Babylon 5 Magazine Issue 18 Review

First Published: 01/02/00

Issue 18 of The Official Babylon 5 Magazine has no unifying theme, but rather touches on several aspects of the Babylon 5 universe. The cover sports a photograph of the lovely Carrie Dobro without her Dureena Nafeel makeup. The centerfold is a season three cast photo enhanced to promote the official chronology, which premiers in this issue.

Features

This issue contains a candid interview with Carrie Dobro. She discusses her history, personality, and the cancellation of Crusade. The article is illustrated with pictures from an exclusive photo-shoot.

As promised in Issue 17, part two of an interview with Bruce Boxleitner discusses seasons four and five plus the movies. Boxleitner discusses how the cast suffered through several endings, where they thought that the current episode or movie would be their last.

Issue 18 hosts the first installment of the massive Babylon 5 Official Chronology. This exhaustively researched reference work was compiled by Terry Jones and his wife. Fiona Avery provides an introduction. The first part of the chronology covers the time period from 15 billion years ago to 1996. Jones provides his sources for all items. This timeline should prove to be an indispensable addition to the serious Babylon 5 fan's library.

Episode Examination

This month, the "Station Log" takes an extensive look at "Racing the Night". Readers are provided with a synopsis, interviews with the cast and crew, designer's notes, and more.

Something Extra

This section provides two short features. The first introduces us to several extras who worked on Crusade. The second is about the PPG props created for Crusade.

Regular Columns

The Babylon 5 Magazine includes several regular columns. "ISN News" contains short news articles about Babylon 5, Crusade, and their casts and crews. Several stories focus on the cancellation of Crusade and what the Crusade actors are doing now. There is also a short interview with Walter Koenig. Fiona Avery discusses the Centauri Prime and techno-mage trilogies.

The "Zocalo" reports on the latest Babylon 5 merchandise. This month it focuses on the Babylon 5 games showcased at Gen Con. "The Great Machine" is a forum in which Fiona Avery answers your questions about the Babylon 5 universe. However, this month she uses this space to quote a scene that was cut from "The Well of Forever". "Lines of Communication" prints letters from readers.

The issue is concluded by J. Michael Straczynski's "The Last Word". This month Straczynski writes about how mainstream fiction and science fiction are naturally growing closer together while some forces in the publishing industry are trying even harder to keep them apart. Unfortunately, due to a printing error his article was cut short. Straczynski said online that the magazine has promised to reprint the complete essay in a future issue.

Conclusion

The Official Babylon 5 Magazine is published by Titan Magazines in the UK, and it is also available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. If you have not been collecting this magazine before, you should begin now so that you can own the complete Babylon 5 Official Chronology.