J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI SPOTLIGHT PANEL - NEWSARAMA

February 24th, 2008 | by admin |

Original Post here: Tales from the Longbox

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI SPOTLIGHT PANEL

Report by Ian Brill
J. Michael Straczynski stood in front of one of the largest rooms in the Moscone Center West at WonderCon Saturday as the hour upon him devoted to his life and work began, taking questions from fans of Babylon 5, Rising Stars, Amazing Spider-Man and Squadron Supreme.

Announcing the projects he has recently finished and what was next proved that Straczynski might very well be one of the hardest working writers in popular culture. The big news in his comic book writing career is that with his Marvel exclusivity over he will be doing books for DC Comics soon, although he can’t announce what the specific title or titles he will write.
He has also signed a deal with Image recently of which will come two creator-owned books, Justice and Ten Grand.

He has not left Marvel behind. The Twelve will continue its limited run and Thor is an ongoing Straczynski wants to write as long as possible
For the world of film his script for The Changeling has been made into a film directed by Clint Eastwood, produced by Ron Howard and starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. Straczynski was quite proud to say that the first draft was shot. The film comes to theaters November 7th.

He has also written the screenplay to World War Z for Plan B Studios and Paramount, based on the book by Max Brooks. It will follow the author of the U.N. report of the Zombie Wars. He is adapting the story “A March into the Sunlight” about a college campus and the Vietnam was in 1968 for Tom Hanks’s studio. For Fox he has written a script for a Silver Surfer feature. He has seven more projects he can get to now that the WGA strike is over.
Audience questions led the rest of the hour. Squadron Supreme was brought up early on. Straczynski says that when the book went from Supreme Power to Squadron Supreme and the focus was taken off of Hyperion “I started to suck.” Straczynski asked that the book stop.

Asked about what the legacy of Babylon 5 is, Straczynski said it opened the door for science fiction to tell their stories in long, complicated arcs with lasting consequences. He sees the influence of his creation in Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and The 4400.

For what the Silver Surfer movie entails Straczynski says it will cover the origin of the character. He said it will feature Galactus, noting that the latest Fantastic Four film held off on showing Galactus to reveal him for this film.
On what his influences are Straczynski listed Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, and Norman Corwin. “Guys who have a moral point-of-view and can do things with words that I can’t do.” Straczynski says is what he sees in those authors. He implored the audience to seek out the work of radio dramatist Corwin, saying it is some of his favorite writing ever.

Concerning the “One More Day” storyline in Spider-Man Straczynski said that Joe Quesada brought him the idea of Aunt May getting shot leading to a story that would reset Spider-Man’s status quo. Straczynski didn’t agree with all the details but thought they would be worked out later and agreed to do it.
As for how it turned out Straczynski says “Joe Quesada is a friend and a good editor but we had different ideas of how to do the series and it was his call.” He then went on to praise Quesada for the job he has done turning Marvel around after the company’s bankruptcy.

Straczynski’s tenure on Fantastic Four was brought up. He said there are definitely more stories he wants to tell. When he started both Fantastic Four that book and Amazing Spider-Man were becoming more tied into the larger events going on at Marvel, which Straczynski was uncomfortable with. It was around that time that he pulled back his work for Marvel, getting ready to start working for other companies.

Straczynski had an inspirational message for his audience. He brought up the fact that at this and other solo panels he has done he never sits but stands before the audience. When the audience cried out why he told them the reason was “because you always stand when addressing your superiors. You, the next generation of dreamers, are my superiors. I look forward to the stories that you create.”
He revealed that he is working on an autobiography that will tell the story of how anyone can become a writer, even someone from the streets of New Jersey with a funny name. “It doesn’t matter where you come from,” he said. “If you have the skills you’ll get there.”