Peter David: C/D

Much of his Hulk. It was a huge run, so there is necessarily a lot of dud material, and I never warmed up to the Pantheon. But this is probably the most definitive post-Lee Hulk run.

Spidey. Death of Jean DeWolff! I lent my Sin-Eater issues to a friend whose mother threw them out -- along with the Killing Joke I'd also lent him -- because they were "vile and disgusting." I have never gotten over this.

PAD originated the "DD knows Spidey's identity" thing in that very storyline, didn't he?

X-Factor, but especially the new one.

Future Imperfect. You don't need to read his Hulk run to read this -- it kind of promised things I don't think he ever delivered with the Hulk, but it works on its own.

D:

Anything too fannish. I mean, I don't know. If you really love Star Trek or Babylon 5 comics, maybe his are the best. But "I like PAD, so I'll like this" logic doesn't work for them.

Even in his good work, the fannishness sometimes creeps out too much. I mean, the joke in X-Factor about Val Cooper having a cousin named Dale in the FBI was cute, but he sometimes brings those gags too often.

Aquaman. Not his fault, necessarily. Even Veitch couldn't make me excited about Aquaman.

I really need to catch up on it, though -- I missed a slice out of the middle and pretty much most of the end. The only issue I picked up of Fallen Angel was hard to follow, presumably because it was in the middle of something.

Man, the Wild Man was a disappointment. Where did that end up going? Didn't read the last two years of PADHulk either.

His supergirl series is uneven, but the last story arc is beautiful, probably his best work. Kinda like a "Whatever Happened to the Girl of Steel?"

X-Force refugees + Generation X refugees = instantly appealing to Daniel Perry.

His first run on X-Factor is also fine, especially the issued penciled by Larry Stroman, who had an unconventional style I really liked. Stroman's work was very unusual for an "X-book" and helped the book stand out.

I could be wrong on this, but I remember reading that David ran into editorial interference on *both* books, which lead to his departure from each.

PD also wrote a strong series of three back up stories for various "X book" annuals, in the early 90's, which paid tribute to various characters who had been killed off. The titles were "Tribute the First/Second/Third). One was a tribute to Destiny, another Cypher, but I don't remember who the third was for. The Cypher story in particular is excellent. I doubt these stories will ever be collect in trade paperback, but they are worth looking for.

also loved X-Factor. That issue - with Quesada art, I think - where all of the team are psychoanalised by an off-panel Doc Samson was fantastic.

Second the Death of Jean DeWoolf. One of the great post Lee/Ditko Spidey stories.

I was gonna say that PAD's one of the few pre-Jemas spandex writers I can think of that's genuinely (& intentionally) funny, but I'm not sure where to go w/ that, other than to say, "yeah, he makes me chuckle from time to time." Also, nowadays there are more than a few (intentionally) funny writers working for the Big Two - BKV, Bendis on Ultimate Spidey, the Slott Machine, Waid occasionally (esp. on LOSH). OK, maybe not that many.

As far as the funny goes, I think PAD's closest to Bendis in style -- less likely to take on funny characters, or funny premises, and more likely to insert a fair bit of lightness or comic relief in otherwise serious superhero comics. Slott's the guy to go to for GLA, in other words -- or Giffen, for JLI -- but Bendis and PAD are the guys more likely to insert jokes and eye-rolling into a plot that's not inherently funny.

One's not better than the other, it's just an approach thing.

I think PAD's focus on the supporting cast in The Hulk went a long way towards enabling that, too -- for most of his run it was really an ensemble book.

Peter David: S&D