Your and my All-Purpose ALAN MOORE'S TOP 10 and Spinoffs Thread

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Also a Top 10: 49ers anticipation thread. (DC sez July 13.)

Why? Because I finally read Smax and it's like there's a party in my geeked-out brain and everyone's invited. So good! When Moore lets himself be optimistic with the funnies and having fun by conflating a whole stew of disparate sources, I like!

― Leeeeee (Leee), Sunday, 5 June 2005 21:25 (twenty years ago)

Oo oo and there's a preview (PDF) of 49ers! Sexy Gene Ha paintedness that is realistic yet awesome at the same time because it avoids the bloated constipation of HEAVY EPICNESS of Him Whom We Will Not Refer To On This Thread.

― Leeeeee (Leee), Sunday, 5 June 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

That PDF link is evil. It crashes my browser every time I try to open it.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Monday, 6 June 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

Since Top 10 is one of my FAVORITE COMICS EVAH, I don't know why I haven't read Smax. Probably because I flipped through it once and the style looked so totally different from Top 10.

I'm totally psyched for TEH 49'ERS though.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 6 June 2005 16:49 (twenty years ago)

I don't know why I didn't like Smax. It had all the meta-ness that I enjoyed in Top 10, but it just sort of grated. Perhaps it was because the story didn't grip me (and there was only one story). And the fact that Toybox was the least interesting character on Top 10.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 6 June 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

Toybox was really the gateway character that once she served her purpose of being introduced to the precinct, really, um, meh.

― Huk-L, Monday, 6 June 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

The story is very old-fashioned, Moore doing your basic fantasy genre stuff, but with TWISTS OF SCIENCE and THE FUNNY.

And if you're low on the funds re: Smax, I've got more cbr goodness.

― Leeeeee (Leee), Monday, 6 June 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)

TOYBOX RULES YOU FUXX

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 6 June 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

smax = enos

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 6 June 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

blount otm how can you not love a character with BOX?

― Leeeeee (Leee), Monday, 6 June 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

explain me cbr, please.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 02:43 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

New -- non-Moore :( -- Top 10 miniseries! BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT!

http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=4065

Anticipate? Cipate? Who's "Science Fiction Novelist Paul DiFilippo" and is he good? And clue me in on "Comics Great Jerry Ordway."

― Leeeeeeee (Leee), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:25 (twenty years ago)

Jerry Ordway invented cross-hatching.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

fer reals, Jerry Ordway was sort of the "Next Perez!" in the 80s, after some decent work on All-Star Squadron, inking Perez on a few issues of Crisis, and then kicking ass on Adventures of Superman.
Oh, and he did a bunch of Shazam stuff too.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

He might've been the "Next Perez," but he was more like the next John Byrne. Did great work on Adventures of Superman. He had an Image mini-series. He was at the helm of the last (very good!) Capt. Marvel revamp - nice, wholesome, and fun! And now he's a comics legend.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 4 August 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

Gene Ha and Zander Cannon are two of the people I'm most interested in at the con-vention this weekend.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 4 August 2005 19:01 (twenty years ago)

His style is way more Perez

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 4 August 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

Zander is cool! He did this educational comic for some govt. astrophysics dept., and it was kooky seeing his Smax style talking about naked singularities.

― Leeeeeeee (Leee), Thursday, 4 August 2005 19:10 (twenty years ago)

BYRNE

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 4 August 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

Have ever even seen any George Perez art, DaveR?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 4 August 2005 19:29 (twenty years ago)

I can't help feeling vaguely disappointed with The '49ers.

It was very pretty, but was clearly supposed to be a 4 part mini and so feels like a bit of a rip-off. The plot was generally OK, but didn't really go anywhere.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Friday, 5 August 2005 10:54 (twenty years ago)

I was just kidding around, Huk-L. I was hoping we could dally on the ILC statscock for a few posts w/ some witty PEREZ / BYRNE give-n-go.

