The Other Side of Watchmen
Moore does another deconstruction book. Last time it was what super heroes would be like in the real world. All of them, other than Dr Manhattan, are essentially variants of Batman. That is to say they don't have super powers, they are just masked and, in some cases, caped super heroes. And Moore explores the kind of crazy people that would have to be to want to be super heroes.
In Top 10 Moore flips the premise on its head. Instead of super heroes in the real world, imagine how it would be if the entire world was made up of super heroes. That's not a 100% accurate depiction because Top 10 is really just a super hero ghetto of the real world. In a hilarious breaking of the fourth wall, there are suddenly tons of super heroes in the 30s and 40s. After the war, the world doesn't know what to do with this glut of super heroes, so it puts them into the city of Top 10. What results is a bunch of hilarious jokes both in what the characters do and in the types of ads and other background items.
And by creating this great world, Moore takes the boring old police procedural and gives it super powers. I wasn't sure how much I'd like it given that I didn't like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen nearly as much as I liked Watchmen. Turns out to be a very fun book.
As far as the story goes - it's boiler-plate police comic. The main character is new to the precinct and gets matched with the gruff old dude who just lost his partner and doesn't want to talk about it. The magic comes in how Moore takes that cliche premise and gives you, if not gold, then silver. I will anxiously await my chance to get to read the second volume.
