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J. Michael Straczynski

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J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski, 2008
Born
Joseph Michael Straczynski

(1954-07-17) July 17, 1954 (age 70)
Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)Writer, producer
Years active1979–present
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
SpouseKathryn M. Drennan (1983-2008; divorced)

Joseph Michael Straczynski (/strəˈzɪn.ski/;[2] born July 17, 1954), known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or jms,[3] is an American writer and producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, radio dramas and other media. Straczynski is a playwright, former journalist, and author of The Complete Book of Scriptwriting. He was the creator and showrunner for the science fiction television series Babylon 5, its spin-off Crusade, as well as Jeremiah, a series loosely based on Hermann Huppen's comics. Straczynski wrote 92 out of the 110 Babylon 5 episodes, notably including an unbroken 59-episode run through the third and fourth seasons, and all but one episode of the fifth season. He also wrote the four Babylon 5 TV movies produced alongside the series. From 2001 to 2007, he was the writer for the long-running Marvel comic book series The Amazing Spider-Man.

In 2009, Straczynski was nominated for the BAFTA Award for his screenplay for Changeling.[4]

Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer ("showrunner" in Hollywood parlance) to directly engage with fans on the Internet,[5][6] and allow their viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. (see Babylon 5' s use of the Internet). Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.[7]

Straczynski is a graduate of San Diego State University (SDSU), having earned a BA with a double major in psychology and sociology (with minors in philosophy and literature). While at SDSU, he wrote for the student newspaper, The Daily Aztec, at times penning so many articles that the paper was jokingly referred to as the "Daily Joe". Straczynski resides in the Los Angeles area.

Early years

Straczynski was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and is the son of Charles Straczynski, a manual laborer, and Evelyn Straczynski (née Pate).[8] He was raised in Newark, New Jersey; Kankakee, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Chula Vista, California, where he graduated from high school; and San Diego, California.[9] Straczynski's family religion was Catholic, and he has Polish ancestry.[10] His grandparents lived in the area which today belongs to Belarus, and fled to America from the Russian Revolution; his father was born in the US, but lived in Germany, Poland and Russia.[10]

Straczynski cut his teeth writing plays, having several produced at Southwestern College and San Diego State University before finally publishing his adaptation of "Snow White" with Performance Publishing.[11] Several other plays were produced around San Diego, including "The Apprenticeship" for the Marquis Public Theater. During the late 1970s, Straczynski also became the on-air entertainment reviewer for KSDO-FM and wrote several radio plays before being hired as a scriptwriter for the radio drama Alien Worlds.[12][13] He also produced his first television project in San Diego, "Marty Sprinkle" for KPBS-TV as well as worked on the XETV-TV project Disasterpiece Theatre.[14] While in San Diego he became a journalist for the Los Angeles Times as a special San Diego correspondent and also worked for San Diego Magazine and The San Diego Reader. In 1981 he landed a contract with Writer's Digest to write a book about scriptwriting.

He and Kathryn M. Drennan (whom he met at San Diego State) moved to Los Angeles on April 1, 1981 (they would marry in 1983, and divorced in 2008).[15] He worked on his book while planning a transition to television. The book's first edition was published in 1982. In Los Angeles he worked for The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, The Los Angeles Times, The Los Angeles Reader, TV-Cable Week, and People Magazine.[13] He quit journalism after working for People, and in 1983, he wrote a spec script for the show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the producers of He-Man bought it as well as other scripts and then hired Straczynski as a staff writer.[13]

According to the jacket bio for the first edition of his scriptwriting text (see Print below), Straczynski had a play produced when he was 17, a sitcom produced when he was 21, and sold his first movie script when he was 24. (It should be noted, however, that these first two credits were for volunteer public radio, and not professional script sales.) By 28, his credits included television and film scripts, radio scripts for Alien Worlds[16] and the Mutual Broadcasting System, a dozen plays, and more than 150 newspaper and magazine articles. He taught his craft for years at lectures and seminars in California and elsewhere.

He spent five years from 1987 to 1992 co-hosting the Hour 25 radio talk show on KPFK-FM Los Angeles with Larry DiTillio.

