Top 10

A comic book series published by America's Best Comics. It's written by comics god Alan Moore and pencilled by Gene Ha. It's a cross between a superhero comic and a police procedural, like "NYPD Blue" or "Homicide: Life on the Street." It depicts the police officers of the Tenth Precinct of Neopolis -- a city where everyone has superpowers.

The main characters include Lt. Cathy "Peregrine" Colby, Sgt. Steve "Jetman" Traynor, Sgt. Kemlo Caesar (a talking doberman wearing a bipedal robotic exoskelton), Sgt. Jackie Kowalski, Detective John "King Peacock" Corbeau, Detective Synaesthesia Jackson, Officer Jeff Smax, Officer Peter "Shock-Headed Peter" Cheney, Officer Duane "Dust Devil" Bodine, Officer Sung "Girl One" Li, Officer Irma "Irma Geddon" Wornow, Officer Robyn "Toybox" Slinger, and Officer Joe Pi, with backup work from Sgt. Hector "Monsoon" Lopez, Special Interrogator Alexei "The Spaceman" Glushko, SWAT Team Leader Bill "The Wolfspider" Bailey, Hostage Negotiator Harry "The Word" Lovelace, and Pathologist Dr. Sally-Jo "Micro-Maid" Jessell.

Some of the cases the Top 10 has worked include the head-snatching serial killer Libra; the drunken rampage of Gograh, a washed-up, overweight giant lizard; a bunch of ravers dosed up on a superspeed drug called Mongoose Blood; a telekinetic mental patient who thinks he's Santa Claus (he can make reindeer fly, see?); an infestation of UltraMice; the murder of Baldur the Beautiful; a fatal accident involving teleportation beams; and several mysterious crimes which certain important and powerful people want to remain unsolved.

In addition to Moore's fantastic writing, Ha's detailed artwork includes tons of comic book in-jokes, as well as massive numbers of cameo appearances in each issue, including the Mirror Universe Star Trek crew, the Powerpuff Girls, Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Fry, Leela, and Bender from "Futurama," and William Shakespeare.

Top 10: The Annotations

For the uninitiated, these are annotations to the Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon comic book Top 10, published by America's Best Comics. It's an imaginative look at a city populated entirely by superheroes and the difficulties that the (equally superpowered) police have in maintaining order. Each issue is full of references to comic books and popular culture and this series of annotations hopes to capture them all. If you spot any omissions or errors, let me know - you'll get credit for your find.

Please note that where references are repeated in several issues (eg. the Robbie the Robot computers in Precinct 10), they will only be identified in the issue containing their first appearance.

One write-up will be added every few days, so keep checking back.

Top 10: The Original Series 1: Top 10 2: Blind Justice 3: Internal Affairs 4: Eight Miles High 5: Great Infestations 6: You'd Better Watch Out, You'd Better Not Cry... 7: Mythdemeanors 8: The Overview 9: Rules of Engagement 10: Music for the Dead 11: His First Day on the New Job 12: Court on the Street

Smax 1: Isn't it Good to be Lost in the Wood... 2: ..And Isn't it Bad, so Quiet There, in the Wood? 3: Grasshopper's Green Burying-Band 4: Trip, Trip to a Dream Dragon 5: Please Leave Us Here, Close Our Eyes...

The Forty-Niners Original Graphic Novel

Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct (Still being published) 1: A Screaming Comes Across the Sky 2: Title TBA 3: Title TBA 4: Title TBA 5: Title TBA

Short Stories Deadfellas

Contributors: Walter, NinjaPenguin, Jet-Poop. Non-e2 Contributors: VorpalSword, MojoJojo.