JMS Speaks (again)

**Wizz** · August 23rd, 2003, 06:48 PM

I was thinking "Kumbya", but tried to hold back...

**Wizz** · August 23rd, 2003, 06:52 PM

Just to follow-up on this...I don't know if I passed along the info in this forum or not, but the sales on Supreme Power #1, which hit stores yesterday, the 6th, have gone over 100,000 which not only puts it in the top five books, but it's the first time (according to Joe Quesada, who knows these things) that a Max book or other imprint mainly aimed at adults has broken 100,000.

And the reviews to this point have been great. It's really hit home in a big way, which is what I was hoping would happen with this one. Several have commented on the sense that they haven't really read a story like this before (including the one at bureau42.com), which was just what I was hoping for.

I just got the pencils in on issues 4 and 5, and the whole thing just holds together so well, and the art is terrific, Gary's doing a great job.

In any event...my thanks to all who picked it up, and we're off on something quite extraordinary, I think, because the issues to come just go from strength to strength. Issue 2 is an absolute kick in the head.

jms
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On a side note, damn did that thing sell out fast. The only shop I could hit Wednesday on the way to work was out at just a little after noon.


That's pretty much what I heard from a bunch of other retailers, which is why I really urged folks to get in their orders ahead of time. Last I heard this thing is just, like, *gone*....

jms
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Can a series change producers? Could Jeremiah be picked up from MGM by someone else, and continued? Has this level of shuttling occurred before?

In sequence...yes, yes, and it happens all the time.

jms
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I have no recollection of the B5 actors chronically being forced to wait on the set for JMS to come rushing in with the latest few pages of his scripts. He works (admittedly very long hours) to keep this from happening. He works closely with the studios to know what his deadlines are and he makes those deadlines. 

I have this kind of antiquated notion that if someone gives you x-million bucks to make a show, it behooves you to act *responsibly*. So really it's just a matter of being responsible in how you run a show.

As a result, in every season of every show I've run, we always came in under budget, anywhere from $100K to $500K. When I said I'd do that on Jeremiah, they kind of laughed at me, 'cause it was a big show, big names, big production values...we came in about $300K under in year 1, and about $200K under in year 2.

On B5, Crusade and Jeremiah, we never had a forced call on an actor, never had actors waiting around for pages to arrive on stage. We stay 5-6 scripts ahead at all times, so directors can prep efficiently. And in 5 years of B5 plus Crusade, we had maybe 20 days of any serious overtime. On Jeremiah I think we had a total of 18 over two seasons.

Just a matter of being responsible with other people's money.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

**Wizz** · August 27th, 2003, 05:29 PM

Just to pass along the following info which was put out today in a press release from ibooks/Simon and Schuster. Please forgive the release's rather grandiose phraseology.

jms

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iBOOKS PUBLISHES JMS' PROSE WORK
Press Release

He raised the bar for epic science-fiction storytelling on television with his syndicated series Babylon 5, then followed it by elevating the way in which superhero tales are told with his critically acclaimed scripts for Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man and Supreme Power. Now, New York-based publishing house ibooks, inc. is pleased to announce that it has solidified plans with Hugo, Eisner and Emmy award-winning writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski to re-introduce his growing number of fans to some of his earlier works.

October 2003 will see the release of Demon Night, Straczynski's first novel. "What made Demon Night work," says Straczynski in a new afterword written specifically for this edition, "and the reason that it has now been picked up for republication by ibooks, is that I wrote it for myself, out of a love of the form, the genre, and a desire to be entertained by a story told about characters who mattered to me."

Following Demon Night will be Straczynski Unplugged, to be released in April 2004, a collection of published and all-new short stories, including a number of dark tales adapted from his episodes written for the TV series The New Twilight Zone. At press time, release dates for the remaining titles, the horror novel Othersyde and the supernatural-mystery Tribulations, had not been determined.