FWIW, I just naturally associate JO w/ JB, as I first saw him ink JB's stuff in Fantastic Four, and when he started pencilling FF and Adventures of Superman, that's who I saw in his work.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 5 August 2005 12:30 (twenty years ago)

Nowadays (having thought about it long and hard), I can almost see Ordway as sort of a proto-Alex Ross. His best stuff is certain the kind of big superheroic poses that resonate with the glory of having heat vision, etc. Ordway's stuff has the sheen of realism, without the drawbacks of actuallly being realistic, which is sometimes what sinks A(lexRo)SS's art.
eg:
http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/3345/200/3345_2_0424.jpg
I remember really preferring him to Byrne during the Superman days (I remember buying Superman #1 and thinking that I was going to be RICH!) especially during the crossover storylines like the Pocket Universe thing and the Dark Knight Over Metropolis fandango (though had Jurgens taken over from Byrne by then?).

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 5 August 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I associate Ordway with Byrne also, although I think the only Ordway art I've ever actually seen was on like All-Star Squadron back in the 80s.

― The Yellow Kid, Friday, 5 August 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

You guys were all high on airplane glue in the 80s.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 5 August 2005 14:04 (twenty years ago)

He did the art for the adaptation of the Batman movie way back when. It seemed a bit more Neal Adams than Byrne or Perez.

― David N (David N.), Friday, 5 August 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

Wait, The 49ers came out? I missed it?

― The Yellow Kid, Saturday, 6 August 2005 03:49 (twenty years ago)

yes, and it's ace! but put off reading it because then it is sad because no more Moore Top Ten ever :(

― kit brash (kit brash), Sunday, 7 August 2005 10:15 (twenty years ago)

Read The 49ers yesterday, and it's lovely. A lot of it is setup for the final scene in the last Top Ten, and he's used some of the jokes before (the scene where we find out what the landlady's old job was is hilarious, but it's straight out of "Pictopia"), but mostly it just made me think "oh, my God, I'm going to miss Moore's comics." The opening scene had me cracking up very loudly on public transportation. And the cryptic-crossword villain--wow.

Also, the art is GORGEOUS.

― Douglas (Douglas), Sunday, 7 August 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

Er, is there something I don't know? Has he given up comics again?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Sunday, 7 August 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)

yeah, he's already quit the ABC stuff proper (one or two issues of Tom Strong and a Tomorrow Stories special still to come though) and is shifting the actually-Homage-not-ABC-remember LOEG to Top Shelf after the next special. The next Top Ten series is by Paul DiFilippo and Jerry Ordway, and looks shithouse.

And he's not planning any comics other than LOEG, at all. Lost Girls now set for SDCC 2006 release.

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 8 August 2005 00:30 (twenty years ago)

The 49ers was hardcover, right? Is it supposed to come out in soft-cover ever?

― The Yellow Kid, Monday, 8 August 2005 03:46 (twenty years ago)

of course, when the hardcover sells through its print run.

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 8 August 2005 04:14 (twenty years ago)

Nazis and vampires!!!

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 August 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

!!! And to think I stopped by my store yesterday and got sidetracked by no-Runaways HC that I forgot even to look for this!

Unless I just stumbled into the BL00DRAYNE thread again!

― Leeeeeeee (Leee), Friday, 12 August 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)

Thanks, Gene H@!

http://www.madolan.com/LJ/geneha.jpg

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 13 August 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

daredevil-mouse is best

wow, tho

― tom west (thomp), Sunday, 14 August 2005 17:47 (twenty years ago)

That's sweet!

And since you showed me yours:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/plechazunga/comics/xander-smax.jpg

― Leeeeeeee (Leee), Monday, 15 August 2005 05:27 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

smax tpb, you are a treat!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 4 November 2005 23:48 (twenty years ago)

Interview in the Indy today.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Saturday, 5 November 2005 00:46 (twenty years ago)

i guess i'll read top 10 vol 2. vol 1 was underwhelming (tho i bet on re-visiting it i'll like it more)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:14 (twenty years ago)

I love SMAX. Although I must say I was a little creeped by the whole 'incest yay' thing.

― J (Jay), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:34 (twenty years ago)

But the S&M/D&D dwarves RULED.

