Top 10 Book 1

Rating:
Summary: The Man is A Genius
Review: Ah, Alan Moore, where would I be without you? What meaning would my life have without "Watchmen," "Swamp Thing," and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"? Time and time again, you've taken the graphic novel medium to new heights, and now you've brightened my existence with this gorgeous, hilarious, powerful work of storytelling. I think everyone who likes superheroes should be required to read "Top 10" for the insights it offers -- and everyone else should read it just because it's such a bloody good piece of work.

At first glance, "Top 10" seems like "Watchmen Lite" -- it imagines an alternative world where a boom of costumed crime-fighters in the 1940s and 50s has left a large glut of out-of-work superpeople, most of whom inhabit the pseudo-futuristic city of Neopolis. It's tough work to police a city where each and every citizen has some kind of superpower, and the job falls upon the shoulders of Precinct Ten (named because this is number ten in the multitude of parallel universes). As the story starts, we meet the latest addition to the precinct team, Robyn "Toybox" Slinger, who carries around a crate full of intelligent supertoys who do her bidding. Her new partner is a hulking, sullen, blue dude named Smax who shoots energy beams out of his chest. Robyn soon learns that at Precinct Ten, lunacy is status quo.

Half the fun of "Top 10" comes from the colorful, expansive cast of characters. Robyn's coworkers include Girl One (whose bioengineered skin constantly changes), Jack Phantom (a lesbian who can phase through solid matter, Hyperdog (a sentient Doberman in a cyborg skeleton), Irma Geddon (a middle-aged housewife with a nuclear battlesuit), King Peacock (worships Satan; punches through solid stone), Synaesthesia (listens to smells, feels colors, sees sounds -- believe it or not, this is a real condition), Janus (a switchboard operator with two faces and two personalities), Alexei (a Communist telepath with a chimanzee for a wife), and a number of others. Somehow, Moore takes this massive cast and makes each character into a fully-realized individual with his or her own motives, fears, desires, etc.

And somehow, this happens at breakneck speed as the members of precinct Ten get themselves into one bizarre situation after another. The psychopathic, telekinetic Santa Claus; the fat, middle-aged Godzilla clone; the cosmic mice; the porn star from Venus, the Ghostly Goose (name refers to what he does, not what he is)...I simply can't bring myself to give away any of the plot's oddball twists any more than necessary. All is not comeday hijinks, however. I express my admiration that Moore can cause such laughter while at the same time dealing with such serious issues as STDs, drug abuse, teen prostitution and pedophilia, closet homosexuals, bigotry, and interspecies realationships (Hyperdog falls for a human woman, and vice versa). One minute you're laughing uproariously, the next minute you're struck into silence as a character is forced to make a painful personal decision, or another tries to cope with the knowledge of his impending, inevitable doom. It's amazing that Moore can throw all this together and have it come out so well. And it would be unfair of me not to mention the exquisite artwork of Gene Ha, who fills each panel with a glorious swamp of detail.

So yeah, that's my rant. "Top 10" is now my favorite Alan Moore comic, and my second-favorite graphic novel of all time (despite everything, I still like "Sandman" best). If you happen to spot this treasure on the shelf of your local bookstore -- by all means, spend the $14.95. Buy Volume Two as well. It's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Come to beautiful Neopolis
Review: Alan Moore produces his first superteam story since his run on WildCATS, this time choosing to portray a police station's officers in a city of people with superpowers.

He is obviously having fun, with a variety of criminals and other threats that we might not otherwise expect to see. The characters are many and varied, some of whom have powers, some have super-science weaponry, some are simply people in costumes. With a whole city of super-beings, we have normal jobs being carried out by people in costumes. For example, the book begins with fears about the return of the Libra Killer, who in previous years has killed and decapitated prostitutes. In Neopolis, the prostitutes have super powers, and these are used to play to their clients peccadilloes.

Then there is the murder investigation of the death of the Norse god of beauty, Baldur. Boy, his relatives are an odd bunch - his father Woden, mother Frey, brothers Thunor and Hod, and uncle Lokk may help redefine your view of the Norse gods, especially if you read that other comic with Norse gods...

More fun is had by artists Gene Ha and Zander Cannon. Look closely - you'll find possibly recognisable characters in all sorts of odd circumstances. My favourite, possibly, is someone who looks like Charlie Brown in a Doctor Doom costume! How much of this is from Alan Moore's scripts is another question...

If I have a problem it is that there is so much happening, so many throw away pieces, so many characters... It's a little too much. But then, you can read it over and over again for more detail.

Rating:
Summary: the best of Alan Moore's current bunch
Review: Assuming you're somewhat familiar with what's good and bad, hot and not, in the comics world, you're already familiar with Alan Moore, his towering reputation (as author of groundbreaking works like "The Watchmen" and "From Hell" [soon to be coming to a movie theatre near you]) and--currently, anyway--prodigious output. Of all the Moore titles currently in production, Top Ten just barely makes the top of the heap.

What we've got here is a set of sly in-jokes blended into a fusion of Hill Street Blues and the JLA. In an imaginary city populated with all manners of superpowered individuals (right down to the cats and mice), who keeps the peace and enforces rule of law? The good officers of Precinct 10, of course.

Top Ten is a lot of fun and usually good for a few laughs--every issue is a winner, and this collection should appeal to anyone who enjoys police dramas, superhero ensembles, or farcical humor. Moore is at his best when he's playing with the structure of the superhero concept, and in Top 10 he's found an excellent vehicle for a few of his more offbeat ideas. Dedicated comic book fans will find lots to enjoy in his subtle jabs at superhero conceits of the past three decades.

(But don't just buy it because there's a nekkid superhero involved--there's really not much to see!)

Rating:
Summary: Pure Enjoyment
Review: It will crack you up and still keep you interested in the dramatic story. A great cop story and an unbeatable satire on superhero comics. I laughed out loud a number of times. The background jokes alone are worth the cost of the book.

Think of a smarter, funnier NYPD Blue policing a city where everyone is a super-hero, robot, movie monster, god, or mad scientist.

Dense, rewarding, and as funny as any comic you'll ever read.

My only complaint is to the publisher. Top Ten should be released in one volume, not two. It is ONE story. Duh! Do you want this to have the kind of a shelf life as Watchmen has or not?

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Stuff
Review: The conceit of Top 10 - a world where everyone, from the lowliest vagrant to window washers to taxi drivers, to grandmas and grandpas and little babies, absolutely everyone, is superpowered - is so exciting and funny that you almost can't believe it could be as great as it sounds. Except that it is.

In the initial two volumes of the comic, Alan Moore never stops inventing new details, and broadening the scope of his world. The story is centered on a police precinct (all the cops are superheroes, of course), but really the crimes and mysteries and adventures they follow, are simply vehicles for exploring this amazingly realized and enthralling world. Even the songs on the radio are about superheroes! By the time Moore introduces us to the superpowered exerminator cats, hilariously outfitted with capes and cannons, I guarantee that you'll be fully sold.