Rating: 
Summary: A truly standout title in the comic world
Review: Every few years a writer manages to create a comic book that sets a standard within the genre. Miller did so for revamps with "The Dark Knight Returns", Gaiman did so for tragic heroes with "Sandman", and of course there is Moore's "Watchmen", which basically set the standard for comic writing in general.And now, we have "Rising Stars" which raises the bar for social interaction and commentary on the nature of man. While "Rising Stars" is indeed a superhero series, the most important aspect is not the heroes - it's the conflict of ideals between the Specials and the human race. Given the amount of racial tension present in human history, "Rising Stars" poses an excellent question: "How would humanity react to the sudden emergence of 113 superpowered beings?"
Rating:
Summary: A truly standout title in the comic world
Review: Every few years a writer manages to create a comic book that sets a standard within the genre. Miller did so for revamps with "The Dark Knight Returns", Gaiman did so for tragic heroes with "Sandman", and of course there is Moore's "Watchmen", which basically set the standard for comic writing in general. And now, we have "Rising Stars" which raises the bar for social interaction and commentary on the nature of man. While "Rising Stars" is indeed a superhero series, the most important aspect is not the heroes - it's the conflict of ideals between the Specials and the human race. Given the amount of racial tension present in human history, "Rising Stars" poses an excellent question: "How would humanity react to the sudden emergence of 113 superpowered beings?"
Rating:
Summary: JMS is doin' it again!
Review: First, he turned science fiction upside down and gave it a good shake 'n twist with Babylon 5. Now, J. Michael Straczynski is doing it again with comic books ala Rising Stars. JMS has managed to take the superhero genre -- rife with formulaic villians, "super powers", and card board plots just begging for gratuitous action -- and turn it into something original and believable. Yeah, that's right: believable. When you get done reading the first act of Rising Stars you feel like these are people you could meet on the streets. Just people with real lives and real problems who just happen to have extraordinary powers. JMS has made superhero comic books realistic, just like he did to scifi with Babylon 5. I promise you'll become attached to these characters and come to love them as people. Not as superhero characters with cheesy names and weird costumes. Granted there are names and costumes a-plenty in Rising Stars. The funny part is how they came about. Randy Fisk a.k.a Ravenshadow is the best example of that: He was a comic book nut when he was little so decided it would be fun to take on a sort of Batman-like persona complete with costume and name. Don't ask. Just read. You'll love it. I'm done with the Second Act...and let me tell you: You're in for one hell of a ride. :)
Rating: 
Summary: Weak and cheaply done art hampers a good story.
Review: How many guys can you put in trenchcoats with long hair in a panel? Enough to not know who is talking.
Top Cow cheaped their way through a number of artists to bring us a less than stellar tale. Chronic lateness, long term hiatus, dreadful art, cliche and insulting character design, the fact that we are given better writing and better art in Supreme Power and mostly the same story means don't bother.
By the time a regular and decent artist was given the job it was to late and people were leaving this monthly title like rats leaving a sinking ship. I'd like to see Gary Frank start the whole series over at #1 so we can forget completely the first few issues. You will notice in the Amazon listing there is no mention of the artists on the first TP, only that there is a new cover by Gary Frank, the only highlight for Born in Fire.
Dollar for dollar your payoff is Supreme Power.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I have both collected editions, as well as the latest issue, and I am very impressed. I wish he would finish the series, or at least get back to working on it. A fun read. I enjoyed it very much, and think you will as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak for JMS
Review: I've made a terrible mistake. Instead of getting a well-crafted and insightful graphic novel that I'd read before and liked, I got the extremly poor novel adaptation. And god help me, I got the sequel, too. Where do I start? Although other reviews have complained about the literal interpretation of the comic, those were the only really readable passages. Much worse is when the author takes it upon himself to add scenes or dialogue in an attempt to make his story different. It's quite literally painful. Not only does he make the particpants charicatures of themselves, but he throws in incessant pop culture references that are both cutsey and doomed to be pathetically dated. Everything from mocking the protagonist's shopping at Target to a discussion of Jewel's poetry is pulled in, perhaps in a very ill-considred attempt to make the writing a wry social commentary. As well, not only does he fail to provide new insights into the characters' personality, he whitewashes the interesting flaws that were already there. They're diminished, passed over - he takes out references and discredits sources of critisicm. In my opinion, this book has actually diverged quite a bit from the original graphic novel. It has dumbed it down horribly. The moral - always double-check what you order.
Rating:
Summary: Icould relate
Review: If you're a reclusive, brooding, self-absorbed, anti-social individual like myself, you'll be able to relate to this book and the main character. Even if your normal, the action and other aspects should at least keep your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Cliche? i didn't think so
Review: Maybe i'm not as picky as some of the readers here, but i gave up reading comics a long time ago because they lacked both realism and depth. In the last decade, i've only picked up a few graphic novels, all of them the usual suspects (V for Vendetta, Dark Night Returns, Watchmen, Kingdom Come, Sandman, Ronin, etc.). So i think i'm picky. And i really like this. Enough to read it in one sitting and then rush out to buy the three other graphic novels i found by JMS. i'm not a JMS fan. Never saw Babylon 5. i only picked this up because of the recommendations here. i'm really happy i did. Others have described the story so i'll just mention the tone. It's another adult-type comic where the good guys have insecurities and the world at large doesn't worship them. Many of these people with superpowers can't get decent jobs and die as lonley, TV-dinner eating janitors. Some have bad tempers, some are wimps, many are child bullies, a few are primo donnas, all pretty standard human stuff. Think Watchmen. It's the kind of environment (real world) that i know others claim is overdone in comics but i don't think it's done nearly enough. So it breaks with the cliches of most comics in that there aren't clear good guys and bad guys, where human motivation plays a big role and where the public is more scared than thankful. Others here have said the book is cliche, derivative and poorly paced. Maybe i'm just not smart enough to notice, but i thought it was done wonderfully and uniquely. The only really, really horrible reversion to standard comic book style is at the very end of the second volume (Power). And that volume is pretty good. But this volume is, in my opinion, the strongest of the three
Rating:
Summary: Rising Stars
Review: Story is pretty amazing, JMS' reputation is upheld, very impressed by this variation on super-hero books.
What happens is 113 kids or born with special powers, they're feared and monitored by the US government, and the worst comes to happen when they are falsely believed to plot to overthrow the government.. this is a quick summary but there's a lot more that goes into it
The art is pretty even for a couple of different artists working on the series.. nothing stellar though, the main constant is JMS
I gotta voice a little complaint that the characters were not differentiated enough and there's a bunch of em to keep track of
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Think of XMen, then add a writer who is GREAT! Each of the characters has depth and seems like a real person (unlike other comic book heros who are 'A' typical ect.) and their are a tons of different story lines running congruently that add a whole extra level of depth to the book.
I like XMen, and I apologize to Hardcore XMen fans, but I think XMen has met it's match, and that's J. Michael Straczynski. (Good thing he freelances for Marvel, LOL!)
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