Review: Top 10, Vol. 1

Top 10, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The rapid introduction of so many main characters and a new universe very quickly, straight into the folds of a developing murder investigation, reminded me of how I felt reading the first Fables book a few weeks ago. However, probably because the Fables cast were all based on well known characters from (duh) fables, it took me a little longer to really get into this. In addition, there is a lot of dialogue here - though, as you would expect from Alan Moore, it is all very strong.

That said, by about half way through I had gotten to grips with the cast, was engaged by the story and was sure I would be reading more of the series when I finished this instalment.

The humour feels similar to that in Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It likewise plays on the quirks of the setting and the characters abilities throughout, helping to punctuate and give a good rhythm to narrative.

Whilst I love the poetic, descriptive language Moore is capable of (in, say, his Swamp Thing stories), the artwork in Top 10 is busy, detailed and colourful enough not to need it.

An enjoyable read that I didn't find as immediately accessible as I might have liked, but warmed to quickly once I adjusted to the pace and rhythm.



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Apparently, I Like Comic Books

I used to read a lot of books when I was younger. More recently my attention span has shortened, I think due to a combination of the general tiredness that comes with being a parent and my depression. For the first time in my life I was finding it difficult to finish books and left several half read. This along with the arrival of Android smart phones lead to me spending most of my reading time on easy to digest blog posts and twitter feeds.

Then, this summer, a few things changed.

First of all, with a little help from the NHS, I started to get a grip on the depression issue. This enabled me to break that cycle of: low attention span / can't be bothered -> not enjoying stuff / doing stuff I enjoy -> feeling more depressed -> low attention span -> ...

Then I discovered I really like comic books. I should have known before - I'm pretty much a geek in every other respect - but somehow I went through the first 29 years of my life without ever reading one.

What Zack did last night

He woke up and there was a witch in his room. It was a man witch with a green face and a friendly smile. Testing this unexpected apparition, Zack waved his hand in front of him and watched as it passed straight through the witch like it was a ghost. But the witch remained.

Zack turned and saw that his curtains had decided to become a giant TV screen. On the screen was an image of a candle, alight, against a black background. He blinked. When his eyes reopened a great lick of flame leapt from the candle then sparkled like fireworks.

This was the first film.