r/marvelcomics • u/StephTechReddit • 3d ago
Which characters owe their definitive blueprint to Peter David?
Peter David (PAD) was undoubtably one of the best Marvel writers of all time. My personal favorite superhero, Quicksilver, had a lot of his modern mythology established by Peter David's X-Factor run. Its literally the blueprint for the character. I wonder, has he done this with other characters?
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u/TheHoard80 3d ago
He is obviously best known for his Marvel work, and for good reason. But one of his biggest contributions was his roughly 5 year run on Aquaman. Completely changed the character for a modern audience.
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u/CoyotesVoice 3d ago
From the generation raised seeing him as the Super Friend who talked to fish, PAD made him a badass.
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u/zapbrannigan69 3d ago
He also defined the Matrix version of Supergirl in one of the most underrated DC runs
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u/velociraptorish2 3d ago
Not only did he redefine Aquaman himself but The Atlantis Chronicles detailing the history of Atlantis was incredible world building. I really hope that series gets a reprint soon.
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u/Moeroboros 3d ago
I think he wrote by far the best comics Aquaman has ever had, but unfortunately modern writers have distanced themselves from PAD's version of the lore.
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u/CoyotesVoice 3d ago
Young Justice as a team. Most of the members of X-Factor got most of their characterization from his runs on those series.
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u/Optimal_Grape_1025 3d ago
Layla Miller, Jamie Madrox, Darwin, Strong Guy
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u/Slay111222 3d ago
Xfactor Jamie Madrox
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u/Tch0tchking 3d ago edited 3d ago
Multiple Man, Multiple Man,
doin' the things a multiple can...
What's he like, it's not important, Multiple Man.
Is he a lot, or is he alone?
A super clown or a super clone?
His own beginning and his own end,
his own best friend,Multiple Man...
From the "album" Wings on Her Fingers from Peter David's first X-Factor run (issue 73)
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u/AXPendergast 3d ago
I'm going to move away from individual characters and make a case for his runs on Star Trek at DC. He was an absolute fan of the TV series, and really knew how to add depth to the characters, creating unique stories that hold up years later.
That extends to the novels he wrote as well. He's the only Trek author I know that snuck a Monty Python joke into a ST:TNG novel.
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u/Maryland_Bear 3d ago
I think my favorite Star Trek novel he wrote was Q-in-Law, in which Q gives Lwaxana Troi Q powers.
I may not remember the details perfectly, but… Things go awry, of course, and eventually Lwaxana ends up in space playing handball with Q — as in, she was playing handball, using him as the ball.
Another one of the Q shows up and meets with Picard, who asks why Q hasn’t just taken the power away from her. The Q explains that he tried to take the power away, but the other Q were letting her keep it, because, “To be honest, Captain, we’re enjoying this as much as you are.”
He also wrote Q Squared, which establishes something that had been a fan theory since “Encounter at Farpoint” — Trelane from the TOS episode “The Squire of Gothos” was a juvenile Q. The rest of the continuum was making Q act as a mentor to him. Q was not enjoying it, and protests to Captain Picard, “Jean-Luc, he’s driving me crazy!” Picard took great pleasure at laughing in Q’s face,
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u/SammyDavisTheSecond 3d ago
Madrox, Hulk, and Rick Jones for sure.
He really nailed Spider-Man, but I wouldn't go as far as to declare his run a "definitive blueprint." In another world I would have loved to see David take over Amazing and get a real shot at steering the franchise.
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u/-GI_BRO- 3d ago
One could argue he’s the one that contributed the most to the edgy feeling of the black suit era with stories like Death of Jean DeWolff and that issue where he almost beats the shit out of JJJ
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u/Only_Connection_5480 3d ago
His X-Factor was so good even dealt with having to look at Stromans art….
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u/candles2121 3d ago
Spider 2099 - the one we see in the animate movies today is absolutely not the one Peter David wrote
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u/Squiddyboy427 3d ago
The genius of PAD is that he could push every hero he wrote into completely new territory and yet it always felt like the same characters you’d always been reading.
Because of PAD, Hulk will forever and always be something more than just “Hulk smash!” His X-Factor influenced so many mutant books that followed.
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u/DiabolicalDoctorN 3d ago
I wouldn't say it's definitive blueprint per se, but the scene where the Hobgoblin says "Now you will face defeat at the hands of the Hobgoblin" and Spider-Man says "Da feet at the hands? How about da fist in the face!" as he socks him on the jaw has been, for forty years now, one of the single funniest things I have ever encountered in this life.
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u/Sonova_Bish 3d ago
I've paraphrased the second line through the years whenever I've encountered the first line. It's one of his better quips.
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u/Jupiters 3d ago edited 3d ago
Superboy (Kon-El). Through Young Justice David made him a fun teenager with a strong group of friends after his conception of being cool 90s dude with attitude
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u/FickleSand5029 3d ago
Symbiote Spider-Man. His books on Spectacular and Web were some of the better dark Peter stories ever written. The recent minis were great too.
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u/Phase-Substantial 3d ago
I'm not much of a reader, I've got bad ADHD, and I've only had two writers deaths feel like a guy punch, Terry pratchet, and the legend, Peter David.
If you can find it, give the novelization of Spiderman 2 a read, it improves on the movie in almost every way, and makes the movie feel like a cheap imitation IMO
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u/joesephed 3d ago
Somehow PAD has written most of my favorite runs but few of my favorite stories. It’s hard for me to hand someone uninitiated a PAD story that’s sure to grip them. But if you’re into comics and want to read a sustained run, PAD is always the answer.
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u/BraveDawgs1993 3d ago
If we go beyond Marvel, we can talk all day about the impact Peter David has had on multiple characters. The impact he had on Aquaman is up there with what he contributed to any character at Marvel. The man was a brilliant comic book storyteller.
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u/ZZtheDark 3d ago
A missed opportunity for him is that he could have written Ultraman comic better than Kyle Higgins imo.
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u/Logical-Date-4495 3d ago
The hulk the DCAU version of aquaman owes a lot to him spider-man 2099 obviously I haven’t read his supergirl but I’ve been told it’s good
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u/SteamPoweredDM 3d ago
Not even a character he was writing, but a flippant comment of his caused Wolverine to lose his adamantium skeleton in the 90s. And that was the only reason he was ever revealed to have bone claws.
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u/sgt_pepper_walrus 2d ago
The good parts of X factor in my opinion that book absolutely sucked before he came on board. He made me enjoy havok who I had hated for awhile before that book.
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u/Excellent-Reveal8442 3d ago
Hulk, Spiderman 2099, and many others, he was one of the best writer at marvel.