Top 10: Compendium

Top 10 #1-5

by Alan Moore, Zander Cannon (Illustrator), Gene Ha (Illustrator)

In a city where the entire population has superpowers, follow the lives of those who attempt to solve and prevent crime!

Follow along on the adventures of Precinct 10, affectionately known as Top 10! You won't want to miss as Smax, Toybox, Dust Devil and more work on solving crimes and protecting their home! This collection contains America's Best Comics Special, Smax #1-5, Top Ten #1-12, Top Ten: 49'ers, Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct #1-5, and Top Ten: Season 2 #1-4!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Manga

832 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2023

About the author

Alan 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.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top 10 Compendium collects all the Top 10 material to date. I wasn't planning on reading this but no one else bid on it so I scored it for cheap.

So this is great stuff. Top 10 is the story of the police force in a city in which everyone has super powers. The concept sounded stupid to me but I wound up loving it. In some ways, it reminds me of Astro City. Neopolis, the city of the tale, is where all the supers ended up after World War II.

Sight gags abound, as do homages to classic comic characters. Police procedurals featuring super heroes are old hat now but I think Moore was the first one to do it with Top Ten. The art is most of the book is great. Gene Ha and Zander Cannon split the art chores in seasons one and two and Jerry Ordway handles things in Beyond the Farthest Precinct. Cannon handles the art in Smax and Ha does the honors in the 49ers.

The bizarre mix of characters shouldn't work. The cops consist of an android, an intelligent dog in an exoskeleton, a cowboy with huge guns, a satanist wizard, a half ogre from another dimension, and others. They work great together, though.

The only negative thing I can say about this is things get a little chaotic after Moore leaves. Cannon and Ha do a great job on season two but they completely disregard Beyond the Farthest Precinct, which makes me think they should have put Beyond last in the book for easier disregarding.

Five out of five stars. This one is something else.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why DC is making these flimsy Compendium instead of Omnibuses for some of their best works, but I'll buy them, especially for a series like Top 10 where I had a motley collection of hardcovers and TPBs and where I could also get a chance to read the non-Moore material, for better or for worse (some of which had never before been collected).

Season One. A magnificent 12-issue story. The universe of Top Ten is amazingly dense with tight, intercutting stories and a vast cast that never feels excessive. The characters are deep and grow; the mysteries are intriguing. This is the best cop TV shows, in the best possible comic-book format. There are some some terrific single issue stories here (#7, #8) and some great arcs (especially the one that ends in #10). The last issue is a bit of a let-down, just because it's not as interesting as the rest of the volume, but that may in part be because all of our other storylines had ended. It's a pity Moore never did any more of this [5/5].

Smax. This is sadly no Top 10, but Moore nonetheless does a great job of continuing to develop the characters of Robyn and (ESPECIALLY) Smax. What it turns out to be is a brilliant, funny, deconstructionist fantasy. The scope of the danger is amazing in a sort of The Magicians way, but there's also great humor along the path. Altogether, a fun romp. If only Moore had been willing to return to these characters! [5/5]

The 49ers. A good continuation (prequel) of Top Ten, with Ha's art reaching its greatest height to date. We don't get the dense storytelling of Top Ten proper, but it's terrific seeing the foundation of Neopolis after the war and how everyone ended up there. Our characters are charming and the tension with the vampires a good plot element (even if it seems like it ends a little suddenly). Despite being the weakest of Moore's Top Ten trilogy, it's still a very readable (and rereadable) story. [4/5]

Beyond the Farthest Precinct. Di Filippo kind of gets the characters of some of the heroes, but he gets none of the dense and intriguing storytelling of Moore's original. Instead, we get musical chairs of partners, a muddy, meandering, mostly uninteresting set of plots, and an ending that has at least two different major elements that come absolutely out of nowhere. Overall, not worth reading, so thank goodness it's five years forward so it could be skipped on future reads if desired. [1/5].

Season Two. Though not by Moore, this is a solid continuation of Top Ten that does the characters right and also gets the dense, interwoven storytelling right. It's not quite up to Moore's standards, but it's still very enjoyable. Two problems. One is a bit of overlap with themes and ideas from the awful Beyond the Farthest Precinct, but just don't read that junk, and the other is that DC cancelled this series when it was halfway done, so there's no resolution to pretty much any of the plots. Still, a nice last look at our characters [4/5].

[Matt Quann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dense little nugget from Moore and Ha is a special spoof of the superhero world and it’s bizarre proclivities. I was surprised how empathetic this super-cop shop drama ended up being to all of its characters. What’s more, it’s the first work of Moore’s that I’ve read that wasn’t oppressively dark.

