Rising Stars: Visitations (Rising Stars (Image Comics)) (Paperback)

~ J. Michael Straczynski (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Rising Stars is the story of the Pederson Specials, a group of 113 people empowered by a single event. In the late Sixties a fireball struck the town of Pederson, Illnois granting fantastic powers to the 113 children who were in utero at the time of impact. They grew up as the world watched. Labeled the "Specials" by the Media, their powers were monitored and catalogued by the United States Government. Public perception of them changed often. Were they the future of mankind? A scourge? A random occurrence? Heroes? Villains? Role models or simply caricatures? What would be their impact on culture and society? They were a waried as kids and adults ever are; some were more powerful, some less. As adults they became many things: a policeman, a corporate symbol, a singer, an assassin, a writer, a painter, a thief, a preacher. Some found celebrity, some notoriety, while others simply went to work and raised families like everyone else. But they all carried inside them a seed of something great. Something special. Something that made them stars. As their epic stories unfolded, there were other stories as well...of their lives and the lives of those around them. This book is about those stories. Collected here are the short stories about the Specials, a bit about their beginnings, a bit about their middles and just a little bit about their end.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Top Cow Productions/Image Comics (November 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158240268X
• ISBN-13: 978-1582402680
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 6.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,200,004 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Four short stories, not part of the story arc, April 30, 2004

By	baylor (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This teensy, teeny book (note the cheap price) contains four articles about the Rising Stars. Well, three of the four do. The 4th is about a kid who claims to have powers to escape his mom and schoolmates. No, these are not plot-important stories. These stories are in no particular order and take place outside of the timeline and story arc of the other two Rising Stars books. Personally, i'd read this after Rising Stars 1 (Born In Fire). The stories here are character studies, mostly while the kids are young, so don't expect much action.

If you read Rising Stars, this is mostly worth reading, although hardly as gripping as the story arc stories in the other two volumes. If you don't read Rising Stars, there's no sense in reading this one.

5.0 out of 5 stars This series is gold, July 31, 2008

By	L. Cody (High Point, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a series of four vignettes set at various points during the regular series of Rising Stars, but is well worth it for any fan of the series. It gives further insights into the lives of the Specials.

The first simply contains some musings of Daniel ("Poet"); a piece out of the journal of the Special's psychiatrist; and a Supreme Court decision basically denying one of the Specials the right to remain with his parents, and the right to not be restrained while being physically examined by the Government.

The second vignette shows a government-hired "clown" introducing the child Specials to their new living quarters, a compound which includes schoolrooms, living quarters and frightening medical examination rooms. Although the "clown" is obviously intended to lull the children into a false sense of security, they quickly see the truth of the matter.

The third story is about an ordinary child who tries to pass himself off as "Special," because he feels ignored at home and abused in public school. The Specials quickly realize he's not one of them, but the story takes a surprising turn.

Finally, Jerry, the pyrokinetic "Pyre," who has played super-villain to Jason's "Flagg" superhero for years, returns home to the Special's psychiatrist, to discuss why he has played the reluctant villain all these years.

The artwork is as good as the rest of the series, and while this is a very small book -- 64 pages -- it makes an excellent coda to the series.

3.0 out of 5 stars Graphic SF Reader, September 2, 2007

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

Rising Stars: Visitations tells the story of some of the Specials when they were younger. So, this fills in some of the background of the characters that you see in the main series, and is not at all necessary for your enjoyment of the rest of it. You can pretty much guess who, of course. Probably for completist types only.