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.)
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Q-in-Law, for the cover explanation of a very smug Q
http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Q-in-Law
Incredible Hulk #417 sums up PAD perfectly.
Giant Sized Man-Thing.
Picard saying he does not run Starfleet Academy, as he could never see himself in charge of “such gifted youngsters.”
Two Guinans and a Caryn Johnson running 3 different Ten-Forwards.
The death of Si Cwan.
The borged Ms. Bonaventure losing her arm in “Vendetta”… and liking it.
J.
No idea if this is what Tommy was talking about earlier but here goes….After reading the response above about the McFarlane debate I remembered the art featured in CBG by George Perez, I believe…..Hulk smashing Spawn thru a wall….with only chains and a tattered cape remnant dangling out of the crushed wall to identify Spawn…..there is an image (pun very intended) to sum up Mr. David’s career.
http://www.leaderslair.com/mutiescum/x-factor087pic1.gif
Honestly, this image was where I began to truly empathize with Pietro Maximoff Syndrome (“PMS”).
Most of the images I can think of are the Hulk, particularly the Parthenon (is that one M or two?) and “split personality” arcs.
But I’m absolutely shocked, and I can’t emphasize this enough, that no one listed (unless I missed it) HULK #420 as an iconic cover. The starkness, the bleakness, the crushing lack of hope you got from the cover alone, not to mention the power of the story, is something i’ve never forgotten.
I also agree with Pete C above – the Hulk vs. Spawn cartoon was legendary.
I think most people are picking Hulk comics simply because it’s easier to have a memorable image (ahem) with a huge frigging green monster than a lithe spider guy or a cute chick in a skirt.
Oh, another Hulk panel I loved – when Hulk was trying to go into disguise and Betty made up a big fin on his head. Hulk goes “This is dumb, everyone will look at this and just say ‘hey, look, it’s the Hulk with a fin on his head!'”
Honorable mentions:
Aquaman holding up a bloody stump for a hand
The mental picture of King Arthur giving a stump speech in the TKTS line in Knight Life…
Mike
The cover to PAD’s SUPERGIRL where she’s looking nervously up at wide-open alien jaws seeming on the point of biting her in half and going “Uh, breath mint?”
The story was a riot, as well as being a very clever twist on the usual super beats up on alien monster. Really didn’t turn up as expected. Loved it.
Honorary prize goes to the cover of paperback ROCK AND A HARD PLACE. Not sure why, but it got me to buy the novel and I don’t usually buy TREK novels because they’ve generally been … not impressive. But this one was a lot of fun and I’ve been enjoying PAD’s works ever since.
Delquixote – “It was cosmically unjust that his first officer had more hair on his face than he, Picard had on his entire head.” Not an exact quote, either, but close, I think.
This one may seem a bit off the beaten path, but since it is my favorite Peter David written story and actually stepped away from comic book heroes somewhat, I would have to say the cover of The Haunted 1, by Chaos comics.
You want iconic? Incredible Hulk #420, “Lest Darkness Come.’ Jim Wilson on his deathbed. Not only the best Peter David Hulk cover, but one of the best Hulk covers ever.
haven’t seen enought to make me qualified to answer this question, but the new X-Factor #21 was great.
1the illyra one shot last page with her surrounded by freds things and crying
Okay, I feel a bit off for not mentioning two of my favorites earlier. First, the George Perez Hulk vs. Spawn piece mentioned by a couple of you earlier was awesome. I clipped that out of the CBG and had it posted in my workspace for like, forever. GREAT motivational piece.
Second, and I absolutely cannot believe I forgot this one: IH #378, page 9. It’s the one of Bruce rushing into a bathroom clutching his stomach in pain, pushing a drunk out of the way to get into a stall. The drunk starts yelling at him for not being able to wait his turn, the stall door explodes open, and the last panel is the gray Hulk stepping out of the stall flicking a roll of tp to the drunk and saying “all yours”. Just to tell you how much I loved this page, I bought it off Jeff Albrecht and have had it hanging outside the bathroom of every apartment and house I’ve lived in since then.
StarWolf: Thanks for helping me on the line from the Star Trek novel. You definitely got closer to it than I did.
The Hulk in pink, fuzzy bunny slippers.
Q-Squared.
Matt Murdock and Peter Parker talking after the whole Sin-Eater story.
