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Top 10 #1
Top Ten
Already hailed by critics as classic Moore, Top Ten is Hill Street Blues...with superheroes. To police Neopolis, a city teeming with superbeings, you need a team of the greatest superbeings of all. Welcome to Precinct 10 - the local stationhouse of an interdimensional super-powered police force! Top Ten follows the lives, adventures and relationships of ten very diverse superhero cops, who have to deal with everything from skyscraper-sized invaders from another dimension to the pettiest of domestic disputes...
Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
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About the author
Alan Moore
1,577 books21.7k followersAlan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 283 reviews
March 1, 2016
Pop Songs from Another World
Set in the fantastically cosmopolitan yet socially backwards city of Neopolis, Top 10 revolves around the day-to-day lives of the police officers at the 10th Precinct Police Station. The population of Neopolis consists of humans and animals with superpowers, robots, cyborgs, gods, monsters, beings from other dimensions - you name it. Not an easy place to police, to be sure, but to the officers at the 10th Precinct all this is business as usual.
Above all, Top 10 is a textbook example of worldbuilding done right. Alan Moore and Gene Ha throw the reader right into the hustle and bustle of their fictional universe, immediately bringing it to life with complex and relatable characters, believable social hierarchies, and countless convincingly rendered details: pop-song lyrics that commercially exploit the fears and dreams of Neopolis, forms of prejudice and discrimination that make perfect sense in their social context, drug use that hints at the city's social problems and coping mechanisms, bizarre forms of pornography and prostitution that shed light on its dirty underbelly.
Yet while the concrete details of life in Neopolis differ from those of our own world, its daily routines and struggles - on a more abstract level - in many ways resemble our own everyday experiences. This tension between strangeness and familiarity is crucial to the title's appeal, as it allows for tongue-in-cheek commentary on social phenomena we are all too familiar with, making even the most alien situations relatable.
Set in the fantastically cosmopolitan yet socially backwards city of Neopolis, Top 10 revolves around the day-to-day lives of the police officers at the 10th Precinct Police Station. The population of Neopolis consists of humans and animals with superpowers, robots, cyborgs, gods, monsters, beings from other dimensions - you name it. Not an easy place to police, to be sure, but to the officers at the 10th Precinct all this is business as usual.
Above all, Top 10 is a textbook example of worldbuilding done right. Alan Moore and Gene Ha throw the reader right into the hustle and bustle of their fictional universe, immediately bringing it to life with complex and relatable characters, believable social hierarchies, and countless convincingly rendered details: pop-song lyrics that commercially exploit the fears and dreams of Neopolis, forms of prejudice and discrimination that make perfect sense in their social context, drug use that hints at the city's social problems and coping mechanisms, bizarre forms of pornography and prostitution that shed light on its dirty underbelly.
Yet while the concrete details of life in Neopolis differ from those of our own world, its daily routines and struggles - on a more abstract level - in many ways resemble our own everyday experiences. This tension between strangeness and familiarity is crucial to the title's appeal, as it allows for tongue-in-cheek commentary on social phenomena we are all too familiar with, making even the most alien situations relatable.
January 12, 2015
Simply said: this is one of my favorite comics, written by one of the best comic writers ever.
Don't like comics about superheroes? Doesn't matter, you should read this book.
Don't like comics about police procedure? Doesn't matter, you should read this book.
Don't like comics? You should still read this book.
Now if you happen to *like* any of the above. That's a bonus for you. You'll like this even more.
But seriously. This is absolutely worth your time.
Don't like comics about superheroes? Doesn't matter, you should read this book.
Don't like comics about police procedure? Doesn't matter, you should read this book.
Don't like comics? You should still read this book.
Now if you happen to *like* any of the above. That's a bonus for you. You'll like this even more.
But seriously. This is absolutely worth your time.
March 13, 2016
This was my first review of this volume of Top Ten in July 2013, after a quick read:
After The Watchmen, this? The idea is that everyone in NYC has a superpower... how do the cops handle THAT? Yet another take on superpowers... but really, who cares?
So, on the urging of a couple people, I reread this and think it is better than I initially did. The idea is that Neopolis has ONLY people in it with superpowers, and if you are a superhero kinda writer as Alan Moore is, this allows you to go crazy having fun with inventing superpowers for every character. This in a sense is what superhero writers are about, inventing superpowers for particular reasons, and so even if you take this tongue-in-cheek a little (i.e., if it is cool fro you to read about beings with superpower, wouldn't it be SUPERcool if EVERYONE had a superpower, dude??), it should still make you smile. And I did, this time. It's fun and is Moore not taking himself too seriously, he's not being philosophical and postmodern, he's writing fun comics.
And he's creating a world of crazy people who are actually relatable, whom you care about! Well, I did more this time, because I slowed down a bit.
There's more creativity and imagination on any single page of this than most comics for sure, but the creativity comes in quick little ideas, bursts of cool concepts to make you smile, not huge WOW ideas such as in From Hell or Watchmen. The dialogue is fun and still feels contemporary in many ways, and is sharp and insightful, and Gene Ha's art fits the wildly inventive tale. It all feels more lighthearted than most of Moore. But you know, I didn't love and still don't love the superhero/police procedural mashup aspect of the series. I'll read more, just to be fair, to see if gets better and richer, but that cop aspect of it I don't love so much, still. Robyn, our new cop, is the lens we see the world through in this volume and she's okay so far. I'll read on.
