[10] Straczynski began his postsecondary education at Southwestern College, where he was mentored by Bill Virchis and received an Associate of Arts degree.
Thereafter, he transferred to nearby San Diego State University (SDSU), where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in psychology and sociology (and minors in philosophy and literature).
He spent five years from 1987 to 1992 co-hosting the Hour 25 radio talk show on KPFK-FM Los Angeles with Larry DiTillio.
During his tenure, he interviewed John Carpenter, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison and other writers, producers, actors and directors.
During this time he became friends with Larry DiTillio, and when Filmation produced the He-Man spinoff She-Ra: Princess of Power, they worked as story editors on the show.
[citation needed] Straczynski and DiTillio worked to create an animated version of Elfquest, but that project fell through when CBS attempted to retool the show to appeal to younger audiences.
[28] DIC head Jean Chalopin asked Straczynski to take on the task of story editing the entire 78-episode block as well as writing his own scripts.
[citation needed] Straczynski wrote for CBS Storybreak, writing an adaptation of Evelyn Sibley Lampman's The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek.
[citation needed] After leaving animation, Straczynski freelanced for The Twilight Zone writing an episode entitled "What Are Friends For" and, for Shelley Duvall's Nightmare Classics, adapting The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award.
Straczynski was offered the position of story editor on the syndicated live-action science fiction series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.
After the strike ended, the producers of the new Twilight Zone needed to create more episodes to be able to sell the series into syndication with a complete 65-episode package.
[33] Initially wary, Straczynski finally did and was hired on as an executive story consultant under Jeri Taylor and David Moessinger.
Moessinger and Straczynski moved the protagonist, Jessica Fletcher, from the sleepy Maine town of Cabot Cove to New York City to revitalize the show.
Straczynski made Jessica an instructor in writing and criminology, and he emphasized her role as a working writer, with all the deadlines and problems involved in that profession.
In late 1991, Warner Bros. contracted with Straczynski and Doug Netter as partners to produce Babylon 5 as the flagship program for the new Prime Time Entertainment Network.
His work in comics includes the adaptations of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and Babylon 5.
Eventually he worked mostly under his own imprint – Joe's Comics – for which he wrote the Midnight Nation miniseries and the illustrated fantasy parable Delicate Creatures.
[40] Straczynski and artist John Romita Jr. crafted an acclaimed story for The Amazing Spider-Man #36 (Dec. 2001) in response to the September 11 attacks.
[44] He later wrote several other Marvel titles including Supreme Power,[45] Strange,[46] Fantastic Four, Thor,[47] and mini-series featuring the Silver Surfer and a "What If" scenario, Bullet Points.
Straczynski ran the series for two seasons but was frustrated with the conflicting directions that MGM and Showtime wanted from the show,[48] and even used the pseudonym "Fettes Grey" for the first time since Spiral Zone on one of the scripts.
Straczynski wrote Changeling, a psychological drama film based partly on the "Wineville Chicken Coop" kidnapping and murder case in Los Angeles, California.
[51] At first, Straczynski expressed disbelief at the story,[53] but spent a year researching the case, compiling over six thousands pages of documentation.
[62] Straczynski was part of the writers room (along with Terry Rossio, Patrick McKay, J. D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S.
[80] Dynamite Entertainment announced in July 2013 a new 12 issue The Twilight Zone comic book series penned by Straczynski.
[84] In 2020, Straczynski was named head of the Creative Council for the new comics publishing company AWA, where he was responsible for creating the shared universe used by many of its writers.
In 2006, he was hired to write a feature film based on the story of King David for Universal by producers Erwin Stoff and Akiva Goldsman.
They announced Straczynski was writing Lensman for Ron Howard (to whom he had sold a screenplay entitled The Flickering Light), that he was selling another spec, Proving Ground, to Tom Cruise and United Artists.
[95][96] In October 2012, Valiant Entertainment announced a live-action feature film adaptation on its comic book series Shadowman, written and executive produced by Straczynski.
[100] Straczynski was hired to adapt Red Mars for Spike TV, based on the Kim Stanley Robinson novels, with Vince Gerardis as producer.
[105][106] On August 19, Straczynski confirmed contact had been made with the BBC, but that the organization had already begun their own selection process and were not seeking new candidates.