Crusade: What the Hell Happened? Volume 3

Crusade: What the Hell Happened? #3

by J. Michael Straczynski

Genres: Science Fiction, Babylon 5

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

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

[Chris Aylott · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the second volume, it would have been nice to have more information on what was going on during the last few weeks of production. However, this volume keeps the focus on the scripts, including the two unproduced stories that would have anchored the middle and end of the season. These are interesting, but highlight one of the unresolved questions of the show: was it really going to be a looser, more episodic series, or was it the prelude to another epic storyline? It's really hard to tell, and maybe Straczynski never knew himself.

[Royden Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful to finally get this last bit of information on how things came to be (or rather, not be) with Crusade. While I would have preferred to see the entire series come out, it is good to be able to see these last few puzzle pieces, the last ones we will ever get. Thank you for making these available to us.

[Peter De Kinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of the three volumes as it gives you a glimpse into what could have been down the line with the crusade series. A bit lacking was the story/script about Dureena's sword for which you have to read yet another book.