Babylon 5 Magazine Issue 23 Review

First Published: 06/11/00

Issue 23 of The Official Babylon 5 Magazine is the next-to-last issue. This issue is packed full of material as the editors work to complete several multi-part articles before publication ceases. The highlight of this issue is a new Babylon 5 short story by Fiona Avery. The cover features interview subject Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova.

Features

Claudia Christian is interviewed about Susan Ivanova as well as what she has been doing since she left the show at the end of Season Four. She is excited about the diversity of opportunities she has enjoyed recently, playing a fat middle-aged Jewish housewife in True Rights and following that up with a spread in Playboy.

"The Making of Babylon 5", which began in Issue 21, continues with a look at Season Four. Joe Straczynski is quoted heavily about his compression of the story to complete the arc in Season Four since a fifth season looked unlikely. Other cast and crew members also contribute comments. Unfortunately, more emphasis is placed on the early part of the season, and the episodes after the completion of the Shadow War are not covered as comprehensively.

"The JPL Connection" completes a three-part article on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's work on Crusade that began in Issue 17 and continued in Issue 20. Scientists from JPL explain how their interactions with the makers of Crusade evolved during the relationship.

"Faces of Tyranny" follows the Nightwatch story arc and examines the historical precedents for it.

"Vorlon Dreams" delves into the Vorlon mindset and examines Ulkesh, who follows the party line, and Kosh, who is atypical of the Vorlons in his view towards the other races.

Part six of the massive Babylon 5 Official Chronology spans the time period from December 2259 to December 2260. This encompasses all of Season Three and the beginning of Season Four. In addition to being well researched, the timeline has an attractive graphic design and lavish illustrations. Unfortunately, the downside of the graphic design is that it is sometimes easy to read the paragraphs in the wrong order. One other problems is that an entry for April 2260 is incorrect. Instead of the proper information, the entry about the discovery of the buried Shadow ship on Mars in 2253 is repeated. The timeline began in Issue 18.

Episode Examination

This month's "Station Log" covers "Endgame". This feature provides a synopsis and background information on the action-packed episode about the liberation of Earth from President Clark's tyranny. Sidebars include interviews with director John Copeland and actors Patricia Tallman, Jason Carter, and Richard Biggs.

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. This month Jeanne Cavelos talks about her forthcoming techno-mage trilogy.

Fiona Avery uses her "Illuminations" column to discuss the inspirations for her short story, "True Seeker".

"The Great Machine" is usually a forum in which Fiona Avery answers questions about the Babylon 5 universe. However, this month she provides a fictional account of the history of The Great Machine. "Lines of Communication" prints letters from readers.

The issue is concluded by J. Michael Straczynski's "The Last Word". This month he discusses the closing of The Official Babylon 5 Magazine and challenges readers to find their own dreams and create their own miracles now.

Read the review of Fiona Avery's short story, "True Seeker".