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J. Michael Straczynski bibliography

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This is a bibliography of the American screenwriter Joseph Michael Straczynski who has written comics, plays, novels and non-fiction books for several different publishers.

Active period1987–present
DC Comics1987–2015
Image Comics1999–2016
Marvel Comics2001–2009
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J. Michael Straczynski bibliography
Active period1987–present
Publishers
DC Comics1987–2015
Image Comics1999–2016
Marvel Comics2001–2009
AWA Studios2018–present
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Plays

  • Snow White: an assembly length children's play dramatized by J. Michael Straczynski. c. 1979.[1][2]

Non-fiction

  • The Complete Book of Scriptwriting from Writer's Digest Books (265 pages, 1982, ISBN 0-89879-078-6; Second edition, 432 pages, 1996, ISBN 0-89879-512-5; Revised edition, 448 pages, 2002, ISBN 1-58297-158-7)
  • Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood from Harper Voyager (hc, 480 pages, 2019, ISBN 0-06-285784-3; sc, 2020, ISBN 0-06-285786-X)
  • Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling from BenBella Books (230 pages, 2021, ISBN 1-950665-88-7)

Selected articles, short stories, introductions, and prefaces

According to Straczynski, during the early years of his career he was publishing "roughly five hundred articles, columns, and reviews in six years".[3]

  • "A Last Testament for Nick and the Trooper." In Shadows 6, edited by Charles L. Grant (1983). ISBN 0385182597.
  • "TV's Weirdest Censors: Looking for Satan in Kids' Cartoons." Penthouse. June 1991.
  • "Say Hello, Mr. Quigley." Pulphouse. Sept/Oct 1992.
  • Foreword. Ellison Wonderland. 2015 Edition.
  • "A Brief Introduction to The Last Dangerous Visions." In The Last Dangerous Visions (2024).
  • "Ellison Exegesis." In The Last Dangerous Visions (2024).
  • Preface. Harlan Ellison's Greatest Hits. (2024).

Television scripts

Straczynski wrote extensively for television animation and live-action series including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, The Real Ghostbusters, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Twilight Zone, Walker, Texas Ranger, Jake and the Fatman, Murder, She Wrote, Babylon 5, Crusade, Jeremiah, and Sense8.

In his autobiography Becoming Superman, he notes that within three years of selling his first episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe he had written "sixty-six produced scripts, along with dozens of outlines and premises for outside writers, [and] story-edited over 150 freelance scripts".[3]

Straczynski later stated that prior to writing five episodes for "Jake and the Fatman" he had written "eighty-one scripts, averaging eleven to twenty scripts per season".[3]

During the production of Babylon 5, Straczynski served as the primary writer of the series, writing 92 of the show's 110 hour-long episodes as well as five television movies.[3]

Babylon 5 Novels

Several later official Babylon 5 novels were written by other authors but were based on story outlines provided by J. Michael Straczynski.

The Psi Corps Trilogy written by J. Gregory Keyes

Legions of Fire written by Peter David.

The Passing of the Techno-Mages written by Jeanne Cavelos.

Novelizations

Babylon 5 Short Stories

Straczynski penned a number of short stories expanding on several key story-points from the television series, along with a number of other established authors.

  • "The Shadow of His Thoughts," by J. Michael Straczynski (Summer, 1999, Amazing Stories Magazine)
  • "Genius Loci," by J. Michael Straczynski (Winter, 2000, Amazing Stories Magazine)
  • "Space, Time, and the Incurable Romantic" by J. Michael Straczynski (Summer, 2000, Amazing Stories Magazine); download
  • "Hidden Agendas," by J. Michael Straczynski (May 2000, The Official Babylon 5 Magazine)
  • "True Seeker," by Fiona Avery (July 2000, The Official Babylon 5 Magazine)
  • "The Nautilus Coil," by J. Gregory Keyes (August 2000, The Official Babylon 5 Magazine)

Babylon 5 Books

B5Books.com was a website that published script books, encyclopedias, and other reference works related to the television series Babylon 5.[4][5]