Radio

Straczynski has written for radio drama, including the series Alien Worlds and scripts for Mutual Radio Theater. He wrote a script called Where No Shadows Fall for the company Airstage which was produced through KPBS in San Diego and aired on its radio series for the blind.[17] The program was later aired on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles in 1982.[14]

Straczynski has also been an on-air personality. He began by doing a weekly entertainment segment on KSDO News Radio in San Diego from 1978-1980. In Los Angeles, he put in five years as on-air host of the science fiction talk show Hour 25, which aired on KPFK 90.7 FM from 10 p.m. until midnight. During his tenure, he interviewed such luminaries as John Carpenter, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison and other writers, producers, actors and directors.

In 2000, Straczynski returned to radio drama with The City of Dreams for scifi.com and an original 20-part radio drama series entitled The Adventures of Apocalypse Al for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that was to debut in 2007 but has not yet aired.

Television

Animation

Straczynski was a fan of the cartoon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He wrote a spec script in 1984 and sent it directly to Filmation.[18] They purchased his script, bought several others, and hired him on staff. During this time he became friends with Larry DiTillio, and when Filmation produced the He-Man spinoff, She-Ra: Princess of Power, they both worked as story editors on the show.[19][20] However, Filmation refused to give them credit on-screen and Straczynski and DiTillio both left and found work with DIC on Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.

Straczynski and DiTillio also worked to create an animated version of Elfquest but that project soon fell through when CBS attempted to retool the show to appeal to younger audiences.[21]

While working on Jayce, Straczynski was hired to come aboard the Len Janson and Chuck Menville project to adapt the movie Ghostbusters to an animated version called The Real Ghostbusters. When Janson and Menville learned that there was not only a 13-episode order but a 65-episode syndication order as well, they decided that the workload was too much and that they would only work on their own scripts.[22] DIC head Jean Chalopin asked Straczynski to take on the task of story editing the entire 78-episode block as well as writing his own scripts.[22] After the show's successful first season, consultants were brought in to make suggestions for the show, including changing Janine to a more maternal character, giving every character a particular "job" (Peter is the funny one, Egon is the smart one, and Winston, the only black character, was to be the driver), and to add kids into the show.[22] Straczynski left at this point and Janson and Menville took on the story editing job for the second network season. Straczynski then developed a show called Spiral Zone but left after only one script when his concept for the show was drastically altered and took his name off the series,[23] substituting the pseudonym "Fettes Grey" (derived from the names of the grave robbers in The Body Snatcher).

Straczynski also wrote for CBS Storybreak, writing an adaptation of Evelyn Sibley Lampman's The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek).

Live action and the 1988 Writer's Strike

After leaving animation, Straczynski freelanced for The Twilight Zone writing an episode entitled ("What Are Friends For"), and for Shelley Duvall's Nightmare Classics, adaptating The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award).

Straczynski was then offered the position of story editor on the syndicated live-action science fiction series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. Straczynski constructed a season long arc with lasting character changes and wrote a third of the scripts himself. After one season, the toy company Mattel demanded more input into the show, causing Straczynski to quit. He recommended DiTillio to take over the job as story editor for a second season, but the toy company financing fell through and that season was never produced.[24]

Soon after, the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike began. Straczynski met Harlan Ellison during this time and would later become friends with him.[25][26]

After the strike ended, the producers of the new Twilight Zone needed to create more episodes to be able to sell the series into syndication with a complete 65-episode package. They hired Straczynski as executive story editor to fill in the remaining number of needed episodes. Straczynski wrote many of the scripts himself. In addition, one episode, "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich", was written by Ellison.

Network shows and Babylon 5

After leaving Twilight Zone, his agent of the time asked him to pitch for the show Jake and the Fatman.[27] Initially wary, Straczynski finally did and was hired on as story editor under Jeri Taylor and David Moessinger. When Taylor and Moessinger left the show, Straczynski left as well in solidarity with them.[28]

When Moessinger was hired as executive producer for Murder, She Wrote, he offered Straczynski a job as co-producer. Straczynski joined Murder for two seasons and wrote 7 produced episodes. Moessinger and Straczynski moved the protagonist, Jessica Fletcher, from the sleepy Maine town of Cabot Cove to New York City to revitalize the show. The move effectively brought the show back into the top ten from the mid-thirties where it had fallen. Straczynski made Jessica an instructor in writing and criminology, and he emphasized her role as a working writer, with all the deadlines and problems involved in that profession.

