Top 10: The Forty-Niners: A Prequel to Top 10

It would be cliché to say that only Alan Moore could have written this prequel to the amazing Top 10 comics, however, the high quality of the storytelling speaks for its self. The level of complexity in Forty Niners never reached the ridiculous level that it did in the other Top 10 books, but it was clear how everything in the original Top 10 books was directly related to what happened here. The world is shadier, and the artists did a wonderful job of capturing the post WWII feel. A bit of social commentary is included as one can see that several of the problems facing the characters in Forty Niners are still with them, at least in some form, in the other Top 10 books. Since I've already crossed the cliché border, if you liked Top 10, you'll love Top 10 Forty Niners.

Alan Moore is one of the most praised writer in comics and graphic storyteller. He deserves every good word written. This is a beautiful story full of characters that seem real (even if they ride a mechanical broomstick or look like a robot). The artwork is breathtaking. Every panel could be framed and admired. I'm so happy that there are smart comics for grown ups. Still, there is nothing pretentious or precious about the storytelling. "The Forty-Niners" reminds me why I fell in love with comics all those years ago. I hope to see more stories about these characters in the future.

It is a rarety in the world of comics where the artwork and the writing is as equally good. And when you're talking about someone of Moore's caliber, it's even rarer. Well, Top Ten is one of those occasions. I loved the first series. I loved Ha's artwork and Moore's play on comic history and his characters and their interaction with each other. Top Ten was pure fun and, at times, heart wrenching genius. The Forty-Niners goes beyond that! God, this was really good. It's to be read slowly. Ha's work is ten-times better than anything he's ever done and every page is chockfull of just amazing detail and fantastic artwork. The full spreads and long panels of the city are breathtaking. The only artist I've ever seen come close such amazing pages is Katsuhiro Otomo while he was doing Akira. Moore's writing is stupendous. He has a way of getting into each character and just letting them breathe and talk and walk. This is a great look at men and women returning home from war to a world that's changed. This is fun science fiction and fun comic book stories. But at it's heart, which is a big thing for Moore, this is a story about people. And Moore, for his crazy looks and crazier ideas, gets how complex people are. Top Ten: The Forty-Niners is a true graphic novel. It's just simply wonderful.

Imagine, if you will, a world filled to overflowing with superheroes, supervillains, and supercivilians, all brimming over with superpowers, and all brought together to live in one city, Neopolis. And then imagine that the Earth of Neopolis is just but one of an infinite number of parallel versions scattered throughout the multiverse--and that dimensional travel from one reality to another is cheap and easy. So, on top of the superfolk, you have aliens, magicians, robots, time travelers, sword-swinging fantasy warriors, talking animals, and more. All of whom have to earn a living, whether that means driving a cab, manning the receptionist desk, working the deli counter, or trying to eradicate pesky infestations of mega-mice. This is Alan Moore's world of Top 10. Top 10 is a comic book title that is released in fitful outbursts as loosely connected miniseries. Thus far, it has been collected in two softcover collections and the "Smax" spinoff (highly recommended). There is currenty a "five years after" miniseries moving to a conclusion on the newsstands, but it's the first non-Moore-written installment, and it's a tad overambitious and unfocussed. "The Forty-Niners" steps back a few years back to 1949 to show us the founding of Neopolis in the wake of the conclusion of a World War II that seems to have ended a little later than our version. And of course, this variation of the global conflict featured dueling American and German masked avengers, science heroes, and flying superaces. Arriving in the city, just beginning its transformation to a "gee whiz!" metropolis filled with epic architecture and bizarre skyscrapers, are the youthful Steve Traynor, the former Jet Lad, and Leni Muller, the reformed Sky Witch who fought on the side of the Nazis before switching sides in '43. They meet cute on the inbound train and find lodging at the same boardinghouse. It's not too long before Traynor, who we know will one day become the police captain of the Top 10 precinct in Neopolis, finds a job as a plane mechanic with the Sky Sharks, and Muller becomes a rookie cop. They meet such figures as Steelgauntlet, the exoskeleton-wearing cop with a secret, the Maid, a modern-day version of Joan of Arc, and the Black Rider, a motorcycle-riding Zorro-type. And of course, they encounter legions of vampires. And haughty Nazi scientists such as Professor Gromolko, Die Eisen Maske, and the Panzer, brought to Neopolis to work for America in building the future. We also see a little bit of Slinger, the cop who controls regiments of toy soldiers, who we know will become the father of Toy Box in the "modern" stories. The art is very finely rendered, and many of the panels are packed with background figures that you will recognize as Li'l Abner, Popeye, and that captain from "Tin Tin"...Captain Haddock, I think? The architecture and vehicle and passersby are all quite nicely detailed. Also memorable is Muller and the Black Rider's encounter with the Green Gun and his kid

Top Ten: The Forty Niners takes us back to the very beginnings of Neopolis the setting for all the previous Top Ten books (except for most of SMAX). The city of Neopolis was chosen by the government as the place to corral the dearth of super-heroes and villains that appeared during and after World War II. The Forty Niners is really the story of Steve Traynor aka Jetlad and Leni Muller aka Sky Witch and the new start they make in Neopolis. Traynor is a character that fans of Top Ten will recognize as the modern series chief of police in Neopolis. In this book he is sixteen and fresh out of World War II. The two characters meet up at the beginning of the book on the train to Neopolis and after that Moore successfully weaves the book around their two stories. Leni becomes a police officer with the fledgling police force of Neopolis, while Steve joins the local air guard as a plane mechanic. Both of their narratives tell us a lot about Neopolis at the time of its founding. Part of what makes the story so successful is the fantastic artwork by Gene Ha. The little details he puts into each panel really help to bring the story to life. The subdued coloring by Art Lyon definitely gives the book a historical feel, if that makes any sense, and it also allows the little details in Ha's artwork to filter through. The packaging of the book is very well done. The wraparound dustjacket cover art is fantastic and the inside covers also contain more renderings of the characters from the book. There is also a bookmark ribbon in the binding of the book. Overall, I would recommend this book to just about any comic book fan or graphic novel fan. It will certainly make you want to read the other Top Ten books if you haven't already. It's a fine addition to anyone's collection. For fans of Top Ten you can look forward to a new Top Ten mini-series called Beyond The Farthest Precinct set five years after SMAX. Alan Moore hands over writing duties to Paul Di Filippo and artwork will be done by Jerry Ordway. This apparently goes on sale 8/17/05 and I can't wait.