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Top 10: The Forty-Niners - Alan Moore
by Jake Speed
Top 10: The Forty-Niners is a 2005 graphic novel by Alan Moore with art by Gene Ha. This is a prequel to Moore's acclaimed and enjoyable Top 10 series - which was sort of Hill Street Blues meets superheroes. That series took place in Neopolis, a huge futuristic but dangerous and grubby city (Fritz Lang meets Batman's Gotham City meets ... The Jetsons meets Blade Runner) created by Nazi scientists as a place where science heroes (those with super powers) could all live together and be held in check by a special police force that all had super powers themselves. It was set in the present day but this story is set in the aftermath of World War 2. The year is 1949 and Neopolis has just been founded as a place for super heroes, androids, robots, monsters, vampires etc, to live. Why was it created in the first place? Because ordinary citizens do not want to live next door to robots and super powered people! This fantastical premise is used of course to explore themes of prejudice and bigotry and of course just give us a big fun comic with plenty of invention and wonderful art. The central character here is Steve "Jetlad" Traynor. In the original series he was the veteran bespectacled Captain of the Top 10 Precinct but in this prequel he is sixteen and has just arrived in the city after his famed exploits as a teenage fighter pilot during the war. He is with Leni Muller, a former Luftwaffe pilot but now defector and friend. She was famed too during the war for her industrial flying broomstick and exploits as Skywitch. They get some lodgings and eventually find work. Traynor joins the Skysharks (private air force for Neopolis) while Leni applies for the police. As ever, Neopolis has a most unusual police force to keep the peace and Leni finds herself introduced to some remarkable characters.
Zaran "Doctor Omega" Orval, the Captain, an alien based on Superman. Rocket Ryan, a rocket powered Buck Rogers type character from the 25th Century. Joanna "The Maid" Dark - based on Joan or Arc with mystical powers. Her globus cruciger acts as a transporter. SteelGauntlet, a disfigured scientist in a robotic suit a la Robotman or Iron Man. Sam "Major Lilliput" Slinger. Commands an army of toys like General Jumbo in The Beano. He is the father of Robyn "Toybox" Slinger from the original Top 10. Leni's partner is Ramon "Black Rider" Morales, a Mexican sword carrying biker. Meanwhile, Traynor settles in with the Skysharks but must come to terms with his sexuality after falling for the German Skyshark pilot Wulf. Intrigue and danger soon abounds for young heroes in their extraordinary new home. Something strange is going on at the Institute - the scientific research facility where German scientists now work - and the Cosa Nosferatu (vampire mafia) are beginning to make their presence felt in Neopolis. Don't call them vampires to their face though. They don't like it all and find it offensive. They prefer to think they just have a medical condition. Although the Top 10 series was not quite top table Alan Moore it was a very enjoyable and creative comic series full of humour and great characters. I put off reading this one for some reason but it's every bit as good - possibly even better - and the wonderful art by Gene Ha looks as if it took years to draw and colour and is packed with background detail and invention.
This being an Alan Moore book, Top 10: The Forty-Niners is awash with in-jokes and cultural references. If you look fast you will see everyone from Caspar the Friendly Ghost to Captain Haddock from Tintin make cameo appearances. The story is about acceptance, identity and finding a place in the world that you belong. Everyone in Neopolis has been discriminated against to a certain degree just by their very location but some get it worse than others. Prejudice against robots in particular is rife (it forms the basis for a major plot strand) and they are none too keen on vampires either. There is an obvious metaphor here for the struggles of immigrants in a new land but also plenty of retro anachronistic steampunk fun. Time travel. Nazis. Aerial dogfights. The art deco designs illustrated by Ha are always superb and - as you would expect from Alan Moore - the characters are colourful, distinctive and memorable. The city has a golden age silver glow that makes it feel extra special as you flip through the pages and enjoy the detail. I think it's important to say too that you could probably enjoy this without reading the original series as it is a rather stand alone story. You would though definitely get a bit more out of it if you read the other Top 10 books first because we get to see a couple of characters from the original run in their younger incarnations. Moore's story isn't always terribly original (corruption and nefarious plots etc) but there are some wonderful flourishes.