After The Watchmen, this? The idea is that everyone in NYC has a superpower... how do the cops handle THAT? Yet another take on superpowers... but really, who cares?
So, on the urging of a couple people, I reread this and think it is better than I initially did. The idea is that Neopolis has ONLY people in it with superpowers, and if you are a superhero kinda writer as Alan Moore is, this allows you to go crazy having fun with inventing superpowers for every character. This in a sense is what superhero writers are about, inventing superpowers for particular reasons, and so even if you take this tongue-in-cheek a little (i.e., if it is cool fro you to read about beings with superpower, wouldn't it be SUPERcool if EVERYONE had a superpower, dude??), it should still make you smile. And I did, this time. It's fun and is Moore not taking himself too seriously, he's not being philosophical and postmodern, he's writing fun comics.
And he's creating a world of crazy people who are actually relatable, whom you care about! Well, I did more this time, because I slowed down a bit.
There's more creativity and imagination on any single page of this than most comics for sure, but the creativity comes in quick little ideas, bursts of cool concepts to make you smile, not huge WOW ideas such as in From Hell or Watchmen. The dialogue is fun and still feels contemporary in many ways, and is sharp and insightful, and Gene Ha's art fits the wildly inventive tale. It all feels more lighthearted than most of Moore. But you know, I didn't love and still don't love the superhero/police procedural mashup aspect of the series. I'll read more, just to be fair, to see if gets better and richer, but that cop aspect of it I don't love so much, still. Robyn, our new cop, is the lens we see the world through in this volume and she's okay so far. I'll read on.
August 18, 2024
Top 10 is information overload Alan Moore, taking superhero deconstruction to the Nth degree, as there's an entire city of multiversal superheroes. The unique take, however, is that Top 10 is a police procedural about the cops who embody fantasy character archetypes, and investigate this city where superpowered colorful types can be just average losers. It's smart, and surprisingly irreverent and funny. Gene Ha's detailed art makes it feel even more overwhelming, in a way that somehow works.
April 13, 2015
Issue #7 is one of my all-time favorite comics...fantastic.
And hilarious.
And hilarious.
January 27, 2008
Anyone familiar with the 'golden age of Vertigo comics' in the 90s is familiar with Alan Moore, legendarily prodigal and eccentric master of illustrated narration. His most famous works, V for Vendetta and Watchmen, were written in the 1980s, and have received very widespread acclaim and a fair degree of mainstream recognition. Alan Moore's more recent work with America's Best Comics (or "ABC") is comparatively less well known, but in many ways more polished and streamlined than his famous works, and Top 10 is one such example.
Top 10's premise is simple: what would law enforcement look like in a world where everyone is a superhuman? Heroes, villains, monsters, and freaks populate the Tenth Precinct of Neopolis, and the police are just as strange. They include a chummy middle-class housewife in missile-loaded power armor, a synethesiac psychometer, and an intelligent doberman in a man-shaped exoskeleton. They respond to the kind of over-the-top calls we all expect there would be in a super-heavy universe: domestic disputes (with an amorphous, rubbery husband), murders (perpetrated by psychic aliens), drug busts (against aged Nazi superscientists), and drunk & disorderly behavior (by 20-story Godzilla-esque monsters).
Superficially, Top 10 is a farce, both of superhero comics and of cop fiction. Imagine the Fantastic Four covering for the characters of Dragnet, or Spiderman behind the wheel of Car 54. By treating the incredibly strange as run-of-the-mill, the story nimbly counterposes the improbable logic of mainstream comics with the jaded 'seen-it-all' deadpan of crime fiction.
This is not Top 10's only purpose, however. In typical Alan Moore style, a wide range of characters are given remarkably distinct personalities in a a few brief panels through excellent dialog with sharp contours and the full gamut of demeanors. What Top 10 is really about is the greater underlying difficulties of police work: competition vs. teamwork, working with people who have conflicting beliefs, dealing with racial intolerance both in the citizenry and among officers. A careful read reveals surprisingly rich commentary about duty and sacrifice. How does law enforcement, composed of sometimes-rough-around-the-edges individuals, overcome individual differences to improve society? How do the police handle grief or anger? How do police overcome being understaffed and spread too thin? These are weighty topics for a basically comedic comic book, and Top 10 respects its source material astonishingly well for a farce.
That said, Top 10 isn't for everyone. As an ensemble piece, the characters are vivid but not necessarily deep. Many characters serve a function, and Moore's talent for painting characters with a fast brush will likely leave many readers craving more background that they must simply imagine. And with possibilities as unfettered as those of Top 10 (where nearly everything that could happen in any superhero storyline does), those backgrounds can feel unfathomable.
