Babylon 5 Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary With A Massive Behind-The-Scenes Book

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

This year marks the 20th anniversary of J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5, with the pilot movie first airing on February 22, 1993. If you’re in the Phoenix area, or can get there in time for Memorial Day weekend, you can see Straczynski joined by most of the show’s surviving regular cast reunite for a special panel at the Phoenix Comicon (and I hate that I had to add the word “surviving” to that sentence). But for those of us who won’t be able to make it out for that, how about a consolation prize? Straczynski has shared a trailer for a massive new book chock-full of set and costume photos, as well as behind-the-scenes info. Check it out above if you haven’t already.

The B5 at 20: A Visual Celebration (admittedly a mouthful) is from Publishing 180, the same folks who’ve been releasing B5 script books and other goodies over the past few years. The book will release on June 24th, and you can find all the details right here. One really cool thing worth noting is that these pics are high definition, meaning you’ll get to see the sets and costumes in sharper detail than you ever have before, since complications of B5’s early (and pioneering) use of CGI make a future Blu-ray release very unlikely.

The book isn’t cheap, with a retail price of $134, but considering how much never-before-seen stuff is packed in there, I’m sure it will still pique the interest of die-hard B5 fans. Plus, apparently if you order during the first week, you can get it for a discounted price of $88. Londo would approve.

Finally, if you’re wondering if it might be worth the excursion to Phoenix, here’s the list of B5 folks who will be in attendance:

  • Andrea Thompson (Talia Winters)
  • Stephen Furst (Vir Cotto)
  • Walter Koenig (Alfred Bester)
  • Claudia Christian (Commander Susan Ivanova)
  • Bruce Boxleitner (Captain John Sheridan)
  • J. Michael Straczynski (Creator)
  • Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi)
  • Peter Jurasik (Ambassador Londo Mollari)
  • Jason Carter (Marcus Cole)
  • Pat Tallman (Lyta Alexander)
  • Tracy Scoggins (Captain Elizabeth Lochley)
  • Bill Mumy (Lennier)
  • Mira Furlan (Ambassador Delenn)
  • Julie Caitlin Brown (Na’Toth)
  • Robin Atkin Downes (Byron)