"Ghost Writer" (Part 1) (Beyond the Fringe Chapter #5A)

I was really excited about this two-part comic because it was designed by Jhonen Vasquez, and to those of you who don't know who he is, he created one of the best animated series of all time - Invader Zim, something that becomes rather apparent when you take a look at some of the artwork (see example below). I was very excited by the fact that Vasquez is apparently a cortexifan. Perhaps, we will see more Fringe comics by him in the future? In this comic, Nina's arm is writing messages beyond her control, and she therefore consults Walter for help solving the problem. Walter theorizes that deja-vu is caused by neural messages being sent out by people that are alive and also says that this is also to account for why some people claim to see and hear ghosts. This is quite interesting, considering the fact that on the TV series, he explains deja-vu by saying that when we think that we've been somewhere before, it's because we actually have in another universe (an explanation that, in my opinion, makes a lot more sense). However, as becomes apparent by part 2 of this comic, this is not the Blueverse, so I digress. I thought that since the title doesn't start with something such as "Imagine If…" or "What If…" that maybe, this is the Blueverse, but it's not; it can't be. With that being said, however, I am curious to know how much of what happens in this universe also happened in the Blueverse on the TV series.

For example, we learn from this comic that Bell built Nina's arm with his own genetic material, not Nina's, which is why she is receiving messages through it, and this is quite interesting to me because it makes me wonder if the same is true in the Blueverse. Did Blueverse Bell also equip Blueverse Nina's arm with his genetic material? If so, has this kind of situation, Nina's arm sending her messages, happened in the Blueverse, too? Walter, more or less, seems to be his normal self, unaffected by anything that most human beings would deem as disgusting. In fact, after conducting something incredibly gruesome, he has his mind on food, wanting yogurt-covered pretzels, which he secures from a vending machine. It's interesting to see the apparently closely-knit relationship between Walter and Nina, and I think that on some levels, we have seen that on the TV series, as well. For example, during the episode titled "The Cure" (1.06), Nina tells Peter that she and Peter used to spend a great deal of time together when he was a child. Then, during "Of Human Action" (2.07), Nina, simply by touching him, calms a very nervous, worried Walter, so we know that they have history. Near the very end of this comic, Nina says, "It's William texting me through my arm?" which is a funny analogy but, as we learn from part 2, not quite accurate. This is a somewhat decent, not overly exciting, and I give it 6.5 yogurt-covered pretzels.