Born in Maryland in 1956, David found comics as a child, picking up Casper and Wendy books at the barbershop and, seemingly, never dropping them. His father, a newspaperman by trade who occasionally wrote film reviews, would encourage David to write his own. Though initially hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps, he’d eventually briefly give up writing to work in the sales department at Marvel Comics. At the time, salespeople jumping to editorial was frowned upon. Still, David found a champion in editor Jim Owsley, who published a story penned by David in Spectacular Spider-Man #103 in 1985. Shortly after, he began his generation-defining run on The Incredible Hulk, which saw the writer expand the Hulk universe, introduce the Joe Fixit Grey Hulk, and elaborate on Bruce Banner’s complex relationship with his abusive father. He and artist Dale Keown would win an Eisner Award for their work.
David continued to innovate and reboot long-running characters throughout the ’90s and ’00s. His 1994 Aquaman miniseries, Time And Tide, refreshed the character from Arthur Curry’s staid talking-to-fish persona left over from the ’70s, giving the character a new look and, eventually, a harpoon hand. Around this time, he wrote Star Trek comics, Supergirl, and Teen Titans, as well as the TV shows Babylon 5 and Nickelodeon’s Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy. His 2011 run on X-Factor was renowned for depicting a same-sex relationship between characters Shatterstar and Rictor. The book won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book.
David’s health began to decline over the last 15 years. Following back surgery for a herniated disc in 2010, David had a stroke in 2012. Three years later, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. In 2022, a GoFundMe was launched on behalf of the writer, who suffered a series of strokes, kidney failure, and a mild heart attack. On May 20, 2025, his wife Kathleen relaunched the GoFundMe, reporting that David had been in recovery for three years, “but Medicaid, which had been taking care of his Long Term Disability, has just dropped him.”
David is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and four children.
