Top 10, Beyond the Farthest Precinct: The Annotations
Issue 1: A Screaming Comes Across the Sky
(May contain spoilers)
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For the uninitiated, these are annotations to the
Paul di Filippo and
Jerry Ordway comic book
Top 10 - Beyond the Farthest Precinct, 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.
Given the level of detail that the authors put into this comic, these annotations will probably be continually updated. If you spot anything I've missed, let me know! You'll get credit.
This page may not display properly in Opera, as some of the annotations come unstuck from the page titles. It work okay in IE though. If anyone knows a way around this please tell me.
The Cover
That would be everybody's reaction to the firing of Lieutenant Steve "Jetlad/Jetman" Traynor, which occurs at the end of this issue; he's the one in the foreground. But what's with the odd look on Peter's face (fourth from right)?
Page One
Panel One
Ah, here's where we're reintroduced to the good old boys of Precinct 10. As we'll see on the next page, these panels are pretty misleading. This first one is of Irma "Irma Geddon" Wornow, a gun nut with a heavy-artillery exoskeleton who takes her name from the biblical Armageddon. She's actually shouting about a dog that's running away with some sausages.
Panel Two
This here is Joe Pi (no alias), a giant robot who was, until this issue, Top 10's newest recruit. He's talking about an empty beer keg.
Panel Three
This is Officer Jaafs "Smax" Macksun; Jeff Smax to those few friends he's managed to cultivate. He's virtually indestructible and has the power to generate blue energy bolts from his chest. He hails from a parallel world where magic exists in place of technology. He used to be pretty grumpy, but he's lightened up since the events of the "Smax" miniseries. He's playing volleyball.
Panel Four
Sung "Girl Fifty-Four" Li, whose skin and hair contain ever-shifting multicoloured pigments and who has exceptional stamina and physical strength. She was designed by two techno-geeks; we'll be meeting them later this issue. Her precursor, Girl One, was killed in the line of duty during the original Top 10 series - which is why the "I'm down" line might strike a chord with long-term readers. Thankfully, she's actually just tripping over someone.
Panel Five
Sergeant Kemlo "The Hyperdog" Caesar. He's a talking dog that operates a robot body; this can conduct short-range electric shocks and fire long-range laser blasts. Kemlo's actually talking about a burnt hotdog. Series creator Alan Moore probably got the name Caesar from the UK brand of dog food.
Panel Six
The young lady is Officer Robyn "Toybox" Slinger, who has a small army of sentient toys at her bidding. The toys she's digging out are going to be used for delivering sauce rather than police tactics.
Panel Seven
Peter "Shockheaded Peter" Cheney, who has the ability to conduct electricity from his head. He takes his superhero name from a literal translation of the German cautionary tale Struwwelpeter. He is prejudiced against robots and other sentient machinery. His surname may be borrowed from Republican politician Dick Cheney. He's trying to jump-start a boom box.
Panel Eight
This is Detective John "King Peacock" Corbeau, a follower of the Yezidi devil-worshipping faith; one of their names for the devil is "the peacock king". He uses his spiritual powers to locate the weak point on anything in order to smash it. He's referring to his own children, who are running amok.
Page Two and Three
Panel One
Oh boy. Okay, Feininger Park is named after Lyonel Feininger, a comic book illustrator from the late 19th century who created The Kin-der-Kids and Wee Willie Winkie's World for the Chicago Tribune.
The men behind the park sign are protesting against S.T.O.R.M.S. Introduced in issue 2 of the original Top 10 series, S.T.O.R.M.S. stands for Sexually Transmitted Organic Rapid Mutation Syndrome and is the Top 10 equivalent of AIDS.
In the tree to the left of the park sign is Krazy Kat, George Herriman's bizarre cartoon strip about a reincarnated cat and a brick-lobbing mouse.
To the immediate right of the sign is a man holding a surfboard - no doubt a variation on Marvel's Silver Surfer.