Indeed, the world(s) of Neopolis are surprisingly light and filled with text bubbles that make for seamless transitions between scenes. Each character is well thought out and easily identifiable by their manner of speech. This thing is also bursting with wonderfully zany comic book ideas that come flying so fast and frequent that my head spun.

Yeah, just great comics.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, going in order of the books:

America's Best Comics Special - drivel at best, barely moves any of the stories forward, and the non-Top 10 stuff is laughably bad.

Top Ten #1-12 - wonderful story, excellent usage of art. The black/white contrasts of Smax's character is what really sold me on starting the book series.

Top Ten: Season 2 #1-4 - a great continuation, but I wish they could have gotten the usual 12 book run.

Smax #1-5 - amazingly bad. WTAF was that. Alan had a weird thing with the last book and the child porn bent but now incest? It is so effing weird man. What what what was the impetus for this?

Other than that weird bit to the story - which resolved with a blessing of all on the relationship!??!? - it was pretty good. I really liked the art of the first two books better but grew to like this one as well. Just really liked Jeff's style before, and now it's just OK.

But the incest, man...wtf.

Top Ten: 49'ers - I wish Goodreads didn't put this as book 0. I mean, it is the story of the before-times but there are too many things you have to know to read it for some of the story to make sense.

Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct #1-5 - I dunno, some of the characters were interesting but mostly it was just like someone writing fan fiction.

Not in the book and probably for a good reason:

Top Ten: Season Two is apparently a bastard step-child of the series because I can only find the books as individual entries on Goodreads and even then they don't all have covers, or they look like a poorly-scanned upload from a fan. It's telling that even on those there are zero reviews. It's because the book is terrible. The writer is like "look at all these strings I'm dropping!!" and DC comes along and prunes them all so there's zero resolution to the stories. Just nothing happens for several books in a row and then it's just over and done. Because why not.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been loving these compendiums, perfect way to collect runs i have not read before. Top 10 by the GOAT Alan Moore and Gene Ha is one of the weirder ones ! Moore goes, well full Moore. Neopolis is a city full of people with powers and Precint 10 is the police force solving weird murder cases and everything. Its alot. The chief is half robot half dog, there are people with the weirdest powers and Moore goes freaking off. Its quite dialogue heavy and it took me a fair amount of time to finish. In  the middle of the book there is a sudden different story about one character, and the book turns fantasy, a weird change but a veey cool one, nearing the end other writers take over as Moore quits again?! And this becomes quite messy but still good. Still this was a cool book with lots of great ideas, but it could have been a little more straightforward at times.

7/10

[Michael Kahan]

This is fascinating because it's a fairly straightforward comic, but it's written by Alan Moore. It's basically a police procedural, but set in a city where everyone is a superhuman. The book does a good job of showing what that might look like and what might be required above and beyond standard policing. Thankfully it also shows that even superhuman police departments aren't immune to corruption and graft. It's still more pro-cop than most media I consume these days, portraying this as a few bad apples instead of a systemic problem, but it does mean that the book isn't pure copaganda. This was fun read and it shows Moore really can work on just about every level. It's no Watchmen or Promethea, but those are insane bars to try to match. Even one of Alan Moore's lesser works is still absolutely worth your time.

[Joshua K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all the Alan Moore stuff, but I couldn’t make it through the Paul Di Filippo stuff so I stopped. It didn’t have the same rhythm of the Moore stuff. Moore put a lot of thought into the plots and the structure, I don’t want to see one of his scripts for this. Everything is constructed in a fun and thoughtful manner. Gene Ha’s art is gorgeous. He and Zander Cannon really make this world feel real. I didn’t love the post Moore stuff, but Jerry Ordway took over art duties for one of the non-Moore stories and it looks awesome.

[Petrit Kabashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome wordbuilding and interesting characters in this Alan Moore story. A lots of characters which made it sometime harder to follow and because there were so many to flesh out most of them lacked character development. Overall a good interesting read and very joyful exercise of Alan Moore's creativity.

[Ben Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, this one was firing on all clyinders for me. Even though he's a retired mall Santa, Alan Moore can tell stories.

This is how to tell " alternative" stories. Also may answer who watches the Watchmen but in a different direction of nilhism. Instead if apocalyptic end of the world to unite humanity, this is the ground level nihilism of cops on the beat in a city full of superpowered humans and humaniods.

Top 10 is the 10th Precinct of Neopolis, the aforementioned super hero city. Formed in the wake of World War II with ex "science heroes" and all manner of super powered, super smart or robotic people populating it. Here, superheroes are cops- patrolling and looking out for vice, kidnappings, abuse and other crimes. However, the vice is by an alien shapeshifter, the Godzilla stand in is an angry drunk and the stand in for the Justice Legion/League/ Association or whatever is hiding dark secrets.