  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 1 (2005)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 2 (2005)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 3 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 4 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 5 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 6 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 7 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 8 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 9 (2006)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 10 (2007)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 11 (2007)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 12 (2007)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 13 (2008)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 14 (2008)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 15 (2008)
  • Babylon 5 Scripts: Other Voices Volume 1 (2008)
  • Babylon 5 Scripts: Other Voices Volume 2 (2008)
  • Babylon 5 Scripts: Other Voices Volume 3 (2008)
  • Across Time & Space: The Chronologies of B5 (2008, 2012)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski TV Movies (2009)
  • But In Purple... I'm Stunning (2008, ISBN 978-1-63077-029-7)
  • Babylon 5: Artifacts From Beyond The Rim (2010, ISBN 0-98210056-6)
  • Crusade: What The Hell Happened? Volume 1 (2010, ISBN 0-9821005-5-8)
  • Crusade: What The Hell Happened? Volume 2 (2010, ISBN 978-1-63077-074-7)
  • Crusade: What The Hell Happened? Volume 3 (2010, ISBN 978-1-63077-075-4)
  • Crusade: Behind The Scenes (2010, ISBN 0-97953938-2)
  • Crusade: Other Voices Volume 1 (2011, ISBN 0-98210055-8)
  • Crusade: Other Voices Volume 2 (2011, ISBN 0-98210056-6)
  • The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski Volume 2.5 (2013)
  • Encounters with J. Michael Straczynski: Archived by the Great Machine of Epsilon 3 (2014, ISBN 978-1-63077-053-2)
  • Highlights from Echoes of All Our Conversations (2014, ISBN 978-1-63077-001-3)
  • Highlights from Babylon 5: The Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski (2014, ISBN 978-1-63077-000-6)
  • Babylon 5 Encyclopedia: The Final & Complete Edition (2018)
  • Echoes Of All Our Conversations The Actors - Part 1 (2023, ISBN 978-1-63077-103-4)
  • Echoes Of All Our Conversations The Actors - Part 2 (2023, ISBN 978-1-63077-104-1)
  • Echoes Of All Our Conversations The Actors - Part 3 (2023, ISBN 978-1-63077-106-5)
  • Echoes Of All Our Conversations The Actors - Bonus Book (2023, ISBN 978-1-63077-110-2)
  • Commentaries on Babylon 5: Introductions, Rude Comments & Balderdash Part 1 of 2 (2025)
  • Commentaries on Babylon 5: Introductions, Rude Comments & Balderdash Part 2 of 2 (2025)

Comics

Early work at DC and Joe's Comics

Early in his career, Straczynski penned a few single-issue stories for series based on established franchises:

During the original series run of Babylon 5, Straczynski contributed opening issues to two tie-in series (also published by DC Comics):

Between 1999 and 2006, Straczynski created, wrote and supervised original series under his own imprint Joe's Comics (published by Top Cow):

Exclusive contract with Marvel Comics

Between 2001 and 2008, Straczynski was under an exclusive contract with Marvel (which nonetheless allowed him to continue writing for Joe's Comics until the launch of Icon):

Brief tenure at DC Comics proper

Straczynski moved to DC, working on short or out-of-continuity stories following his experience with crossover events at Marvel:[8][9]

Joe's Comics 2.0 and later work

After a decade of working almost exclusively on Big Two properties, Straczynski once again took on two series based on established multimedia franchises, The Terminator and The Twilight Zone:

In 2013, Straczynski revived the Joe's Comics brand (this time, the titles were published by Image Central):

  • Ten Grand (with Ben Templesmith, C. P. Smith and Matthew Dow Smith (#12), 2013–2015) collected as:
  • Sidekick (with Tom Mandrake, 2013–2015) collected as:
  • Protectors, Inc. #1–10 (with Gordon Purcell, 2013–2014)
    • Issues #1–6 are collected as Protectors, Inc. Volume 1 (tpb, 160 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-63215-049-2)
  • The Adventures of Apocalypse Al #1–4 (with Sid Kotian, 2013–2014) collected as The Adventures of Apocalypse Al (tpb, 128 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-60706-980-6)
  • Alone (with Bill Sienkiewicz, unproduced 6-issue limited series — initially announced for 2014)[6]
  • Dream Police #1–12 (with Sid Kotian, 2014–2016)

In 2016, Straczynski announced his retirement from comics.[19]
However, in 2018 he joined the "Creative Counsel" of the new publisher AWA Studios[20] and penned a number of series for its superhero universe:

During this period, Straczynski also contributed a few short stories for various anniversary publications by Marvel:

He continued with Marvel for runs on Captain America (#1-16), 1776 (#1-5), and The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn (#1-5) plus several one-shots collected as Marvel Tales.

  • Captain America (vol. 11 #1–16 [#751–766]):
  • Marvel Tales (Collecting Doctor Doom & Rocket Raccoon #1, Captain America & Volstagg #1, Nick Fury vs. Fin Fang Foom #1, Hulk & Doctor Strange #1, Ghost Rider vs. Galactus #1 and Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Sixteen #1, tpb, 200 pages, 2025, ISBN 1-3029-4813-X)

Novels and short story collections

Notes

  1. [1]
    Straczynski is also credited with "story premise" in Babylon 5 #5–8 (scripted by Tim DeHaas) and Babylon 5: In Valen's Name #2–3 (scripted by Peter David).
  2. [2]
    Rising Stars: Bright #1–3, Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead #1–6 and Rising Stars: Untouchable #1–5 are spin-off series written by Fiona Avery and edited by Straczynski.

References

External links

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