only way I can answer this is to give the two moments I can recall actually thinking, “Wow, this guy is good”. #1 that always sticks in my mind is during the gray Hulk period. It was The whole Hulk vs. Rock and Redeemer ish that had our “hero” being Gored by a giant rock spike (or were there spikes?). That comic opened up my eyes to what creative interpretation really could be in the aspect of a character’s abilities. It wasn’t as hackneyed as Wolverine cloning himself from a single drop of blood, it was a brilliant usage and or evolution of a character’s abilities. The way he was just absolutely mangled and healed from it to fight just blew me away. I always knew he could heal, but this time he REALLY healed. A defining moment in my reading and understanding of comics, and one that is influential in my own writing today.

    The other moment that I knew I was a lifelong fan of Mr. David is a line from one of his Star Trek Novels. Forgive me for butchering it in paraphrase here, but I moved into a new home recently and the books is buried in a box at the moment. It was a STTNG book, maybe #5. It was written in the timeframe around the beginning of season 2, and it was a thought that came to Riker as he seemed to notice that Picard was either in a foul mood or didn’t like his new beard. The line was something like “He’s probably just jealous because I have more hair on my face than he has on his whole head”.

    As for a cover, I have to pick IH 347. It was another time when he proved that you could do amazing things creatively with a character and not “break” what defines them. This cover summed it all up.

  5. Most iconic image is probably the first one that sprang to mind when I read this question, so here it is. The look of the Hulk (and particularly his eyes) when he appeared to Betty, newly merged and green:

    “Hi honey. I’m home.”

  9. Well greg took my first answer of Iconic moment.

    I suppose the other one that jumps out at me in an issue I can’t remember, but it’s when Hulk realises he’s going to lose control and he turns into Banner with the Savage Hulk’s mind. So the image of a a skinny half naked banner screaming in rage is good.

  10. For my money, DC’s Star Trek #55, with the Big 3 beaming down in front of the Big E. Or, from inside that book, Chekov and his protege’s discussion of the phaser-proof vest. “But the vest is still–oh.” Either that one, or the cover of Spidey 2099 #1.

  11. Recent stuff dominates my memory, so the first thing that comes to mind is Woodward’s Fallen Angel #1. It’s got that “iconic” feel.

    Once I took a moment to think, the main older cover that comes to mind is Spider-Man 2099 #17, where Spidey is fighting Bloodsword but looking away saying, “*Him* I can take with ten talons tied behind me… but not *her*… NOT HER!”. (For those unfamiliar with the issue, he was talking about his Mom. And no this isn’t from memory, I had to pull out the issue to remember the number and the rest.)

    I’m not sure if that’s iconic, though. It reflects the story inside and tells a joke, so that’s not terribly iconic. For iconic, I’d have to go with Spidey 2099 #1. Just him leaping through the sky, wearing that wild costume.

  12. I immediately thought of Hulk 377 as well.

    Also always liked Future Imperfect #2 (but in a way, it’s only part of a set, #1 and #2.) If we’re talking about panels or interior pages, then yeah the introduction of Maestro at the end of Future Imperfect #1 is an iconic image.

  13. The Sin Eater’s gun going off in the first issue of the “Death of Jean Dewolff” — and then her body being found in the beginning of the next issue. I will never forget them.
    (PPTSS 107-110: get them now if you don’t have them)

  15. I’m very biased but I’ve always rather liked Hulk #426 (Banner in a straitjacket screaming out at us) and Supergirl #22 (Supergirl flying hand in hand with Comet).

  17. 1The New Frontier edition of the Captain’s Table because Peter actually made it into the background of the cover. What could be more iconic than the creator overseeing his creation in the flsh, albeit painted. Also that story was billed as being told to Peter David, and Calhoun was revealed as telling his tale to the captain of the Titanic, therfore Peter was the captain of the Titanic.

  18. The Hulk beating the Absorbing Man into a fine powder and letting him drift away down the river.

    That was my first PAD Hulk issue, and I was hooked.

