Does Studio JMS change anything for Babylon 5?

[sftv]

I think Studio JMS is the next step in Joe's progression and a chance to have an umbrella organization for all his various projects, much like Bad Robot mentioned earlier in the thread. I think it will also raise his profile a bit more in Hollywood. Even with his recent ascension to the hot Hollywood screenwriter, he's still pretty much an unknown to the general public outside of genre fans.

Unlike some other people who have created personal production companies more as a vanity thing, I think Joe has the means to make it actually work.

How many different companies or comics lines has Stan Lee created or been involved with making use of his name (and how many lawsuits have arisen)? Way too many.

Lee

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I keep hearing the name "Stan Lee", and I know he made an appearance in Thor along with JMS, but I really have no idea who he is. I'm suspecting it has something to do with the comics world?

[Jan]

Stan Lee is a pretty legendary person in comics history. He's one of the creators of Spider-Man and various other characters still in use today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee

Jan

[DaveNarn]

Stan Lee is a pretty legendary person in comics history. He's one of the creators of Spider-Man and various other characters still in use today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee

Jan

[my 2 cents]

Plus Stan Lee is very charismatic, that will take you a long way in any endeavor.

And when the chips were down, he wouldn't give up.
Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, etc. These self-made guys were always looking over the horizon.

[Marsden]

I keep hearing the name "Stan Lee", and I know he made an appearance in Thor along with JMS, but I really have no idea who he is. I'm suspecting it has something to do with the comics world?

He was driving the pickup that was trying to yank Mjolnir out of the pit, the one that ended up losing it's back part, the bed of the truck. He then leaned out the window and said,"Did it work?"

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Stan Lee is a pretty legendary person in comics history. He's one of the creators of Spider-Man and various other characters still in use today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee

Jan

Thank You Jan

Interesting reading. I'm wondering if I was just born in the wrong era for comics because now they all seem to be sold in comic shops and it's not like you see in old movies and tv shows where they always had the racks and groups of kids hanging out and reading.

I went to two different libraries every week as a kid and filled bags with books, but I just don't remember even seeing a comics section.

[sftv]

Comics (mainly graphic novels) is pretty much a new thing in libraries. They may have carried a few things (like Peanuts collections and stuff), but its only been relatively recent (i.e. last ten years) that public libraries started carrying them in any quantities.

For most of the 30s through late 80s, most comics were sold in drug stores, grocery stores and such. I'm sure there's some good reference detailing the diminishing of that market, but it pretty much changed to what is called the "Direct market" where the comics are sold through comics specialty stores. Of course, the market is much smaller than it used to be when a top selling comic would sell close to a million copies or more where nowadays, a major hit is when it goes more than 100,000 and the median quantity is much lower than that.

the icv2.com website goes into much detailed analysis on current sales trends and quantities. For example, here's the top 300 comics sold in July http://icv2.com/articles/markets/23605.html

I grew up getting my comics from my dad's grocery store. During summer vacation I'd bicycle down there on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help them unpack the magazine delivery and get first crack at them. Its a good bet that at one point anything from DC with 12 cents on the cover I had in my possession. Of course, I read and reread them to where most of them were falling apart and when I started college, the ones I had left in good shape I sold to Clint's Comics in Kansas City for much less than I could get for any of them now....

[lotjx]

I doubt we get anything from JMS studios that is B5 related. Plus, besides the PSI Corp War and the end of Crusade, there is not much left to tell in that world. Both could have been told via the books if they didn't feel the need to drag Galen's story out for three books and having that worthless middle book for PSI Corp trilogy. The thing is JMS is not a good realist. He should have realized those things were not going to come to pass and just ended it. If anything Lost Tales may go down as the single biggest letdown of his B5 career. Even if it was a shoe string budget, he could have shown the end or those stories.

[Jan]

Even if it was a shoe string budget, he could have shown the end or those stories.

A whopping $2 million dollar budget and you wanted two major stories? You must not have noticed that they had to choose between having extras and having sets.

Would have been great if there'd been the opportunity for more novels in the B5 universe, though. That I agree on.

Jan

[KoshN]

If anything Lost Tales may go down as the single biggest letdown of his B5 career.

No, the biggest letdown of his B5 career was the Legend of the Rangers Sci-Fi Original movie. B5 Lost Tales was an uptick from that, if only for the intro. and the second story.

With friends like Warner Brothers, who needs enemies?

BTW, The Passing of the Technomages was a damned good trilogy. Ditto for Legions of Fire. Psi Corps, not so much.

[Jonas]

I doubt we get anything from JMS studios that is B5 related. Plus, besides the PSI Corp War and the end of Crusade, there is not much left to tell in that world. Both could have been told via the books if they didn't feel the need to drag Galen's story out for three books and having that worthless middle book for PSI Corp trilogy. The thing is JMS is not a good realist. He should have realized those things were not going to come to pass and just ended it. If anything Lost Tales may go down as the single biggest letdown of his B5 career. Even if it was a shoe string budget, he could have shown the end or those stories.

You may think so, but not everyone agrees. I think the first part of the Lost Tales is one of the high points of Babylon 5.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I loved Lost Tales muchly -both stories!

I also loved the telepath trilogy, and of course the Centauri trilogy. It took me a while to get into the first book of the technomage trilogy. I kept starting it and stopping because I just couldn't get into it, but I kept trying and in the end I loved it muchly too.

[Jan]

Whereas I liked Rangers a lot, didn't care at all for the Technomage trilogy and liked the Lost Tales despite its obvious budgetary limitations.

All of the above meaning that today's lesson is that just because somebody doesn't like something, doesn't mean it's bad. Every single one of us liked something different and wish that JMS had done something different. And that's one reason why JMS is smart not to let the audience decide what he does artistically.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

I learned a lot time ago that one's least favorite TV episode is still somebody else's favorite. Apparently B5 is no different.

[dregj]

its not about budget with JMS
he needs someone to reign him in occassionally
(like we all do)
did anyone actually tell him that having that lady punching mines in space was a terrible idea and looked comical/pathetic?
no because hes JMS

he got some mad skills but he sometimes has to be saved from some of his more self indulgent ideas (like george lucas).

i lked what i read of his asm run
but the spider god thing was awful
and then theres gwen/normie uggh
one of the worst laughable retcons
since somebody said lets bring hal jordan back and make him good again

i certainly think theres an infinite amount of stories available in the b5 universe and hes the only guy to do it
but hell definately need a wing man to argue with him over any bonehead moves that rear up
any nominations