Babylon 5 : The Price of Peace

Babylon 5: Nonfiction books

by J. Michael Straczynski

Trade paperback.

Genres: Babylon 5, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comics, Dc Comics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet and to allow viewer viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads just like an episode of the TV show, though not a particularly good one. The plot was decent--nothing special--and the art was all over the place. In one panel, Garibaldi might look like himself, but in the next look like MTV's Butthead minus the braces. Certain aspects of B5 lore are explored somewhat in issue #1 (written by J. Michael Stracynski himself), but issues #2-#4 are just your basic sci-fi potboiler. This collection also includes issue #11, which is nothing more than an informational video about the Psi Corps. The idea is cute, but obviously straight-up filler.

[Mehmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a review specific to this book, but for all official canon B 5 books.
The B 5 universe is so well designed that all the books, films, comics, and short stories complete one another in brilliant ways. The books give not only the backstory but also strands of the story that the episodes could not cover. For example, in some of the books, after several dozen pages of backstory, you find yourself in a scene you remember from the show. The book is completely loyal to what was on screen, but when the characters go their separate ways, the book follows a different person from the ones the show followed.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

(#1448)

Obviously, not as good as the TV show, but still written by J. Michael Straczynski.

Without giving anything away, I can say I enjoyed it.