"Imagine If… Walter Was in Violet Sedan Chair" (Beyond the Fringe Chapter #6B)

Showing us a universe in which Walter joined Violet Sedan Chair back in the 60s is, in my opinion, kind of a silly way to end this comic series, but all the same, I actually liked this comic a lot better than the "Ghost Writer" comic. The art is really great and looks very realistic, something that is made very apparent at the end of the comic when we see present-day Walter, Nina, and Belly. Even young Belly, though, looks exactly like young Leonard Nimoy, even more so than the younger Bell in the second half of Jhonen Vasquez's "Ghost Writer" comic, and I immediately knew, as soon as I saw him, that it was a young Bell. I do, however, have a problem with Walter and Belly being depicted as being in college together in this comic, as it would seem to be a continuity error. The first series of comics, the ones that show us when Walter and Belly were lab partners when they were younger, tell us that Bell is younger than Walter by a good seven years or so, as Belly was still a college student when Walter was a young college professor. I know that this is a parallel universe, but it would stand to reason that they would be the same age in every universe, and this kind of annoys me, but I digress. I suppose that the storytelling is what is most important, but continuity errors do annoy me when they happen in regards to any franchise, even though I, from experience as a writer, know how easy it is miss one.

It took me a minute to realize that the red-haired woman was Nina, but I had a major "ah-ha" moment when I did realize it. After Nina gets hurt during a scientific experiment, Walter wishes to discontinue the experiment, something about which he is very adamant, but Belly says, "It's for the greater good, Walter." This is very typical of Belly. It isn't long before Walter decides to quit the field of science and pursue music, ultimately joining, as requested by one of the band members, Violet Sedan Chair. He realizes that it is not a life for which there is room for love and settling down, and at the end of the comic, he meets up with Nina and Belly, now apparently a couple, and expresses his regrets of having lost touch with them, and I get the impression that he is also expressing regret of having let Nina go. Is this indicative of something that went on in the Blueverse, too? Did Walter, at one point, have feelings for Nina that he surrendered? We know that he and Nina spent a lot of time together when they were younger, and we have seen the two of them in intimate settings such as when Nina holds his hand to calm him down during the "Of Human Action" (2.07) episode, so it is possible. I like this comic and give it 7.5 chocolate mint and LSD milkshakes (typical Walter). I am excited to buy the hard copy of the Beyond the Fringe comics, available today.