First annotations
I'd been hoping someone would annotate the new Top 10 series. Glory be, Xteve put up the first annotations for the new series on the comments thread.
Putting in the "Easter Eggs" is a lot like drawing up a crossword puzzle. You'd like to think that someone, somewhere, is working to solve it. It's really a group activity, as some of the references are so obscure or foreign that no single person could find them all.
As the puzzle maker and a DC contractor, I can't really play this game. I will mention that I'm a MySpace fan of Jane Jensen, and I later learned that she's a college pal of Alex Ross.
Put anything else you discover in comments, or feel free to re-post onto other forums:
K ... it's a snowy day and what to do but ... read comics! Here's a brief list of Top 10 annotations for the new series.
VOLUME ONE
page 1, panel 1:I'll swear that's a Joust guy from the classic video game on the lower right. The kid in the upper right panel looks like a Dragon Ball Z character, but I'm not really a manga reader ...
page 2-3: the kid looks like Black Lightning Jr, if there is such a character ... the other guy reminds me of "Letter Man" from the old Electric Company TV show, even though I know it's not him ...
Page 11, panel 1: upper right, It's the Flying Pope!
Not sure who the two medics are in panel two.
Page 13, panel 1 in the crowd I think I spot Captain Britain, what seems to be a rather portly Johnny Future, and the huge 7ft tall guy from the Muppet Show...
Page 15 panel 5, the newsboy closest to Dwayne seems to have an X-Man t-shirt on and may be one of the characters; I don't read Marvel, so I couldn't say which one ...
Page 16 panel 4 is one of my favorite panels in Season Two. from left to right we see a kid wearing a 3rd Bass T-shirt and possibly sporting the MC Serch white boy Afro standing underneath "Alvy Singer's ______" nice nod to Woody Allen there, what -may- be Avenger the eagle from the "Harvey Birdman" TV show, moving on there's the Dr. Doom Charlie Brown and Snoopy from the original Top 10 series, what appears to be the home of ubiquitous Kirby-era ad staple GRIT magazine (hey, you can make 4 cents an issue!) and on the far right what appears to be the child of New God Mokkari pimping a "Harper's Bizarre" newspaper with the headline "SUCKA MCs _____ NEOPOLIS." Sheer genius. And as I type this I notice the Disneyland castle in the far background. Niiice.
Page 17, apart from a hilarious hint to Shock Headed Peter's origins also features nerdrap hero MC Frontalot as Buzz, who like Billy Batson apparently has his own magic word that transforms him into ... Captain Aztec?? Love it.
On Page 21 I'm going to speculate that's Gograh from the original Top 10 series in the cell next to Mickey Millions, why he's wearing boxing gloves is anyone's guess.
Page 23 Panel 1 features another John Belushi cameo as his samurai character, just to the right of Slipstream Phoenix. The guy on the candy bar machine looks very Matt Groening-ish, maybe Radioactive Man?
Page 23 Panel 5: I'm not sure who the elderly gentleman with the sun outfit is, but that's clearly the Great Gazoo floating next to him. The floating dinosaur looks a bit like the flying dragon character from Neverending Story; can't recall his name at the moment.
5:10 PM
Blogger Xteve said...
VOLUME TWO
Page 4, Panel 4: My second favorite panel in Season Two (so far). Looks like the ladies room at TOP 10 has quite the collection of bathroom graffiti. From left to right: "Banner - I like him when he's angry!" a sketch of Snoopy as Joe Cool, "Don't let Diana tie you up" "SINISTER DUCKS"-which for those who don't know is an avant garde music project Alan Moore did with fellow Northhamptonites David J from Bauhaus and Max Acropolis. I used to have the single back in high school ... I think Kevin O'Neill did the sleeve. "Galactis [sic] will eat ur world!" and what I can only imagine is a message for the reader who actually read all this "comic book whore" hee hee hee ...
Page 8, panel 1: from left to right looks as though Gandalf has gone into the dry cleaning biz as the robe says "Mithrandir Cleaners" ... not sure who the cat with the bag and the old hippy are, though given that this is supposed to be the magic users neighborhood that would mean that the large plant growing outside the apartment is probably Jack's beanstalk.