Also, Moore's willingness to push the buttons of both his characters and his readers will make parts of Top 10 quite racy for a sensitive audience. Like its crime fiction inspiration (and unlike mainstream superhero fiction), Top 10 doesn't shy away from prostitution, drugs, or other mature themes that police face every day. Then again, any fan of Alan Moore (especially those who slogged through From Hell) know what they're in for when digging into one of his worlds.
Despite these (in my view minor) failings, Top 10's first volume (of two in its main storyline) makes a solid read and will be a treat for anyone who enjoys superheroes, crime, or both.
Top 10's premise is simple: what would law enforcement look like in a world where everyone is a superhuman? Heroes, villains, monsters, and freaks populate the Tenth Precinct of Neopolis, and the police are just as strange. They include a chummy middle-class housewife in missile-loaded power armor, a synethesiac psychometer, and an intelligent doberman in a man-shaped exoskeleton. They respond to the kind of over-the-top calls we all expect there would be in a super-heavy universe: domestic disputes (with an amorphous, rubbery husband), murders (perpetrated by psychic aliens), drug busts (against aged Nazi superscientists), and drunk & disorderly behavior (by 20-story Godzilla-esque monsters).
Superficially, Top 10 is a farce, both of superhero comics and of cop fiction. Imagine the Fantastic Four covering for the characters of Dragnet, or Spiderman behind the wheel of Car 54. By treating the incredibly strange as run-of-the-mill, the story nimbly counterposes the improbable logic of mainstream comics with the jaded 'seen-it-all' deadpan of crime fiction.
This is not Top 10's only purpose, however. In typical Alan Moore style, a wide range of characters are given remarkably distinct personalities in a a few brief panels through excellent dialog with sharp contours and the full gamut of demeanors. What Top 10 is really about is the greater underlying difficulties of police work: competition vs. teamwork, working with people who have conflicting beliefs, dealing with racial intolerance both in the citizenry and among officers. A careful read reveals surprisingly rich commentary about duty and sacrifice. How does law enforcement, composed of sometimes-rough-around-the-edges individuals, overcome individual differences to improve society? How do the police handle grief or anger? How do police overcome being understaffed and spread too thin? These are weighty topics for a basically comedic comic book, and Top 10 respects its source material astonishingly well for a farce.
That said, Top 10 isn't for everyone. As an ensemble piece, the characters are vivid but not necessarily deep. Many characters serve a function, and Moore's talent for painting characters with a fast brush will likely leave many readers craving more background that they must simply imagine. And with possibilities as unfettered as those of Top 10 (where nearly everything that could happen in any superhero storyline does), those backgrounds can feel unfathomable.
Also, Moore's willingness to push the buttons of both his characters and his readers will make parts of Top 10 quite racy for a sensitive audience. Like its crime fiction inspiration (and unlike mainstream superhero fiction), Top 10 doesn't shy away from prostitution, drugs, or other mature themes that police face every day. Then again, any fan of Alan Moore (especially those who slogged through From Hell) know what they're in for when digging into one of his worlds.
Despite these (in my view minor) failings, Top 10's first volume (of two in its main storyline) makes a solid read and will be a treat for anyone who enjoys superheroes, crime, or both.
December 8, 2016
I've been doing an Alan Moore marathon lately, and Top 10 has been my third in this wave, after Providence and that awful Terra Obscura.
Alan Moore's Watchmen is the reason why I got into comics, and since then I've gradually filled my bookshelf with his creations. First, the must-buys like V for Vendetta, From Hell and the League of Extra Ordinary Gentlemen (I sadly haven't read Swamp Thing yet) then with his other works like Promethea, Lost Girls, Neonomicon and A Small Killing. Top 10 is my third and current wave of reading Alan Moore titles.
Top 10 is set in a society where everyone has some sort of ability. It is a sci-fi fantasy where humans live with monsters, cyborgs, aliens, droids and even gods. Top 10 is what the police department is called there.
I love the sheer variety of the characters in Top 10. They are not just super strong dudes who can fly. Each member of the eponymous police department is competent yet lacks some skills that others have. Alan Moore has effectively jumbled them in numerous police activities like arrests and crime-solving in weird and wacky ways.
Top 10 matches Transmetropolitan in terms of the world-building, which is a neo-techno-dystopian future. The world is how Moore imagined it if having superpowers or some sort of metahuman ability is the norm.
A seven-issue volume one, though self-contained in most aspects has some plots that are yet to be solved in the next volume, which just runs for five issues. This is worth reading.
Alan Moore's Watchmen is the reason why I got into comics, and since then I've gradually filled my bookshelf with his creations. First, the must-buys like V for Vendetta, From Hell and the League of Extra Ordinary Gentlemen (I sadly haven't read Swamp Thing yet) then with his other works like Promethea, Lost Girls, Neonomicon and A Small Killing. Top 10 is my third and current wave of reading Alan Moore titles.
Top 10 is set in a society where everyone has some sort of ability. It is a sci-fi fantasy where humans live with monsters, cyborgs, aliens, droids and even gods. Top 10 is what the police department is called there.
I love the sheer variety of the characters in Top 10. They are not just super strong dudes who can fly. Each member of the eponymous police department is competent yet lacks some skills that others have. Alan Moore has effectively jumbled them in numerous police activities like arrests and crime-solving in weird and wacky ways.