The blue woman to the surfer's right is Rexa Macksun, Smax's sister and lover (they do things differently in parallel universes). Like Smax, she is almost indestructible and fires a blue power bolt from her chest. She was introduced in the Smax miniseries.
The big blue guy is Smax, of course. In the original Top 10 miniseries he had a palmprint on his chest; this was removed in the Smax miniseries and so does not appear in this comic.
Not sure about the chap with the monocle. Got an idea? Let me know!
Next to Mr Monocle is Bill "Wolf Spider" Bailey, Top 10's SWAT team commander. He's got robotic legs and an detachable metal exoskeleton for his torso, which protects him and allows him to handle dangerous materials. It also gives him the spider-like appearance from which he takes his "superhero" name. Wolf Spiders actually exist, though they're not as scary as you might think. His real life name could either come from the comedian of the same name or, as suggested by Walter, the song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey". In fact, the comedian got his name from the song in the first place (he was born Mark Bailey).
Just behind Bill's head and a little to the right, you can see Dracula.
To Drac's right is someone whose costume looks rather like that of DC superhero The Huntress.
To the right of The Huntress is a purple-skinned woman with medium-length hair. She looks uncannily like several other women on that side of the net. These are all Officer Jenny "Multi-Girl" McCambridge. She is connected to the seven chakras, which she can break off into indiviudal Jennys, each with her own power. The meanings and appearances of the seven chakras in relation to Top 10 are discussed on page 15 of these annotations.
Above the second purple Multi-Girl is a woman with wings; she's Lieutenant Cathy "Peregrine" Colby, a born-again Christian who uses metal wings to soar through the air. She's named after the peregrine falcon.
Note that the credits banner is being flown by a small dog on a flying dog house. This would be Snoopy the beagle of Peanuts comic strip fame. Snoopy would often pretend to be a pilot whilst sitting on his dog house. He never actually got it to fly, though.
Just underneath the credits banner is Joe Pi, serving a drink to Duane "Dust Devil" Bodine. Duane's a modern-day cowboy who's quick on the draw with his twelve-shooters and is named after the tiny whirlwinds seen on the American plains.
Behind Duane is Sergeant Hector "Monsoon" Lopez, who can control the weather. The patterns on his mask are isobars.
To the right of Joe Pi is a suited fella who looks rather like Zatara the magician, father of DC's Zatanna.
To the right of him is a green girl; this is Jennifer, one of the new recruits introduced in this miniseries. She's a mermaid who, like Aquaman, must be immersed in seawater every so often otherwise she falls ill. Her specific powers are unknown at the moment, as is her full name and superhero title.
Behind Jennifer is Parsifal, a voodoo witch doctor-looking guy. His powers, title and full name are unknown at the moment. In our world, Parsifal is both a poem and Wagnerian opera; in both, the titular character is a simple and innocent man who uses the Spear of Destiny to heal King Arthur's wound. The Parsifal of Top 10 carries a spear, but his appearance does not suggest Christianity to me.
Next to him is a TV-headed robot named Luhan. His powers, full name and title are unknown.
To Luhan's right is Shockheaded Peter, trying to kick-start the boom box.
Just below Peter is a long-haired guy named Paulie, superhero name apparently Saltator. Saltator is a genus of bird, but I don't see what that has to do with Paulie. He's some kind of musician and another new recruit, but like the others his powers and full name and title are unknown.
To Paulie's left is a William Shakespeare lookalike with a backwards cap. He was a recurring background character in the original Top 10 series but he was never formally introduced to the reader, nor were his powers ever disclosed.
The man to the left of the barbecue, with stripy jacket and yo yo, is Robyn's boyfriend Phillipe. His full name, title and powers are unknown. As seen later this issue, his legs seem to be made of plastic.
That's Robyn Slinger under Phillipe.