Page 11, panel 1: far in the upper left hand corner we find the other Kirby-era ad staple "X-RAY Specs"... now to complete the set we just need "Potato Gun" and maybe "Learn Guitar By Ear!" I can't make out all of the graffiti on the house other than a sneaky "Didio Rules!" So looks like Dan has been busy when he's not out dominating the Multiverse (for you Ambush Bug readers)...For some evil reason I always thought the guy in panel 4 was Bee Guy from the Simpsons.
Page 15 panel 1 the old guy with the German helmet on seems to be enjoying a copy of "Class Action Comics" while John Belushi's samurai makes his second appearance next to his lunch room pal Capt. Bar-B-Q.
Page 17 panel 4: I love this. A Green Lantern themed-restaurant "Jordan's" complete with Jawa and Guardian waiters. I know I've seen the female character on the left hand side of panel 8 before but I can't remember her name; the character just to the right of Capt. Peregrine somewhat remembles Kilowog in a funny helmet...
Page 20: Not sure who the two cuties and the fat guy with the gun are on the left, butthey appear to be up to no good.
Page 21: Pixie the babysitter reminds me of Cyclone of the JSA.
Page 23 panel 4: Dr. Sivana working for Mickey Millions? I think so ...
That's everything I've been able to spot so far... I'll try to post the rest as issues 3 and 4 come out. Keep up the great work Gene and Zander!
Steve
Putting in the "Easter Eggs" is a lot like drawing up a crossword puzzle. You'd like to think that someone, somewhere, is working to solve it. It's really a group activity, as some of the references are so obscure or foreign that no single person could find them all.
As the puzzle maker and a DC contractor, I can't really play this game. I will mention that I'm a MySpace fan of Jane Jensen, and I later learned that she's a college pal of Alex Ross.
Put anything else you discover in comments, or feel free to re-post onto other forums:
K ... it's a snowy day and what to do but ... read comics! Here's a brief list of Top 10 annotations for the new series.
VOLUME ONE
page 1, panel 1:I'll swear that's a Joust guy from the classic video game on the lower right. The kid in the upper right panel looks like a Dragon Ball Z character, but I'm not really a manga reader ...
page 2-3: the kid looks like Black Lightning Jr, if there is such a character ... the other guy reminds me of "Letter Man" from the old Electric Company TV show, even though I know it's not him ...
Page 11, panel 1: upper right, It's the Flying Pope!
Not sure who the two medics are in panel two.
Page 13, panel 1 in the crowd I think I spot Captain Britain, what seems to be a rather portly Johnny Future, and the huge 7ft tall guy from the Muppet Show...
Page 15 panel 5, the newsboy closest to Dwayne seems to have an X-Man t-shirt on and may be one of the characters; I don't read Marvel, so I couldn't say which one ...
Page 16 panel 4 is one of my favorite panels in Season Two. from left to right we see a kid wearing a 3rd Bass T-shirt and possibly sporting the MC Serch white boy Afro standing underneath "Alvy Singer's ______" nice nod to Woody Allen there, what -may- be Avenger the eagle from the "Harvey Birdman" TV show, moving on there's the Dr. Doom Charlie Brown and Snoopy from the original Top 10 series, what appears to be the home of ubiquitous Kirby-era ad staple GRIT magazine (hey, you can make 4 cents an issue!) and on the far right what appears to be the child of New God Mokkari pimping a "Harper's Bizarre" newspaper with the headline "SUCKA MCs _____ NEOPOLIS." Sheer genius. And as I type this I notice the Disneyland castle in the far background. Niiice.
Page 17, apart from a hilarious hint to Shock Headed Peter's origins also features nerdrap hero MC Frontalot as Buzz, who like Billy Batson apparently has his own magic word that transforms him into ... Captain Aztec?? Love it.
