Babylon 5 Magazine Issue 20 Review

First Published: 03/12/00

The central theme of Issue 20 of The Official Babylon 5 Magazine is time travel. Several articles focus on the episodes "Babylon Squared" and "War Without End". The cover features a photograph of John Sheridan with two of his wives: Elizabeth Lochley and Delenn.

Features

"The Future Isn't What It Used To Be" is an overview of the uses of time travel in the Babylon 5 universe. "Time Rifts, Tachyons, & T-Space" is a look at the real-world theoretical possibilities of time travel. "Time is All We Have" takes a look at how time travel affects the lives of several Babylon 5 characters. One of the sidebars to this article is "The 'Closed Circle' Timeline". It looks at the portions of Babylon 5's chronology that are most affected by time travel. "Everyone Listens to Zathras" looks at one of our favorite recurring characters, while "Serving the One" visits with the actor who brought him to life: Tim Choate.

"The JPL Connection" adds variety by not being concerned with time travel. This is the second part of an article from Issue 17. It discusses the use of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to consult on the science in Crusade.

Part three of the massive Babylon 5 Official Chronology spans the time period from 2201 to 2245. This time period includes the early history of many of Babylon 5's main characters. In addition to being well researched, the timeline has an attractive graphic design and lavish illustrations. The timeline began in Issue 18.

Episode Examination

In keeping with the time travel theme, the "Station Log" for this month covers "War Without End, Parts One and Two". This feature provides a synopsis and background information on the episode. Sidebars include interviews with Bruce Boxleitner, director Mike Vejar, Michael O'Hare, J. Michael Straczynski, Jason Carter, and Tim Choate.

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's articles include stories about the aborted JMS / Chris Carter project, Straczynski's refusal to release the Babylon 5 "arc document", the return of The Zocalo, and Fiona Avery's unproduced "Value Judgements" script.

Fiona Avery discusses the use of the Internet by authors in her "Illuminations" column.

"The Great Machine" is a forum in which Fiona Avery usually answers your questions about the Babylon 5 universe, but this month she reviews the currently available and upcoming Babylon 5 novels. "Lines of Communication" prints letters from readers.

The issue is concluded by J. Michael Straczynski's "The Last Word". This month he makes his predictions for the new century.

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. This issue is an exceptional reference to one of Babylon 5's most exciting episodes. Sadly, Titan has recently announced that Issue 24 will be the final publication of this magazine. However, these few remaining issues will hold some great gems including the remainder of the Official Chronology and new Babylon 5 fiction.