  20. I would have to go with the cover to Hulk #390. It made me buy the first issue of Hulk that I had read in probably 10 years, and hooked me on the book for a long time after that. The visual of a character like the Hulk using guns definately made me take notice. I would also say pretty much any of the Last Avengers Story. The art on that was as unique as the story to me.

  22. Don’t know the issue number, but…

    Incredible Hulk: The one with a six-inch Hulk standing on the shoulder of a mortified-looking Abomination and scolding him: “…and ANOTHER thing..!”

  25. I think I’ll go with KRAD here. The front and back covers of the BID collection are the most iconic images from Peter’s career for me. They kind of cover everything that he’s known for. He’s a popular story teller and editorialist (the front cover) who can also royally tick some people off from how he approaches those things (the back cover) as well.

    Any other image from his comic work or from the covers of his novels that springs to mind strikes me as more of an iconic (fill in character here) image.

  26. #1 – The Death of Jean DeWolff

    #2 – The Leader looking over the checklist of things he has to do, noting to detonate the bomb he planted two hours early.

  27. PAD’s last Hulk issue, double-spread page – Bruce sitting there talking, surrounded by all the characters that had been such important parts of PAD’s run, telling the story of Ozymandias.

    So many powerful action sequences and “cool moments” in comics, but the ones that get me are the tableau shots like that. All those characters standing in a circle around Bruce. Just blew me away.

  28. Probably because it was my favourite book of all time for many, many years: Imzadi. The cover always evoked feelings of mystery and heartache recalling what Riker went through for Diana.

  29. Hulk #333; rage, a portait of life that is unfair… all it’s missing is a sarcastic comment.

  32. I think the cover for DC’s final issue of Fallen Angel– but not the one that got used the one DC had on the cover image gallery until about a month before the issue shipped. The one with the sunlight and Lee nude with her back facing the audience. That really gave me a sense of who Lee was.

    Though I think a nod must also be paid to to a comic I still can’t find but have seen the cover for– Spider-Man meets Spider-Man 2099.

  33. One of the things that always sticks out to me is a scene where the Hulk was basically burned to a crisp, maybe even down to the bone, and all he says is “Ow.”

  34. i’ll go with iconic images:

    the page with Sergeant Stan Carter repeating his line of ‘unobvious nuts’ after being unmasked and the body of Gwen Stacy being held after the web-line ‘save’ were two of many times when wearing the suit had a price that wasn’t necessarily worth it…

  35. i started this book and loved it almost instantly. it took it a little while to pick up but once it did i couldnt ut it down. i got my copy from the liabary and kept it well past it due datetrying to make sure i read very carefully. as soon as i finished i came to work and started looking for book 2. i have to know what happens to clarinda and the ocluar children. i need to know if karsen finds jepp or better yet will zerena follow her son or will she finally let him go to his own destiny? and what happen to the merk, were they all killed? and what is that thing in the water? please take yur time wirting book two but please hurry while book 1, hidden earth is still fresh in my mind. oh, where are the travelers taking jepp? oooo,,please hurry, i must know asap, but also take your ime and just let it flow out…..

  36. I’m sure there’s actual comics artwork that I could name, but I have to admit the first image that came to mind when I read the question wasn’t connected to a comics story.

    It was a photograph. And, truthfully, I may be misremembering, it may not really exist in the way I recall it. But what I recall was a photo–maybe that ran in Comics Buyer’s Guide or something–of Peter David and Todd MacFarlane in that nigh-infamous convention debate to settle the “Who needs writers?” brou-ha-ha that had fired up fandom at that (pre-internet, pre-blogospheric) time.

    That image (which I hope is real and not something that I’ve sort of imagined in the years since, as memory is sometimes wont to do) and that whole story (which I’m not doing justice to) is one of those first quintessential PAD moments where I recognized that this was a guy who has opinions, will argue them well, suffers no fools, and can present his point-of-view in reasoned, devestating, and entertaining ways.