On Page 21 I'm going to speculate that's Gograh from the original Top 10 series in the cell next to Mickey Millions, why he's wearing boxing gloves is anyone's guess.
Page 23 Panel 1 features another John Belushi cameo as his samurai character, just to the right of Slipstream Phoenix. The guy on the candy bar machine looks very Matt Groening-ish, maybe Radioactive Man?
Page 23 Panel 5: I'm not sure who the elderly gentleman with the sun outfit is, but that's clearly the Great Gazoo floating next to him. The floating dinosaur looks a bit like the flying dragon character from Neverending Story; can't recall his name at the moment.
5:10 PM
Blogger Xteve said...
VOLUME TWO
Page 4, Panel 4: My second favorite panel in Season Two (so far). Looks like the ladies room at TOP 10 has quite the collection of bathroom graffiti. From left to right: "Banner - I like him when he's angry!" a sketch of Snoopy as Joe Cool, "Don't let Diana tie you up" "SINISTER DUCKS"-which for those who don't know is an avant garde music project Alan Moore did with fellow Northhamptonites David J from Bauhaus and Max Acropolis. I used to have the single back in high school ... I think Kevin O'Neill did the sleeve. "Galactis [sic] will eat ur world!" and what I can only imagine is a message for the reader who actually read all this "comic book whore" hee hee hee ...
Page 8, panel 1: from left to right looks as though Gandalf has gone into the dry cleaning biz as the robe says "Mithrandir Cleaners" ... not sure who the cat with the bag and the old hippy are, though given that this is supposed to be the magic users neighborhood that would mean that the large plant growing outside the apartment is probably Jack's beanstalk.
Page 11, panel 1: far in the upper left hand corner we find the other Kirby-era ad staple "X-RAY Specs"... now to complete the set we just need "Potato Gun" and maybe "Learn Guitar By Ear!" I can't make out all of the graffiti on the house other than a sneaky "Didio Rules!" So looks like Dan has been busy when he's not out dominating the Multiverse (for you Ambush Bug readers)...For some evil reason I always thought the guy in panel 4 was Bee Guy from the Simpsons.
Page 15 panel 1 the old guy with the German helmet on seems to be enjoying a copy of "Class Action Comics" while John Belushi's samurai makes his second appearance next to his lunch room pal Capt. Bar-B-Q.
Page 17 panel 4: I love this. A Green Lantern themed-restaurant "Jordan's" complete with Jawa and Guardian waiters. I know I've seen the female character on the left hand side of panel 8 before but I can't remember her name; the character just to the right of Capt. Peregrine somewhat remembles Kilowog in a funny helmet...
Page 20: Not sure who the two cuties and the fat guy with the gun are on the left, butthey appear to be up to no good.
Page 21: Pixie the babysitter reminds me of Cyclone of the JSA.
Page 23 panel 4: Dr. Sivana working for Mickey Millions? I think so ...
That's everything I've been able to spot so far... I'll try to post the rest as issues 3 and 4 come out. Keep up the great work Gene and Zander!
Steve
posted by Gene Ha at 2:53 PM
7 Comments:
Issue One
page 4, panel 1: The bald lady at extreme left looks like Marvel's Moondragon, if she let herself go a bit. The bearded fellow next to her with the pentagram t-shirt is a casual-dress version of Rasputin, from Hellboy. On the far right, the guy holding a cup of coffee is Marvel's Black Goliath.
page 6, panel 1: Why does "Green Bolt" wear a red costume? Maybe he's color blind. Or maybe (really reaching here) it's a nod to those old X-Men covers where the Scarlet Witch was mistakenly colored green.
pag 13, panel 1: I don't think that's Captain Britain... looks more like Paul Grist's Jack Staff to me. Could be Marvel's Union Jack, I suppose.
page 15, panel 5: The kids are Artie and Leech, two of the sewer-dwelling "Morlocks" from X-Men.
page 23, panel 1: I wouldn't recommend drinking anything from the "Red K" machine... in Superman comics, Red Kryptonite causes bizarre transformations.
