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Reviews:
Top Ten: The Forty Niners takes us back to the very beginnings of Neopolis the setting for all the previous Top Ten books (except for most of SMAX). The city of Neopolis was chosen by the government as the place to corral the dearth of super-heroes and villains that appeared during and after World War II.
The Forty Niners is really the story of Steve Traynor aka Jetlad and Leni Muller aka Sky Witch and the new start they make in Neopolis. Traynor is a character that fans of Top Ten will recognize as the modern series chief of police in Neopolis. In this book he is sixteen and fresh out of World War II.
The two characters meet up at the beginning of the book on the train to Neopolis and after that Moore successfully weaves the book around their two stories. Leni becomes a police officer with the fledgling police force of Neopolis, while Steve joins the local air guard as a plane mechanic. Both of their narratives tell us a lot about Neopolis at the time of its founding.
Part of what makes the story so successful is the fantastic artwork by Gene Ha. The little details he puts into each panel really help to bring the story to life. The subdued coloring by Art Lyon definitely gives the book a historical feel, if that makes any sense, and it also allows the little details in Ha's artwork to filter through.
The packaging of the book is very well done. The wraparound dustjacket cover art is fantastic and the inside covers also contain more renderings of the characters from the book. There is also a bookmark ribbon in the binding of the book.
Overall, I would recommend this book to just about any comic book fan or graphic novel fan. It will certainly make you want to read the other Top Ten books if you haven't already. It's a fine addition to anyone's collection.
For fans of Top Ten you can look forward to a new Top Ten mini-series called Beyond The Farthest Precinct set five years after SMAX. Alan Moore hands over writing duties to Paul Di Filippo and artwork will be done by Jerry Ordway. This apparently goes on sale 8/17/05 and I can't wait.
Other works:
SMAX, Top Ten (Book 2), Tom Strong (Book 4)
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