Demon Night is not ibooks' first encounter with the writer, however: His best-selling comic book series J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars, published by Top Cow Comics, was novelized for ibooks in two volumes by author Arthur Byron Cover. Both volumes are still available from book retailers, with Book 3 to follow after the series reaches its conclusion.

One doesn't have to look far to see just how popular a writer Straczynski has become in recent years. At this year's Comic-Con International: San Diego, Marvel Comics announced that pre-orders for his upcoming Mature Readers series Supreme Power passed the 100,000-copy mark. a new record for retailer orders on a Mature Readers title. He has worked as writer/producer for such series as Murder, She Wrote, Jeremiah and Walker, Texas Ranger, and he has published over 500 articles and numerous short stories for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Time Inc, Amazing Stories, Penthouse, Writer's Digest, Pulphouse, The Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Twilight Zone Magazine.

Scheduled for release in October 2003, Demon Night is a trade paperback-sized novel retailing for $11.95, available now for ordering through comic shops, book stores, and on-line book retailers (ISBN 0-7434-7522-4).

<hr>

Noted this elsewhere, but just so this is sure to get through...you can now read the first sold-out issue of Supreme Power for free online at:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazi...30815-sp_1.cfm

jms

**Wizz** · September 15th, 2003, 09:44 PM

Noted this elsewhere, but just so this is sure to get through...you can now read the first sold-out issue of Supreme Power for free online at:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazi...30815-sp_1.cfm

jms

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A more important question to ask is: Will JMS finish the series, or will he leave us without closure as he is doing with "Rising Stars".

SP is open-ended it doesn't have a "finish" planned at this time. It could well go on for years.

And I'm not leaving anybody without closure on RS...there are details that have to be worked out with Top Cow. Once they have corrected those things, the book can be finished. It's that simple.

jms

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Managed to pick up #1 whilst I was in London over the weekend. When is #2 out?

September 10th.

BTW I think it's really really good!!

Many thanks, I'm quite happy with it.

jms
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Does anyone know why "Supreme Power #2" was delayed from the September 3 solicitation to September 10? JMS has already said that the creative team is so far ahead they couldn't cause delays sooner than 2004. Were they trying to spread out the MAX releases, knowing that "Supreme Power" would be the one least affected by a delay, or was there some other logic at work?

Marvel wanted to let retailers have one additional week after the debut of issue 1 so they could evaluate reader interest and increase their orders. We're 'way ahead on scripts, with #6 turned in, and 4 already inked and lettered.

jms

**Wizz** · September 15th, 2003, 09:52 PM

A couple of points on this.

There have been no discussions concerning a return of the Babylon 5 series between myself and WB or any other studio or network. Nor do I think anything is likely in that area.

Jerry took umbrage when, a few years ago, I commented on his statements that he would be able to put togeether a new B5 series deal. From the interview, he still seems to be in high dudgeon over this. But the fact remains: I was correct in my statement, he didn't have the pieces in place to make it happen. If he'd had the wherewithal to make it happen, it would've; it didn't, so he didn't. My statement was correct.

Once again, the pieces simply aren't there. He has lined up a radio guy who feels the show should return. Which is great, it's a terrific compliment. But that is not in any way, manner, shape or form anywhere near anything of a serious nature in terms of getting a show on the air.

I've always been happy to listen to anyone -- Jerry, his pals, anybody -- who would come to me with a serious proposal and have the moxie, the money, and the resources to make it happen. It hasn't. That's the simple fact of it.

Jerry's a terrific operator, he always has an angle going, he's always working it...but that ain't the same thing as always having the real deal in hand. If WB were involved in this -- and they'd have to be -- both Doug and I would be in the loop by contract. But that is not the case. I spoke with Doug five minutes ago as I type this, and he confirmed: there is nothing happening on this front other than Jerry talkling with the radio guy.

As for his notion that the characters in Crusade were just B5 characters with the names changed...as the person who created those characters, nothing could be further from the truth. Nor was Bruce ever set to be the star of Crusade.