Top 10 matches Transmetropolitan in terms of the world-building, which is a neo-techno-dystopian future. The world is how Moore imagined it if having superpowers or some sort of metahuman ability is the norm.
A seven-issue volume one, though self-contained in most aspects has some plots that are yet to be solved in the next volume, which just runs for five issues. This is worth reading.
December 18, 2019
Much must be said about the panels in an Alan Moore graphic novel. I still remember the bloodiness of "From Hell"--messy like innards. In Top 10, the context of the panels is incredible: so much occurs in that snapshot moment. Always, Moore displays much more than the eye can catch; and plot-wise, also much more than we can understand at the moment, & if some details were never caught oh well. That is part of it--his world of everyday superheroes (in this world, everyone is born with their own personalized powers!) is so alive, that often three characters found within one enigmatic frame can be saying three things at once. The word bubble (like his fine characters, his outrageous dilemmas, like Moore's medium itself) contains multitudes...
April 2, 2017
Yep, this is what happens when you start digging around your collection of (*koff*old*/koff*) comics.
Top 10 was probably my *most* favourite thing to come out from the ABC/Wildstorm imprint when it was around.
Written by Alan Moore and pencilled by Gene Ha/Zander Cannon. Such great writing and such great art to go with it (esp Gene Ha I love his art)!
Planning to do a re-read of these (I only have the original run in physical copies #1-#12, but now have my eye on the digital collected version also - can't keep taking my copies in and out of the plastic, maaan). Ah, such good books.
Top 10 was probably my *most* favourite thing to come out from the ABC/Wildstorm imprint when it was around.
Written by Alan Moore and pencilled by Gene Ha/Zander Cannon. Such great writing and such great art to go with it (esp Gene Ha I love his art)!
Planning to do a re-read of these (I only have the original run in physical copies #1-#12, but now have my eye on the digital collected version also - can't keep taking my copies in and out of the plastic, maaan). Ah, such good books.
March 6, 2022
This was a really fun story about a universe of superheros. New crazy characters were introduced on literally every page, but the storytelling still flowed naturally. I also really liked the vibrant artwork.
April 23, 2015
Excellent SiFi comic series. Very good blending of a police story in a SiFi setting. very good art and story. Very recommended
November 27, 2019
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. I love how Moore imagined a world where there was a city for all the super heroes and villains. Everyone has powers, homeless and hookers, cats and mice, your average Joe, etc. Needless to say, the Police also have powers to combat lawbreakers with powers. And that is where our story takes us.
Precinct 10 is where our story takes place. And while everyone has some sort of power, they are all just like regular cops. You have the murders and all, but you also deal with drug dealers, drunks, and just common domestic calls. And just because the officers are supers, doesn't mean they don't have their own personal problems at home. Because of this, sometimes I forgot that this officer may be invulnerable, and that one can fly. They are just regular people with a tough job that can wear them down.
The art work was really good as well as the story. I had a fun time looking at the little details behind the main focus. Seeing what heroes from comics I read are now on an ad on a wall. Or maybe walking down the street. It was also fun to see where they snuck in illustrations of Moore as well. Easter Eggs all around the book. The combination of art and Moore's story telling was spot on, and I really enjoyed it. The character development went well, although since this is half of the series, some of the characters only were lightly developed. I guess we will learn more of their stories in the next novel. I really did enjoy this and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something new to read.
August 14, 2015
Don't let the lame title put you off. I almost walked right by this graphic novel by Alan Moore sitting on the "new" shelf at my local library. Neither the title nor the cover art appealed much to me, but fortunately I spied the author's name in the smaller cover print, and grabbed it up, and I'm happy I did. It may not be Alan Moore's best work, but Moore's second or third or fourth best work is still better than most, and this is really good Alan Moore that needs to be read by anyone who reads comic books or graphic novels.
And it's not even new, so I don't know what it's doing on my library's new shelf, because Moore wrote this darkly comic superhero series about 15 years ago. Set in a parallel earth where "science heroes" started appearing during World War II and then began proliferating at great numbers over the following decades, Top Ten provides with the reader with some familiar territory, mining the world of comics and superheroes with a self-referential sense of bittersweet irony. It's complex; it's funny; it's sad. And if you read it carefully and pay close attention to Gene Ha's art, you'll find all kinds of tips of the hat and nods of the head to the comic book industry and the world of popular culture it has spawned.
Moore himself is pure genius at world building, and the world he creates inTop Ten feels quite "real" despite how less "realistic" it is from the one in Watchmen. Here, Top Ten takes place at the Tenth Precinct police station in the futuristic yet filthy city of Neopolis where all the "science heroes" have come to live and work, along with the aliens, robots, monsters and supervillains that naturally gravitate toward a community like this and where nearly everyone has an alter-ego and a costume in the closet. Wearing one's underpants on the outside of one's clothing is de rigueur in the world of Top Ten, and if it all sounds quite strange, think of Hill Street Blues as reimagined by Steve Gerber taking place in some dirty Tomorrowland where even the mice have superpowers, and you'll be closest to what Top Ten is all about.