The guy to the right of Robyn is Wulf, the boyfriend of Steve "Jetlad/Jetman" Traynor. Steve was still in the closet at the end of the original Top 10 series, so Wulf's probably just been introduced as an old colleague (they were both in the Skysharks, a plane-flying supergroup years back).
The bird-headed woman is Chelle Chambliss. Her powers are as yet unknown.
The old woman is Duane's mother.
The shouting man to her left is "Colonel Lilliput", Robyn's dad and the inventor of the toys that she uses to fight crime. He has Alzheimer's disease
The guy with the glasses to Lilliput's left is Steve "Jetlad/Jetman" Traynor, an ace pilot and Top 10's captain of police. He was in the closet about his homosexuality in the original Top 10 series; whether this is the case in this miniseries is unknown, although the fact that he's sat opposite Wulf does suggest that he's not out yet. He may take his surname from Larry Traynor, the space pilot who was transformed into the Negative Man in the original Doom Patrol.
The woman in the purple top to Steve's left is Detective Jackie "Jack Phantom" Kowalski, whose power is to phase in and out of reality, allowing her to step through doors and walls (that's why she's slightly transparent in this picture). She's openly lesbian, which suggests that Steve's in the closet due to his old-fashioned ways rather than the opinions of others. There's a comic called "Phantom Jack" about a guy who can turn invisible, but that's not connected to this series.
The woman with the corn cob is Detective Synaethesia "Syn" Jackson, who - as her name suggests - suffers the unusual mental disorder of synesthesia (note the English spelling of her name, though). This means that she can smell colours, hear shapes and see sounds. This helped her crack a huge case in the original Top 10 series.
Move your eyes to the left of of Syn until you see a black woman in a purple body suit and glass helmet. That's Doctor Sally-Jo "Micro-Maid" Jessell, Top 10's forensic pathologist. She has the ability to shrink both herself and others, which comes in useful for her job.
That's Sung "Girl Fifty-Four" Li behind Sally-Jo. But why does it say 51 across her breasts? Maybe it's 5:1 and she's keeping score?
Li's tripping over one of John "King Peacock" Corbeau's children.
The black kid in the purple costume is unknown to me - I'm assuming he's not one of John's kids because of his clothes, but who knows? His costume bears vague similarities to that of Ozymandias, a character in Alan Moore's Watchmen.
No idea who or what the orange ball-girl-thing is.
The dog at the bottom of the page looks similar to Krypto the Super-dog.
The fishy guy looks a little bit like Triton from The Inhumans, but with different ears and a smaller head fin.
The flying girl is unknown to me. She could possibly be Cerebra Wornow, one of Irma Geddon's daughters, but she never had flying powers in the old Top 10 series.
To the left of the Krpyto dog is a two-headed woman. She is Linda "Janus" Burnett, Top 10's dispatcher. She's from Precinct One, a dimension where the Roman Empire never fell. She takes her name from the Roman god Janus, who similarly had two faces. The Roman Janus, however, was male.
The woman with the little orbs floating around her head is Annette "Neural 'Nette" Duvalle, a former prostitute who has the power to psychically trigger either pleasure or pain receptors in her clients. She was originally going to be a nurse until she realised that prostitutes got more money and respect. She's going out with...
...Kemlo, sat across from her.
The dog stealing sausages looks uncannily like Lockjaw from The Inhumans. He has "Kirby balls" coming from his antennae - these are the little black balls that define the blue glow around his head. They're named after Jack Kirby, the world-famous comic book artist who invented them.
The guy laser-beaming the hot dog is Captain BBQ, one of Top 10's caterers. It kind of sucks that he gets invited to the picnic only to end up doing what he always does, but maybe he really enjoys his work.
Above him is Irma.
To Irma's left is Cherry "Cherry Bomb" Wornow, one of Irma's daughters. I'm not sure where her other girl, Cerebra, is. As mentioned above, she could be the girl flying at the bottom of page 3, but it's unlikely since she never had flying powers before.
