Peter David Offers to Release "Space Cases" Gag Reel Starring Firefly and Power Rangers Actors

Peter David, the best-selling writer behind cult favorites and mainstream hits like Young Justice, [...]

By Russ Burlingame

Peter David, the best-selling writer behind cult favorites and mainstream hits like Young Justice, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor, is facing a massive tax bill, and after recently asking fans to help him out via crowdfunding, he's been offering some rewards to those who contribute -- including a look inside of his archives at some unreleased and unpublished material.

peter-david
(Photo: Russ Burlingame)

David says that he owes more than $80,000 in back taxes and fees from income earned during his time as the co-creator of Space Cases, a series that ran in 1996 and 1997 on Nickelodeon. Due to a personal crisis at the time, money he had saved to pay the taxes disappeared, and he has been in arrears ever since.

On his GoFundMe page, David recently released a short story, the first in a number of potential "rewards" offered for goals hit by his fundraising campaign.

Next up, he said, was a look at Space Cases itself -- complete with some pretty recognizable faces.

"When we hit level $55,000, I will put up on Youtube the never-before-seen gag reel from the second season of Space Cases," wrote David. "Walter Jones, the Black Power Ranger, as our lead Harlan. A teenage girl named Jewel Staite as our engineering genius (yes, we reached through time and space and ripped off Joss Whedon ten years early.) Plus the rest of our wonderful cast who brought each script to life. Watching it brought back all manner of pleasant memories of the series, its cast and crew and my collaboration with the immortal Bill Mumy."

Fans rallied to David's side once before already -- to help him with unexpected medical bills after he had a serious stroke in late 2012. Then, with less apparent urgency on payment deadlines, he mostly urged anyone who wished to help to buy his books directly through his website to increase his profit margin. This time around, hoping to cut out the middle man, he's offered fans who send him a check or money order the opportunity to send along any of his comics or books that they'd like signed, and he will sign and return them.

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Peter David<\/a>, the best-selling writer behind cult favorites and mainstream hits like Young Justice<\/em>, Captain Marvel<\/em>, and X-Factor<\/em>, is facing a massive tax bill and potential financial ruin, so he\u0027s turned to his readers to help out.<\/p>\r\n
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(Photo: Russ Burlingame)<\/span><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

David says that he owes more than $80,000 in back taxes and fees from income earned during his time as the co-creator of Space Cases<\/em>, a series that ran in 1996 and 1997 on Nickelodeon.<\/p>\r\n

According to David, his ex-wife took money he had earmarked for paying his tax bill during a contentious divorce, and he had been paying it off slowly ever since.<\/p>\r\n

\"I tried to make payment arrangements with the IRS but they didn’t last, because throughout the year I’d send in the payments but then on April 15 I had no money to pay the income tax because I’d already sent them all my spare money,\" David explains at his blog<\/a>. \"Then they seemed to just forget about it. Which was great. Except recently they now seem to have remembered. And they want all the money, plus penalty and interest, or they are going to financially destroy me.\"<\/p>\r\n

He\u0027s asking for help to build up an $88,000 payment to put the two decades\u0027 worth of stress behind him, explaining that he had never discussed this issue before because \"Pretty much everyone has private things that have happened to them that they don’t want to discuss publicly. Well…this is mine.\"<\/p>\r\n

Describing his current situation as \"desperate trouble,\" David provides fans at the link above with details about donating to his cause via Paypal.<\/p>\r\n

Between his Facebook and Twitter accounts, David has about 18,000 followers, and by his reasoning, that means if he had $10 for each of those people, he would be in the clear with some money to spare for any income taxes that come due next month.<\/p>\r\n

Fans rallied to David\u0027s side once before already -- to help him with unexpected medical bills after he had a serious stroke in late 2012<\/a>. Then, with less apparent urgency on payment deadlines, he mostly urged anyone who wished to help to buy his books directly through his website to increase his profit margin. This time around, hoping to cut out the middle man, he\u0027s offered fans who send him a check or money order the opportunity to send along any of his comics or books that they\u0027d like signed, and he will sign and return them.<\/p>\r\n

More Peter David:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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