A sky filled with vampires and bats, battles in the air, Leni's high tech broomstick. If you can't enjoy a beautifully illustrated Alan Moore comic with vampires and robots then you really are in trouble. Moore's wit doesn't desert him either and he gives the characters (and the vampires) some good lines throughout the course of the story. You know this is going to be a good comic early on during some panels set on a train. The wheels of the train are drawn with incredible detail and care. One other thing I like about the comic is that the way that the police characters are more theatrical in appearance than the ones in the original series. Here they are very vintage Justice League and look like genuine superheroes. I like too the way that the arc of Traynor ties in with what we saw of him in the first Top 10 books set in the future. We'll see how he set himself on the path to becoming Captain and how he met the most important person in his life. Apart from a separate spin-off book featuring a couple of characters from Top 10 (where Moore was riffing on Lord of the Rings), I believe this is the last of the Top 10 books that Alan Moore scripted himself so it's extra special for that reason and well worth getting hold of if you are a fan or liked the other books in this series. I think this easily holds its own against the two Top 10 graphic novels I already have and is worth buying for the enjoyable art alone. My only complaint would be that at just over a hundred pages I wish this had been longer.
At the time of writing you can buy Top 10: The Forty-Niners for about £18. Graphic novels are often ludicrously overpriced when you go to buy one and I'd wait for a much better deal than that to surface.
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Superman/Batman: Torment - Alan Burnett
by broxi3781
At one time, comic books were for children. The stories were simple, the books were cheap and you could pick them up at a corner shop or new agent. I honestly believe comic books are one of the very best ways to promote literacy and the decline in comic books has been matched by a decline in literacy. Comic books for children have all ... but disappeared, as editors gave into public outcry for more suitable content for children ( which also made it boring) and prices began to rise high enough to price children out of the market. Publishers then turned to a new market - adults. Whether as a means of reliving our own childhood, something to share with our own children or pure and simple escapism, more and more adults are reading and collecting comics. Of course comic book sounds a bit too juvenile for us - it is like saying we still play with toys - so someone came up with the euphemism - graphic novel - but it is still a comic book to me.
My son has outgrown picture books, but he still loves the visual experience of an illustrated medium, so he has completely taken to comics. As a home educator, I happy enough to see him reading for pleasure, regardless of the source. I feel that children who devote a lot of time to reading for the pure enjoyment of it are highly unlikely to have any difficulties with literacy, and I do know my son's reading ability has improved trough this medium. But as a parent, I am just happy that we can still have story time before bed, when he chooses one of his books for me to read out loud. I love sharing books with my sons, and I've actually found myself really enjoying the escapism of a world with superheroes as well. So when a new "graphic novel" arrived, I was very happy to sit down and read it with my son - but I do wish I had read this one myself first!
Torment is part of a series of books that feature a partnership between Superman and Batman. I have not read these in correct order, being influenced more by the best bargains I can find on used copies, but I understand this is book 5 which combines : Superman / Batman comic book issues 37-42. I do not feel order is particularly important with these books, we haven't had any major problems skipping back and forth a bit, but the first issue really does help set the scene for the others, as it shows a well developed friendship between Batman and Superman. This book has significantly less interaction between the two, and Batman definitely has the lead role in this book. Normally that is something I would like - of the two I tend to prefer Batman, but I did find this book just a bit odd.
It is obvious that the authors and illustrators are attempting to create an aura of confusion. They convey madness, chaos and disorder very well through the illustrations, but it does leave the reader a bit confused as well. It seems Superman has lost his mind. In many parts my poor simple mind was vastly overworked, trying to figure out exactly where Superman really was - how much was dream and how much was real. At least I wasn't the only one confused, my 7 year old son had trouble working out what was going on as well. I'd have felt really bad if a 7 year old had to explain it to me!
Meanwhile, Batman is after the Croc. the Croc makes an excellent super villain and my son quite liked this part - but the Croc is small fish in this battle. A scarecrow silhouette early on in the novel lets us know at least one of the villains we will be seeing but the most serious opponent is Darkseid. Batman won't be left on his own in this though. He'll have a rather different ally in this battle, a very beautiful woman named Selena.