Straczynski also wrote one episode of Walker, Texas Ranger for Moessinger between the pilot and first season of B5.[29]

In late 1991, Warner Bros. contracted with Doug Netter and Straczynski as partners to produce the show Babylon 5 as the flagship program for the new Prime Time Entertainment Network.[30]

Straczynski and Netter hired many of the people from Captain Power, as well as hiring Ellison as a consultant and DiTillio as a story editor. Babylon 5 won two Emmy Awards, back-to-back Hugo Awards, and dozens of other awards. Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes, as well as the pilot and five television movies. The show concentrated on character-driven space opera, emphasis on realism, and it pioneered extensive use of CGI for its special effects. The show ran for its planned 5-season run but its sequel Crusade was the victim of TNT Network Executive interference, and only 13 episodes were commissioned, ending production even before the first episode had aired.

In 2005, Straczynski began publishing his Babylon 5 scripts.[31] This process ended in June 2008, with the scripts no longer being available from the end of July of that year. His scripts for the television movies were published for a limited time in January 2009.[32]

Recent television projects

Straczynski's most recent[as of?] television series was Jeremiah, loosely based on the Belgian post-apocalyptic comic of the same name. Straczynski ran the series for two seasons but was frustrated with the conflicting directions that MGM and Showtime wanted from the show,[33] and even used the pseudonym "Fettes Grey" for the first time since Spiral Zone on one of the scripts. In the second season, Straczynski decided to leave the show if things did not improve,[34] and the show ended after 2 seasons.

In 2004, Straczynski was approached by Paramount Studios to become a producer of the Star Trek: Enterprise series. He declined, believing that he would not be allowed to take the show in the direction he felt it should go.[35] He did write a treatment for a new Star Trek series with colleague Bryce Zabel.[36]

Straczynski also wrote and produced the pilot Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, a pilot for the SciFi Network, and wrote, directed and produced Babylon 5: The Lost Tales as a two-hour direct-to-DVD movie.

For initial showing in late 2014 Straczynski is producing the show "Sense8" for the Netflix Internet television company using production companies Studio JMS and Georgeville Television. Fellow executive producers are Andy and Lana Wachowski.[37]

Television bio

Film

Straczynski worked on feature film and television movies. He wrote an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the Showtime network, which was nominated for a Writer's Guild of America award,[38] and a Murder, She Wrote movie, Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For, which he produced.

In 2006, Straczynski was hired to write a feature film based on the story of King David for Universal by producers Erwin Stoff and Akiva Goldsman.[39]

Straczynski announced on February 23, 2007 that he had been hired to write the feature film adaptation of Max Brooks's New York Times-bestselling novel World War Z for Paramount Pictures and Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B.[40]

In June 2007, it was announced that Straczynski had written a feature screenplay for the Silver Surfer movie for Fox, the production of which would depend on the success of the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.[41] Additionally, he has written a script for Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions and Universal Pictures called They Marched into Sunlight based upon the Pulitzer nominated novel of the same name and an outline by Paul Greengrass, for Greengrass to direct, should it get a greenlight.[42]

In June 2008, Daily Variety named Straczynski one of the top Ten Screenwriters to Watch. They announced Straczynski was writing Lensman for Ron Howard (to whom he had sold a screenplay entitled The Flickering Light), that he was selling another spec, Proving Ground, to Tom Cruise and United Artists.[43]

In 2008, Straczynski wrote a draft of Ninja Assassin for Joel Silver (which he completed in just 53 hours).[44] The film was produced by the Wachowski Brothers and released on November 25, 2009.

In 2008, Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment premiered Straczynski's feature thriller Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood, since originally slated director Ron Howard declined due to scheduling conflicts.[45]

Changeling was one of 20 films placed in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and subsequently received eight nominations for the BAFTA Award, including a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.[4]

In October 2008, it was announced that Straczynski was engaged to pen a remake of the science fiction classic Forbidden Planet.[46]

In the fall of 2009, it was reported that Straczynski was writing a movie titled Shattered Union for Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney. The screenplay, based on the video game of that name, concerns itself with a present-day American civil war.[47][48][49][50]

Straczynski is credited as "story writer" along with Mark Protosevich for the 2011 film, Thor.[51] He also makes a cameo appearance in the film,[52] his first appearance in a movie and his second appearance as an actor (the first being "Sleeping In Light," the final episode of Babylon 5).[53]

Print

Novels, short stories and nonfiction

Straczynski is the author of three horror novels — Demon Night, Othersyde, and Tribulations — and nearly twenty short stories, many of which are collected in two compilations — Tales from the New Twilight Zone and Straczynski Unplugged. He wrote the outlines for nine of the canonical Babylon 5 novels, supervised the three produced B5 telefilm novelizations (In the Beginning, Thirdspace, and A Call to Arms), and is the author of four Babylon 5 short stories published in magazines, not yet reprinted (as of 2008).