Like Hill Street Blues, Top Ten has its enormous cast of colorful characters from every imaginable spectrum of life that play into and against stereotype and sometimes manage to do both at the same time. Just like any police drama, there's the buddy thing going on, gender issues, sexual dynamics, strained race relations (although in Neopolis, "species" seems to play a bigger role than race), a well-meaning captain, partners who don't get along, partners who do, laughs in the cafeteria, and the new guy trying to find his way, although here the new guy here is Joe Pi, a transfer from Parallel Nine who looks an awful lot like Voltron and causes the resident speciesist to complain a lot about clickers and clockwork-kissers. There are hookers and gangbangers in all kinds of strange shapes and incarnations, an overbearing lieutenant who can fly, a pathologist who shrinks to atomic size to do her postmortems, a tough-as-nails lesbian who can phase through solid materials, and the indestructible guy who has a lot more going on inside than most folks are aware. Yeah, it all sounds strangely familiar, but that was true for Hill Street Blues in the first place. A good writer takes the commonplace and reinvents it for his audience, and behold, all things are become new.
There's even the police sergeant in Top Ten who conducts the morning roll call, and although Sergeant Kemlo Caesar appears to be a doberman pinscher encased in a robotic exo-skeleton who favors loud print Hawaiian shirts and Chuck Taylors, he might just remind you a bit of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus. I almost expected him to tell his team of detectives and officers, "Let's be careful out there." And it's Moore's ability to create that odd sense of similarity between something absurdly foreign and comfortably familiar which is the driving force behind this fascinating graphic novel. After all, beneath the superpowers and colorful costumes and alter-egos, Moore presents a simple yet compelling message about diversity and tolerance, and without getting too corny about it here, Alan Moore blends elements of the sci-fi epic and the superhero comic book with the cop drama to make it all work to a satisfying effect in this very different setting.
And it's not even new, so I don't know what it's doing on my library's new shelf, because Moore wrote this darkly comic superhero series about 15 years ago. Set in a parallel earth where "science heroes" started appearing during World War II and then began proliferating at great numbers over the following decades, Top Ten provides with the reader with some familiar territory, mining the world of comics and superheroes with a self-referential sense of bittersweet irony. It's complex; it's funny; it's sad. And if you read it carefully and pay close attention to Gene Ha's art, you'll find all kinds of tips of the hat and nods of the head to the comic book industry and the world of popular culture it has spawned.
Moore himself is pure genius at world building, and the world he creates inTop Ten feels quite "real" despite how less "realistic" it is from the one in Watchmen. Here, Top Ten takes place at the Tenth Precinct police station in the futuristic yet filthy city of Neopolis where all the "science heroes" have come to live and work, along with the aliens, robots, monsters and supervillains that naturally gravitate toward a community like this and where nearly everyone has an alter-ego and a costume in the closet. Wearing one's underpants on the outside of one's clothing is de rigueur in the world of Top Ten, and if it all sounds quite strange, think of Hill Street Blues as reimagined by Steve Gerber taking place in some dirty Tomorrowland where even the mice have superpowers, and you'll be closest to what Top Ten is all about.
Like Hill Street Blues, Top Ten has its enormous cast of colorful characters from every imaginable spectrum of life that play into and against stereotype and sometimes manage to do both at the same time. Just like any police drama, there's the buddy thing going on, gender issues, sexual dynamics, strained race relations (although in Neopolis, "species" seems to play a bigger role than race), a well-meaning captain, partners who don't get along, partners who do, laughs in the cafeteria, and the new guy trying to find his way, although here the new guy here is Joe Pi, a transfer from Parallel Nine who looks an awful lot like Voltron and causes the resident speciesist to complain a lot about clickers and clockwork-kissers. There are hookers and gangbangers in all kinds of strange shapes and incarnations, an overbearing lieutenant who can fly, a pathologist who shrinks to atomic size to do her postmortems, a tough-as-nails lesbian who can phase through solid materials, and the indestructible guy who has a lot more going on inside than most folks are aware. Yeah, it all sounds strangely familiar, but that was true for Hill Street Blues in the first place. A good writer takes the commonplace and reinvents it for his audience, and behold, all things are become new.
There's even the police sergeant in Top Ten who conducts the morning roll call, and although Sergeant Kemlo Caesar appears to be a doberman pinscher encased in a robotic exo-skeleton who favors loud print Hawaiian shirts and Chuck Taylors, he might just remind you a bit of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus. I almost expected him to tell his team of detectives and officers, "Let's be careful out there." And it's Moore's ability to create that odd sense of similarity between something absurdly foreign and comfortably familiar which is the driving force behind this fascinating graphic novel. After all, beneath the superpowers and colorful costumes and alter-egos, Moore presents a simple yet compelling message about diversity and tolerance, and without getting too corny about it here, Alan Moore blends elements of the sci-fi epic and the superhero comic book with the cop drama to make it all work to a satisfying effect in this very different setting.
May 12, 2019
I was a little worried re-reading this for the first time in 10 years. This series is officially 20 years old, and I thought it may not've aged well. Boy, I'm glad to be wrong.
