Rising Stars
Issues 1-4. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencilled by Kein Chua and Christian Zanier.

Rising Stars is proof that what can be achieved in the comics medium is often very hard to achieve in others. Seven years ago, when J. Michael Straczynski headed the television series, Babylon 5, he intended to do a long, ongoing story arc that would spread across five seasons. Unfortunately, constant real-world problems - most notably actors leaving the show and uncertainty of whether or not it would be renewed past season 4 - seriously damaged Straczynski's five year plan, and Babylon 5 ended up being more an impressive, ambitious attempt rather than the ultimate epic saga intended. Now Straczynski is heading his own comics series, Rising Stars, and needless to say we won't have any problems with actors leaving this one -- not to mention the fact that in comics you can make characters mature and grow old without using ridiculous make-up effects.

Rising Stars is a series that tries to find out what would have happened if superheroes had existed in the real world. In 1969, a flash of light appears in the sky of a town called Pederson. Several years later, one hundred and thirteen children who were in utero when that event took place slowly find out that they have developed super powers. Some of these "specials" learn to live with their abilities; others live in constant denial of them. Some use their abilities for good, while others go bad. Some of them are accepted by society, while others are feared and hated. And when the series begins, one of them seems determined to kill all the others...

It's not exactly a new concept. Alan Moore's Watchmen is an obvious inspiration and is actually quoted several times within the series itself. But it's done well. Each issue moves from the past to the present, from the backplot of the specials' childhood, through their difficulties fitting into regular society, to the main plot of the murders - investigated by "The Poet," one of the specials who seems to be more anti-hero than a super hero. And while the series' narrative structure - stories appearing as flashbacks told to ignorant characters in an obvious attempt to present them to the reader - may seem unconvincing, I found it incredibly effective, because Straczynski builds these stories fascinatingly. Straczynski also plays with the usual clich@eacute;s of the genre and then turns them upside down. One of the specials is an invulnerable man whose only active sense is taste, so he is eating constantly. Another is forced into the role of a "super-villain" because this is something a "super-hero" needs for publicity. The dialogues are clever and ironic. There's also a bonus for Babylon 5 fans, who can search the series for references to their favorite show.

The series has two minor downsides. First, in its third issue, the book went through a change of artist, and while Christian Zanier's art isn't bad, I like it less than Ken Cha's work on the first two issues. The bigger problem: I really didn't like the schtick Straczynski pulled at the end of issue #1, telling us how the series is going to end, hence killing much of the potential suspense that could come from the question of what's going to happen (leaving only "how" and "why"- Straczynski's favorite questions). I would rather find out this kind of thing in the last issue of the series, thanks very much. But other than that, Rising Stars keeps me constantly on the edge, waiting for the next installment.

-- Raz Greenberg

Rising Stars, published by Image Comics, is currently available only through comic retailers.

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