There's a natural tendency for people to hear or think what they expect, what they want to hear. I told all the B5 cast members as a group that there would certainly be opportunities for guest appearances throughout Crusade, but at no point did I promise Bruce that he would be the lead of the series, or that we'd simply transplant the characters. It wouldn't be a new series if we did that.

Finally, in his interview, both Jerry and Bruce seem to blame me for B5 not being in its 10th year right now. Which is true and not true. B5 was always meant to be a 5 year story; every actor knew that going in. It wasn't like this was a surprise at the last minute. We all knew the deal.

WB had told us to shut down after year 4 because even though the show was doing well, our network, PTEN, was going out of business. At the last minute, TNT took on the task of financing a fifth year *in order to get the end of the five-year story*. They never talked about anything beyond that, nor did anyone else. So anything else is a moot point. I don't think that TNT would ever have committed to anything more than one season in any event. They wanted the end of the story to make the package complete. If that had been a six-year arc, they would not have picked it up because two years would've been too costly.

So them's is the facts.

Yes, there's one or two things percolating in the B5 universe that may be of interest, but neither of them are series deals.

I hate to throw water on this, but I don't want fans to get all excited about something that's simply not happening anywhere except in Jerry's interview.

He probably won't like that I said this any more than he did the last time, but then as now, I have to put out the facts and let the passage of time validate them.

jms

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But then there is the notion (maybe not the fact) that your word at an early stage can make the investors go away: "Joe stated publicly that you don't have all the pieces, so why should I fund it?" Or, worse (and not true based on what you wrote here), "Joe said you didn't have all the pieces, so why would Warner Brothers authorize it?"

One, you make the assumption that WB or anyone else would care what's written in a newsgroup or in an interview. They don't. And wouldn't. WB is also in the money making business. If someone comes to them with the money, wouldn't matter what I said except that I'd look foolish (which I'm okay with, it's happened before). If the money's there, the deal is there; if not, not. The rest is utterly irrelevant.

There are two kinds of people, those who go public about things long before they are even close to reality in order to try and get something going (which almost never works), which gets all the fans heated up about something that's as substantive as gossamer...and those who hold off saying anything until the deal is set and signed, out of respect, conservativism, experience and a desire not to get folks wound up about vague possibilities. I subscribe to the latter. I've very rarely commented on *anything* until I knew it was a reality, or even some time thereafter. The few times I *have* said anything before all the pieces were in place, it almost never came to pass...hence reinforcing lesson #1 above.

jms

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So Joe, on the million-to-one shot that JD does have something going with a new Babylon 5 show which would star the original cast members, would you support such a thing? Would you become involved as a producer and/or writer?

I don't tend to engage in speculation.

OK, so now if your answer was "yes" to any of the above questions, then why don't you join forces with JD and try to get another B5 story arc going?

What forces would those be?

If WB were to decide to do more B5, they would do so, they wouldn't need someone from the outside to come in. TV just doesn't work that way.

jms

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Do you have any idea where anyone would have gotten the idea that Crusade was supposedly going to be merely a continuation of the stories of the B5 characters? Or is this something that's "just growed," like Topsy, from the irresponsible dropping of vague and unfounded comments by certain actors in interviews?

It's unfathomable to me. I think people just had a tendency to assume this would be the case. Or they saw a certain character and resented it, wondering "why can't that be me?" to the point where it becomes "that was SUPPOSED to be me."

He was convinced that Bruce was supposed to captain the Excalibur (never mind that Sheridan was no longer an Earthforce captain by this point, but president of the Interstellar Alliance), but that you and he had had a "falling out" over his "being fired suddenly after five years," and so you quickly rewrote the role as Gideon instead. I tried to point out to him that no one was fired -- the show _ended_ -- and that the show was only ever _supposed_ to run for five years, and that all of the actors knew that going in. He was sure he had the scoop on some conspiracy that I was just too much of a slavishly devoted fangirl to see. :-p

Okay, let me put the absolute and total lie to this right now.