I've been doing a full ABC Comics re-read lately, basically reading or re-reading everything Alan Moore & Co. published during the brief existence of the imprint. So far, this series is by far the best. It's just teeming with life and energy. The dialogue crackles, the mysteries are simultaneously thrilling and hilarious, and the sheer amount of world-building is staggering.
Creating an entire city that is populated 100% with "science heroes" (let's face it, they're just super heroes) could be a tall order. The scope of having so many powers, abilities, and types of creature all on top of each other seems like it could be a narrative disaster. Add in the fact that this is a story about that city's police force, and things could really get out of control with stories that require too much backbending to justify why someone doesn't just roll in with the perfect superpower for every scenario. But Moore's done a masterful job keeping the stakes very grounded, making it clear that this isn't a story about superpowers, it's a story about the people of this city. Sure, it's kind of an insane city, but it's still just a city. If everyone has superpowers, then nobody does.
I really can't praise this highly enough. I think I enjoyed it more than almost anything else Moore has written, short of maybe Watchmen and From Hell. It's by far his most entertaining work, never getting too heavy, but still putting out a metric ton of ideas in nearly every issue. Also, Gene Ha's incredible, detailed artwork really brings this thriving city to life, which is equally as important as Moore's writing.
If you've never given Top 10 a shot, I really recommend it. It holds up wonderfully, and will make you wish there were more than just 12 issues of the original series. I'm excited to get into the issues of it I've never read before, too!
I've been doing a full ABC Comics re-read lately, basically reading or re-reading everything Alan Moore & Co. published during the brief existence of the imprint. So far, this series is by far the best. It's just teeming with life and energy. The dialogue crackles, the mysteries are simultaneously thrilling and hilarious, and the sheer amount of world-building is staggering.
Creating an entire city that is populated 100% with "science heroes" (let's face it, they're just super heroes) could be a tall order. The scope of having so many powers, abilities, and types of creature all on top of each other seems like it could be a narrative disaster. Add in the fact that this is a story about that city's police force, and things could really get out of control with stories that require too much backbending to justify why someone doesn't just roll in with the perfect superpower for every scenario. But Moore's done a masterful job keeping the stakes very grounded, making it clear that this isn't a story about superpowers, it's a story about the people of this city. Sure, it's kind of an insane city, but it's still just a city. If everyone has superpowers, then nobody does.
I really can't praise this highly enough. I think I enjoyed it more than almost anything else Moore has written, short of maybe Watchmen and From Hell. It's by far his most entertaining work, never getting too heavy, but still putting out a metric ton of ideas in nearly every issue. Also, Gene Ha's incredible, detailed artwork really brings this thriving city to life, which is equally as important as Moore's writing.
If you've never given Top 10 a shot, I really recommend it. It holds up wonderfully, and will make you wish there were more than just 12 issues of the original series. I'm excited to get into the issues of it I've never read before, too!
January 17, 2015
There's a lot to commend Top 10, the 12 book series of graphic novels by Alan Moore.
The story follows a police precinct in Neopolis consisting of superpowered beings. We follow the detectives' daily trials and travails as they investigate a Jack the Ripper-esque serial killer. It's a police procedural, but with superheroes. We see them struggle through their family lives, their professional issues, their love lives.
Several teams investigate different cases. Sometimes the cases overlap. There are other smaller cases to follow as well.
The art is beautiful, so visually arresting. Neopolis comes alive in Gene Ha's illustrations. It's not just the people, but the places. The skyline, the extraordinary skyway, the dank and dreary alleyways. I could get lost in that world.
What irked me, though, was that despite its novel idea and concept, Ton 10 still treads the same old path. The men are diversely drawn, an old cowboy, the nerd, the gigantic invincible fella, the old old captain. But when it comes to the women... we have one large woman who is covered head to toe in tech. Almost all the rest are conventionally drawn and they are all highly sexualised. Seems like in Neopolis women find it hard to get pants, or even a proper shirt. Only one female character dresses like an actual cop (as opposed to the men, almost all of whom dress in suits), and she's black and is the typical trope of 'keeps falling in love with all the men around her'.
The highly sexualised nature of the women continues in the professional field. Barring the cops, the only women we see are the prostitutes being killed off, and a porn star. There's no gratuitous nudity, but plenty of angled shots accentuating the women's... assets. If they were drawn as such as part of an overriding commentary on our view of female heroes, I may have forgiven it. But no, it's all part and parcel of the gaze of the writing. Ladies have to be hot, guys can be a range of them. Almost all the women's love lives are on display, but the men are not judged by that. They have their various issues, love not being the most integral part of it.
I wanted to love this book, but it wasn't possible with that all-pervasive male gaze. Story and art was great though.
The story follows a police precinct in Neopolis consisting of superpowered beings. We follow the detectives' daily trials and travails as they investigate a Jack the Ripper-esque serial killer. It's a police procedural, but with superheroes. We see them struggle through their family lives, their professional issues, their love lives.
Several teams investigate different cases. Sometimes the cases overlap. There are other smaller cases to follow as well.
