Babylon 5 Creator J. Michael Straczynski Signs Deal With Dark Horse Comics
J. Michael Straczynski -- the creator of television series Babylon 5, co-creator of Netflix's Sense8, writer of the films Changeling, Ninja Assassin, Underworld: Awakening, and World War Z, former writer of DC's Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Thor, and upcoming writer of Marvel's relaunched Captain America series -- is bringing his new comic book and graphic novel properties to Dark Horse Comics. At San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse and Straczynski announced their partnership on "something new and exciting to fans of science fiction, fantasy, and superhero comics." Straczynski's previous original comic books include the original superhero story Rising Stars, the religious mystery Midnight Nation, and others published through Straczynski's Image Comics imprint, Joe's Comics.
"I'm very excited to be pairing up with Mike Richardson and Dark Horse for my forthcoming creator-owned work in graphic novels, miniseries and ongoing series," Straczynski said. "Mike is a stand-up kind of guy, and that philosophy is at the center of his company. Anyone who says 'Just write what you want' is my kind of guy."
Straczynski described his ambitions for working with Dark Horse Comics in a statement. He said, "We're keeping most of those details under wraps for now, but suffice to say it's a very wide runway. First up will be an international, geopolitical thriller that blends science fiction with the superhero genre in a way we really haven't seen before. It's going to be a huge story with massive global and personal stakes. This will be balanced by individual character stories designed to challenge the tropes of the superhero genre, building on what I did with books like Supreme Power, Midnight Nation and Rising Stars and taking it to the next level. Finally, there will be titles in the modern dark fantasy and historical fantasy genres, along the lines of Neil Gaiman's Chivalry, also from Dark Horse. Stories about strong characters that are challenging and fun, not nihilistic or too terribly dark. To that end, I'm proud to be part of the Dark Horse family of writers, artists, and other ne'er-do-wells."
In a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter, Richardson added, "I've known Joe and have been a fan of his work for years. He's had great success as a writer in both comics and television, and I'm very excited that he's decided to bring his latest creator-owned projects to Dark Horse. We're all looking forward to seeing what he's got up his sleeve–we know it's going to be something special."
Straczynski had been working on a reboot of Babylon 5 before the WGA strike. Babylon 5: The Road Home, a direct-to-home-media animated movie sequel to the original Babylon 5, screened at Comic-Con and will release at retail on August 15th.