I've just gone back into my files and dragged out the ORIGINAL TREATMENT for Crusade, the one written while B5 was still in production, BEFORE "A Call to Arms" was ever filmed. The treatment, which was available to WB, Doug, John, and department keys and I know some cast members got their hands on it, was dated 6/16/98 (that date is still on the file datestamp).

I quote from a latter part of the treatment, where the characters are introduced. There are some little variances here and there -- one in particular that I think will surprise some people -- but this was what was written at that time...the very first time I put ANYthing down on paper about Cruade for WB.

One small caveat: I used the terms "infrequently or not at all" primarily because WB was desperate to make sure that this show was different from B5, so the "not at all" part was a nod to that, but the "infrequently" was my planned opening to use the characters from time to time, which was already in the works when the show was pulled.

Quote follows:

--------------------------------------------------

Whether it begins within BABYLON 5 or outside, the CRUSADE pilot movie will start with the Drakh attack, and end with the revelation about the plague. It's important to see this happen in current time, rather than hear about it after the fact. We need to see first-hand what's at stake, and how we got here.

As a result, the pilot will introduce not only our characters, but the full situation and setup for the series to come. Because of the attack and counter-attacks, it will be primarily action-oriented. The focus is not on diplomacy, or negotiations...the focus is nothing less than the very survival of our species, and the acts of heroism that result when our characters stand against terrible and overwhelming odds.

As head of the Rangers, Delenn and Captain John Sheridan give the fleet its mission, and take part in the pilot movie.

After that, once the battle is over and the fleet is on its way, they will appear either infrequently or not at all. CRUSADE will stand on its own, except for possible TNT movie cross-overs.

Let's meet our characters.

CAPTAIN MATTHEW DRAKE, Captain of the Excalibur, the high-tech flagship of the White Star fleet of ships. (The fleet divides into teams to help increase the odds of finding a cure; when they find a possible lead, they call in the Excalibur, wait until it arrives, then they move on to the next destination while the Excalibur does its work.) In his 30s, dark, brooding, attractive, he's a fighter whose own Earthforce ship was destroyed during the initial war with the Drakh. (It wasn't his fault, as we will learn; he was up against impossible odds and barely managed to save his crew at great risk to himself.)

Personally assigned to the Excalibur by Sheridan, this mission represents his chance to redeem himself. Hard-headed and practical, a man of action who doesn't believe in the mysticism practiced by the Minbari and the Rangers; if he can't feel it or taste it, it doesn't exist. A loner whose harsh exterior covers a heart that has been wounded too many times, and now refuses to let anyone near him.

MARCUS COLE, a Ranger established on Babylon 5 during its third and fourth seasons. Energetic, bright, literary, with a poetic quote always at hand when it's needed, and a pike or a PPG rifle when force is needed. Trained equally in martial arts and philosophy. A dashing, romantic figure noted for a cheerfulness that belies something much deeper beneath.

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We had to change Drake to Gideon because of a clearance problem, and obviously the Claudia situation threw a monkey wrench into using the character of Markus, as originally planned.

jms

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And presumably Marcus would take the spot that Galen eventually had? Interesting.

No, Galen was in there as well.

jms
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 I know what "the Claudia" situation was: she wanted a full season's pay for a partial season's work and walked when you and/or WB rightfully refused. 

Word was she and/or her agent wanted 4 paid but unworked episodes (~30k). 

Just to recap: Claudia, after promising to sign the contract extension, and helping get all the other cast members to do so, chose not to sign after all. Her people (and she) wanted time off to do other projects, a movie in particular. She might need 3-4 eps off.

Fine, said we, so we'll pay her for all the eps in which she appears, and not for the ones in which she doesn't appear. That seemed fair. But they wanted us to commit, in writing, to paying her the full 22 salary for the reduced number of episodes, which would constitute a per-episode increase in salary when all of the other actors, many of whom had favored nations agreements, could not negotiate any such increase. It would, in essence, screw all the other cast members.