Cherry is passing a plate to her father, Ron Wornow. He has the ability to see the future and is currently employed by scientists for physics research.
Above Ron is John Corbeau's wife, Mareka, and their youngest child.
To her right is Warren Strong, a rabbit hero from a parallel universe populated entirely by talking animals. It's named Funnyland after the "funny animals" genre of comics, which spawned characters ad diverse as Scrooge McDuck and Omaha the Cat Dancer. Warren is Funnyland's equivalent of Tom Strong, a hero from the same universe as Top 10, and first appeared in Tom Strong issue 10. His first name, obviously, is a reference to the holes in which rabbits live.
Finally, John "King Peacock" Corbeau is chatting to Warren. Phew!
The title is the first line from Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow, which features countless literary, filmic, historical, scientific and mythological references. It also features tonnes of references to various superheroes and comic books.
Page Four
Panel One
Jackie's speech bubble is partially faded to represent her phasing in and out of reality.
Her t-shirt shows that she's a fan of Phranc, a lesbian rock icon.
I don't usually do editorials, but I hate the lousy dialogue given to Syn throughout this comic. The "cinnamon hell" line is obviously a reference to her synesthesia, but it's also an uncomfortable compound that sounds forced and unrealistic. She used to use single-sense references, such as saying someone "smells like windchimes", which sounded far less clumsy. Oh well. Cinnamon Hell was a flavour of toothpaste made by Crest.
Panel Two
Exposition exposition exposition. Don't you hate it when characters tell each other things they already know? Anyway, the "Commissioner Ultima mess" occurred in the original Top 10 series. Clearly this series is set in the present day.
Panel Three
Purple Rain is a song by Prince, and was featured on the soundtrack of the movie of the same name.
Panel Four
Is that Marvel's Ant-Man there? Wrong coloured costume, but he's the only ant-related superhero I could think of.
Jackie wears a Phranc t-shirt and says "thank Sappho". Do you get it? She's a lesbian! A LESBIAN! God, for soem subtlety. Okay, alright, I'll tone it down now.
Sappho was a Greek poet whose works largely focused on romantic love for young women. She was born on the island of Lesbos, and her association with the island led to the creation of the word lesbian, which was a secret title for gay women before it became mainstream.
"New fish" is a generic term for new people, but Jackie could be thinking of Jennifer, the mermaid who appears on the next page and partners up with her later this issue.
You can actually buy Australian Rainbow Honey. It's not multicoloured, though - just a brand-name.
Page Five
Panel One
Some of the fish in Jenny's tank have macabre grins - a reference to the best Batman story ever, "The Laughing Fish!". In this tale, the Joker poisons thousands of fish in the Atlantic Ocean with smilex, giving each one his hideous grin. Then he waltzes into Gotham's copyright office and demands royalties for every fish sold that bears his "trademark" smile. Awesome.
Page Six
Panel One
The three robbers are the Beagle Boys from DuckTales. I'll choose to believe that their dialogue is intentionally corny in reference to the series.
Jet-Poop points out that a merganser is a kind of duck - so this must be a reference to the Beagle Boys' target of choice, Scrooge McDuck.
The First Bank of Trantor is named after the planet Trantor from Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels...
Panel Three
...so it makes sense that it should be built on Isaac Avenue.
The "Hero or Menace"? paper in the bottom-right hand corner has a picture of Spider-Man on it. In his comics, Spider-Man is persecuted by newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson makes an appearance of sorts later in the issue.
Page Seven
Panel One
Melek Ta'us (incorrectly spelled "Taus" here) is the devil worshipped by the Yezidi faith.
"Satan is lord" - a variation on "Jesus is lord".
The blue guy in the background is a variation on The Flash.
The kid at the bottom is letting something very similar to one of Star Trek's tribbles jump down his top. Like the tribbles, they breed asexually - and fast!
