A good general overview of writing, with a particular focus on comics (the first half of the book could be used for any fiction-writing genre or form). David shows his style of humor throughout, and even offers a few what-not-to-do tips. The orange pages were a bit gaudy, and the chapter headings slightly hidden in the explosion of color on each page, but those are minor quibbles in an otherwise decent advice book. ( )

In his book Writing for Comics with Peter David (Impact Books, $19.99), the prolific writer uses the opportunity as an introduction to basic creative writing, using comics as a foundation. The book is heavily weighted towards 'mainstream' comics because, as David says in the introduction, he's mainly known for his mainstream comics work and if you're buying a book called Writing for Comics with Peter David that's what you're expecting to get. David covers all of the bases from plot to character development to dialogue and illustrates with a multitude of examples from his work and from the work of others. ( )