Straczynski has been a journalist, reviewer, and investigative reporter, publishing over 500 articles in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Writer's Digest, Penthouse, San Diego Magazine, Twilight Zone Magazine, the San Diego Reader, the Los Angeles Reader and Time.

Straczynski wrote The Complete Book of Scriptwriting (ISBN 1-85286-882-1), often used as a text in introductory screenwriting courses,[54][55][56][57][58][59][60] and is now in its third edition.

Plays

  • Snow White: an assembly length children's play dramatized by J. Michael Straczynski. c1979.[61][62]

Comic books

Straczynski has long been a comic fan, and began writing comics in the late 1980s. His work in comics includes the adaptations of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and Babylon 5. In 1999 he created Rising Stars for Top Cow/Image Comics. Eventually he worked mostly under his own imprint - Joe's Comics - for which he wrote the Midnight Nation miniseries, and the illustrated fantasy parable Delicate Creatures. Marvel Comics then signed him to an exclusive contract, beginning with a run on The Amazing Spider-Man, from 2001-2007. One of the Spider-Man story arcs he is known for is "Spider-Man: The Other" which was a crossover, although he did not write the whole arc. He has since written for Marvel titles including Fantastic Four and mini-series featuring the Silver Surfer and a "What If" scenario, Bullet Points. When his exclusive contract with Marvel ended, he was announced as the writer for a run on The Brave and the Bold for DC Comics.[63] He collaborated with artist Shane Davis on an out-of-continuity original graphic novel starring Superman titled Superman: Earth One.[64][65] The story features a young Superman and focus on his decision about the role he want to assume in life. On March 8, 2010 it was announced he would be taking over writing duties for the monthly Superman title with a story arc entitled "Grounded", and the Wonder Woman title, beginning with issues 701 and 601 respectively.[66][67] Less than a year later he was asked by DC to step away from both titles, and handed them over to Chris Roberson and Phil Hester to finish his Superman and Wonder Woman stories respectively.

DC Comics

Titles published by DC Comics include:

Joe's Comics

Titles published by Top Cow's short-lived Joe's Comics imprint include:

  • Rising Stars (with Keu Cha, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Stuart Immonen, Brent Eric Anderson and Gary Frank, 1999-2005) collected as:
    • Born in Fire (collects #1-8, tpb, 192 pages, 2001, ISBN 1-58240-172-1)
    • Power (collects #9-16, tpb, 192 pages, 2002, ISBN 1-58240-226-4)
    • Fire and Ash (collects #17-24, tpb, 208 pages, 2006, ISBN 1-58240-491-7)
    • Voices of the Dead/Bright (collects RS: Voices of the Dead #1-6[68] and RS: Bright #1-3,[68] tpb, 226 pages, 2006, ISBN 1-58240-613-8)
    • Visitations/Untouchable (collects #0, ½, Prelude and RS: Untouchable #1-6,[68] tpb, 208 pages, 2007, ISBN 1-58240-268-X)
    • RS Omnibus (collects #0-24, ½ and Prelude, hc, 624 pages, 2005, ISBN 1-58240-488-7)
    • RS Compendium (collects #0-24, ½, Prelude and the spin-offs, hc, 1008 pages, 2009, ISBN 1-60706-032-9; tpb, 2009, ISBN 1-58240-802-5)
  • Midnight Nation #1-12 (with Gary Frank, 2000-2002) collected as MN (tpb, 288 pages, 2003, ISBN 1-58240-272-8; hc, 304 pages, 2009, ISBN 1-60706-040-X)
  • Delicate Creatures (with Michael Zulli, graphic novel, hc, 56 pages, 2001, ISBN 1-58240-225-6)