― J (Jay), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:35 (twenty years ago)

Is that one page the whole interview? I couldn't see a "next" button or anything.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:38 (twenty years ago)

the harry potter jokes were maybe a little much, but it was really entertaining. and kind of the perfect length. and i love the look & feel of the america's best books. they're nice.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:55 (twenty years ago)

i kinda feel like i was channeling scott seward in that last post.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 5 November 2005 01:56 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

is the last scene in top 10 supposed to be a surprise? because you learn the "secret" like four issues earlier!

(other than that top ten two is tip top.)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 01:57 (twenty years ago)

I can hardly believe anyone's reading it.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 11:03 (twenty years ago)

What, Top 10 or nu-Top 10?

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 14:34 (twenty years ago)

The new one. I mean, I bought the first issue of it, but it was just the same characters, none of the ideas.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 14:59 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 24 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I have the same problem with Tom Sprouse, actually. Too... scaly? I find his facial expressions a bit grotesque and off-putting -- sort of like that terrible Grinch movie with Jim Carrey where for some reason all the humans have pig noses. (It occurs to me I'd love to see Giffen draw an Alan Moore story, in his early 90s style). Anyway, I'll take it on holiday to report back. I like most everything else Alan Moore does, so it'll work it's way eventually.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 01:03 (twenty years ago)

chuck i was really in the same boat as you, but vol. 2 (and re-reading vol. 1 after) totally turned me around.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 02:47 (twenty years ago)

i loved it immediately (cop show + metacomic is a real sweetspot for me) but vol. 2 really raised it in my estimation.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 03:33 (twenty years ago)

yeah for one thing all the long-arc stuff he plants in vol 1 finally pays off

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 04:10 (twenty years ago)

and there's that first story in vol 2, the one that's like that homicide episode, which just makes me misty

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 04:11 (twenty years ago)

You mean the one with the "Gamers"? Yeah, that's sort of my defining Top 10 moment (well, maybe not defining, but most memorable).

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 04:19 (twenty years ago)

yeah!! i love how in that story the gamer's dialogue is lettered a little larger than everybody else's. such a nice touch.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 04:21 (twenty years ago)

fuck DC for breaking one 12-issue story into two books, really

― kit brash (kit brash), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:44 (twenty years ago)

Moore still has one or two issues to go on Tom Strong acksherly!

Hasn't it been written by Steve Moore for the last few years?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 10:20 (twenty years ago)

No, a steady stream (trickle) of guest creators. The Brubaker/Fegredo one was slightly less shitty and pointless than the others, I think.

― kit brash (kit brash), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 11:39 (twenty years ago)

i wanna reread top ten now. i wonder if i can convince my comics pal he needs to read it enough that he'll buy it.

― tom west (thomp), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 13:48 (twenty years ago)

Tell him it's my favorite Alan Moore!

― c(''c) (Leee), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 17:50 (twenty years ago)

um, it turns out it took me 10 issues to realise that alan moore had stopped writing them. this is what comes from buying them without reading them for a year. the post-moore issues have been ok. that is until i got to #27 (Jenny Panic) which is dreadful. plus the bloke in the top hat looks like a testicle. #28 (Eye Opener) made everything ok again but...

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 9 February 2006 12:44 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

> The Brubaker/Fegredo one was slightly less shitty and pointless than the others, I think.

read that at the weekend and, yes, it was a standout. the Morecock issues that followed were also stood out but for exactly the opposite reason (godawful!)

― koogs (koogs), Monday, 27 February 2006 18:14 (twenty years ago)

He's interviewed on the Culture Show, bbc2 thursday btw (19:00 and late repeat)

― koogs (koogs), Sunday, 5 March 2006 18:18 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Okay, so I just finished both volumes of Top Ten over the weekend and totally, completely, emphatically loved it. I read the first two chapters of 49ers last night and was kinda let down, but it's good too. Smax later.

My question for you experts is this: at the end of volume two, it says "end of season one" or something like that. However, upthread somebody mentions "no more Top Ten ever." Is this true? I want more please.

And what has Moore been up to besides complaining about V for Vendetta? All I've heard is a new LOEG sometime. Oh, and the porn.