We refused. She walked.

jms

**Wizz** · September 15th, 2003, 09:56 PM

I just want to drop into this discussion about Fox a hearty plug for Al Franken's new book, Lies and the Lying Liares Who Tell Them. The book is relentlessly researched, and is a massive indictment of some of the falsehoods that have been perpetrated by those with a vested interest in doing so. The section on Fox News is worth the price of admission all by itself.

jms

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We're getting our facts from satire? How can I be sure, reading from that genre, that the conclusions aren't hyperbole? The emotion not demagoguery? (I suppose it's better to see that stuff in satire than in some kind of serious book, tho, and we *do* get our best observations from the court jester...)

Actually, though Franken is a satirist, he's also a cogent observer, and more to the point, a relenteless researcher. He knows full well that if he got *anything* wrong, the other side would be all over him in a second. So he (and his graduate class of helpers) went into excruciating detail to get their facts right...which is why they weren't able to go after the Rush book.

It doesn't take much to be able to point to a person making definitive statement A, then to proof positive that A never happened. But it takes a satirist to make us laugh along the way...otherwise there'd be blood in the streets.

jms
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Might I suggest Wesley Clark? I wouldn't support him myself, but he's a fair sight more tolerable than most of the Democratic field... one of the only two of the possible democratic candidates who I believe would have a chance of defeating Bush (the other being Howard Dean).

I tend to agree. Dean is, frankly, the only one in the current pack who I think can a) beat Bush and b) has the credentials to do a good job as President. His record shows him as socially liberal in many respects, but financially conservative, which is a good combination. His history of running Vermont shows his strong points, and traditionally governors get nominations and win elections, not senators.

jms
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Oh - but there's this: "Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, you'll be able to use public money to send yours kids to General Beauregard Bigot Private Academy, Fundamentalist Football and Frequent Drug Tests. They have these religious schools that teach these kids insanity like the earth is 5,000 years old, where the pope is a demon. I don't want my tax money going to that kind of crap. You can practice religion until you fall out. I don't want to pay for somebody else's bigotry."

So Christians are bigots who want to use tax money to perpetuate that bigotry in their children.

See, you lose arguments when you restate something to make your point that contradicts or flies in the face of what actuallly said.

When you say "So..." and restate it, you add things that were simply never said nor ever intended. Carville was referring to a specific institution, for starters, and adding that he didn't want public money to go to religious schools, which is in line with the separation of church and state.

He didn't say "Christians are bigots who want to use tax money to perpetuate that bigotry in their children." YOU said that in order to set up a straw-man argument. YOU applied it on a broader scale, and YOU were the one who said that Christians as a class were bigots, not Carville.

If you have to twist statements to make your case, you don't HAVE a case.

jms
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1. What's your favorite word?

Terrific.

2. What's your least favorite word?

Goodbye.

3. What sound or noise do you love?

Water.

4. What sound or noise do you hate?

Leaf blowers.

5. What turns you on?

A sharp wit.

6. What turns you off?

Being patronized.

7. What's your favorite curse (word)?

Fuck.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to try?

Musician.

9. What profession would you NEVER like to do?

CPA.

10. IF there is a heaven, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive?

"Okay, your turn."

jms

**Wizz** · September 17th, 2003, 09:10 PM

So there's a response on filmforce.ign.com from Jerry to the discussion that took place here about his statements on that system that he was putting together a follow-up to B5 as a series. I thought I'd repost what I just sent to the folks who posted his reply, as well as Jerry's comments, unaltered.

My comments are prefaced by the > character
[changed Joe's comments to italics...Wizz]

---------------------------------------

To quote from the note from Jerry, and respond.

I'm not one for chat rooms or newsgroups, but this was brought to my attention by numerous people, and here's my response

F*** Joe and his typical controlling bull****.

Well, at least we've defined the terms of the discussion.