Joe's Comics was revived at Image Comics in 2013:

  • Ten Grand with Ben Templesmith (May 2013-present)
  • Sidekick with Tom Mandrake (scheduled for July 2013)
  • Alone (Announced, not yet scheduled)
  • Protectors, Inc. (Announced, not yet scheduled)

Marvel/Icon Comics

Titles published by Marvel and its Icon imprint include:

  • The Amazing Spider-Man:
    • The Best of Spider-Man Volume 1 (hc, 336 pages, 2002, ISBN 0-7851-0900-5) includes:
      • "Transformations, Literal & Otherwise" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #30, 2001)
      • "Coming Home" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #31, 2001)
      • "The Long, Dark Pizza of the Soul" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #32, 2001)
      • "All Fall Down" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #33, 2001)
      • "Meltdown" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #34, 2001)
      • "Coming Out" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #35, 2001)
      • "Untitled" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #36, 2001)
    • The Best of Spider-Man Volume 2 (hc, 368 pages, 2003, ISBN 0-7851-1100-X) includes:
      • "Interlude" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #37, 2002)
      • "The Conversation" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #38, 2002)
      • "Meanwhile..." (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #39, 2002)
      • "Sensitive Issues" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #40-42, 2002)
      • "Until the Stars Turn Cold" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #43-45, 2002)
    • The Best of Spider-Man Volume 3 (hc, 368 pages, 2004, ISBN 0-7851-1339-8) collects:
      • "The Life & Death of Spiders" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #46-48, 2002-2003)
      • "Bad Connections" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #49, 2003)
      • "Doomed Affairs" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #50, 2003)
      • "Parts and Pieces" (with John Romita, Jr., in v2 #51-54, 2003)
      • "The Revolution Within" (with Fiona Avery and John Romita, Jr., in v2 #55-56, 2003)
      • "Happy Birthday" (with John Romita, Jr. and John Romita, Sr., in v2 #57-58 and v1 #500, 2003)
    • The Best of Spider-Man Volume 4 (hc, 336 pages, 2005, ISBN 0-7851-1827-6) collects:
      • "Saturday in the Park with May" (with John Romita, Jr., in v1 #501, 2004)
      • "You Want Pants with That?" (with John Romita, Jr., in v1 #502, 2004)
      • "The Coming of Chaos" (with Fiona Avery and John Romita, Jr., in v1 #503-504, 2004)
      • "Vibes" (with Fiona Avery and John Romita, Jr., in v1 #505, 2004)
      • "The Book of Ezekiel" (with John Romita, Jr., in v1 #506-508, 2004)
      • "Sins Past" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #509-514, 2004-2005)
    • The Best of Spider-Man Volume 5 (hc, 240 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2128-5) collects:
      • "Skin Deep" (with Mike Deodato, Jr. and Mark Brooks, in v1 #515-518, 2005)
      • "Moving Up" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #519, 2005)
      • "Acts of Aggression" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #520, 2005)
      • "Unintended Consequences" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #521, 2005)
      • "Moving Targets" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #522, 2005)
      • "Extreme Measures" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #523, 2005)
      • "All Fall Down" (with Mike Deodato, Jr., in v1 #524, 2005)
    • The Other: Evolve or Die (hc, 288 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2188-9; tpb, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1765-2) includes:
    • Civil War: Spider-Man (hc, 544 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4882-5) includes:
      • "Mr. Parker Goes to Washington" (with Ron Garney and Tyler Kirkham, in v1 #529-531, 2006)
      • "The War at Home" (with Ron Garney, in v1 #532-538, 2006-2007)
    • Back in Black (hc, 336 pages, 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2904-9; tpb, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2996-0) includes:
      • "Back in Black" (with Ron Garney, in v1 #539-543, 2007)
    • One More Day (hc, 112 pages, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2633-3; tpb, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2634-1) collects:
      • "Part 1" (with Joe Quesada, in v1 #544, 2007)
      • "Part 2" (with Joe Quesada, in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, 2007)
      • "Part 3" (with Joe Quesada, in The Sensational Spider-Man #41, 2007)
      • "Part 4" (with Joe Quesada, in v1 #545, 2007)
  • Squadron Supreme:
    • Supreme Power (with Gary Frank, 2003-2005) collected as:
      • Contact (collects #1-6, tpb, 144 pages, 2004, ISBN 0-7851-1224-3; hc, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3765-3)
      • Powers & Principalities (collects #7-12, tpb, 144 pages, 2005, ISBN 0-7851-1456-4; hc, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3772-6)
      • High Command (collects #13-18, tpb, 144 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1474-2; hc, 2009, 0-7851-3773-4)
    • Supreme Power: Hyperion #1-5 (with Dan Jurgens, 2005) collected as SP:H (tpb, 120 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1895-0; hc, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3774-2)
    • Squadron Supreme #1-7 (with Gary Frank, 2006)
      • Issues #1-5 collected as Squadron Supreme: The Pre-War Years (hc, 168 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2282-6; tpb, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-1898-5)
  • Strange #1-6 (with Samm Barnes and Brandon Peterson, 2004) collected as Strange: Beginnings and Endings (tpb, 144 pages, 2004, ISBN 0-7851-1577-3)
  • Fantastic Four (with Mike McKone, 2005-2007) collected as:
    • Fantastic Four by J. Michael Straczynski Volume 1 (collects #527-532, hc, 144 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2029-7; tpb, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1716-4)
    • The Life Fantastic (includes #533-535, tpb, 152 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1896-9)
    • The Road to Civil War (includes #536-537, tpb, 160 pages, 2007, ISBN 0-7851-1974-4)
    • Civil War: Fantastic Four (includes #538-541, tpb, 176 pages, 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2227-3)
  • Dream Police (with Mike Deodato, Jr., one-shot, 2005)
  • The Book of Lost Souls #1-6 (with Colleen Doran, 2005-2006) collected as TBoLS: Introductions All Around (tpb, 144 pages, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1940-X)
  • Bullet Points #1-5 (with Tommy Lee Edwards, 2007) collected as Bullet Points (tpb, 120 pages, 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2010-6)
  • Ultimate Civil War: Spider-Ham (with various artists, one-shot, 2007)
  • Ultimate Power #4-6 (with Greg Land, 2007) collected in Ultimate Power (hc, 232 pages, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2366-0; tpb, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2367-9)
  • Silver Surfer: Requiem #1-4 (with Esad Ribic, 2007) collected as SS:R (hc, 104 pages, 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2848-4; tpb, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-1796-2)
  • Thor (with Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjević, 2007-2009) collected as:
    • Volume 1 (collects v3 #1-6, hc, 160 pages, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3011-X; tpb, 2006, ISBN 0-7851-1716-4)
    • Volume 2 (collects v3 #7-12 and v1 #600, hc, 200 pages, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3034-9; tpb, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-1760-1)
    • Volume 3 (collects v1 #601-603 and Giant-Size Finale, hc, 112 pages, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4269-X; tpb, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-2950-2)
    • Omnibus (collects v3 #1-12, v1 #600-603 and Giant-Size Finale, hc, 520 pages, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4029-8)
  • The Twelve #1-12 (with Chris Weston, 2008-2012)