Panel Two
The little tribble things have faces very similar to The Monkey King from Alan Moore's early Swamp Thing issues.
If the black kid with the blonde hair is supposed to be one of Corbeau's kids, the colourist has made an error - followers of the Yezidi faith aren't allowed to wear anything blue.
Panel Three
Moreaugenesis is a reference to The Island of Doctor Moreau, in which the titular doctor created terrible human/animal hybrids. He made a comic book appearance in volume II of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. You can read some of the original novel on e2 here.
Mickey Millions is a version of Richie Rich. I'm not sure whom Roy Radium is supposed to be, though. They'll turn up later this issue.
That man in the background looks like the Dread Pirate Roberts from the utterly wonderful The Princess Bride.
Panel Four
That's The Riddler stood behind Warren Strong.
Page Eight
Panel One
Mayor Famaile turns up at the end of this issue. I have no idea where his name comes from.
Miraclo was the drink that granted Hourman his powers.
Panel Two
Who's that raccoon up on the branch? I thought he might be one of the raccoons from the TV series of the same name, but none of them wore orange vests.
Panel Four
At first I thought Rexa was saying "throat steak" and imagined it to be an oral sex reference. Play psychiatrist if you like. She actually says thoat steak, the thoat being a Martian creature from Edgar Rice Burroughs's Mars books.
Panel Six
Michel Houellebecq is a French author whose books have courted controversy, particularly Platform, which contained anti-Islamic text which upset many. His novels are usually sexually explicit.
Page Nine
Panel One
A dirty upgrade is when one moves from one version of a program (especially operating systems) to a newer one without uninstalling the original.
Max Planck was a physicist whose work established the roots of quantum theory. The Planck level is the smallest one can get, at which point the very fabric of space-time becomes visible. That's the easy version. The hard version frightened me with numbers.
Open source programs allow anyone access to their code.
The Multiverse, popularised by Michael Moorcock and DC Comics, is the name given to a universe which incorporates multiple alternative versions of itself.
The blue robot is a version of Robbie the Robot from the movie Forbidden Planet.
The person calling Duane's mother "cousin Frankie" is Robyn's dad. He's getting confused again.
Panel Two
The Implicate Order is a fringe science theory devised by physicist David Bohm that says everything in the universe is connected to everything else at a quantum level. The explicate order mentioned here is presumably something about things on our level repeating what's happening on the quantum level, which would tie in with the "as below, so above" line on the next page.
Panel Two
"Clicker" is the Top 10 equivalent of (sorry to all that hate this word} "nigger". In Neopolis, chrome is the new black.
Panel Three
Universal Serial Buses are general jack-of-all-trade ports used in most modern computers.
"Bite my shiny metal ass!" is the catchphrase used by the robot Bender in the ace TV series Futurama.
Page Ten
Panel Two
The cosmic substrate theory says that the universe is naturally predispositioned towards biological life. Why would robots be interested in that?
Panel Six
"As below, so above" is a line from the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus who purported to know the secret of alchemy. The full version is "As below, so above and as above, so below". Bearing in mind all this talk of quantum levels and connectedness, I wonder if this drug is something to do with shared consciousness and connecting humans with robots something that may be backed up by...
Page Eleven
Panel One
...this giant cyborg guy.
Page Twelve
Panel One
Hussade is the sport played in Jack Vance's novel Trullion: Alastor.
In our universe, volantors are prototype VTOL flying cars designed by Paul Moller. In the Top 10 world, they've obviously gone into mass production.
The bus is taking the kids to Warthog's Academy, a spoof of Hogwart's, the school which Harry Potter attends.
The school bus is being driven by Wonder Warthog, the Hog of Steel.
Panel Two
Phillipe has plastic legs. Could he be disabled, or is he a very impressive sex toy for Robin?
Panel Three
That's Mickey Millions (based on Richie Rich) and Roy Radium, the creators of Girls One through Fifty-Four. This would suggest that they send a different one in every day - or could it be a bluff, and the people in the tank are something else entirely?
