Joseph Michael Straczynski

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an author and producing states-unien. He wrote scenarios for cartoons, televised series and Comic S, as well as news and novels. He is known to be the author, executive producer and principal scenario writer of the series of Science-fiction Babylon 5 , of which he had composed the unit of the history before the beginning of the first season.

The professional name of Straczynski is J. Michael Straczynski . In an abstract way, it is called “Joe”. The abbreviation JMS is also used in signature by this author, in particular on the forums Usenet.

He is married with the writer Kathryn Mr. Drennan, and he resides at Los Angeles.

Before Babylon 5

Born the July 17th 1954, it lived with San Diego in California. It is graduate San Diego State University in Psychologie and Sociologie, while having taken part in a frantic way in the studied newspaper, so much so that this one Daily Joe was called.

Among its knowledge important American authors are: Harlan Ellison, Norman Corwin. He admires the work of Rod Serling.

Very young person, it is thus impassioned by the writing and it manages to be committed as scenario writer on several series of television: Arabesque , the Fourth Dimension , Captain Power , etc It also writes for series animated like the Masters of the universe like its spin-off She-ruffle .

Babylon 5

As of the middle of the years 1980, it with the idea of a “novel for television”, a saga over five years. It was Babylon 5 of which he writes the essence of the intrigue before to have even found a company to finance it. The Warner Bros. is let convince by this series of science fiction in spite of their recent financial failure on the series V . Among the arguments of Straczynski, it there with the creation of special effects per computer, definitely less expensive than the models like those used then in the series Star Trek .

During the six years which last the turning of the series, of the pilot of 1993 at the last season in 1998, Straczynski invests at all the stations: writing of the scenarios, supervision of the scenarios to preserve the coherence of the project, executive production, post-production. Despite everything these activities, he answers on forums Internet the questions of the fans of the series.

According to its testimonys, hardest was at the end of each season not to undoubtedly know if the series would be continued by the company of Syndication which diffused it. Finally, Straczynski will have to condense in the season 4 what it had envisaged to hold in two seasons. When the series is taken again on its antenna by the chain TNT, it continues the history without concern.

With final, Straczynski wrote 93 of the 110 scenarios of episodes of the series, of which the whole of seasons 3 and 4. Season 5 not having been it because of a scenario written by the famous author Neil Gaiman.

The continuation is less happy for Straczynski since TNT cancels before even the diffusion the derived series 2267, ultimate crusade ( Crusade ). But, thanks to its will to control the series and what one made, Straczynski made a success of its goal: series a 5 seasons, comics and derived novels coherent.

Thanks to the success of the sale in DVD, Warner Bros. he makes it possible to carry out an anthological series , Babylon 5: The Lost Bruise , whose diffusion is done directly in DVD. Turned at the end of 2006, Voices in the Dark is put on sale at the end of July 2007.

After Babylon 5

On television, Straczynski has evil to find the freedom of creation which it obtained on Babylon 5 . It launches out nevertheless under the direction of the MGM in Jeremiah , but complains about the interventionism of the company in the creative process.

It is in a passion of teenager that Straczynski continued the most freely its work of scenario writer: the Comic S.

In the editor Signal Cow, it published:

Rising Stars : history of 120 people equipped with super-capacities in the United States which are not ready to accept them.
Midnight Nation . This history in 12 chapters is a second reading of the Christian myths. A police officer of Los Angeles finds himself in a universe which is in the shade of the real-world, where find forgotten company. This universe is under the cane of Lucifer, the fallen angel.
Delicate Creatures , a tale of fantasy.

In 2003, it is employed by Marvel Comics on the series The Amazing Spider-Man where its irony shows through in the character of Peter Parker who finds Mary Jane. It launches a new series on the states of heart of gifted beings of super-capacities with Supreme Power . At side, it writes the scenarios of mini-series on established characters of the Univers Marvel, like Doctor Strange and the Surfer of Money, or a Uchronie within this universe with Bullet Points . In 2005, he becomes scenario writer of the series of the Fantastic Four .

In June 2006, it sells the rights of its novel The Changeling and script for of it an adaptation to the cinema by the realizer Ron Howard writes, then by Clint Eastwood. This contract enables him to start several cinematographic projects.

Ideas

Babylon 5 and the comics written by Straczynski shows several topics of reflection and predilection in this author.

Though atheistic, Straczynski reflects and makes reflect on the Religion, its place, its role. Several heroes straczynkiens having also “the complex of the martyr” according to the expression of the character of Garibaldi in Babylon 5 .

The evolution of the the United States since the Années 1950 also occupy a considerable place of the intrigues. The rise with the capacity of land president Clark in Babylon 5 recalls, whereas the series are former, the electoral course of the president George Walker Bush and the drastic laws of safety voted after the September 11th, 2001. The government of the United States is criticized in the comics of Straczynski.

Nevertheless, the vision of the world by Straczynski remains marked by the hope in the individual, that one can by its actions change the course of the things. That also brings it to a reflection on death: why will I die? With a which aim? For which cause? This topic often returns in Babylon 5 : Sheridan and Delenn vis-a-vis the inquisitor vorlon, several Rangers vis-a-vis an anonymous death, Edward brother (with in this case, a confrontation with the Passion of the Christ), but also Laurel in Midnight Nation and seem to be in the middle of the comics The Book off Lost Souls .

Works

Comics

At Signal Cow:

Rising Stars , October 1999 - March 2005 (published in France by Semic books).
Midnight Nation , October 2000 - July 2002 (published in France by Semic books).
Delicate Creatures , Romance graph, January 2002.

At Marvel:

The Amazing Spider-Man since the n°471, April 2001 - (in progress; published in France in the Premium collection of Marvel France).
Supreme Power , August 2003 - September 2005, 18 numbers (published in France in the collection max of Marvel France).

Doctor Spectrum , August 2004 - March 2005, creative adviser.
Supreme Power: Hyperion , ED. Max Comics, September 2005 - March 2006, 5 numbers.
Supreme Squadron , March 2006 - (in progress).

Strange , September 2004 - June 2005 (published in France in the collection 100% Marvel of Marvel France).
Fantastic Furnace since the n°527, May 2005 - (in progress).
Dream Organizes , under the label Icon, June 2005, a volume.
The Book off Lost Drunk persons , under the label Icon, October 2005 - (in progress).
Bullet Points , November 2006 - March 2007, 5 numbers.
Silver Surfer: Requiem , May 2007 - (in progress, 4 numbers envisaged).
Thor , July 2007 - (in progress)

Novels and news

Three novels of horror:

Othersyde ,
Demon Knight ,
Tribulations .

Two collections of news:

Bruise from the New Twilight Zone ,
Straczynski Unplugged .

Others

The Supplements off Book Scriptwriting , 1st edition, 1981; supplemented and corrected republication, 1996.
Babylon 5: The scripts off J. Michael Straczynski , 15 volumes, October 2005 - 2006. Publication by the author of his original scripts of the episodes of Babylon 5 with comments on the slides of the series.

Catalog of films

Arabesque ( Murder, she wrote ), scenario of several episodes.
Babylon 5 , creation, scenario, production. JMS has there a Caméo in the last episode.
2267, ultimate crusade ( Crusade ), creation, scenario, production.
Jeremiah , scenario, production.
Babylon 5: The Lost Bruise , scenario, realization, production.
The Changeling , scenario.

See too

References

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