    And if that ain’t iconic PAD, I dunno what is…

    Perhaps not exactly what you’re looking for but I, as the saying goes, digress…

  37. Hulk 377 pretty the brains the strengh the attitude! best ever comic advert

    classic scenes the Hulk(mr Fixit vs the Punisher

    also bruce needing new pants goes into a store only to discover they only come in one colour… nuff said

  38. More of a mental image, but on page 260 of “Legions of Fire:Book 3: Out of the Darkness.” Michael Garibaldi stepping out of a cabinet with a PPG and saying “What’s up, Drakh?”.

    I still scream on occasion.

  39. Wow. a LOT of stuff comes to mind…
    The cover to Peter’s story in the Hulk about Jim Rhodes dying of AIDS… the death of Jean DeWolf (why hasn’t THAT been collected by Marvel is a mystery to me), Q-In-Law (favorite scene is Worf’s reaction to Mrs Troi – or would it be Mrs. Q? – teleporting around the enterprise)…. then there’s the final Hulk story from his initial run… his first X-Factor with Stroman… and so much more. gawd, I feel so old.

  41. The first page of X-Factor #21; Madrox asking himself… that question. Made me laugh for a good long while.

  43. I’d have to go with IDW’s Fallen Angel 1. I used that as wall paper for my computer and my mobile phone for a long time!

  44. –Incredible Hulk #340 (The cover, and the fight inside between Hulk and Wolvie.)

    –Incredible Hulk #377 (The sequences with Bruce’s father, and that last image.)

    -The cover to the But I Digress collection

    -Calhoun showing up, very much alive, with Moke, on the new Excalibur, at the end of Star Trek: New Frontier: Renaissance.

  45. For me, it has to be the death of Jean DeWolff at the hands of the Sin Eater, no question.

    If that kind of surprise occured in today’s comic world, it would have sent ripples throughout.

  46. Incredible Hulk #372

    Imzadi

    as for non covers….

    the 2 page spread in Future Imperfect with Rick Jones Lair, filled with remains of the Marvel Heroes.

    The Panel in a Hulk annual “I got a Rock” Hulk looking at his Marvel action figure.

    The passage in New Frontiers where Burgy is attacked by a “One Eyed One Horned flying Purple People Eater”

    Spidey novelization where Mary Jane mentions being freaked out by the little girl vampire from Lestat…..

    these are the times when I know I am reading material by someone who will be remembered long after he is retired from writing and very likely long after he is no longer with us… in about 75 years or so. “Fingers crossed!”

  48. In no particular order:

    – The covers to the “Death of Jean DeWolff” storyline. The first one, with the angry Spidey, is cool, but the one of Sin-Eater shooting into the crowd is the one that I think would have made me grab it off the rack (which I did, but I was already a regular PPSSM reader at that point). A classic comic cover if ever there were one.

    – Web of Spider-Man #7. Jeez, if the Hulk is that mad, Spidey’s in trouble.

    – Fallen Angel Volume 1, #1.

    – Incredible Hulk Volume 1, #333. Creepy.

    – Incredible Hulk Volume 1, #340. Obvious.

    – Incredible Hulk Volume 1, #345. Cool.

    – Incredible Hulk Volume 1, #372.

    BTW, anyone who wants a nice collection of “The Death of Jean DeWolff” should check out Wizard’s Spider-Man Masterpiece Edition hardcover, which includes the whole storyline. You can often find this on eBay for $10-20 before shipping.

    Eric

  49. Wow, I’m very surprised that I’m the first to mention Hulk #345 – the gray Hulk pushing aside the letters of his own name. Hulk #377 is very good, and I also like #379, the extreme close-up on the new Hulk’s face. And thanks for the reminder about the Rick Jones bachelor party cover, mark torres! #417 (or 419?); possibly the funniest cover ever. I’m sure that I’m forgetting other worthy images….

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