Broken Frontier

The Specials have changed the world--mostly for the better--but change can be a very dangerous thing.

There are a lot of classic themes at play with Straczynski’s Rising Stars. Many can be seen in one way or another throughout the comic medium, from X-Men to JLA (at the moment, probably nowhere better than JMS’s own Supreme Power). Superpowered individuals doing their best to protect the world from itself, no matter the cost; they butt heads with an untrusting public and fearful shadow government characters; they beat the odds and win the day, etc. Well, that last one doesn’t look to happen here…

So, what is it that I find makes this series stand out and worthy of my money if I can get the same type of story elsewhere? I think it’s the personal feel JMS puts into the storytelling. As I think back on the entire series through this penultimate issue, the last four to six issues have been saying something heartfelt without being preachy, all the while telling a solid and engrossingly tragic tale.

Early on this issue, JMS gives a glimpse that the perfect world is not as cut-and-dry as we might think. The new administration, lead by President Randy Fisk (formerly the Special, Ravenshadow) is struggling with the 100% employment rate because it is causing unemployment (it makes better sense in the dialogue). Meanwhile, there are people high up in the military who fear this type of leadership, and a sinister plot that began unraveling several issues ago is going to be carried out on the remaining twenty Specials. The pace of the issue builds to a culmination that is expected, yet shocking and disturbing at the same time--a testament to excellent storytelling.

Brent Anderson delivers some slightly uneven art for this issue. His style doesn’t seem to mesh with Buccellato’s colors when the scene calls for bright and vibrant, which is present in the early pages of this issue. His depiction of the human face (especially the eyes) can sometimes look warped. However, during the final sixteen pages or so, where the script takes a darker turn, the art hits on all cylinders. The final pages are magnificent, complementing the script’s shocking and mournful tone.

The most powerful, most evenhanded, most sympathetic Special, Poet, has been the narrator of this story from the beginning. He has carried us through and explained the fate of the Specials throughout, and his final chapter is nigh. I think that it will be accessible to anyone, even if they haven’t read the previous twenty-three issues. Consider that my invitation to pick up the conclusion to one of the most interesting and intense superhero books on the shelves today. If you haven’t been reading, you should at least know what you are missing.

-Kert McAfee