Myths and Virtual Reality in Peter David's work

[Samy]

For reasons that are too complicated to get into right now, I am trying to locate the amount of references in Peter David's work to two things:

* myths as in mythology, such as to Arthurian myths, Christian mythology, Grecoroman mythology and so on
* virtual reality as in a reality that exists inside computers

I've only had time so far to scratch the surface, but some of the following occur to me:

* his work on SUPERGIRL heavily references Christian mythology, such as angels on Earth, the nature and existence of God
* his work on SPIDER-MAN 2099 included some adventures inside a virtual reality if I recall correctly (the first appearance of Thanatos?)
* how about his work on AQUAMAN, were all the Thierna Na Oges and so on, were they pre-existing creations in DC comics before him or were they stuff he brought in from mythology?
* during his work on HULK, he created a new Pantheon based on Grecoroman gods

Any references to PAD working on myths or virtual realities would be greatly appreciated.

[Sir Tim Drake]

If you're writing a paper on this, then check out Narrative as Virtual Reality by Marie-Laure Ryan.

[prince hal]

I'll tell you about one myth...that the town where he went to high school is as bad as he has made it to be the couple of times he mentioned it in his columns.

Perception is reality as we all know, but I think he tarred an entire town with his brush on his blog and in his column in CBR.

It's not that I doubt that David and at least one of his friends may have been the victims of stupid prejudice (I've read elsewhere that the friend was ridiculed b/c of sexual preference.) and I certainly do not want to paint a picture of my hometown as a combination of Mayberry and the Hundred Acre Wood, but I was surprised by how angry he was at the entire town, not at those who were intolerant.

I'll admit, I'm a couple of years older than he and was not living there when he was at the local high school, and there may be much more to the story, but I was taken aback by his essential condemnation of the whole town. Looking back on my formative years there -- even accounting for the burnishing effect of nostalgia -- I don't see it as the terrible place he apparently does. I sincerely wonder if it changed so quickly and thoroughly as his comments imply.

If anyone knows any more details about his time in high school, maybe I could make a more informed judgment. I've searched his site a few times to see if he's ever had more on it, but have come up empty.

As I said, I can only go by those one or two references I've seen, but they seemed so out of character for a guy who writes with a subtlety not usually associated with comics.

Sorry this is off-topic, but it's one of those bothersome things that I wish I knew more about. I always read the guy's columns and find him entertaining and thought-provoking otherwise.