3. Rising Stars
In the late nineties the creator of Babylon 5 J. Michael Straczynski (who shall be referred to as JMS here on in due to his name giving my spellchecker heart palpitations) decided to try his hand at writing a comic, a superhero comic at that. JMS took 50 years of existing superhero mythology and crafted the compelling Rising Stars, a 24 issue limited series first published in 1999 by Top Cow Comics. Spanning 60 years, JMS epic saga begins with a meteor strike over a small US town where all the children in utero at the time are born with special powers. Rising Stars charts the lives of the 113 Specials as they grow to adulthood and deal with their powers, themselves, each other and the world itself. There are triumphs, tragedies, conspiracies and epic action in this excellent and tightly plotted comic. Rising Stars has everything you would want from a superhero story great characters, big action, gripping story line, enigmatic protagonists, brilliant visuals but it also has a complete and flawless ending which offers readers the closure missing from every other mainstream superhero comic and makes it a must read, especially for readers who dont want to get into a long running series.