Rising Stars #1-4

To be honest, I normally steer clear of a lot of Image's high profile books, especially the titles published by Top Cow. The Darkness, Witchblade, Fathom--the art, while pretty decent, is generally just variations on Marc Silvestri's stuff. Silvestri does very good work, but he does it best. I don't know why they continue to recruit the Silvestri rip-offs, as most of the stuff is substandard and unoriginal. As far as the writing goes, all I can say is "Eh." Once again, most of the stuff is unoriginal variations on a theme.

So why did I pick up Rising Stars? I don't know. I'd like to say that it was my finely-honed instincts, my ability to intuitively discern the good from the bad, the gems from the junk. I wish. After hearing comparison after comparison of Straczynski to Alan Moore, I gathered up my fanboy skin, which I'd so proudly shed, and ventured to the nearest comic shop whereupon I shelled out $6 for Rising Stars #1. Originally $2.50, I'd missed the boat last August and was forced to pay the since-inflated February price. Let me tell you, few things gall me more than paying the local comic pimps more than cover just because they know the title's popular--supply and demand has nothing to do with it. Anyway...

Michael Straczynski is onto something. Rising Stars tells the story of the Pederson Specials, a group of 113 children who were inadvertently exposed to a mysterious explosion before birth. It seems their mothers needed only to be pregnant and present in the town of Pederson. As preteens, certain numbers of the children begin to exhibit super human abilities like flight, super-strength, and pyrotechnics. What's stranger is that while some of the children exhibit multiple abilities, some of the children appear to possess none, though there's no telling when a previously undiscovered power may come to light. The story picks up about 25-30 years after the explosion. All but one of the Specials are dead, and it is through this last Special's journal that we learn the events leading to their downfall. It seems another Special, or at least someone that knows their weaknesses, has murdered them all. So how do you kill scores of super humans? That's the secret of this book's allure.

Rising Stars is full of the events that comic book fanatics live for. In the first four issues, Straczynski's already killed a Special and has shown another Special go completely berserk. What's even more compelling is that you know every one of them is going to die, it's only a question of how and when. It's the "how" that will keep you buying the book. How do you kill a man with an impenetrable forcefield encompassing his entire body? How do you quell superstrength long enough to kill a superhuman? The gimmick at play here is nearly irresistible. Straczynski doesn't even need much character development before killing off another "star," as it's usually not the character that's important. Rather, it's the method in which he/she goes.

The art is the typical Top Cow drivel. Cross hatches, airbrushed contours and perky breasts seem to be Top Cow's greatest ongoing contribution to the industry, and Rising Stars only pursues these trends all the more. That they've already had two different pencilers in a four issue run just goes to show how much more important the story is. Were the quality of the art integral to the narrative, it's unlikely they'd up and switch artists after only the second issue. And while I hate to dwell on the negative, I really have to admit that the costume design is some of the goofiest stuff to come along since Rob Liefeld took up the pen.

Finally, while Straczynski is one of the better writers at the moment, he's no Alan Moore. I think it's too coincidental that Straczynski is drawing all these comparisons to Moore, when some of the parallels between Watchmen and Rising Stars are unmistakable. Watchmen was primarily about a superhero taking on other superheroes in a "whodunit" fashion, much like the mysterious killer with the inside track in Rising Stars. There are other similarities, but I trust you'll pick up on them.

My conclusion is that Rising Stars is the Watchmen for the Top Cow generation. If Straczynski's smart, he'll woo Dave Gibbons over for the pencils and to do something about the costumes--hell, it worked for Alan Moore. As for me, I'm going to pick up the next couple of issues to see where Straczynski's headed.