Peter David

Peter David's paternal grandparents, Martin and Hela David, and his father, Gunter, emigrated to the United States in the 1930s after the antisemitism in Nazi Germany progressed to the point that Martin's Berlin shoestore became the target of vandalism.

Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.

His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel and X-Factor.

His Star Trek work includes comic books, novels such as Imzadi, and co-creation of the New Frontier series.

His other novels include film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series.

His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.

David often jokingly describes his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he is noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.

David was born September 23, 1956, in Fort Meade, Maryland, to Gunter and Dalia David (née Rojansky), an Israeli Jewish mother who had worked with DNA mappers James Watson and Francis Crick and to whom David credits his sense of humor.

He has two siblings, a brother Wally, seven years his junior, who works as an IT Systems Administrator in the financial sector, and a younger sister named Beth.

David First became interested in comics when he was about five years old, reading copies of Harvey Comics' Casper and Wendy in a barbershop.

He became interested in superheroes through the Adventures of Superman TV series.

Although David's parents approved of his reading Harvey Comics and comics featuring Disney characters, they did not approve of superhero books, especially those published by Marvel Comics, feeling that characters that looked like monsters, such as the Thing or the Hulk, or who wore bug-eyed costumes, like Spider-Man, did not appear heroic.

As a result, David read those comics in secret, beginning with his first Marvel book, Fantastic Four Annual #3 (November 1965), which saw the wedding of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.

His parents eventually allowed him to start reading superhero titles, his favorite of which was Superman.

He cites John Buscema as his favorite pre-1970s artist.

David attended his first comic book convention around the time that Jack Kirby's New Gods premiered, after asking his father to take him to one of Phil Seuling's shows in New York, where David obtained Kirby's autograph, his first encounter with a comics professional.

David's earliest interest in writing came through the journalism work of his father, Gunter, who sometimes reviewed movies and took young Peter along (if it was age-appropriate).

While Gunter wrote his reviews back at the newspaper's office, David wrote his own, portions of which sometimes found their way into Gunter's published reviews.

David began to entertain the notion of becoming a professional writer at age twelve, buying a copy of The Guide to the Writer's Market, and subscribing to similar-themed magazines, in the hopes of becoming a reporter.

David lived in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in a small house at 11 Albert Terrace, and attended Demarest Elementary School.

His family later moved to Verona, New Jersey, where he spent his adolescence.

By the time he entered his teens, he had lost interest in comic books, feeling he had outgrown them.

David's best friend in junior high and first year in high school, Keith, was gay, and David has described how both of them were targets of ostracism and harassment from homophobes.

Although his family eventually moved to Pennsylvania, his experiences in Verona soured him on that town and shaped his liberal sociopolitical positions regarding LGBT issues.

He later made Verona the home location of villain Morgan Le Fay in his novel Knight Life, and has often discussed his progressive views on LGBT issues in his column and on his blog.

David's first professional assignment was covering the World Science Fiction Convention held in Washington in 1974 for the Philadelphia Bulletin.

David eventually gravitated towards fiction after his attempts at journalism did not meet with success.

David's interest in comics was rekindled when he saw a copy of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978) while passing a newsstand, and later, X-Men #95 (October 1975), and discovered in that latter book the "All-New, All-Different" team that had first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975).

These two books were the first comics he had purchased in years.

A seminal moment in the course of his aspirations occurred when he met writer Stephen King at a book signing, and told him that he was an aspiring writer.

King signed David's copy of Danse Macabre with the inscription, "Good luck with your writing career.", which David now inscribes himself onto books presented to him by fans who tell him the same thing.

Other authors that David cites as influences include Harlan Ellison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert B. Parker, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Robert Crais and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Specific books he has mentioned as favorites include To Kill a Mockingbird, Tarzan of the Apes, The Princess Bride, The Essential Ellison, A Confederacy of Dunces, Adams Versus Jefferson, and Don Quixote.

David has singled out Ellison in particular as a writer whom he has tried to emulate.

David attended New York University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism.

His first published fiction appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction in 1980.

He sold an op-ed piece to The New York Times, but overall his submissions that met with rejection far outnumbered those accepted.

David eventually gave up on a career in writing and came to work in book publishing.

His first publishing job was for the E.P. Dutton imprint Elsevier/Nelson, where he worked mainly as an assistant to the editor-in-chief.

David has earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.