{"id":4723,"date":"2014-07-20T11:23:34","date_gmt":"2014-07-20T16:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=4723"},"modified":"2025-08-04T18:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T22:56:08","slug":"4723","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4723","title":{"rendered":"Rising Stars: Born in Fire, Power, Fire and Ash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rising Stars<\/a>, Vol. 1: Born in Fire<\/a><\/strong> (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
\nRising Stars<\/a>, Vol. 2: Power<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (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
\nRising Stars<\/a>, Vol. 3: Fire and Ash<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (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<\/p>\n

This is the story of
\nhow we came to be.
\nOf what happened to us,
\nand to those we knew,
\nand loved, and fought.
\nWhere it went right\u2026
\nand where it went wrong.<\/p>\n

Sixty years.<\/p>\n

One-hundred and thirteen people,
\nborn with the power.<\/p>\n

The story of the
\nworld we touched.
\nAnd all places where
\nthe world touched us.<\/p>\n

And the terror
\nand the beauty
\nand the death
\nthat happened in
\nthe spaces in-between.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every time I read this story, I am blown away.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rising Stars<\/a>, Vol. 1: Born In Fire<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n

This is the start of the story. Of the Penderson Event and the children who were born in the nine months following that event.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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?)<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rising Stars<\/a>, Vol. 2: Power<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n

The story continues where Volume One, Born in Fire<\/em>, left off, with a synopsis of what has happened in the decade since.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rising Stars<\/a>, Vol. 3: Fire And Ash<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

All in all, it’s an amazing story.
\nRating: 10\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by TOP COW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,2,9,291,41,40,34],"tags":[268,267],"class_list":["post-4723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-10","category-fantasy","category-graphic-novels","category-paper","category-reread","category-super-hero","category-urban-fantasy","tag-j-michael-straczynski","tag-rising-stars"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/siQkW-4723","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9689,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9689","url_meta":{"origin":4723,"position":0},"title":"Rising Stars, Vol. 3: Fire And Ash","author":"Michelle","date":"February 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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 And the story ends. We see the culmination of the paranoia and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/Rising-Stars-Fire-and-Ash-e1511012492327.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9656,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9656","url_meta":{"origin":4723,"position":1},"title":"Rising Stars, Vol. 1: Born In Fire","author":"Michelle","date":"January 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Rising Stars, Vol. 1: Born In Fire (2001) J. Michael Straczynski, Jason Gorder, Keu Cha, Christian Zanier I really really love this comic. Enough so that this is the first time I've actually stopped between volumes to review the first separately (usually I just plow right through without stopping). Here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/Rising-Stars-Born-in-Fire-e1511012474450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9659,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9659","url_meta":{"origin":4723,"position":2},"title":"Rising Stars, Vol. 2: Power","author":"Michelle","date":"January 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/Rising-Stars-Power-e1511012484105.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/136","url_meta":{"origin":4723,"position":3},"title":"Rising Stars: Visitations","author":"Michelle","date":"October 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Rising Stars: Visitations (2002) J. Michael Straczynski Published between Power and Fire and Ash, Visitations gives some background stories. The first story, Rising Starts, is a quick history of what caused the specials, an excerpt of Dr Wells' diary, and the Supreme Court opinion on how the specials were to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/10\/Rising-Stars-Visitations.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/132","url_meta":{"origin":4723,"position":4},"title":"Rising Stars","author":"Michelle","date":"September 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Rising Stars: Born in Fire (2001) Power (2002) Fire and Ash (2005) J. Michael Straczynski Wow. When I asked for comic recommendations, Tom gave me several suggestions. The one I found locally was Rising Stars. Initially I only picked up the first volume, however I saw that all three volumes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/Rising-Stars-Born-in-Fire.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":149,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/149","url_meta":{"origin":4723,"position":5},"title":"Supreme Power Vol 1 Contact","author":"Michelle","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Power Vol 1 Contact (2004) J. Michael Straczynski I picked this up because I really liked J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars. It looked interesting, so I decided to see if I liked this series as well. The story is good, although not quite as good as Rising Stars. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"Contact","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/supreme%20power.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}