Other publishers

Titles published by various American publishers include:

Awards and recognition

His personal awards include the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (shared with director Janet Greek) for the Babylon 5 episode, "The Coming of Shadows"[69] and the 1997 Hugo Award for Dramatic Presentation (shared with director David Eagle) for the Babylon 5 episode, "Severed Dreams".[70] Along with the Babylon 5 cast and crew he received the 1994 Visions Of The Future Award from the Space Frontier Foundation, and in 1998 he received the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation for the television series Babylon 5.[71]

Along with John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna he was the 2002 Eisner Award winner for Best Serialized Story for his work on the Amazing Spider-Man comic, Coming Home.[72] In 2004, he was voted Favorite Comics Writer by UK readers and received that year's Eagle Award.[73] He was also among the recipients of the 1994 Inkpot Award.[74] In 2008, as screenwriter, he was among the recipients of the Christopher Award issued to the movie Changeling.[75]

Award nominations include the 2009 BAFTA Award, for his screenplay for Changeling.[76] Three separate 2009 Eisner Award nominations - for Best Limited Edition (The Twelve) along with Chris Weston, Best Continuing Series (Thor) along with Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales, and Best Writer (Thor).[77] In 1988, his novel, Demon Night, was presented for consideration of that year's Bram Stoker award, under the category of Best First Novel.[78] He was also nominated for a Writers Guild Award and a Cable Ace Award for his adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, produced for Showtime Network. An asteroid, discovered in 1992 at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, was honorarily named 8379 Straczynski.[79]