I guess Doug Netter hasn't been talking to me or the "radio guy" or whoever.

Doug returned Jerry's call, yes. We do that when our cast members call. But to my knowledge there have been no talks between Doug and the "radio guy." Which is exactly what I'd said.

I guess Doug didn't send demographics and related data to the "radio guy".

Jerry asked us to send information, information was sent. That doesn't have anything to do with anything that I said in my notes on the newsgroup.

I guess Doug is lying when he told me he's had conversations with the "radio guy" and that Joe already has some ideas on paper.

It's clear that someone has their wires crossed, yes. But to go back to what I'd said: if someone has the clout to make a deal, I'm here to talk to them, which again is what I'd said. But no one has yet come to either Doug or myself with anything close to that. I've never done any work based on some guy in Chicago who thinks he can make something happen with Jerry.

I guess I didn't fly out to Chicago to meet with the "radio guy" in the middle of August.

I never said he didn't. What Jerry does or doesn't do on his own time, with his own dime, is Jerry's business. This is a case of Jerry defending himself from an accusation that I never made. All I've ever said is that nobody has yet come to us with anything resembling a deal, or shown the potential to make a deal happen.

Oh by the way, the "radio guy", he's the NUMBER ONE syndicator in the country and has strong ties to the head of Fox. I guess that's something else I made up.

Again, this has nothing to do with what was said. I didn't say this guy wasn't a syndicator of any level, and never said he didn't have ties to Fox. So once more Jerry is setting up a straw man argument to defend something that was simply never implied or stated.

Joe can say what he wants. He can spout his crap about how "he's the man" around which all things B5 spin.

Well, yeah, I did create the series, executive produce it, write 91 out of 110 episodes, and I do control many of the rights. And no deal can go forward without my involvement. By contract, if it doesn't happen with me, it doesn't happen. I still don't see what that has to do with anything, however.

At least I'm still trying to bring back what should never have been taken off the air. The fans deserve the show.

I've never said anything to the contrary. I've said, and I'll say it again here, that I'll listen to anybody who has the wherewithal to put a deal together. So far that hasn't happened, despite Jerry's pronouncements. I pointed that fact out. That is the only fact that Jerry hasn't dealt with here, apparently finding it easier to respond to things I didn't say than to things I did say, which is odd, but there you go.

Joe's ego deserves a much bigger person.

Some things deserve a response, some things don't. This is one of the latter. He hasn't refuted anything I said, which was that Jerry has talked a lot about a lot of prospects, but to date none of them have materialized. If I were wrong, then something would have been put forward. That's simply a statement of fact, ego has nothing to do with it.

Feel free to post this from where it came. I'm tired of all the bull****.

I'm glad that Jerry has taken this opportunity to vent. Clearly, he misses the show and wants it to come back. We all miss the show. But at the same time, it's not fair to the fans that Jerry mentions to get people excited about something that doesn't exist. I'm glad that he is trying to get things going, for himself and with others, but talking about things doesn't make them so, and pointing this out is not inappropriate when, based on those statements, I find my email box filled with inquiries about things that simply aren't happening. I've worked with the online community for ten years now, talking about B5 and being painfully honest about what's going on.

If there were something going on involving a return of the series that was real, I'd be the first person to talk about it and let people know. But there isn't. I have to be honest with people, because I have ten years worth of reputation and credibility with the fans to protect. I see that Jerry doesn't like that, but I can't change that now because he's offended. And again, at the end of the day, it comes down to this: Jerry says he's got something going that's real. If he does, and makes it happen, then I look like a fool, which I'm okay with, it wouldn't be the first time. Then he's right to be offended. If he doesn't, and he can't...then on what possible basis can one be offended?

Just a thought or two for anyone looking on.

Joe Straczynski
jms

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I'm not so sure I agree with you here Joe. I have seen more than one show revived from the dead by viewer voice. Maybe getting a lot of people excited about it and writing in to the powers that be is the answer.

