Rising Stars: Born in Fire, Power, Fire and Ash

Rising Stars, Vol. 1: Born in Fire (2001) J. Michael Straczynski, Keu Cha, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Jason Gorder, John Livesay, Edwin Rosell, David Wohl, Dennis Heisler, Dreamer Design, Robin Spehar, Liquid!, Matt Nelson, John Starr, Tyson Wengler
Rising Stars, Vol. 2: Power (2002) J. Michael Straczynski, Keu Cha, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Jason Gorder, John Livesay, Edwin Rosell, David Wohl, Dennis Heisler, Dreamer Design, Robin Spehar, Liquid!, Matt Nelson, John Starr, Tyson Wengler
Rising Stars, Vol. 3: Fire and Ash (2005) J. Michael Straczynski, Keu Cha, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Jason Gorder, John Livesay, Edwin Rosell, David Wohl, Dennis Heisler, Dreamer Design, Robin Spehar, Liquid!, Matt Nelson, John Starr, Tyson Wengler

This is the story of
how we came to be.
Of what happened to us,
and to those we knew,
and loved, and fought.
Where it went right…
and where it went wrong.

Sixty years.

One-hundred and thirteen people,
born with the power.

The story of the
world we touched.
And all places where
the world touched us.

And the terror
and the beauty
and the death
that happened in
the spaces in-between.

Every time I read this story, I am blown away.

It is the story of children born special, but also of how the events that happen to children turn them into the adults they become, and how events people might not even know about will come to have a huge influence, and to change the course of history.

It’s about people with special powers, true, but it’s also about people. How they become great or they become twisted, and the consequences.

Rising Stars, Vol. 1: Born In Fire

This is the start of the story. Of the Penderson Event and the children who were born in the nine months following that event.

We meet the children who are The Specials, and get the first glimpses of who and what they will become, all seen through the eyes of John, the Poet.

We see not how we wish the world would react to the arrival of children with special powers, but how people–governments–would be likely to react.

We also see the weaknesses that would come with these powers, and how those weaknesses could be exploited. (Such as, how do you kill someone who is invulnerable?)

Rising Stars, Vol. 2: Power

The story continues where Volume One, Born in Fire, left off, with a synopsis of what has happened in the decade since.

It’s also where we see that evil is a construct, a name we give people who are reacting in fear to what they do not understand, what they cannot control.

It also ends on a much better note than the first volume, a sense of resolution and peace, of a sort. Even if things aren’t truly at peace, as we see in volume III.

Rising Stars, Vol. 3: Fire And Ash

And then the conclusion to the story, and the answer to how and why the Specials came into existence, and also of how jealousy and blind fear can twist even something good in the eyes of the jealous and the fearful.

It’s a terrible and marvelous conclusion, with redemption. There are also a few errors in continuity and fact, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s truly not a big deal.

All in all, it’s an amazing story.
Rating: 10/10

Published by TOP COW

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