Posted in: Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: babylon 5, j. michael straczynski, preview, rising stars

Rising Stars Series Adaptation "A Victim of Its Own Success": JMS

Over the weekend, J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) explained why it's been difficult to get a Rising Stars series adaptation made.

Published Mon, 22 May 2023 09:46:11 -0500

by Ray Flook

Comments

If you've been following our coverage of J. Michael Straczynski as he's been sharing more intel on the upcoming Babylon 5: The Road Home animated film, then you know that JMS makes serious use of his Twitter time by covering a wider variety of topics. One of those topics that caught our attention over the weekend had to do with JMS's Rising Stars comic book series – specifically, why there hasn't been a series adaptation of the popular Joe's Comics (via Top Cow Productions & Image Comics) title. As it turns out, the bitter irony (written by someone who would love to see the series come to life) is that Rising Stars may have been a little too influential. "The problem is, 'Rising Stars' inspired so many other books that went for a similar approach that whenever it's been taken out to the town, they worry that it's too much like the other shows that followed it. So in a weird way, it's a victim of its own success," JMS explained in response to a fan's question about the status of a possible adaptation.

Running for 24 issues, from 1999 to 2005, JMS's Rising Stars spotlighted 113 people ("Specials") who were born with special abilities after a mysterious light appeared in the skies above Pederson, Illinois. What would begin as a murder mystery would grow to become a modern classic examination of the role heroes & superheroes would play in our society – how we would react to them and how they would view us. Here's a look at JMS's tweet from over the weekend explaining the irony behind the difficulties in getting a Rising Stars series made, followed by a look back to the most recent update on the subject that we covered late last summer:

The problem is, Rising Stars inspired so many other books that went for a similar approach that whenever it's been taken out to the town, they worry that it's too much like the other shows that *followed* it. So in a weird way, it's a victim of its own success. https://t.co/rQgl83mBLx

— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) May 21, 2023

Back in August 2022, JMS offered an update on how things looked at the time, sharing that he was able "to spec out a 'Rising Stars' pilot episode" that's set to go before buyers "soon":

Midnight Nation had gone out and back a few times, but execs feel it's a "downer" because it deals with the lost and abandoned…and thanks to my Patrons I was able to take the time away from other gigs to spec out a Rising Stars pilot episode, which will be going to buyers soon. https://t.co/pb2GKi5yVS

— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) August 30, 2022