― sheep sheet (serious sheet), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:34 (nineteen years ago)

there's some non-moore top 10 series going

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:48 (nineteen years ago)

oh yeah, i knew about that. i'm only interested in alan moore though. (barely resisted a bad pun)

― sheep sheet (serious sheet), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 16:59 (nineteen years ago)

Say more about this pr0n.

(I would also err on the side of caution and believe that we've seen the last of Alan Moore-written Top 10.)

― c(''c) (Leee), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 17:17 (nineteen years ago)

lost girls. i'm sure a lot of people on here know more about it than i do. all i know is alice in wonderland and her girlfriends wendy and dorothy are naked. sexing.

― sheep sheet (serious sheet), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 18:55 (nineteen years ago)

who draws? (please say Adam Hughes)

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 18:57 (nineteen years ago)

Melinda Gebbie draws. I have read an advance photocopy of the whole thing. I like it a whole lot. There are parts that are totally amazing, and parts that made me want to gouge my own eyes out; occasionally they are the same parts.

― Douglas (Douglas), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 19:01 (nineteen years ago)

NSFW: http://lambiek.net/artists/g/gebbie_melinda.htm

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 19:04 (nineteen years ago)

How much of it was printed in Taboo lo these many years?

Don't get your hopes up for Smax, it's a completely different type of comics, and some people (ie me) didn't like it much at all.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 12 April 2006 22:27 (nineteen years ago)

Taboo printed four or five chapters circa 1993. I think six were printed in the Kitchen Sink series circa 1996? so that's about 48 pages already published out of 240.

― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 13 April 2006 01:15 (nineteen years ago)

Do get your hopes up for Smax. It's wonderful fantasy, a PG-13 Bone, if you will.

― c(''c) (Leee), Thursday, 13 April 2006 04:17 (nineteen years ago)

Don't get your hopes up for Smax

Eh, I thought it was fun! It's not that big a divergence from Top Ten in terms of story content and character progression-- it's just more of a hero adventure and there's more in-depth character progression than in TT.

x-post

Agree!

― Chris Freiberg (Chris F.), Thursday, 13 April 2006 04:22 (nineteen years ago)

i think smax is a delightful entertainment. i liked it definitely better than top 10 vol 1; possibly better than vol 2.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 13 April 2006 04:59 (nineteen years ago)

> Do get your hopes up for Smax. It's wonderful fantasy, a PG-13 Bone, if you will.

PG-13? did you read the end? (was great fun for spotting minor characters from other places. catbus and billy the fish even get a look-in (i've said this before somewhere, apologies))

i have two issues of Lost Girls that were published individually (ie not as part of taboo, about 48 pages, yes).

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:14 (nineteen years ago)

It's not that big a divergence from Top Ten in terms of story content

?? One's a police procedural, the other's a fantasy swords-and-sorcery, they seem quite different to me. Also one of them has a bunch of things happening at once while the other is straight linear (both of them true to their genres there). I'm not of the impression that mine is a majority view, just that there's really no reason why affection for one should transfer over to the other.

(Also Toybox and Smax are the least interesting characters in Top10)

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 13 April 2006 08:18 (nineteen years ago)

Get out of town, Andrew!

PG-13? did you read the end?

It's all implied!

― c(''c) (Leee), Thursday, 13 April 2006 17:04 (nineteen years ago)

Background details I've just noticed in the first seven pages of Smax alone:

A tron bike, Mutley driving his Wacky Races car, Death, a black Cartman, Marvin the Paranoid Android, that wheelchair kid from Akira, an advert for a pharmacy with a picture of Cypher above the caption "Why didn't I take the blue pill?", Roschach and The Question having a chat, Dr and Quinch, the robot from Metropolis.

― chap who would dare to be a stone cold thug (chap), Thursday, 13 April 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

And Chairface Chippendale!

― c(''c) (Leee), Thursday, 13 April 2006 17:26 (nineteen years ago)

One's a police procedural, the other's a fantasy swords-and-sorcery, they seem quite different to me.

I meant story content, not story structure. There's lots of stories about individuals with neat character arcs linked together in Top Ten-- Smax is mostly the continuation of one of those.

just that there's really no reason why affection for one should transfer over to the other

Why not? What if you were a Smax/Toybox fan during the first series, like I was?

