BY HIS OWN ESTIMATION, J MICHAEL Straczynski has "always been a mutt". It's his self-deprecating B way of describing how he works in different media. "I write novels, comics, movies, TV shows.... I suck at poetry," says the creative powerhouse behind Babylon 5, a series which (and this may depress older readers) has just turned 30.
Straczynski doesn't, however, suck at longer-form prose, as his new novel The Glass Box, a near-future tale of the power of making a stand and what happens when the authorities abuse the mental health system to push back, proves. "We are taught every day that you can't fight city hall, one person can't make a difference and just let it go," says Straczynski. "I don't believe that." Neither does the book's protagonist Riley Diaz, someone who understands the risks of putting herself in harm's way.
This is because civil disobedience demands discipline. Straczynski saw this first hand when, "by sheer coincidence", he was in Times Square as the Occupy Wall Street movement gathered there in October 2011.
"I have never seen that many police and police cars in one place in my life," he remembers. The authorities' presence was "intimidating" but, for the protestors, reacting was not an option. "The organisers were constantly reinforcing with bull horns, 'Do not take action, do not raise hands, do not throw things, keep this peaceful,"" he recalls.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av SFX UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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True Detective - The Only Way Is Essex for Jessica Jones in Lisa Jewell's first Marvel Crime novel
Known for bestselling psychological thrillers such as Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs, Jewell says she initially overemphasised the Marvel Universe’s fantastical elements before realising that she should simply trust her natural instincts. “I went too far on many occasions and had to keep cutting stuff out because I’d end up with stuff like a huge underground lab full of mad scientists,” she laughs.
Future Shock - Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season
Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season
Who Says
The Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz return - we're all ears
Parallel Doomsday
Terminator Zero creator Mattson Tomlin explains where the anime series fits within canon
Growing Your Hare
Daniel Kokotajlo talks about his '70s-set folk horror film Starve Acre
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
TRIPS INTO TREK HISTORY PROVIDE SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING NEW FOR STAR TREK: DISCOVERY COSTUME DESIGNER ANTHONY TRAN
DAY OF THE JACKAL
TALKING TIME, TECH AND MYSTERIES IN PART TWO OF OUR INTERVIEW WITH DOCTOR WHO SHOWRUNNER RUSSELL T DAVIES
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES IN VINTAGE STYLE IN BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER
BATMAN IS NOT FRIENDLY,\" insists Bruce Timm. \"He has to be weird. It's not just enough for him to dress up like a weirdo - he has to be a weirdo.
KAOS THEORY
THE LIVES OF GODS AND MEN ARE ENTWINED IN KAOS MEET THE TEAM BEHIND NETFLIX'S EPIC DARK COMEDY
POWER UP
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER SHOWRUNNERS JD PAYNE AND PATRICK MCKAY PROMISE PLENTY OF TOLKIEN TREATS IN SEASON TWO