Go-to man for awesome, funny, epic stories. Give him something stupid and he'll somehow turn it into something
special.
Aaaand then he somehow got to do something entirely of his own creation... this little show called
Babylon 5. You may have heard of it.
Afterward, he attempted to continue spreading the joy with high-concept shows like
Crusade and
Jeremiah - but the networks had by then decided that he was an enemy, and have since taken
special care to
screw with him.
He then started writing for comic books, and has had somewhat more success, most notably
Bullet Points,
his run on Spider-Man (which included the famous 9/11 issue and
One More Day),
Midnight Nation,
Rising Stars,
Silver Surfer: Requiem, and
Supreme Power. More recently, he wrote the screenplay for the
Clint Eastwood-directed,
Angelina Jolie-starring
Changeling, and his current projects include writing a script for a
Lensman movie, the remake of
Forbidden Planet, and at least one pass at a
World War Z treatment. Recently got handed the writing reins of a revival of one of Marvel's primary series,
The Mighty Thor, as a lead-in to the next
Crisis Crossover. He even got to write for the
Thor movie, even managing a cameo (he's the first guy to find Mjolnir and try to lift it). Truly an
Ascended Fanboy. He also wrote
Underworld: Awakening, the fourth installment of that series. (He also wrote an episode of the
Logans Run TV series, but let's not talk about that.)
His first name is Joseph and friends call him Joe, but he has stated that "Joe Straczynski" is a name that would "frighten cats." Professionally, he goes by J. Michael so as to allow people to work up to the "Straczynski." First word: one letter, easy; second word: Michael, two syllables but familiar enough; then...the leap. Fans generally know and refer to him just by his initials, which is how he signs his emails and Usenet posts.
He spent some time in a cult while in college, and was once mugged and left near death. Both experiences heavily inform his stories.
He is currently working for DC Comics, having written
The Brave And The Bold,
Superman and
Wonder Woman, although he recently left the last two titles to write more Earth-1 graphic novels. He will soon be among the writers working on DC's
Watchmen prequels,
Before Watchmen.
Shares a birthday with
David Hasselhoff and
Phyllis Diller.
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