Studio JMS

In July, 2012, J. Michael Straczynski announced the launch of Studio JMS.[80] On March 27, 2013 Netflix announced they will be producing the show "Sense8" with Studio JMS.[37]

References

  1. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1992-12-18). "Sue, if you're finding tall people..." JMSNews, originally published on GEnie. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  2. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1994-06-23). "Pronunciation? Help!". Google Groups, originally published on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  3. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1993-01-11). "Re: sign off tags...pruff...that..." JMSNews, originally published on GEnie. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  4. ^ a b "The full list of nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2009". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  5. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2000-09-25). "What's "ga" stand for in a chat?". Google Groups, originally published on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  6. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2007-05-22). "Straczynski on Being Online". YouTube. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  7. ^ "George Bush vs. Spider-Man". Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  8. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/36/J-Michael-Straczynski.html
  9. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1995-01-24). "Re: ATTN JMS: Why Accelerate t". JMSNews, originally published on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
  10. ^ a b Straczynski, J. Michael (1994-05-25). "Kiwi: I was referring to killing... (GENIE)". JMSNews. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  11. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1979). Snow White. Performance Publishing/Baker's Plays. p. 49. ISBN 0-87440-590-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ Alien Worlds Radio Show Index
  13. ^ a b c Plume, Kenneth (September 5, 2000). "Interview with J. Michael Straczynski". IGN.com. IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  14. ^ a b Contemporary Authors Volume 109. Thomson Gale. 1983. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ Interview with Straczynski
  16. ^ Alien Worlds Radio Show Index. Accessed August 15, 2006.
  17. ^ K. Lee Brisby. "A Dramatic Biography". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  18. ^ "Interview with J. Michael Straczynski". ign.com. 2000-09-05. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  19. ^ J. Michael Straczynski. "Masters of the Universe". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  20. ^ Filmation/J. Michael Straczynski. "She-Ra Breakdowns". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  21. ^ "Interview with Wendy and Richard Pini". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  22. ^ a b c The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection DVD interview with J. Michael Straczynski.
  23. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael. "new jms tv series". Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  24. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1994-11-09). "B5 - Capt Power". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  25. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1995-03-23). "How'd You Meet Harlan". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  26. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1998-06-20). "The Harlan Award". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  27. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1996). The (Even More!) Complete Book of Scriptwriting. Writer's Digest. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  28. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1995-07-13). "Looking for Captain Power". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  29. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1996-03-05). "click... *click*... CLIC". JMSNews, originally published on AOL. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  30. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1991-11-20). "Official Announcement". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  31. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2005-05-21). "Babylon 5 Scripts Site Nearly Ready, And More!". JMSNews. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
  32. ^ The Babylon 5 Scripts Team (2008-12-23). "Babylon 5 Music Videos Just Released". Babylon 5 Scripts. Retrieved 2008-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2006-06-13). "Aeon Flux Commentary". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  34. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2004-09-26). "When Did You Know". Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  35. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2004-06-23). "re: first post for me..." JMSNews, originally published on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  36. ^ Zabel, Bryce. JMS and Bryce Zabel's Star Trek treatment, 2006-06-15.
  37. ^ a b "ONLY ON NETFLIX: SCI-FI GIANTS THE WACHOWSKIS AND J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI TEAM-UP TO CREATE "SENSE8"". Press release. Netflix. March 27, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  38. ^ "Awards for "Nightmare Classics" (1989)". IMDB: The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  39. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2006-12-12). "Re: JMS: The time has come..." JMSNews, originally published on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  40. ^ Scott Collura. "NYCC 07: Straczynski Scripting World War Z".
