RISING STARS #17

By: Tony Whitt
Date: Monday, January 21, 2002

Several years have passed since the Specials decided to change the world for the better. Matt is still in a coma, and Jerry is still burning the cocaine fields in South America, at the risk of having a major bounty put on his head. Jason's mission to do away with every single nuclear missile continues, but at a terrible personal cost. Not everyone is happy with what the Specials are doing, however, and a group including some of the scientists who observed them as children plan to do away with the Special threat they pose once and for all.

I know it's cliché to compare the rest of Straczynski's work with BABYLON 5, but I'm about to do it anyway: RISING STARS has exactly the same sense of epic importance that BABYLON 5 did. While we all were pleased two years ago to hear that Straczynzski would be trying his hand at comics, and while we all expected great things, I doubt any of us could have predicted just how special this series would be (no pun intended). It's got every bit of the action and complex plotting you'd expect from a well-written television series at the same time as it uses the same sort of in-depth character development you'd expect from a well-written novel.

This issue centers around another of Jason's visits to the comatose Matt, during which he tells his friend about the ways in which the Specials have made a difference. But as the story slowly unfolds, we discover that Jason's own story has turned out to be a tragedy. The buildup of suspense is slow and sure until we finally get to see the effects of his mission upon him, and by then our emotional response is assured. Not bad for a comic that's mostly one long monologue.

Artist Brent Anderson does his best with the material, with very few missteps. As this series has grown progressively darker, so has the artwork, and Anderson's imagery most clearly shows that despite the Specials' battle to bring light into the world, the world around them is still growing ever darker. Most of this issue features shadows and silhouettes, so much so that the few brightly lit panels are a shock to the eyes. Looking back at RISING STARS #1 and then looking at this issue is instructive-any comic series changes its art style over time, but comparing Anderson's work to the art of those first few issues shows exactly what Straczynski is trying to do with this series. Anderson fits into that agenda perfectly.

This issue marks the beginning of the third and last act of the 24-issue series. Straczynski has mentioned that MGM is interested in doing a RISING STARS movie this year based on the first eight issues, meaning that this issue would be the opening of the third film-and if that's the case, we can look forward to a startlingly dark third film, indeed.

RISING STARS

Grade: A-

Issue: No. 17

Author(s): J. Michael Stracyznski, Brent Anderson

Publisher: Top Cow

Price: $2.50