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Bezig met laden... Rising Stars Omnibusdoor J. Michael Straczynski
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. 635 J. Michael Straczynski’s Rising Stars Omnibus collects issues no. 1-24, 0, ½, Prelude, and Initiations of the comic that ran from August 1999 – March 2005, published by Top Cow Comics under its Joe’s Comics imprint. The story focuses on members of the Specials, 116 children who were in-utero when a meteor struck Pederson, Illinois, granting them powers. As the story begins, someone has been killing the Specials and the suspect is one of their own, as with each death the survivors’ powers increase. Those responsible for the murders work to convince Congress that some of the Specials plan to overthrow the government in order to further eliminate the competition, though their plans backfire as the redistribution of power reaches critical mass and all Specials’ powers increase due to the Surge. They then fan out, with some continuing to try to live ordinary lives while others wreak havoc and set up their own fiefdoms. One group burns Atlanta, “destroying the corporate headquarters of Ted Turner’s TNT and CNN operations” (pg. 201, this may serve as literary justice since Turner cancelled the spin-off series for Straczynski’s Babylon 5, deciding that sci-fi didn’t fit the channels brand identity), and another conquers Chicago. This sets the stage for a changed world. While the first third of the story focuses on super-powered beings as a part of our world, in the middle of the narrative, we live in their world. It also shifts time to the then-future of 2012. Poet works to recruit Specials to retake Chicago and, hopefully re-establish the world’s trust in them. Perhaps the most interesting element of Straczynski’s world is its built-in limit, as the Specials cannot pass on their powers to their children, so everything they do is chronologically limited (pg. 206). Knowing this, Poet persuades the Specials to try to improve the world with whatever time they have left. As they begin their work, Jason Miller struggles to choose a project. His wife suggests taking out Saddam Hussein, but Miller correctly predicts, “It’d just lead to more terrorism in the area” (pg. 342). In the end, he decides to disarm the world’s nuclear arsenal like Superman in The Quest for Peace. Others work to rebuild and renovate Flint, Michigan (pg. 366). Ravenshadow convinces the people of the world to begin looking at each other as neighbors. But the world’s governments and militaries fear giving up their power, and plan methods to curtail the Specials. The only comparisons for Straczynski’s story may be Chris Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men, as it focuses on individuals who developed powers as children and the role they will play in society, or Alan Moore’s Watchmen, in that Rising Stars tells a story steeped in politics, mystery, and drama on a global scale with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Those comparisons only scratch the surface, however, as Straczynski’s story is uniquely his own. Like Watchmen or Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, however, Straczynski engages with the slippage of civil rights amid a resurgence of conservatism. Where Moore used Richard Nixon and Miller used Ronald Reagan as stand-ins for their future Presidents, Straczynski uses George W. Bush, despite the story taking place in the year 2020 (pg. 472; this chronology is somewhat complicated by the montage detailing Randy Fisk’s runs for President on pg. 499). It works particularly well, though, as the third act’s discussion of civil liberties engages with the debate surrounding the PATRIOT Act at the time Top Cow published these issues. While Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns imagine a gritty, nihilistic future reminiscent of other 1980s pop culture that reflected rising Cold War tensions, Straczynski looks beyond the fear of the early 2000s to offer hope, a candle in the darkness. After the U.S. military figures out how to take down the Specials, Poet summarizes the next step of the plan in which the Specials will go into hiding. He says, “We’ll look like you, like everyone else, but the work will go on and we will restore the myth of the common man and woman elevated to acts of heroism and bravery only to disappear again. So that they will believe. So that they will believe one thing. That we are all heroes. That we all fly. That we are all capable of greatness and mercy and unimagined strength” (pg. 448). In those lines, Straczynski sums up the overall message of both his story and of all comic book superheroes. Best of all, he does this with humor and grace. In a fun nod to Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg comics, Straczynski portrays Ravenshadow saying, “Some guy named Chaykin has the rights to anyone named Flagg” (pg. 60) while, in a reference to Casablanca, Dr. Welles says, “I’m shocked… shocked, I tell you” after being confronted with deleted files (176). Fans of Straczynski’s writing will find everything they love here and those looking for a comic book narrative on a grand scale need look no further. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de reeks(en)Rising Stars (Issues #1-24) Is opgenomen inBevatRising Stars (1999) Issue #1 "Nova Placenta" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #3 "Whatever Happened To Lee Jackson" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #4 "Masques" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #8 "Things Fall Apart - Part Three" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #9 "Choices Made" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #12 "A, B, C, and D" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #13 "Stalingrad" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #14 "Things Change" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #15 "Power" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #16 "Selah" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #17 "Time Passes" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #18 "Fire And Ash" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #19 "Terminal Error" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #21 "Conversations on the Hill of Dreams" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect) Rising Stars (1999) Issue #22 "Phoenix In Ascension - Part One" door J. Michael Straczynski (indirect)
From the creator of Babylon 5 and Jeremiah comes the greatestsuperhero epic in recent years! J. Michael Straczynski and a team of the bestand brightest artistic talents in the industry unite to tell the saga of 113strangers united by one event they will never forget. This super-herotour-de-force is collected, beginning to end, in one massive bookshelfvolume. Follow the super-powered "Pederson Specials" as they grow up, live,love, die, and ultimately try to save the world. One of the greatest comicseries ever is now available for your bookshelf! Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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