  41. ^ Perkis, Ed (August 6, 2008). "Straczynski Talks About Silver Surfer Movie". Cinema Blend.
  42. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2007-06-13). "Re: JMS: Silver Surfer movie?". JMSNews. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  43. ^ Kaufman, Anthony (2008-06-18). "J. Michael Straczynski: 10 Screenwriters to Watch". Variety (magazine). Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  44. ^ Kaufman, Anthony (2008-06-18). "10 Screenwriters to Watch". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  45. ^ Changeling at IMDb
  46. ^ Kit, Borys (2008-10-31). "'Changeling' scribe on 'Forbidden Planet': J. Michael Straczynski to write the long-gestating remake". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  47. ^ Mastrapa, Gus. "Bruckheimer Sees Box Office Gold in 2K’s Shattered Union Game" Wired News: GameLife, Oct. 27, 2009
  48. ^ Graser, Marc (2009-10-26). "More perfect 'Union' for Disney". Variety.
  49. ^ Leigh Alexander. "2K's Shattered Union Getting The Film Treatment".
  50. ^ "Babylon 5 creator to write Shattered Union movie".
  51. ^ "Full cast and crew for: Thor (2011)". Internet Movie Database (IMDB). J. Michael Straczynski (story) and Mark Protosevich (story)
  52. ^ "X-Men, Green Lantern, Red Sonja: March 18th Comic Reel". Comic Book Resources. 2010-03-18. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  53. ^ "J. Michael Straczynski: Actor". Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
  54. ^ "HUP037 Scriptwriting". Course Syllabus. London Metropolitan University. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  55. ^ Hart, Liz (2007). "CW3029 - Writing for Radio". Course Syllabus. University of Central Lancashire. Archived from the original on 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  56. ^ Fuller, Shane (2007). "THEA 4371 Scriptwriting". Course Syllabus. East Texas Baptist University. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  57. ^ Adam, Scott (2007). "WS508A: Ministry and Media: Theory and Production". Course Syllabus. Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  58. ^ Charuvatana, A. Tharaputh (2007). "BV 4303 Advertising Production". Course Syllabus. Assumption University. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  59. ^ Martin, Carey (2007). "Process in Creative Script Writing". Course Syllabus. East Carolina University. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  60. ^ "57990 Developing Creative Media" (PDF). Course Syllabus. University of Technology Sydney. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  61. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1996-12-08). "Re: ATTN JMS: Re: Snow White". JMSNews. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  62. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1979). "Snow White (Straczynski)". Baker's Plays. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  63. ^ Brady, Matt (May 8, 2008). "J. Michael Straczynski Talks Thor". Newsarama.
  64. ^ Renaud, Jeffrey (December 18, 2009). "Straczynski Launches "Superman: Earth One"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  65. ^ Arrant, Chris (February 16, 2010). "A Week of JMS: Day 1: SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE". Newsarama. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  66. ^ Segura, Alex (March 8, 2010). "J. Michael Straczynski to write SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN, starting in July". The Source. DC Comics.com.
  67. ^ Phegley, Kiel (March 8, 2010). "Straczynski Steps Up For 'Superman' & 'Wonder Woman'". Comic Book Resources.
  68. ^ a b c Voices of the Dead, Bright and Untouchable are spin-offs, written by Fiona Avery and edited by Straczynski himself.
  69. ^ "The Long List of Hugo Awards, 1996 (L.A.con III (Anaheim, California))". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2009-01-03. "Listing of Hugo Award winners, 1996"
  70. ^ "The Long List of Hugo Awards, 1997 (LoneStarCon 2 (San Antonio, Texas))". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2009-01-03. "Listing of Hugo Award Winners, 1997"
  71. ^ "Bradbury Award". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Retrieved 2009-01-03. [dead link] "The Bradbury Award Winner: J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5 (1999)"
  72. ^ "Will Eisner Comic Industry Award: Summary of Winners". Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  73. ^ "Eagle Awards, past winners". Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  74. ^ "Inkpot Award Winners". Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  75. ^ "60th Annual Christopher Award Winners". Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  76. ^ "BAFTA listing of 2009 award nominees & winners". Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  77. ^ "CBR article on 2009 Eisner nominees". Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  78. ^ "Bram Stoker Award Nominees & Winners". Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  79. ^ "8379 Straczynski (1992 SW10)". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  80. ^ Fleming, Mike (11 July 2012). "Comic-Con: J. Michael Straczynski Hatches Multi-Platform Studio JMS". Deadline New York. Retrieved 7 October 2012.

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to J. Michael Straczynski.
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Preceded by The Amazing Spider-Man writer
2001–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Fantastic Four writer
2005–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Superman writer
2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Wonder Woman writer
2010 		Succeeded by

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