Posted by Frank Reynolds at spider-wj041.proxy.aol.com on April 01, 2000 at 21:32:35:
In Reply to: Peter David: Why such vitriol? posted by OMAR on March 31, 2000 at 13:12:15:
: Why has Kevin Smith spoken out against Peter David in so many ways?
I remember on this board years ago (might have been three or four) Kevin
saying something to the effect that David "being a mediocre writer doesn't
justify his attitude" or "ego" or something like that....it was a long time
ago...maybe someone can check the archives, if they go back that far...
Although I must say that in the mid-to-late 80s I met Peter David several
times at conventions and found him to be the nicest guy...he even sold me a
HULK script once...printed on a dot-matrix printer on tractor-feed paper
that was never torn...does that send a few of you back? :) (But I guess I
gotta admit that the last time I ever saw him was around 1989 or so, and I
guess a lot can happen to a guy in 11 years...not that I'm saying that
anything DID hapen to him since then, but simply my opinion on Peter is
based on experiences that are 11 years old...)
I also must say that I once thought Peter to be a GREAT writer...his work
on Spider-Man in the 80s was fantastic. The "Ace" stories and "Death of
Jean DeWolff" were top-notch. I thought his work on HULK for the first
several years was great, as was almost all of his work on DC's two STAR
TREK comics.
For me however, his work stopped being "must-read" work when he had the
Hulk in Vegas as a bouncer....after that, HULK as a book fell out of favor
with me....it just didn't have the resonance that it used to have for me.
His TREK work still was great, but his work on Supergirl or Aquaman didn't
really grab me for whatever reason...his last great work in my opinion was
the Hulk graphic novel FUTURE IMPERFECT, which I loved...
Now I'm not necessarily saying that I thought Peter's work slipped or got
worse or whatever...I never felt he was giving it more than his best. It
just that whatever made me respond to his work in my teens and early 20s
just wasn't there anymore. Maybe I changed as a person, maybe he has. Who
knows...
Anyhoo,