ATTN JMS: Enjoyed Rising Stars #1, you dream-shaper you!

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: pokrface at texas.net (Lee Hutchinson)
Date: 22 Aug 1999 14:12:07 -0600
Lines: 60


It strikes me as particularly amusing that Joe Straczynski has been a 
part of my life for so long.

When I was kindergarten-age, "Masters of the Universe" was one of my 
favorite shows, right up there with "Dukes of Hazzard."  I watched every 
single episode every single day, for as long as the show was on.  I had 
all the action figures, all the playsets, and all the vehicles.  I loved 
that cartoon.

As time passed, I latched onto a new offering: "Captain Power."  Though 
rather short-lived, I also had all that show's paraphernalia, and I shot 
the screen with the rest of the rabid children, and it scared me to death 
when one of those CGI dragon-things got me and my CAptain Power action 
figure came shooting out of the spaceship/gun thing.  But my young mind 
was also intrigued by the story.

My focus shifted as I grew older, and after "Knight Rider" went off the 
air, I latched onto "The Real Ghostbusters."  That became my favorite 
television show, and the episodes I now know were written by Joe I 
remember as being among my favorites.  I loved any episode that hinted at 
an overall continuity to the show, and Joe's were some of the best.

"Murder, She Wrote" has entertained me on and off for most of my 
adolescence, and as I entered my senior year in high school I stumbled 
across "Comes the Inquisitor" one eve on the telly.  I was at the height 
of depression over the sudden end of a two-year relationship, and the 
show struck a chord in me.  Although the pilot episode of B5 had solidly 
turned me off a couple of years earlier, I decided to give the show 
another chance.  "The Fall of Night" blew me out of my chair, and I 
became a rabid, slavering fan ever since, hungrily gobbling up any bit of 
B5-related stuff I can find, both on the Internet and IRL.

"In Valen's Name" is the only comic book series I've ever purchased.  
"Rising Stars" will be the second.  RS seems like a wonderfully crafted 
story with a strong emotional core.  I'm eager to read more of it...plus, 
the narrator is an obviously disturbed individual who shares my first 
name and who can set things on fire with his mind.  Cool.

As I begin my fourth year of college, I cannot help but wonder if this 
has been a part of Joe's plan all along--snag a generation of people by 
his writing, control their youths with constant suggestion and messages, 
shape their adolescence and teen years, and now, as they prepare to enter 
the job market, snap his fingers and turn us all into Straczynskoids, who 
will take up arms and fight for his Holy Cause, whatever that may be.

We're ready, Supreme Commander Joe!

(Damn, I need to get out more often...)

-- 
Lee Hutchinson
pokrface at texas.net
http://pokrface.home.texas.net
"It's a hundred and six miles to Chicago; we got a full tank of gas,
half-a-pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."

"Hit it."



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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 22 Aug 1999 17:21:17 -0600
Lines: 21

I hear this from time to time from folks, that they grew up on my work as kids
into adulthood.  (I started selling to TV in 1984, so that's...fifteen years.)

Suddenly I feel absolutely ancient....

On the other hand, if it causes some folks to grow up asking questions and
thinking about stuff, then it's a good thing and a service to the commonweal. 

Was it Emerson?  "Be ashamed to die until you have performed some service for
humanity."  It's just TeeVee...and there ain't much that's more trivial than a
TeeVee writer...but I do hope it's had an effect.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com




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