A Hugo Award Nominee!
Featuring an introduction by Neil Gaiman!
"J. Michael Straczynski is, without question, one of the greatest
science fiction minds of our time." -- Max Brooks (World War Z)
For four decades, J. Michael Straczynski has been one of the most
successful writers in Hollywood, one of the few to forge multiple
careers in movies, television and comics. Yet there's one story he's
never told before: his own.
In this dazzling memoir, the acclaimed writer behind Babylon 5,
Sense8, Clint Eastwood's Changeling and Marvel's Thor reveals how
the power of creativity and imagination enabled him to overcome the
horrors of his youth and a dysfunctional family haunted by madness,
murder and a terrible secret.
Joe's early life nearly defies belief. Raised by damaged adults--a
con-man grandfather and a manipulative grandmother, a violent, drunken
father and a mother who was repeatedly institutionalized--Joe grew up in
abject poverty, living in slums and projects when not on the road,
crisscrossing the country in his father's desperate attempts to escape
the consequences of his past.
To survive his abusive environment Joe found refuge in his beloved
comics and his dreams, immersing himself in imaginary worlds populated
by superheroes whose amazing powers allowed them to overcome any
adversity. The deeper he read, the more he came to realize that he, too,
had a superpower: the ability to tell stories and make everything come
out the way he wanted it. But even as he found success, he could not
escape a dark and shocking secret that hung over his family's past, a
violent truth that he uncovered over the course of decades involving
mass murder.
Straczynski's personal history has always been shrouded in mystery.
Becoming Superman lays bare the facts of his life: a story of creation
and darkness, hope and success, a larger-than-life villain and a little
boy who became the hero of his own life. It is also a compelling
behind-the-scenes look at some of the most successful TV series and
movies recognized around the world.