Panel Four
The Mother Thing is an alien in Robert Heinlein's Have Spacesuit, Will Travel.
The mouse in the wall is Itchy from The Simpsons' favourite cartoon Itchy and Scratchy. In the original Top 10 miniseries, Duane's mum's flat was infested by super-rodents. This is presumably a straggler.
Panel Five
Mithra is the Persian god of light and wisdom. There's also an acclaimed Daredevil site called The Man Without Fear run by one Kuljit Mithra.
Smilodon was a species of sabretooth tiger.
Panel Eight
Jet-Poop points out that although most born-again Christians convert to Protestantism, Peregrine is holding a rosary, which is a Catholic invention.
Page Thirteen
Panel One
Note that Top 10 now has concrete bollards outside to stop bombers from driving in.
The giant rat in the bottom-left of the panel is Rat Fink.
The woman on the bike next to him looks like a recoloured Black Cat.
The men getting out of the black car are The Green Hornet and Kato.
The cowboy and indian in front of them are The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Jet-Poop points out that the reason the Green Hornet and Lone Ranger are surprised to meet each other is because the Ranger is the Hornet's ancestor.
The red-cloaked man with the pink turban may be Sargon the Sorcerer.
The guy by the fountain is Namor, the Submariner.
I initially thought that the dinosaur in the white coat near the front entrance was a reference to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but Jet-Poop came up with a much more likely explanation - he's supposed to be The Lizard from the Spider-Man comics.
The guy with the shaggy yellow suit near the top of the fountain is The Creeper.
Batman can be seen to the left of Peter on the middle set of steps.
Thor is following Duane into the building.
Page Fourteen
Panel Two
The dog has the name "Spike" on his uniform - Spike was the dog from the Tom and Jerry cartoons, and these guys bear more than a passing resemblance to him.
Panel Three
The guy in the background with the mouthguard is Harry "The Word" Lovelace, Top 10's negotiator, who has the ability to make people do anything he commands. This is taken from Preacher, in which protagonist Jesse Custer has an identical power, also called The Word. Both Harry and Jesse's powers result in bright red speech text. It looks like Harry has big floppy ears, but those are the haircuts of people stood behind him.
Pogo is named after Pogo Possum. "Rowrbazzle" is a phrased used by the characters of the series when upset or confused.
Page Fifteen
Panel One
Scyphozoa are jellyfish. A coelenterate is a member of the phylum which includes jellyfish.
The "tin man" is Joe Pi - prejudiced Peter has had it in for him from day one. Peter's also making a reference to the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.
Kemlo's shirt says "Parrot-head"; ParrotHeads are fans of Jimmy Buffet.
Page Sixteen
Panel One
The Derri-Dadaists presumably take their name from Jacques Derrida, founder of the post-structuralist movement and from Dada, the absurdist movement of the early 20th century. Shades of The Brotherhood of Dada from Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run.
Isinglass is a transparent gelatin made from fish. The Isinglass River actually exists in New Hampshire.
Panel Nine
Gah! Can't believe I missed this one - Jet-Poop noticed that Kemlo calls Syn "Wanda", even though it was established in the original series that Synaethesia is both her first name and superhero title.
Page Seventeen
Panel Two
In the top-left corner, you can see Spider-man's mask, though with a colour change and the stripes removed.
Next to it is the brain of Marvel's evil Nazi, Baron Zemo.
Below the mask is Wonder Woman's tiara.
At the bottom of this shelf stack is the head of a Sentinel, a giant robot from the X-Men comics.
Doctor Doom's mask and gauntlets are in a box next to the Sentinel head.
Next to the mask is The Bottled City of Kandor, or something similar, which was last seen in the lair of Craig Wallace in Top 10 issue 12.
On the shelf next to it, at eye-line to the Sentinel head, are the tentacles and goggles of Doctor Octopus.
