Babylon 5

Babylon 5 #1-4

by J. Michael Straczynski, Michael Netzer (Illustrator)

Originally published as Babylon 5 #1-4, from DC.

Based on the TV science fiction series, this saga follows the exploits of humans and aliens who live on a space station. Station commander Jeffrey Sinclair is recalled to Earth, where he hears news which will alter his life. Then the Babylon 5 crew try to track down a mysterious assassin.

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

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

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

[Simon Heldreich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story, awful artwork.

[Andy Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Very choppy first B5 comics, suffering from visuals that look rushed (and inconsistent: a guest artist), to a story that aims too wide and has too many characters, cramming in superfluous ones for the sake of 'all characters'. There's a keen-ness in visual expressionism and a well honed ear for dialogue transposed, but it falls short. So, lofty ambitions but ultimately feels like a filler episode. For B5 completists only.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to revisit the epic Babylon 5 series with these comics that retain much of the quality of the original show.