Top Ten Book Two

Synopsis: This was originally printed as Top Ten#8-12.

Peregrine comes across a major teleportation mishap and waits for the victims to die. More pressure is put on Captain Traynor to release M’rrgla Qualtz, the Libra Killer, by the Seven Sentinels of Victory. M’rrgla uses her telepathic abilities to put images into Jack Phantom’s mind, causing her to get very angry and giving the Sentinels more fuel to use against the Captain. Detective Corbeau takes a trip to police headquarters at Grand Central—a world in which the Roman empire never fell--to investigate a tip in the murder investigation, and the Commissioner announces that she plans an inspection of the precinct.

Bodine and Cheney go to check up on the progress at the apartment of Duane’s mother, and discover that the battle between the Atom Cats and Ultra Mice has escalated into a cosmic event. We also discover that Cheney has prejudicial feelings towards artificial life-forms, pejoratively called ‘Clickers’. M’rrgla Qualtz telepathically calls Captain Traynor to her, and tells him that she thinks she’s about to be killed. She tells Traynor that if she does die, she wants him to investigate her old show reels. Corbeau arrives at Grand Central and discovers that because of a communications snafu, he’s been entered in gladiatorial combat against officers from other precincts. He’s also unable to call home, because entrants in the contest aren’t allowed contact with others. Sgt. Caesar goes on a date with Annette Duvalle. Detective Jackson is worried about Detective Corbeau, and we discover that he’s doing fairly well in the combat arena, which has now shifted to battles to the death. Sung Li picks up Irma Geddon, and her precognitive husband thinks something really bad is going to happen to her.

Smax and Slinger investigate the finding of a dead body. They find out that the body is Glenn Garland, the boy band singer previously arrested, and that the apparent suicide is actually a murder. The commissioner arrives for her inspection, and asks to be taken to the evidence rooms, after a stop at the cafeteria. In the cafeteria, Detective Jackson is able to identify the commissioner as the killer of Stefan Graczik, the drug runner murdered in the first issue. The Commissioner attacks, and Girl One, pushing Jackson out of the way, is hit head on by the Commissioner’s attack and killed. The combined powers of the other members of Top Ten aren’t enough to stop the Commissioner, and the fight spills into the holding cells, where the Commissioner kills several inmates, including M’rrgla Qualtz. Slinger comes up with an idea to give the Commissioner what she wants, namely an overdose of the radioactive drug. The injection kills the Commissioner, but in the process she drops a large amount of debris on Slinger, breaking her leg.

Captain Traynor and Sgt. Caesar welcome Girl One’s replacement to Top Ten—Joe Pi, an artificially intelligent robot. He’s partnered with Irma Geddon, who’s very reluctant to accept him. Officers Geddon and Pi, along with Officers Bodine and Cheney, are sent to investigate a dead body. While Cheney treats Pi with absolute derision, Pi identifies the body and finds the killer in a matter of about three minutes, then gets a full confession. Corbeau returns having won the gladiatorial combat. He also has a trophy for the Precinct. Smax visits Slinger in the hospital. He tells her about his dead uncle, and asks her to come home with him for the funeral. Robyn agrees. Jack Phantom asks Captain Traynor about a possible link between Glenn Garland and the Seven Sentinels of Victory, where Garland was once a Sidekick. Traynor tells her what Qualtz told him, and she goes off to watch the old reels of the Sentinels. The officers attend Sung Li’s funeral, and Joe Pi stays outside. Irma Geddon finally accepts him, and they head back to her home, where she breaks down in his arms. After they go inside, he tells her husband about a possible job opportunity, then performs tricks for Irma’s kids before leaving.

Jack Phantom and Peregrine look through the old show reels of the Seven Sentinels and discover a shocking secret—the Sentinels never did any of the great feats they were known for, but rather were a pedophile ring. Bodine and Cheney visit the Ex-Verminator, only now they have no idea what he’s doing there. The cosmic events between the Atom Cats and Ultra Mice have caused a time shift, and the infestation problem never existed. The officers run the ex-verminator in. After Joe Pi and Irma arrive at the station, the knowledge of the pedophile ring is explained to the officers, and a raid is planned to take them in. For the most part, the arrests go off without a hitch with the exception of the incredibly powerful Atoman. When they arrive at his fortress, through skillful negotiation, Pi “accidentally” talks Atoman into committing suicide. Caesar and Duvalle consummate their relationship, and Captain Traynor heads home for a nice dinner.

Good Stuff: This second volume of Top Ten is nearly as good as the first. Characterization is still strong, and there are still some hilarious moments, such as the reenactment of the Galactus saga by the Atom Cats and Ultra Mice. However, this volume is also much darker in tone than the prior, given the death of Girl One and the discovery of the pedophile ring. Moore handles everything as well as one would expect, though, and Ha’s pencils are both well rendered and a lot of fun, with easter eggs all over the place.

Not so Good Stuff: The worst thing about Top Ten is that it ended with issue number 12. Moore has only revisited the characters once since then (the fun SMAX mini-series). Part of the problem with this is that it was intended to be an ongoing title, so a great many subplots are left hanging in the air, giving it an air of incompletion.

I give this book 8/10.