― Chris Freiberg (Chris F.), Friday, 14 April 2006 01:44 (nineteen years ago)

(Also Toybox and Smax are the least interesting characters in Top10)

Oh, hey, my eye skipped right over the parenthetical before. I guess this is a matter of opinion-- I liked their partnership dynamic and found it amusing.

― Chris Freiberg (Chris F.), Friday, 14 April 2006 02:01 (nineteen years ago)

I meant story content, not story structure.

Well, I suppose on an individual basis, a police case is similar to a fantasy quest, though it involves less Dealing with Issues.

And structure counts for a lot (to me)! A war movie is not a western is not an action movie is not a superhero story, tho they may contain similar character types.

I guess this is a matter of opinion-- I liked their partnership dynamic and found it amusing.

I have a movie you'll love :)

http://www.famouslocations.com/images/movies/another48_.jpg

I mean, I didn't dislike them, but compared to Joe, Irma, Shock-headed Peter, Girl 91, the sergeant, Grushenko, the cowboy (obv my case would be stronger if I could remember all their names), the satanist, they seemed very flat: the audience identification character and the immovable object whose eventual movement suggests she's finally 'in'.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 14 April 2006 10:53 (nineteen years ago)

I always identify really strongly with the audience identification character though-- I have a hard time in movies with those scenes where you know the protagonist is about to make a faux pas of ginormous proportions but you can't do anything to stop it. Oh-- but FYI, my audience ID character in that pairing was Smax, not Toybox, given that he's such a big lug-- which is why the continuation of his story appealed to me. Toybox I saw as a blank slate-- intelligent and aware, our introduction to the series, but not the one character whose story was at its heart.

― Chris Freiberg (Chris F.), Saturday, 15 April 2006 08:56 (nineteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

I reread 49ers a few weeks ago. A smidge funner than I remembered it, though I did put the book down with one SPOILER TYPE question:

Are Skywitch and Frank Chambers the parents of Joe Pi?

― c(''c) (Leee), Sunday, 7 May 2006 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

I just read 49ers recently as well, and Moore's really on autopilot in this one. I'm pretty glad he's moving on from the fun superhero story thing now, it's getting a little tiresome (though I still think he's got a bit more Tom Strong left in him).

Gene Ha, conversely, is superlative.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Sunday, 7 May 2006 23:10 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

FALLIN' IN LOVE WITH VOL 2 ALL OVER AGAIN.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 13 June 2006 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

JOE PI VENDING MACHINE ROFFLES FOR ALL

― zappi (joni), Tuesday, 13 June 2006 17:02 (nineteen years ago)

I want to listen to scrap music with my clickers.

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 13 June 2006 18:15 (nineteen years ago)

Does Joe Pi resemble Pinbot or Voltron more?

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Tuesday, 13 June 2006 22:05 (nineteen years ago)

four years pass...

This was great! Finally read the first two vols and spin-offs. Might be my favourite thing Moore's ever done.

I have nothing really to add here, I just wanted some closure on my irresponsible whining upthread from five years ago.

― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 19 January 2011 09:50 (fifteen years ago)

I think the Smax mini is my favourite Top 10 thing.

― Rejoice that you weren't eaten (chap), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:01 (fifteen years ago)

You almost certainly know this already, but feel free to avoid BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT. TOP 10: SEASON 2 isn't that great, but it's reasonably charming.

― I can't wait to understand these arguments! (R Baez), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:13 (fifteen years ago)

these are definitely my most re-read comics ever. i hadn't read any comics in a few years, but during a recent bout of flu + insomnia i went back to Top 10 vol 1, 2, and Smax again. so good.

― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:29 (fifteen years ago)

The 49ers was a little disappointing.

― Rejoice that you weren't eaten (chap), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:33 (fifteen years ago)

agree that Smax is probably the best/most fun

― ex-heroin addict tricycle (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:46 (fifteen years ago)

I liked The 49ers a lot! Sufficiently dissimilar to the original series to have its own character. Could've been longer, though -- the wrap-up is a little swift.

The cat/mouse Crisis might be the best comic in-joke ever.

― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 20 January 2011 09:17 (fifteen years ago)

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