This is the section which makes it obvious this book was in fact intended for adults. Batman is rescued and healed by the beautiful Selena - but apparently his Batsuit was in the way. A drawn up knee prevents us from seeing too much, but Batman is as bare as the day he was born. Selena meanwhile is dressed - at least for the moment - but there is a nude scene with her as well.
I felt rather uncomfortable reading this to my son. It was one of those situations where I wasn't sure if I should quit reading and draw attention to uncomfortable parts or keep going and hope it didn't get worse. I'm afraid we were both a bit embarrassed and my son has never asked me to read this book again. He does read these on his own though, and since he has already seen the scenes - I don't see any good in taking it away- and perhaps it is best not to make too much fuss. In all honesty though, you do see less than in many movies after 9pm. Something always covers the most critical areas, and this does not ever actually depict sex in any way - but it is the closest I have ever seen a comic book come.
Aside from this it was a pretty good book. I could have done without the more "graphic" scenes, but the storyline is good enough, although a bit confusing at times. Overall the art work is decent, but even my son noticed it isn't quite as good as the other books in this series. While the artist simply does not have the same talent in drawing the male face, he does quite fairly well with Selena,and really shines through with some of the villains. This book really does have some brilliant bad guys, and my son loved the fight segments and the more intense artwork. My son did comment on some of the villains being "cool", but he said something was missing in the drawings. He wasn't able to define what - but I have found some artists can bring a character to life, but these are missing that spark.
I have not rated this down because of the adult content - but I do wish a brief comment were made on Amazon in regard to this for parents. I'm well aware that adults are the target audience, but I am sure many children still enjoy Superman and Batman comics, so a bit of warning would be nice.
I have taken one star off for the confusion in a couple of parts, and also because of the artwork, especially in regards to human faces. They just appear flat, and lifeless in my opinion. I would have accepted this in a comic book when I was a child, in fact I think the illustration would have suited those well enough. But as the price has jumped with "graphic novels" , so has the level of artwork for most of them, and I expect a rich visual experience from a graphic novel now. If I just wanted the story, I would buy a paperback. A graphic novel really does need to superior graphics to justify the prices, and this one falls short. I very nearly gave this 3 stars, but a few good frames with the villains changed my mind.
I am not really certain about an appropriate age level for this. This is strong violence, but that is to be expected. Parents will have to decide for themselves if nudity and an adulterous theme are enough to prevent them buying this for their child. I can only say I would not have bought it, if I had been aware of the content, but my son is very young. If he were 12 or 13 this wouldn't bother me, but it just is not the type of book I would chose for a bedtime story!
The price on this is reasonable at £7.47 new, and I was able to pick up a copy with a slightly damaged back cover for only £3.00 from Amazon. It isn't an awful book - if you don't mind the nudity and get a good price - go ahead and pick one up - but I would really only recommend this book if you are collecting the whole series - it isn't quite as good as the others - so if you are just starting out I would really recommend you choose "Public Enemies" or my all time favourite "The Search for Kryptonite" first.
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Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - Jeph Loeb
by broxi3781
In a sense I bought this book by mistake. I was looking for anything illustrated by Shane Davis after being so impressed by his work in Superman Earth One. An Amazon search brought me to another book in this series ( The Search for Kryptonite ) , and I never even noticed that book one had a different illustrator. I did take the time to ... read SWST's review here on dooyoo though, so I was fairly confident that this would be a worthwhile purchase.
Superman/ Batman Public enemies brings us a new crime fighting duo. Pairing Superman and Batman really could have gone either way in my opinion, but they have really made this combination work in this series, and in a way these two combined have a completeness neither one has their own. Apart from being superheroes, Superman and Batman have little in common. Superman's powers were a gift, a part of his birthright, something he never had to work or struggle to achieve. He is often called the big blue boy scout, and this description is fairly accurate - he is the golden boy - all good completely lacking in a dark side. There never seems to be any question of the fact that his powers must be used for good. He is a superior being and apparently has superior morals as well. He is driven by pure good - which can be hard to relate to for us lesser mortals.
