Top Ten: “Book 2” and “The Forty-Niners”
March 4th, 2009
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Zander Cannon, Gene Ha
Reviewer: Louise
Top Ten is Alan Moore having a little fun and playing around with the concept of a world in which everyone has super-powers. The police officers of the Tenth Precinct (known as “Top Ten”) do their best to patrol the city and enforce law and order, whilst also trying to manage their own chaotic personal lives. Oh, and then there’s the Rumour haunting the patrol house…
“Book 2” is a very entertaining, very funny, and in places (notably the “Traffic Duty” storyline), very moving book. Think “Hill Street Blues” or “Law and Order” with superpowers. Highly recommended.
“The Forty-Niners” tells the tale of the founding of the city of Neopolis. Shortly after the end of World War II, the world superpowers agreed to relocate all super-powered individuals to a new world. A super-powered population needs a super-powered police force, and Moore tells the tale of the founding of the Top Ten precinct. Seen mainly through the eyes of the then sixteen-year-old Jetlad (eventually Top Ten’s police captain), it’s a tale of organised crime, racial divisions, coming of age, and super-powered witches on broomsticks. The artwork has a different appearance to that for “Book Two”, with a period feel, and really enhances the story. Also recommended.
Book 2
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Wildstorm (June 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1563899663
The Forty-Niners
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: DC Comics (March 22, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401205739
(First published 17/01/2007.)