Spider-man vs. the Commuter.
The dialogue from the Secret Origins issue of the JLA. The one that featured Black Canary as a founding member post-Crisis. Awesome Eric Shanower art too!
Hulk 377, the page when Bruce is slapping his younger self after his mother has been murdered, and shouting “REACT!” Young Bruce becomes the Hulk just for a single panel, then says, “There, I reacted. A nuclear reaction. Happy now?” Really gets me in the chest, every time.
Hulk 467, Bruce’s final appearance in the issue, when his eyes glow green and he tells Rick, “Sometimes it’s best to just move on.” Haunting.
Most iconic cover — probably, to me, the cover to Hulk 376, with the grey Hulk fighting the green Hulk as Banner watches.
If you mean which cover art from books that PD has written that tie in to the novel so well that it sends a shudder down your spine … I’d have to vote for the ST:TNG classic “Q in Law”.
It just works so well!
I think the most iconic cover from a comic you’ve wroted has to be the Todd McFarlaine Wolverine/Hulk cover.
I’m not a big fan of his work but that image just nails it.
If I’m not wrong (and I often am) it has been repeatedly “homaged” by other better artists (in my opinion).
If I can interpret it loosely, I’d say the image from the opening scene in “A Rock and a Hard Place” where Stone is saying he’s not going to the bridge, he’s going to sickbay. “But you’re not sick!” CRACK “I am now.”
That was a dámņ cool image.
From a comic/art point, the Death of Jean De Wolf. But also the issue of Spiderman which dealt with MJ’s friend doing drugs. Peter thinks you win the battle one street corner at a time, but the final set of panels show that the dealer is just replaced. No victory, and kind of bleak.
Also, I really liked the panel where the Hulk and Betty were talking :
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much”
“Oh, thou dost, dost thou?”
Stuck in my memory all these years.
The “Honey, I’m home” moment in Hulk 377, certainly.
The first image from a PAD comic that burnt itself into my brain and had me waiting as avidly for the next issue as an early adolescent can, however, was the closing shot (no pun intended) from the third installment of the Sin-Eater saga: Sin-Eater blowing away the chair we’d just seen Betty Leeds in. A long, long month.
TWL
Hulk 395. The close up of Hulks face, with the sunglasses breaking, showing the Punisher blasting away. It just showed that next to the Hulk, bad-ášš Frank is nothing.
Whoops, ICONIC….
Ðámņ, I could have sworn I read IRONIC….
Hmmn, let me get back to you, there’s got to be something better than Imzadi…. or Imzadi II
After thinking about this for awhile I’m going to have to say Incredible Hulk #358 because it was my very first comic book. Additionally I would also go with Spiderman 2099 #1, Future Imperfect, Incredible Hulk The End, and finally Captain Marvel #28 part 2 of Time Flies. Also the moment in the series that revealed that Thanatos was Rick Jones.
Bringing back ‘Crazy Jackie’ from ‘The Incredible Hulk’ to ‘Captain Marvel’ was one of the biggest shocks in my 40+ years of reading comics. She was a minor cast member involved in a great sub-plot, so you’d never think you’d see her character ever again, right? Well, when she’d been revealed as Lorraine’s killer just after Lorraine herself had been brought back to life, I just about lost my mind!
Posted by Sean at October 19, 2007 09:39 PM
For my money, DC’s Star Trek #55, with the Big 3 beaming down in front of the Big E.
Mr. David wrote a comic book with Dale Earnhardt in it??
Oh, sorry….mixing up my two pastimes…
Seriously, tho…. it’s not the cover of a book, but Matt Feazell’s portrait of Mr. David that graces the top of blog has always been a favorite. I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, when i first saw that and thought “WOW! Pete likes Matt’s work, I thought *I* was the only one (or ok, “few”) who liked his work!”
X-Factor #71, no question.
The three covers that immediately came to mind are:
Hulk #340
Hulk #372
Hulk #377
And after thinking about it I’d say the cover to Hulk: Future Imperfect #1 as well.
I don’t necessarily know about iconic, but one of my favorite things has also been from Young Justice #1 where the reporter asks “What’s going on?” and Red Tornado responds with “Id, Ego and Superego unleashed. I’d explain further, but I need a slide and charts.”
Sir Apropos of Nothing.