High above the tentacles, just below panel one, is Captain America's shield.
To the right of the shield is Iron Man's mask.
The mask two shelves below this is unknown to me.
To the left of the Iron Man mask is the helmet belonging to Thor.
Look down these shelves and you'll see a skull in a jar. To the right of this is a hook - this may have belonged to Captain Hook.
On the shelving opposite, there are two men or robots, one above the other - who are they?
Three shelves to the right of them, somewhere in the middle, are the sais used by Elektra, Daredevil's ex-girlfriend.
At the bottom of this shelving stack is a robot head. Anyone recognise it?
There are tentacles next to the sais. Who do they belong to?
Below the tentacles, there is an ankh-shaped symbol; this is the zodiac key from Daredevil.
At the top of the shelves nearest us is a robot noggin that looks a little like Cliff from Doom Patrol.
Below this is a golden helmet which looks like that worn by Sun Woman in issue 12 of Top 10, but there are some differences in design...
Panel Three
The Rumor was a very minor supporting character in the original Top 10 series. He has some kind of blur suit that makes him invisible. Only Robyn - and as we shall see, Parsifal - know of his existence.
Page Eighteen
Panel Two
That's the original design for Iron Man behind Robyn.
Panel Three
Ifa is a method of divination used by the Yoruba in Africa.
Page Nineteen
Panel One
The new cars are based on Paul Moller's volantors. I prefer the old-school transport, myself.
The greenish-blue guy between the nearest cars is Grease-Monkey, Top 10's head of maintenance. Grease monkey is a slang term for anyone who works with machinery.
The guy behind Irma is Alexei "The Spaceman" Glushko, a former Russian cosmonaut who developed psychic powers whilst in space. He uses them in his capacity as Top 10's special interrogator.
The women behind Alexei's head are Hopey and Maggie from Love and Rockets.
Page Twenty
Panel One
Two references to Frank Herbert's Dune, here - Holtzman field generators are used in the books, whilst pentashields are five-layer forcefields used to block access to restricted areas, etc.
Panel Three
I'm not speciesist, but I have to question the effectiveness in the field of someone who can't walk.
Page Twenty-One
Panel Three
The Eganite religion is named after science fiction author Greg Egan, whose books include Permutation City, in which human minds are uploaded to computers.
Panel Five
Jet-Poop noticed that Steve's driver is Race Bannon from the Jonny Quest cartoon.
Page Twenty-Two
Panel One
The guy in the car is Buddy Bradley from Peter Bagge's Hate.
Neptune Perkins is a minor DC superhero who largely operates underwater. Weirdly, he also became a US senator.
Brother Eye was an intelligent satellite in OMAC, The One-Man Army Corps. Post-Crisis, he's turned into a baddie.
Star Nutritional Labs is based on S.T.A.R. Labs from the Superman comics.
Panel Three
The receptionist is Celia from Monsters, Inc..
Is the purple dinosaur Barney?
Panel Four
The blonde woman in the nearest portrait is Eileen Dolan from Will Eisner's The Spirit.
The next portrait down the corridor is of J. Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker's antagonistic boss in the Spider-Man comics.
Panel Six
The photograph on the desk is of villainous ape Gorilla Grodd, a DC supervillain.
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Sources:
http://www.impmarketing.com.au/products/rainbowhoney.htm - Rainbow Honey
http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/46.html - Best of the Joker
http://my.execpc.com/~icicle/HOURMAN.html - Hourman
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Planck.html - Max Planck
http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/GrainySpace.html - How is the Universe Built?
http://www.bizcharts.com/stoa_del_sol/plenum/plenum_3.html - Bohm's Gnosis: The Implicate Order
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/emerald.html - The Emerald Tablet of Hermes
http://www.answers.com/topic/moller-skycar - The Moller Skycar (volantor)
http://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil.shtml - Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogo - Pogo the Possum