Batman on the other hand has wealth as his birthright, but he has trained and worked for his powers ( of course all those gadgets don't hurt). He is driven by vengeance though - a darkly human emotion I'm sure most of us can relate to on some level. Batman is tormented, but out of this the good rises through. In this team, Superman is the conscience, while Batman the hard cold voice of reality. The two balance each other out very well. In addition to Batman and Superman though, Public enemies will bring a number of other heroes from the DC lineup. Captain Atom plays a reasonable part. Green Lantern, Major Force, Power Girl, Hawkman, Captain Marvel ( yes he is D.C.) and a few others make a brief appearance. We also get a a small group that I would like to see more of together: Superboy, Supergirl, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and even Krypto. As if this were not enough, there are two Supermen as well. This may sound as if the story will jumbled up by two many characters, but their appearances are brief and it works well.
I don't like to go too deeply into the storyline as I hate spoilers, so I will just try to give a very general idea of the setting. This book is narrated in the first person, but from two perspectives with Superman's thoughts in a gold box and Batman's in blue. The book opens with flash backs from their childhood, showing vastly different backgrounds. The contrasts are shown in such a way that the childhood of each hero gives you a real glimpse of the man they will become.
The first scene with our heroes grown is a battle between Superman and Metallo, which leaves Superman seriously injured. While recovering from his battle, Superman and Batman get a strange visitor. The next battle is between Superman and Superman - but who is this man of steel who claims to have come from the future - and what exactly does his warning mean?
Meanwhile Lex Luther is the president of the USA ( and here I thought George Bush was a bit scary). A giant asteroid made entirely of Kryptonite is on it's way towards earth, with the probable outcome being the extinction of all life on the planet. Rather than working together, Lex sees this as his chance for revenge on Superman, declaring him an outlaw and sending other superheroes to arrest him. So not only does the pair have to outwit Lex Luther, they must fight against many of their own as well - all while the clock is ticking for the planet earth.
This was bought for my son, age 7. He really enjoyed the appearances from the other superheroes and the overall story was action packed enough to keep his interest all the way through. He especially liked Captain Atom, and enjoyed the appearance of Metallo as well. I will note though, this book is intended for a much older audience and it is very violent, tense at times and appears to have at least one death, in addition to showing a scene from Bruce Wayne's childhood with the young Bruce kneeling before his murdered parents in pools of blood.
As an a adult, I would never have started reading comic books again if not for my son. And no matter how much one tries to make it sound more adult with titles like "graphic novel" this is still to me, very much a comic book. I think you have to suspend maturity a bit to truly enjoy a comic book. Of course the whole premise of Superheroes is ridiculous - but it is fun. I enjoyed this book very much and think it would be enjoyed by most adults who enjoy this genre. This sets the scene for a new team, and we have already started to pick up more books in this series. For the most part, these are a lovely way for my son and I to spend time together at bed time - but I will caution that some books in this series are less appropriate for very young readers, as I will make more clear in my next review.
Finally as this is a graphic novel, no review would be complete without mention of the art work. While I do prefer the work of Shane Davis, I must admit, the artwork in this book is of a very high standard, and worthy of the more grown up term of graphic novel as opposed to the more typical comic book art. In particular, I love his depiction of Krypto. I only wish we got to see a bit more of him. For those who are not up on Superman and the DC Universe, Krypto is Superman's dog. This is printed on a good quality gloss paper which really brings out the best in it's illustrations as well.
I have read 3 books in this series so far, with a fourth on it's way. Of the three, " The Search for Kryptonite" remains my favourite, as it in fact my favourite of all the graphic novel/ comic books I have read so far. But I still think this has very easily earned a 5 star rating and would happily recommend it to Superman or Batman fans regardless of their age. I am delighted by the fact that these books have made reading such a joy for my son, and I do think more use of graphic novels and comics could go a long way in encouraging boys to become readers. True it isn't great literature - but I believe by reading these books now, my son will build the skills that will allow him to read anything he likes as an adult. An avid comic book reader is still a reader regardless of your opinion of comics - and in an area where illiteracy is rampant - the fact that these books have made son really want to read makes them well worth the purchase price in my opinion. This is quite reasonably priced at £7.69 new, with used copies often going as low as £5.
Finally I have to add a thank you to SWST for his excellent review of this book, which was a major deciding factor in my decision to purchase this.
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