Also, the cover of Captain Marvel #4(32). It really caught my eye.
Also, X-Factor #1. I saw the previews for so long in advance, and I was so excited, it was my computer’s background picture for quite a while.
I’ll go with the cover for Incredible Hulk #420, which is the AIDS awareness one, in the story with Jim Wilson. Beautifully designed, and a very powerful image.
I have to say a recent cover
HULK # 81 Cover by Lee Weeks. Great image. Hulk on the horse..classic homage to Frank Frazzeta.
Or Hulk # 420 The Jim Wilson issue.
The first cover image that comes to mind is Incredible Hulk #333, with the Grey Hulk in shadow, looming over a woman sprawled in rubble. I first saw that cover reproduced in an issue of Starlog magazine, and always associate it with the cutline that accompanied the photo (and I believe a brief article about the return of the Grey Hulk):
“Classic grey and incredibly cunning.”
The next cover image that comes to mind (and I’m going strictly from memory as my comics aren’t at hand as I write this; which means I’ll probably think of even more examples after I’ve posted this) is Incredible Hulk #344, with the Hulk leaping beneath the full moon as Betty Banner clings to him.
Non-cover images include the Hulk cradling Betty on the last page of the above mentioned issue.
Another interior image from a comicbook comes from an issue of Star Trek (DC Comics) in which, for one panel, some of the Enterprise officers suddenly resemble characters from Bloom County, with Spock as Opus.
“Mr. Spock, are you a penguin?” A befuddled Kirk asks.
“Not that I’m aware of, captain,” a once again normal looking Spock replies.
And, of course, a great confrontation between the grey and green Hulks inside Banner’s head. Probably issue 375 or 376 of Incredible Hulk. I forget the exact number. The grey Hulk is trying to shove ‘Ol Greenskins back behind a door, even as the latter tries to break out. It’s one of my favorite exchanges of the series:
“Ah, put an egg in your shoe and beat it.”
“Hulk does not wear stupid shoes.”
“Hey, look behind you… Ain’t that Lou Ferrigno?”
“Huh?”
SLAM!
If there was additional dialogue before the “look behind you” comment, I don’t recall what it was.
And then there’s Supergirl #74 (or is it 75?), where Kara attempts to push the Earth out of orbit while Linda explains why she can’t, and why it wouldn’t be a good idea in any event.
More somber scenes include Jim Wilson’s talk with Rick Jones in Rick’s car, in which Jim admits he has AIDS;
Rick’s hesitation to go to Jim’s aid when Jim’s chest is cut because Rick’s hands are also bleeding;
Betty Banner on the phone with a man with AIDS who has parked his car across a railroad track, and his final words (paraphrased): “wow, that train sure is fa-“
All, of course, are from issues of Incredible Hulk, but I don’t have the numbers handy.
I could probably list dozens of other examples of scenes from within a comicbook, both humorous and serious, but those should suffice.
In terms of mental images from books, the first that comes to mind is the Lady of the Lake (who “looked like hëll”) rising from the polluted Hudson River in Knight Life, and telling Arthur, “never again.”
The second is from the Star Trek novel, The Rift in which Scotty learns of a piece of equipment called “The Illudium Pew-36 Explosive Space Modulator.” I don’t recall many of the details of what else happens in that novel, but that scene has stuck with me all these years later.
And, as has already been mentioned, “What’s up, Drakh?”
Rick
Not sure about covers, but several images I remember distinctly are:
Hulk & Betty kissing ontop of a mountain after a long time apart or something along those lines.
The last page of X-Factor #1 (“I’m the X-Factor.” Yearrrggghhhhh!!)
When Bruce had his freak-out before the merge and turned into a Green Hulk/Grey Hulk / Bruce Banner type of mushed up thing. That was pretty cool.
Sir Apropos talking to the bird at the end of “Woad to Wuin” and it talks back. I picture it perched on his arm and he just kinda looks at it.
When Cap. Marvel screamed “Noooooo!!” when he found out that saving somebody caused eternal war instead of eternal peace.
Speaking of Cap Marvel, there’s this great image early on in Vol. 4 when Rick Jones is staring at some poor sucker’s who’s about to get the electric chair and you just see Cap. Marvel’s (in his Kree outfit) reflection in the glass. Very striking.
Haven’t read the issue, but quite a striking cover to She Hulk #22.
