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holliOkay, so if you have read this journal for any length of time, you have probably heard me talk about Top Ten, and specifically its prequel, The Forty-Niners. If you haven't read this journal for any length of time, hi! I am going to try to make you read comics!
So. Top Ten is a comic by Alan Moore about superhero cops in the city of Neopolis, where everyone has powers. If you're familiar with Alan Moore from his work on Watchmen and V for Vendetta and the like, you might find Top Ten a little surprising, because it is not remotely as grimdark and gritty as that stuff. As far as I can tell, Top Ten dates from a period in Moore's career when he went "fuck Frank Miller, I am off to write lighthearted retro adventures crammed with references to everything that has ever been awesome." And then he did. (See also: Tom Strong. No, seriously, go read it, it's excellent.)
The main Top Ten miniseries runs twelve issues, and is totally worth reading in its own right. I really like it, but it is overshadowed in my heart by The Forty-Niners, which is a story about the founding of Neopolis in 1949. It has gorgeous art by Gene Ha, and is basically my favorite thing in the entire world. It has everything: amazing retro style, vampires, robots, Joan of Arc, flying cars, time machines, canon gay, and SO MUCH MORE. Let me introduce you to it!
These are three of the main characters: Steve, our initial viewpoint character; Leni, our other viewpoint character and my personal favorite; and Wulf, Steve's hotass boyfriend. (Eventually.)
Steve Traynor, aka Jetlad, was a wunderkind fighter pilot in WWII. Emphasis on the "kind" in "wunderkind" as he was like eleven. Leni Muller, aka the Skywitch, fought for Germany until she wised up and switched sides, so this is a friendly reunion between her and Steve. The short guy in the goggles is a vampire mobster. The other guy's a robot. (I told you this comic had everything!) They've all been relocated to the new city of Neopolis, which.... just take a look.
I love, love, love the art here, the mix of old and new that sums up this comic perfectly. There are a ton of panels in this comic that do that-- every one is so rich with detail that I'd end up giving you the whole comic, which I don't want to do. But here's one more, just to tempt you into reading this thing.
So Steve and Leni get settled into Neopolis, and go out for a drink their first night. At the bar, they run into the Skysharks, who are basically the Howling Commandoes as far as ethnic stereotypes go, only they fly planes. They're all very excited to meet Steve and Leni, fellow aviators. Steve gets funny rumbly feelings when he talks to Wulf, the German Skyshark. And then some vampire mobsters come into the bar to shake down the proprietor, and this happens:
The cops show up! The cops include Frank, who is awesome but whose existence is full of spoilers I would rather you were surprised about, and Officer Joanne Dark, who has a tiny spaceship and looks like this:
No, it is never explained how Joan of Arc got a tiny spaceship and became a cop. Somehow, I think it's better that way.
Inspired by Officer Dark, Leni joins the police force, and Steve goes to work for the Skysharks, where Wulf continues to be distractingly sexy. I would post more pictures, but I really want you guys to read this thing for yourselves, because it is SO GOOD and so much more great stuff happens. So I will leave you with this totally badass image:
And a download link! Enjoy!
So. Top Ten is a comic by Alan Moore about superhero cops in the city of Neopolis, where everyone has powers. If you're familiar with Alan Moore from his work on Watchmen and V for Vendetta and the like, you might find Top Ten a little surprising, because it is not remotely as grimdark and gritty as that stuff. As far as I can tell, Top Ten dates from a period in Moore's career when he went "fuck Frank Miller, I am off to write lighthearted retro adventures crammed with references to everything that has ever been awesome." And then he did. (See also: Tom Strong. No, seriously, go read it, it's excellent.)
The main Top Ten miniseries runs twelve issues, and is totally worth reading in its own right. I really like it, but it is overshadowed in my heart by The Forty-Niners, which is a story about the founding of Neopolis in 1949. It has gorgeous art by Gene Ha, and is basically my favorite thing in the entire world. It has everything: amazing retro style, vampires, robots, Joan of Arc, flying cars, time machines, canon gay, and SO MUCH MORE. Let me introduce you to it!
These are three of the main characters: Steve, our initial viewpoint character; Leni, our other viewpoint character and my personal favorite; and Wulf, Steve's hotass boyfriend. (Eventually.)
Steve Traynor, aka Jetlad, was a wunderkind fighter pilot in WWII. Emphasis on the "kind" in "wunderkind" as he was like eleven. Leni Muller, aka the Skywitch, fought for Germany until she wised up and switched sides, so this is a friendly reunion between her and Steve. The short guy in the goggles is a vampire mobster. The other guy's a robot. (I told you this comic had everything!) They've all been relocated to the new city of Neopolis, which.... just take a look.
I love, love, love the art here, the mix of old and new that sums up this comic perfectly. There are a ton of panels in this comic that do that-- every one is so rich with detail that I'd end up giving you the whole comic, which I don't want to do. But here's one more, just to tempt you into reading this thing.
So Steve and Leni get settled into Neopolis, and go out for a drink their first night. At the bar, they run into the Skysharks, who are basically the Howling Commandoes as far as ethnic stereotypes go, only they fly planes. They're all very excited to meet Steve and Leni, fellow aviators. Steve gets funny rumbly feelings when he talks to Wulf, the German Skyshark. And then some vampire mobsters come into the bar to shake down the proprietor, and this happens:
The cops show up! The cops include Frank, who is awesome but whose existence is full of spoilers I would rather you were surprised about, and Officer Joanne Dark, who has a tiny spaceship and looks like this:
No, it is never explained how Joan of Arc got a tiny spaceship and became a cop. Somehow, I think it's better that way.
Inspired by Officer Dark, Leni joins the police force, and Steve goes to work for the Skysharks, where Wulf continues to be distractingly sexy. I would post more pictures, but I really want you guys to read this thing for yourselves, because it is SO GOOD and so much more great stuff happens. So I will leave you with this totally badass image:
And a download link! Enjoy!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-31 04:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-31 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-31 04:41 am (UTC)Moore copies more DC characters than Marvel -- maybe due to the fact that DC Comics is the company he did more work for and had more legal problems with.
Or just because DC has more Golden Age properties to strip for parts...
no subject
Date: 2011-12-31 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-31 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-01 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-01 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-01 09:10 pm (UTC)Recs for things with a similar atmosphere - inventive and a little lighthearted - would be amazing :D
no subject
Date: 2012-01-01 09:14 pm (UTC)Other things I love that you might love: DC: The New Frontier, the inital John Rogers run of Blue Beetle, Ted Naifeh's Polly and the Pirates.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-02 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-02 10:36 pm (UTC)