This is to an extent true, though fan campaigns have kind of been devalued with the studios over the years because it seems that almost any show can get such a campaign going.

That issue aside...the situation here is that there *is* no big Bring Back B5 campaign going on, because the series was meant as a five year series, minus any sideline ventures into MOWs and the like. Nor was this any part of what Jerry was talking about. Just FYI.

jms

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There was a cute story JMS told about how, while writing the scene where Lyta and Byron make love he paused and wrote (paraphrased) "I wonder which is more embarrassing, writing this or reading it?". Several years later (and long after I'd've thought I'd forgotten the story) I read the script and there it was. Joe could have easily been forgiven if he'd made up that story but he hadn't-it was true. 

I'd totally forgotten about that until you posted it here. Which is probably one of the big reasons I don't tend to stretch the truth as a rule...to be an effective fibber, you really need a good memory, and I don't have one.

(Funny aside about that scene...I made it clear, to protect Pat's privacy during the love making scene, that it be a closed set, only essential camera crew, nobody else. It's just something you do to be respectful, since there would be a lot of skin flashing. Even I would not be on set out of a desire for her privacy. So I'm out at editing that day, and come back to find that, during that scene, Doug had brought some studio guys and financing guys by for a set tour...and walked them right in on this. Suffice to say words were spoken.)

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

**Wizz** · September 29th, 2003, 08:57 PM

I know I've gone to ground a bit lately, so I thought I'd pop out with some bits and pieces for folks. (One of the reasons I've gone quiet is that I've undergone a bunch of little surgeries, including some dental work from hell, but the majority of that is done now so I'm well on the mend. I won't go into the surgeries, but suffice to say from now on I shall be known as Dorothy.

(Now let's see who actually falls for that one.)

Meanwhile, I'm in the midst of pitching new shows and picking up projects. There's some interesting possibilities in the works, about which more when they go from possibilities to realities.

In terms of what's coming up...ibooks/Simon and Schuster has put up the solicitation for the first of my novels they're going to be reprinting, starting with Demon Night. You can check out the book at

http://ibooksinc.com/catalog/htm/sci...ski_j_info.htm

And for those who've been wagering on this...I've decided to keep Buddy. The problem isn't so much that I've bonded to him, though I have, as he's utterly imprinted on me as the guy who saved his life and he just goes nuts when I'm gone. (It's a great scam, and he plays his part well.) So Buddy the Miracle Cat (or Buddy TMC as he's known to his rap friends) is here to stay.

The second season of Jeremiah will debut on Showtime on October 10th at 10:00 p.m. (a much better time slot than 10:45) with "Letters from the Other Side, Part One," and I commend you to this season whole-heartedly. I think it's stronger than the previous season. There's more of a clean through-line to the story, less in the way of stand-alones, there are a lot of changes awaiting our characters, and the show looks great. Of the 15 episodes this season I wrote 13, so there's a real sense of continuity there. And this year we're joined by Sean Astin, currently appearing in the Lord of the Rings movies.

(As stated, I've opted not to return if there's a third season, but a) that has nothing to do with the quality of this season, which is terrific, and b) what some people, from the postings I've seen, don't seem to quite get is that this is more the norm than not. Lots of people come on, create a show, get it up and running, and either leave after the first season or the second, sometimes even just launching the show and moving away in the first season. That's the nature of TV. You generally do a couple of years here and a couple of years there. There are exceptions to this of course, situations where creators opt to stick around for the duration, but in most cases people move on. So this ain't a big deal.)

To the many questions that have arisen here of late...yes, as I mentioned before, there is the possibility of something Babylon 5 related on the horizon, but again I don't want anyone getting excited until we know if either one of these two projects is going to actually come to fruition. We should know where this lands in the next few weeks. The only thing I will say is that they're not print projects, so if you were to assume it's for TV or film you wouldn't be too far off...but that neither of them are series. And that's all I'm going to say about them for now.

On the comics front....