I could tell they had *fun* writing and drawing this! Not corporate fun where we release a mini series over everyones favorite new character and suspiciously vague plaudits, this one instead seemed to see how many characters could they populate this in this world. Which leads to delightfully quirky asides like a clearly Scooby Doo inspired canine leading a "Rex Corp" modeled on a LexCorp with clear members of the Mystery Gang, or people passing down through a transwarp portal that were lifted from other realities (comics) etc. I enjoyed reading this, a notion I don't usually have!.

Some of the plots were shoehorned in but like the best books, it just drops you in and you figure it out. Even with flying powers or radioactive vomit or duplicates of yourself these comic book characters deal with real concerns. They have to arrange child care, they worry about jobs, some can't open up to their partners, some work great together others can't stand each other- its realistic.

One thing that stood out was the treatment of sexualities and grief as well as religious tolerance. Within the first few pages some characters sexuality is laid out, and then... its not an issue. No harassment or judgement just " hey this is who they are". Grief got one of the best treatments I've ever seen from the printed or drawn page, focusing on how people process and handle it and how they grow. In multiple scenarios, from traffic accidents to partner infidelity, to murder. Religious tolerance likewise is briefly expanded upon and then... less of an issue.

The only issue is some lingering plot threads and some hamfisted attempts at " scandal" or manufacturing outrage. Then again, maybe in a superhero society, " crossover dressing" is a huge issue.

Well worth the Eisner Award(s)

[Richard Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over two thirds of this book is absolute 5 star Alan Moore brilliance. The last third is in no way bad, but it’s just not Alan Moore, is it? Oh, and the fact that the last Top Ten series got cancelled about halfway through and left a bunch of storylines hanging in the air doesn’t help.

The Alan Moore bits:

Top 10 – this isn’t the most heavy weight Moore book, none of the gravitas of Watchmen, the darkness of From Hell or the deep philosophy of Promethea. But it is superbly written and let’s Moore run with a huge cast of very well rounded characters. One of the surprising aspects is that there are so many healthy, loving relationships in the book, whereas most fiction (especially set around police procedures) featured screw up individuals in ever deteriorating situations. The central plot that evolves and eventually resolves over the series keeps the interest going, along with various sub-plots and smaller cases that gives everyone something to do.

Top 10 The Forty Niners – it’s a prequel but it sort of carries on; Top 10 finishes with a scene with Captain Traynor and his partner while The Forty Niners is all about Traynor arriving in Neopolis and having to navigate the conservative homophobia of the time and find a way to be himself (and find the partner that he’s still with so many years later). There’s also a cracking story about hard right forces trying to override the police and take over the city with more regular armed forces (where have I seen that recently…).

Smax – this spin-off, following Smax (along with his grudgingly accepted friend, Robyn) back to his native, fantasy land to finally resolve the quest he started years before is one of the funniest things Moore has ever written. It is, of course, not just a series of very sharp gags but has a lot poignant points about family and growth.

The other bits:

Like I say, if there weren’t preceded by Alan Moore’s stories, they’d be perfectly acceptable comics and, you’d think, quite a clever and original take on cops and superheroes. BUT, they can’t help but feel a little inferior. Of course, “Season Two”, as it’s called, could have been one the best comics ever but we won’t know as it ends without any resolution, leaving a couple of what seemed to be really good storylines hanging.

Overall – this gets 5 stars because Moore’s Top 10 is brilliant and the Smax series is even better again. Personally, I’d have just done a compendium called “Alan Moore’s Top 10” and left it there.

[Yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three out of the five collected mini-series are written by Alan Moore, a writer who is nothing if not versatile. Top 10 has none of his at times heavy-handed seriousness, but imaginative, inspired, unconventional and ironic superhero fun, underpinning a genuine lack of patience for bigotry and intolerance. Even vampires get to invite the people they meet for supper.
Of the different artists, Zander Cannon is the most cartoony, while the style of Gene Ha is more realistic (with the prolific Jerry Ordway of ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’-fame somewhere in the middle), at least to the extent that this word can be used for depicting talking dogs with robotic extensions, translucent lesbians, two-faced telephone operators and oversized blue half-trolls.
In The Forty-Niners, the tongue-in-cheek references to other figures, ranging from Superman’s father Jor-El to Jeanne d’Arc, become more explicit and some cameo appearances are brought, bringing a smile to one’s face. The Farthest Precinct, the first mini-series not written by Moore, foregoes all restraint in this respect. Popeye, Captain Haddock, Tintin, Hågar, the Beagle Boys, Scooby Doo, the Tasmanian Devil, Denis the Menace are but a few, passing over many other DC characters, with several created by Kirby figuring prominently. Using every available spice in a dish has caused many a cook to be driven out of the kitchen, if not the house.

In the two last mini-series, no longer written by Moore, the inspiration dries up, repetition sets in, stories become anemic and finally outlive themselves until they no longer do: the last one got cancelled prematurely.

