J. Michael Straczynski

"Straczynski" redirects here. For the asteroid, see 8379 Straczynski.
J. Michael Straczynski
Straczynski in 2008
Born
Joseph Michael Straczynski

(1954-07-17) July 17, 1954 (age 70)
Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationSouthwestern College (AA)
San Diego State University (BA)
Occupations
Years active1979–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 2003)​

Joseph Michael Straczynski (/strəˈzɪnski/;[1] born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018).[2] He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.[3]

Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.

A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.

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 to directly engage with fans on the Internet[4][5] and to allow viewer 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.[6]

  1. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (1994-06-23). "Pronunciation? Help!". Google Groups, originally published on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  2. ^ "Netflix has cancelled Sense8". The Independent. London. 2017-06-02. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  3. ^ "J. Michael Straczynski is creating Movies, TV series, Videos and Audio dramas via Synthetic Worlds". Patreon.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Straczynski, J. Michael (2007-05-22). "Straczynski on Being Online". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  6. ^ "George Bush vs. Spider-Man". 10zenmonkeys.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2008-12-15.