"Top 10" (DC, U.S. Graphic Novels)

[pkristen]

Originally posted on my blog: Monday 17 October 2011

Summary
In a parallel earth, Neopolis was the experimental city where people who existed with alternate identities and special powers were put together and treated just like everyone else. The comic book series focused on the special cases of police officers who managed the citizens who were just as strange as they were.

My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!)
The collection of books in the “Top 10″ universe are not LGBT-focused, but I honestly think the various LGBT characters and story-lines seem so integral to the tales being told. And if you are looking for something with very strong gay plot, then the graphic novel “The Forty-Niners” would suffice.

The credit to this is the Alan Moore/Gene Ha creative team. Moore tends to pepper his works with controversial characters (sometimes LGBT can be the tamest part) but his brilliance as a writer makes it worthwhile and not feeling like it’s a cheap marketing gimmick.

NOW, I cannot say the same about one of the sequels “Beyond the Farthest Precinct”, which was clearly a move by DC to exploit the original series’ popularity but using a much less talented creative team. I read the first issue (as many die-hard fans did) and was immediately disgusted by the execution that focused on Top 10′s controversial elements without the sophistication of character and story development that didn’t insult your intelligence. One of these days, if I could get my hands on a very cheap copy, I might read the rest just so I be “educated” about it, but my passion for the stories developed by the original creative team stops me every time.

Even if it means Jack Phantom finally gets a girlfriend.