The art is beautiful, so visually arresting. Neopolis comes alive in Gene Ha's illustrations. It's not just the people, but the places. The skyline, the extraordinary skyway, the dank and dreary alleyways. I could get lost in that world.
What irked me, though, was that despite its novel idea and concept, Ton 10 still treads the same old path. The men are diversely drawn, an old cowboy, the nerd, the gigantic invincible fella, the old old captain. But when it comes to the women... we have one large woman who is covered head to toe in tech. Almost all the rest are conventionally drawn and they are all highly sexualised. Seems like in Neopolis women find it hard to get pants, or even a proper shirt. Only one female character dresses like an actual cop (as opposed to the men, almost all of whom dress in suits), and she's black and is the typical trope of 'keeps falling in love with all the men around her'.
The highly sexualised nature of the women continues in the professional field. Barring the cops, the only women we see are the prostitutes being killed off, and a porn star. There's no gratuitous nudity, but plenty of angled shots accentuating the women's... assets. If they were drawn as such as part of an overriding commentary on our view of female heroes, I may have forgiven it. But no, it's all part and parcel of the gaze of the writing. Ladies have to be hot, guys can be a range of them. Almost all the women's love lives are on display, but the men are not judged by that. They have their various issues, love not being the most integral part of it.
I wanted to love this book, but it wasn't possible with that all-pervasive male gaze. Story and art was great though.
June 8, 2015
I was kind of overwhelmed with the detail in the beginning, but I really got into it, especially when I found out it was supposed to be funny. (Is something funny if you have to be told it is?) There's some very serious moments too though. The detailed art is great; I've never heard of Gene Ha. I don't pretend to understand all the comic book easter eggs in the background. This volume is fairly dense and dialog heavy with smaller panels, maybe like the Gotham Central series. I think it's a good thing. It probably took me a good 5 hours to read all 12 issues. There was also some genuinely suspenseful moments. Lots of diverse and very human (and some bizarre) characters. From all of Alan Moore's works, I actually like this and Neonomicon the best. It just got reprinted and showed up in my bookstore.
One more thing. I liked this bit where 2 or 3 different plots happen at once, and literally pass themselves in the police station hallways. There was quite a feeling of "verisimilitude", to use a high school word.
One more thing. I liked this bit where 2 or 3 different plots happen at once, and literally pass themselves in the police station hallways. There was quite a feeling of "verisimilitude", to use a high school word.
October 5, 2013
I think I just need to stop reading Alan Moore, I know people love him and he is supposed to be great, but I'm bored. I was bored reading Watchmen, I was disappointed by Batman: The Killing Joke, and Top 10, Vol. 1 sounded like a great concept but instead all I'm getting is a Law&Order spin off that is slow and boring with predictable characters. Personally if I want superhero Law&Order I'll read Dan Slott, his 2005 She Hulk series is awesome!
July 10, 2016
Hmm. Struggling to know what to say about this one.
Did I like it?
Was it interesting?
Yeah.
Did I love it?
Did it capture me?
Was I thinking about it when not reading it?
Did I rip right through it?
Did it have me longing for more?
Nope.
Will I read the other two books?
Maybe.
Did I like it?
Was it interesting?
Yeah.
Did I love it?
Did it capture me?
Was I thinking about it when not reading it?
Did I rip right through it?
Did it have me longing for more?
Nope.
Will I read the other two books?
Maybe.
February 25, 2020
So this comic is by Alan Moore with a simple concept of a city where everyone has superpowers. The story follows the police department of the city which has to deal with a city where in criminals can be super powerful and it was super fun to see random major superheroes like Superman, Flash etc. tucked in the corner. In the Gods story-line even Krishna was thrown in with the Gods. Let's see what the second volume has to offer.
I have always loved comics, and I hope that I will always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics or Diamond Comics or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I Love comics to bit, may comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
I have always loved comics, and I hope that I will always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics or Diamond Comics or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I Love comics to bit, may comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
July 27, 2020
Only Alan Moore could get me this invested in a police procedural in 2020 CE. This is Astro City with an Edge, or Transmet with Superheroes, but what shines through is the heart and humanity Moore imbues every character with and Gene Ha's artwork here is as detailed and sumptuous as Geoff Darrow's.
November 23, 2019
A graphic novel written by the Dostoevsky of graphic novels about a parallel universe’s version of NYC where every single citizen is a superhero? Sounds too good to be true. And sadly, in my humble opinion, it is. Moore really missed a trick here. This idea could have surpassed Watchmen, V for Vendetta or even his magnum opus From Hell. But it seems, aside from a few good ideas littered here and there, Moore pretty much phoned this one in. There was so much potential to make statements about politics, race, drug abuse and mental illness in an innovative and thought provoking way, but these were only barely touched upon.
The story follows a group of superhero cops from one incident to another in an almost cartoonish way and other reviewers have called this a ‘police procedural’ ? It’s not. It’s not at all. The police procedures are akin to what a 12 year old thinks of police work.
I’m disappointed because this really could have been amazing and it seems like a good idea was squandered with Moore not putting a whole lot of effort into the story or dialogue.