[SY NA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Top 10 on the recommendation of my brother and as with almost anything that Alan Moore writes, it is a wonderful mix of strong character driven stories, a ton of callbacks that are highly relevant (not obvious until you've read it all), and a setting that is highly unique.

In a way, Top 10 is the super hero version of "The league of extraordinary Gentlemen", where pastiches of different characters make it into the story, none of which you recognize in and of themselves, but you certainly recognize the archetype they are meant to represent. The setting is that there is a multi-verse of sorts, and everyone has some sort of power, whether its small (like immunity to diseases) or big, like being invulnerable and have immense strength. The story focuses on what sort of police department would be needed for such a society, and the answer is of course, their own super heroes with their own special talents. They have bruisers, a bloodhound with its own cybernetic suit, a gadget girl, and a woman with her own nuclear powered armored suit among many others.

The compendium is a compendium of all Top 10 stories, and even though 60% of it is Alan Moore, the other 40% isn't, and the drop off in writing shows. They try to keep the spirit of the stories alive, but realistically, if even Neil Gaiman can't keep up the standards of Alan Moore, then the other 2 authors never stood a chance of meeting that quality.

The artwork is also suitably retro, and the other bonus is all the crazy call outs you will see within the books without meaning to.

As with anything Alan Moore produces, this is highly recommended and I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it. The stories never go quite where you expect, and even if you were expecting that, you are still utterly surprised by the twists and turns that Moore's genius takes you.

[ダンカン · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I read Top Ten was when DC released it in tradepaperback format. I enjoyed the entire 12 issues when it was first published by America's Best Comics line.

The Top Ten Compendium edition collects every single title ever published in 824 pages. Did I enjoy it? It's still a yes except Season Two and Season Two Special. It was quite a shift from the first series and a big change later on. While Season Two and Beyond the Farthest Precient is not written by Alan Moore, I can't help but wonder whether it was meant to continue after a solid read from the first series. While I do enjoy reading Smax and The Forty-Niners, the rest feels like filling in for the sake of expanding the interest for the fans. This compendium is a complete run of the entirety of the title, which to me overall, deserves my rating.

[Jon Curme · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Alan Moore's Greatest works and season 2 was shaping up to be something great before it got cut short. Its a shame the insultingly bad Beyond the Farthest Precinct both poisoned the otherwise high quality of the collection, but I can't ding a book that includes everything for including everything.

[Hugh Pfabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The parts written by Alan Moore are fantastic, though the ending of The 49ers felt a little weak.
The parts illustrated by Gene Ha are gorgeous; absolutely gorgeous work.
The above is more than worth the price of the book.

The rest is... disappointing, and we have two miniseries that don't really seem to go anywhere. That said, it's still nice to have them in the collection for completionism.

[Kapitol Tank]

El Compendio más completo de Top Ten.
Incluye un especial (ABC Special), una OGN (The 49ers) y 26 issues regulares (los de Top Ten, Smax, Top Ten Beyond the Farthest Precint y Top Ten Season 2). Creo que todo se editó en castellano pero no en esta edición.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects five "Top 10" storylines, which I'd rate as:
Top Ten [the original run]: 5 stars
Smax: 4.5 stars
The Forty-Niners: 5 stars
Beyond the Farthest Precinct: 4 stars
Season Two: 2.5 stars

It's probably not a coincidence that the three I liked best were the three written by Alan Moore.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first season, Smax and the 49ers are all five stars. The first season is now one of my favorite series. Beyond precinct 10 and the second season are rough, you can tell when Moore wasn’t involved anymore. I’d give those last couple 2-3 stars.

[Blaine McGaffigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant concept for Moore's optimistic era of superhero writing. I honestly found "Top 10: The Forty-Niners" to be the strongest of the collection. And what a shame that Season Two ended before resolving itself. Zander Cannon was doing an excellent job carrying the torch.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts are very inventive and great, but it definitely loses steam after the initial arc. Not quite as fun as I remember but an enjoyable ride.

[Kealan O'ver · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Alan Moore stuff is fab. The other stuff less so and it’s a shame it wasn’t finished as it was starting to get good again.

[Neil Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still the finest hour of Alan Moore in superhero comics

[Reece Lannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Except season 2. That gets a three

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the stories are written by Alan Moore, and they range from very good to excellent. The non-Moore issues are very hit or miss, but Zander Cannon’s Season Two issues are very solid.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Moore's Top 10 is one of my all-time favourite comics, and this holds true for the Smax and 49ers stories as well. Beyond the Furthest Precinct wasn't great and I felt that the characterizations of our intrepid heroes were way off from the original, but Season Two brought things back to form and in the end left me wanting more.