STRACZYNSKI, J. MICHAEL 597
Diego resident late in his life. Stevens was also employed as a storyboard illustrator for
Steven Spielberg’s fi lm Raiders of the Lost Ark and the video for Michael Jackson’s song
Th riller, directed by John Landis.
Stevens’s high-profi le work on Th e Rocketeer began in 1982, initially as a backup
story, then as a solo title that was compiled into graphic novel collections from Eclipse
Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Th e Rocketeer gained notoriety primarily for its
adaptation into a 1991 fi lm by Joe Johnson, released by Disney. Stevens also bor-
rowed the likeness of Bettie Page for his title character Cliff Secord’s girlfriend Betty.
Stevens’s use of Page’s image is frequently cited as a reason for Bettie Page’s resurgence
in popularity as a sex symbol. Fans of Th e Rocketeer became interested in Page’s work,
and likewise new fans of Bettie Page discovered Stevens’s work through Th e Rocketeer.
Stevens became personally associated with Page, and often assisted her with personal
business matters, including the licensing of her likeness.
Stevens is associated with a group of artists who revered the older techniques of
comic book and strip illustration. Among Stevens’s infl uences are Frank Frazetta, Hal
Foster, and Will Eisner. Much of Stevens’s work is set in the 1930s, and Stevens’s art
nostalgically evokes the aesthetics of the time, including references to the Art Deco style.
After working on Th e Rocketeer, both in comic book and fi lm form, Stevens focused
more exclusively on illustration work, such as cover art, supported by an enthusiastic
fan base.
Later in his life, Stevens fought against leukemia, which in 2008 ultimately took his
life. Stevens is fondly remembered by his fellow artists as well as his fans, who keep his
artistic legacy alive.
Robert O’Nale
STRACZYNSKI, J. MICHAEL (1954–). Born in New Jersey, Joseph Michael Straczynski,
popularly known as JMS, is a writer and producer perhaps best known as creator, writer
and executive producer of the science fi ction television series Babylon 5. In addition to
several television programs, Straczynski has written plays, short stories, novels, news
articles and fi lms, such as the Clint Eastwood–directed Changeling (2008). Straczynski
has also written several comic books, beginning in the 1980s, and more prolifi cally in
the late 1990s and 2000s.
In the 1990s, Straczynski wrote comic books based on Babylon 5 for DC Comics,
and in 1999, he created and wrote Rising Stars (1999–2005), a story about a group of
super-powered individuals born in the aftermath of a cosmic event in an American town,
for Top Cow/Image Comics. Rising Stars was soon published under Straczynski’s own
imprint, Joe’s Comics, along with Midnight Nation (2000–2), a story about lost and
forgotten souls caught in the battle between (presumably) God and the Devil. In the
2000s, Straczynski wrote several Marvel Comics titles, most notably Th e Amazing
Spider-Man (2001–7), Supreme Power (2003–5), a reboot of Squadron Supreme,
Marvel’s pastiche of the Justice League of America, and Th or (2007–9). In 2008,
Straczynski also resumed writing for DC Comics.