The ones that stick out for me (was never a big Hulk reader):
X-Factor #71 – so dynamic! and everyone looks so serious! I got this one signed a couple years ago.
X-Factor #6 – absolutely love this one, with Rahne and Layla
Future Imperfect cover
Hulk #417 the bachelor party. Loved Iron Man’s spit-take.
Supergirl #’s 1 and 51
Spectacular Spider-Man #107
Howling Mad!
I didn’t get into comics until 1995 or so. I always thought Peter David was this kick-ášš novelist who did comics on the side.
Hulk #340
Hulk #345
Hulk #377
Supergirl #1
Hulk 345 being the one that got me started on comics.
-Rudy
Honorable mention: The mountaintop scene with the Grey Hulk holding Betty, portrayed by both McFarlane and later Kuber. In my mind an iconic image of the David run.
I don’t know the issue number, but it’s that lime-green Hulk cover that ended with ol’ Jade Jaws coming out of his session with Doc Samson, addressing Betty with, “Hi honey. I’m home.”
Well, I’m sure I’m off base with what was requested.. but ah well.
The image for me didn’t involve ink or paper. It was seeing PAD doubled over, laughing his butt off, while Steven Sears rambled about a fictional scenario in the Xena universe, during a convention in Dallas some years ago.
Why? Because it’s nice to see a guy that provides entertainment for everyone else, getting some of their own for a change.
Laughter is the best medicine.
RLR
Dreadstar #41
Supergirl #1
The Fallen Angel vol. 1 #1
X-Factor #87. I have a copy of the script signed by Mr. David hemself.
Hands down, my first thought when it comes to my enjoyment of PAD’s work.
i vote for X-Factor #87 and Q-in-Law too. unfortunately for me, i haven’t had the pleasure of reading much of PAD’s more recent work.
i vote for X-Factor #87 and Q-in-Law as well, mostly because i haven’t read any of PAD’s more recent work.
For me as a young Hulk reader, the most indelible partnership was that of PAD and Dale Keown. I started picking up the book with the two-parter in which the Grey Hulk met up with Namor and Dr Strange. This was my first exposure to the Grey Hulk and I loved it.
But then a few issues later, Banner actually TORE HIS OWN SKIN OFF and the Green Hulk emerged from beneath. I think it was issue #372. Keown ratcheted up the tension until BANG – you got a full page spread of the Green Hulk, unleashed at last, huge and powerful and mad as hëll. Absolutely amazing visual and the one that pops into my head when I think of a PAD comic – hëll, the one that pops in there when I think about the Hulk, period.
1The Wolverine cover on hulk seems pretty “iconic” but I still like the Green Hulk tearing out of Banner. THAT was iconic for me.
I’d be hard pressed to come up with the most iconic, but the most memorable scene for me was Bruce Banner’s skin ripping off as he transformed into the Hulk. That was awesome, and I’m glad it was never repeated. How do you top that?
The ones that jump out as PAD rather than the artist drawing them are the fallowing.
There was an issue of Young Justice (sorry, don’t remember the issue number) with Red Tornado’s daughter near the bottom of the page writing a letter. The entire background was a close up of the letter she was writing. It said “Dear Daddy, why does every one hate me?”.
I’m falling asleep at the key board. I’ll have to post the others tomorrow.
For me, it had to be when he completely jumpstatred and revamped Superman…that, and of course his classic X-MEN issues…
HI. I’M SUCH AN IDIOT TROLL THAT I DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO POST FROM DIFFERENT IP ADDRESSES BECAUSE I THOUGHT MULTIPLE NAMES WOULD FOOL PEOPLE.
For me, it had to be when he completely jumpstatred and revamped Superman…that, and of course his classic X-MEN issues…
HI. I’M SUCH AN IDIOT TROLL THAT I DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO POST FROM DIFFERENT IP ADDRESSES BECAUSE I THOUGHT MULTIPLE NAMES WOULD FOOL PEOPLE.
For me, it had to be when he completely jumpstatred and revamped Superman…that, and of course his classic X-MEN issues…
HI. I’M SUCH AN IDIOT TROLL THAT I DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO POST FROM DIFFERENT IP ADDRESSES BECAUSE I THOUGHT MULTIPLE NAMES WOULD FOOL PEOPLE.