Comic, TV, and novel writer Peter David died on Saturday, May 24, 2025, after multiple health issues. In recent years, he had been suffering from kidney failure, he had a series of strokes, and a mild heart attack. David was 68 years old.

The prodigious writer had a 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, and impressive runs on Aquaman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Young Justice, Captain Marvel, Supergirl, X-Factor, and others.

David was born on September 23, 1956, in Fort Meade, Maryland, and was a comic reader throughout childhood. His first professional work was to cover the World Science Fiction Convention for the Philadelphia Bulletin in 1974, then his first published fiction work was a short story that appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction in 1980.

Moving into publishing and sales, David worked in the sales department at Marvel. Three years after he became the Direct Sales Manager, he submitted a Spider-Man story idea to editor Jim Owsley, which ran in The Spectacular Spider-Man #103. A few months later, he was given the task of writing The Incredible Hulk which was struggling at the time. During the 12 years he spent writing Hulk, David explored his personality disorder, the difference between the smarter and less intelligent versions of Hulk, and what it meant to be a hero who wasn’t on the level of characters like Captain America.

While writing Hulk David also freelanced, writing The Phantom miniseries and he had a short stint on Green Lantern at DC, and Dreadstar for First Comics. He also wrote runs of Wolverine, X-Factor, Mark Hazzard: Merc and Justice, and he co-created futuristic Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara and wrote Spider-Man 2099. From 1988 to ’91, he wrote the Star Trek series at DC.

He wrote two Aquaman miniseries, then wrote the ongoing Aquaman series from 1994 to ’98. Early in the run, Aquaman notably lost his hand, which was replaced by a harpoon, and David wrote the underwater hero as a more aggressive, serious character than had previously appeared in comics. He and Ron Marz co-wrote the DC vs. Marvel crossover, he has runs on Supergirl and Young Justice, and his creator owned Soulsearchers and Company and Sachs and Violens.

In the early 2000s, David wrote SpyBoy for Dark Horse, two runs on Captain Marvel, his creator-owned Fallen Angel at DC, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Dreamwave. He wrote a 12-part Spider-Man crossover with J. Michael Straczynski and Reginald Hudlin that appeared in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Marvel Knights Spider-Man. David wrote the MadroX miniseries, leading to the relaunch of the X-Factor monthly series.

After signing an exclusive contract with Marvel in 2006, David worked on The Dark Tower comics based on Stephen King’s novels. He wrote She-Hulk, All-New X-Factor, the second volume of Spider-Man 2099, and Symbiote Spider-Man.

In addition to his work in comics, David wrote Star Trek novelizations, and original titles like Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life. His TV work included Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force, and Space Cases.