“Yesterday’s” Comic> Babylon 5 #11

Run, kid, while you still have the chance!

Babylon 5 #11

FINAL ISSUE

You won’t believe what Psi-Corps is pulling now.

So I’m on Babylon 5 to promote this comic about a secret group of fighters working against a mysterious foe. Oddly, the station captain, Sheridan I think, seemed to think I was some kind of spy and I asked if I knew a guy named Morden. The Minbari ambassador wasn’t happy with my idea either. Strange, but I’m getting off point.

Anyway, I’m in a shop seeing what comics sell on the station when I come across this “special issue” by Psi-Corps. It’s basically all about how great being a telepath is and how wonderful Psi-Corps is. Now I have no problem with telepaths and Psi-Corps is basically a good concept that needs to police itself better. However, there’s some stuff in here I have to question.

For example, the narrator/guide is supposed to be the granddaughter of the first telepath to openly uses his powers to save the president and prove that telepaths can benefit humanity. I can’t tell when he had a family according to this comic but whatever. It’s not a bad story.

Then it moves into this bit about the telepathic suppression medication. I pointed this out to some woman with a Russian sounding name that happened to be standing next to me. I don’t want to tell you what she did with the copy I had or said to the store owner. She was yelling something about her mom while questioning the validity of his and that’s all I’ll say. I was just pointing out that the dialog was fake as heck.

Then the stupid part starts. This comic wants me to believe that Commander Sinclair, the man who stopped the Earth/Minbari war (nobody knows how, but internet memes say he was just that awesome and probably bedded some Minbari females while negotiating their surrender–but you know, it’s the internet), wasn’t the only hero. It’s some bit about a telepath in his unit who used his powers to keep seasoned pilots focused so Sinclair could make his run. It smacks of revisionism.

The final “segment” is about some kid named Alfred Bester, who looks like that guy from Star Trek. Apparently when his friends realized he was a telepath one friend immediately rushed him to a Psi-Corps center while the other kid told his parents. If I developed telepathic powers, I would tell my parents before some guy in a cool uniform. I can’t believe they put out this piece of propaganda. And who gives out propaganda obviously targeted to kids on Babylon 5? I mean, who would even bring their kids to this station? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid on there.

In all seriousness, though, it’s a cute idea. They even have an ad for the Corps in the book among the normal comic ads and a “How To Find Out If You’re A Telepath” quiz in the back. It’s still an odd way to end the series, though. For some reason DC decided to switch to miniseries, of which only one was produced. I’ll be reviewing that tonight as a Scanning My Collection article. Casual fans may not see a point to this but hardcore fans of the series might like to have this in their collection.

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