The next Supreme Power, issue 3, comes out in a few weeks, either the 1st or the 8th of October. There's a preview at:

http://www.popcultureshock.com/reviews.php?id=2474

The cover for SP 4 is at --

http://www.comicbookresources.com/ne...ME_POWER_4.jpg

-- and there's a funny in-joke on the cover for issue 5 of SP, which you can find at:

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori...remepower5.htm

And no, I didn't know about this until I saw it on the net.

The latest Spidey, part two of the three-part arc leading to issue 500, hit the stores on Wednesday last, and the coming finale is 38 pages of story with a guest series of pencils by John Romita Sr. as well as the inimitable JR JR.

(Having gotten a bit ahead on Spidey and well ahead on SP -- #2 just came out and I'm about to turn in the script for #7 -- I'm in talks with Marvel to do a new title for them, so we'll see how that turns out.)

I *think* that's it for now...as always, I'll probably remember something else ten seconds after sending this, but I'm pretty sure that's all the news that's fit to print.

jms
 
Re: Attn JMS: rumor of new B5 project from Jason Carter

I spoke to Doug about this today, and he indicated to me that this conversation never happened. It's either a misstatement from Jason or an inaccurate fan rumor.

jms
 

Did you know Amazon has a page up for 'Straczynski Unplugged'? Check out..

http://tinyurl.com/owa2 

No, I didn't know they'd already begun taking orders on that one.

...and if you have *any* idea what's supposed to be depicted on the cover, could you let us know? 

I think it's my lower intestinal tract after finishing Jeremiah year 2.

 How goes the rest of your project with the feral cats?

All the kittens have found homes, and the remaining adults have all been spayed and neutered and are living comfortably in the back yard.

Any chance you can give us more info on definite titles and short blurbs for each? Should we all get physicals before this starts to make sure our hearts can stand it? 

At this point, with the show's debut so near, best to just let the show speak for itself. But it's pretty cool, I have to say.

jms
 
Not to push for information that is really none of my business, but is the parting going to be, err, amicable?

No, really, be serious now, what's your question?

jms
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

**Wizz** · October 4th, 2003, 07:38 PM

Re: Rising Stars Comic
Has anyone heard any updates on this? I have not seen any on JMS's website, but I know sometimes people here have access to information. Supreme Power is definitely filling a void, but we need closure on The Specials!

I've asked Top Cow for three things: for Dream Police back, since they've had it now for 3 years and have done nothing with it...for confirmation that the Joe's Comics title belongs to me, and for an apology for deliberately keeping me out of the loop on my own project at the feature stage and misleading me about drafts that had come in.

Once those three things have been attended to, I can finish the series.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

**sindatur** · December 5th, 2003, 01:58 PM

For Any of those who don't make it SpecVision, ZimNova posted the following over there:

This just in from the moderated newsgroups.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jms at B5"
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2003 5:34 AM
Subject: Re: attn. JMS: Update?

...
On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I can say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end of that month.

The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political discusion. I've been writing my little brains out.

I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we could keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding anything, that would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant development. Just trust me on this one for a bit and hold fire until further word.

(Longtime followers of the various news groups know that an eep means that something significant has happened, but that I can't talk about it...the eep is just a way of saying, on the QT, that something has, indeed, happened and it's real, not just speculation or maybe-gonna-happens. So on that basis, you may consider this an eep.)

And on the topic of fans for a moment...I'm happy to mention that we've included a thanks to Steve Grimm (Lurker's Guide) and our resident moderator Jay Denebeim on the Season 5 DVD. Just a way of saying thanks for years of help and support.

Oh, yeah...and next year you can expect two new DVD sets that a) include all of the TV movies in one package with commentaries from me on "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning" and b) package all 13 of the Crusade episodes into one box.

jms ([email protected])
all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd., permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine and don't send me story ideas.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is this great news or what on top of the recent announcment of the 4 hour Farscape mini-series set to start production in Oz this month?

Thread: JMS Speaks (again)

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