John, in declaring that L. Walker is "losing ground," you remind me of an NFL team some years back (can't remember which one) that was losing a game by a terribly wide margin. In "garbage time" (for those of you who are not sports fans, that's a term for the final minutes of a game so lopsided that the losing team hasn't the faintest hope of winning at that point), a player from the losing team scored a touchdown and began dancing in the endzone. Then someone from the winning team poked the ball from his hands and pointed to the scoreboard.

For me to believe your version of events requires me to accept implausibility upon implausibility: that Peter was able to find the artwork in question, photocopy it, and put it back unnoticed; that the Alpha Flight office wouldn't have taken better care of the materials given that they were trying their damndest to keep this particular dramatic reveal from leaking; that Peter would risk his job simply to look "cool" in front of fans; and that he could commit such an egregious act and still retain his job when I have read articles about people being fired from Marvel for less.

Nevertheless, let's say for the sake of argument that your version is all true, and that it was common practice for people in sales and marketing to grab pages and distribute them without the consent of editorial. As L. Walker already pointed out, that would mean there was a systemic problem. In that case, it makes no sense to single out Peter, and Peter alone, for your ire.

So, unfortunately, you have backed yourself into a logical corner. If your version of events true (and again, your version strains credulity to the very limits and perhaps even beyond), it was, by your admission, a "common practice" and it is therefore unfair to single out Peter David. 

At least one poster in this thread has accused people like L. Walker and I of "shit-stirring." The shit, however, was stirred not by us but by John, when he once again recounted the tale in a forum that is available to the public. This may be a privately owned forum, but its content can be read by anyone with access to the Internet. Complaining about people responding to something said in this forum is a bit like going up to a podium in front of a crowd, saying something inflammatory, and then telling them, "I wasn't talking to you."

I want to ask everyone here who has been at a convention in the past, oh, 25 years:  When was the last time you actually received, for free, a Xerox copy of a yet-to-be-released comic, or even a few pages, from either DC or Marvel?

For me, the answer would be:  NEVER.

Yes, they have Xerox copies to read at their booths, and it's entirely up to you as to whether you want to spoil an upcoming issue, but they're NOT free to the public like a button or poster.

I guess you must have missed this con, then. Or missed the fact that the pages being handed out is not in dispute.

I guess you must have missed this con, then. Or missed the fact that the pages being handed out is not in dispute.

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If it was not a Chicago Convention, I did indeed miss it.

The worst part of this is that, because of this, two of the best creators in the biz can't work together.

Imagine for a second that this didn't happen; then JB & Peter David could have found some characters and stories on wich they could have common interest and could have produced a classic. Maybe even that the book would have been better because they are so different as creators.

What a waste!

Not simply because of this.

My "shit-stirring" was stating that David handed out xeroxes of the death of Guardian a month before the book shipped. This is a fact. Even David does not dispute it. So you're here. . . why?

Carry on.