Okay, after all those negatives I’m still going to give this a three out of five because it was entertaining, the art was pretty good and Moore, even when phoning it in, writes better stories than a lot of his peers.
I’m hoping Volume 2 will reach the potential of the concept and the ideas available.
The story follows a group of superhero cops from one incident to another in an almost cartoonish way and other reviewers have called this a ‘police procedural’ ? It’s not. It’s not at all. The police procedures are akin to what a 12 year old thinks of police work.
I’m disappointed because this really could have been amazing and it seems like a good idea was squandered with Moore not putting a whole lot of effort into the story or dialogue.
Okay, after all those negatives I’m still going to give this a three out of five because it was entertaining, the art was pretty good and Moore, even when phoning it in, writes better stories than a lot of his peers.
I’m hoping Volume 2 will reach the potential of the concept and the ideas available.
July 16, 2019
Here's another I found at the library. Top 10 is a surreal feast for the eyes. It's set in Neopolis, a city where everyone has s superpower and a costume to go with it. The story follows rookie policewoman Toybox as she is assigned to the city's Precinct 10. I'll have to see if the library has the rest of this series.
December 23, 2025
Comic über eine Polizeieinheit in einer Stadt voller Supermenschen, denkender Roboter, Zauberer etc. und was sie so im Lauf von ein paar Tagen alles klären. Unterhaltsam, mit vielen Anspielungen auf andere Comics.
April 1, 2021
Great and much underread Alan Moore comic. Ludic worldbuilding as grand absurdist comedy.
October 29, 2025
Top Ten is a very fun book. The Easter egg aspect is actually less overt until maybe the last issue or two.
The plots and characters are fun and really well woven together.
The plots and characters are fun and really well woven together.
August 19, 2017
Alan Moore second great superhero series is situated in a world where everybody have superpowers. Funny and thought provoking.
September 30, 2020
Clever characters and absurd humor made this fun to read.
August 11, 2021
Very original and highly enjoyable.
August 14, 2018
From the creator of The Watchmen, we have a police drama set in a city in which EVERY person has a super power. Heroes, villains, mutants, robots and cosmic rodents are the everyday ho-hum, and Neopolis's finest have their hands full.
This one is bizarre. That's not inherently a bad thing, and I appreciate stories that are willing to be innovative and different. But there were moments where I felt a sort of, "Yeah, I'm not quite with you on this one."
Nevertheless, here's my take. The stories don't follow a main plot. Like police dramas you may be familiar with, the story is composed of a series of subplots, each following different cases to their conclusion. Super-officers come in and out of the story with an ensemble cast that doesn't ever center on one lead. This can make the stories tricky to follow if you're not paying attention, but this is one of the aspects I enjoyed.
Because we never get the focus for an extended period of time on any given character, it was hard to get as attached to them as much as I would have liked. And because each of the cases was only a minor thread in the whole of the narrative, many of them built up well, but ended anticlimactically.
Altogether, it was not quite what I hoped it would be. It started off interesting, but got weirder toward the end. It piqued curiosity, but never really satisfied it.
This one is bizarre. That's not inherently a bad thing, and I appreciate stories that are willing to be innovative and different. But there were moments where I felt a sort of, "Yeah, I'm not quite with you on this one."
Nevertheless, here's my take. The stories don't follow a main plot. Like police dramas you may be familiar with, the story is composed of a series of subplots, each following different cases to their conclusion. Super-officers come in and out of the story with an ensemble cast that doesn't ever center on one lead. This can make the stories tricky to follow if you're not paying attention, but this is one of the aspects I enjoyed.
Because we never get the focus for an extended period of time on any given character, it was hard to get as attached to them as much as I would have liked. And because each of the cases was only a minor thread in the whole of the narrative, many of them built up well, but ended anticlimactically.
Altogether, it was not quite what I hoped it would be. It started off interesting, but got weirder toward the end. It piqued curiosity, but never really satisfied it.
April 21, 2020
Knew nothing about this book going in and was very happy with the results. Not particularly earth shattering, but well done, novel and entertaining.
Our story follows a cast of super hero cops solving super crimes in a city of super people.
The cases they encounter are intriguing, sometimes humorous, disturbing, or just fun, and there are some quality procedural elements throughout that make it a solid detective story.
It strays just enough into the territory of super hero and villain conflicts, with a strong and inventive cast of primary and secondary characters, and a very well done world of background characters and settings.
The balance of all these notes is carried through pitch perfect action and dialogue, along with awesome detail packed art.
There is no world changing philosophy here, but a really good concept done well, when it could have easily gone poorly in less subtle and crafty hands.
Our story follows a cast of super hero cops solving super crimes in a city of super people.
The cases they encounter are intriguing, sometimes humorous, disturbing, or just fun, and there are some quality procedural elements throughout that make it a solid detective story.
It strays just enough into the territory of super hero and villain conflicts, with a strong and inventive cast of primary and secondary characters, and a very well done world of background characters and settings.
The balance of all these notes is carried through pitch perfect action and dialogue, along with awesome detail packed art.
There is no world changing philosophy here, but a really good concept done well, when it could have easily gone poorly in less subtle and crafty hands.
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