Rising Stars, Vol. 2: Power

Rising Stars, Vol. 2: Power (2002) by J. Michael Straczynski, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Stuart Immonen, Brent Anderson, John Livesay, Brett Evans, Dan Kemp

If, perhaps, you thought the first volume was a little confusing, this volume begins with a synopsis: “Mediaweek: Ten Years After” which gets you up to speed on what happened before, as well as looking at how the world would have responded to the 113 Specials of Pederson.

What has mostly happened is that those who escaped went into hiding, to try and live as best they can with the new normal: Chicago taken over by Stephanie/Critical Maas, the government viewing them as fugitives, and a sudden influx of power–the surge.

John (Poet) believes that the situation getting out of control was his fault, that it was his responsibility to keep everyone safe and to protect the general population from any Specials that went rogue.

What I like best of this story is that the “bad guys” aren’t unfathomable monsters. Once you learn the why, you can see how things happened, and that the cause was the every-day evil found currently in the world: child abuse.

It’s a reminder that there are so few instances of true evil in the world. Sometimes its a failure of empathy, sometimes its the result of abuse. But it’s all comprehensible if we are willing to try.

The second half of the story is of redemption, and how people try to atone for their wrongs as best they can.

It’s a complex story, and there are a lot of characters. I’d really like to see J. Michael Straczynski’s list of the specials, their names, and their powers–and how he kept track of all those minor characters. I’m sure there was a list, but as a reader it is sometimes difficult to keep track, and sometimes I wish there was a little more about those background characters. But then that would have made this series and huge and overwhelming, so it’s just an idle wish.
Rating: 9/10

Published by Top Cow

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