Issue Two
page 4, panel 3: The yellow bird-creature kind of looks like one of Dr. Seuss' Sneetches.
page 17, panel 5: Looks like Orko from the He-Man cartoon is moonlighting as a waiter.
page 17, panel 7: The chicken-headed waiter might be a reference to Tomar Re, the bird-like alien Green Lantern. Not sure who the guy on the right is... the beady eyes remind me of George W. Bush.
page 20, panel 1: The girl in green and purple looks like a female Riddler, which I guess would make her blue-and-grey clad companion a variation on Batman/Batgirl. No idea about the chubby guy.
page 22, panel 4: On the left, that's Hank and Dean Venture flanking Dr. Girlfriend, all from the Venture Bros. cartoon.
page 23, panel 3: If Mickey Millions is a takeoff of Richie Rich, then that must surely be Hot Stuff the Lil' Devil standing next to him.
Issue One
page 4, panel 1: I like how the Fight Censorship flyers are censoring the bodies.
page 13, panel 1: Batmanuel, Chainsaw Vigilante, and Captain Liberty from The Tick TV show and comic. Could that be Filth from the Tick cartoon next to Sweetums?
Issue Two
page 18, panel 1: Anyone mention that the thing on the desk looks like the guts to Robby the Robot's head from Forbidden Planet?
Issue Three
page 2, panel 1:
Seaguy and Chubby Da Choona and Death. Ryuk from Death Note is on the right, with other characters I recognize but cannot recall right now.
page 3, panel 1:
Bob's Big Boy in the sky.
page 7, panel 2:
the Tick and Arthur are miscolored.
page 7, panel 5:
Is that Jim Shooter taking tickets?
page 8, panel 1:
Archie Goodwin in an Alien Legion uniform. Alien Legion was from Marvel's Epic imprint, headed by Archie.
page 8, panel 2:
is that the Wolverine from Earth X?
page 8, panel 3:
the little robot Chewbacca growled at in the Death Star.
page 8, panel 4:
Why does that remind me of a Cylon helmet?
page 11, panel 5:
7-Zark-7 (upside-down) and 1-Rover-1 from Battle of the Planets. Hoggle (i think, lying down) and Sir Didymus on Ambrosius, his sheepdog steed, from the 1986 film labyrinth. Also, Robot Chicken.
page 14, panel 1:
lots here - a Mon Calamari from Return of the Jedi; Mayor McCheese from McDonalds; The Fruit of the Loom guys; Jay and Silent Bob; Swamp Thing and Man Thing; M & M's;
Pac Man and the ghosts; a Squirtle Pokemon; Strawberry Shortcake; the carrot-headed Green Lantern; the reference to Beta Ray Bill, the alien Thor;
page 14, panel 6:
Smokey the bear; Tony the tiger; Hamburgler (the original) from McDonalds
page 16, panel 3:
Julius Schwartz and Stan Lee?
page17, panel 1:
Dozers from Fraggle Rock
page 16, panel 7:
Barrels labled as Kirby-Gaiman Sand (Jack Kirby and Neil Gaiman both worked on characters called The Sandman for DC).
last page, panel 1:
Firestorm; Wolverine; Vigilante; the Chipmunks; Blink and Nightcrawler as kids; Stig of Stig's Inferno (holding pants); The Black Terror and Green Lama (flying and mis-colored)?
last page, panel 2:
Cyclops and Marvel Girl hugging.
oops, forgot to mention the Watcher in issue one, page 11, panel 1, and the literal Hawk and Dove on page 16, panel 4.
Here are my additions to Xteve, J. Kevin and SirDuece:
ISSUE ONE:
Page 1, panel 1: Rogue Trooper on the left, I agree with Xteve on the Joust guy, and the flying kids might be Astro Boy and Jetter Mars
Page 3, panel 1: Igoo, the rock ape from The Herculoids, and the top of Robby the Robot's head in lower panel (which SirDeuce points out also in issue 2 page 18)
Page 4 splash - guy walking up stairs looks like a blue version of Forager from New Gods (or maybe a version of Ambush Bug) - looks very Giffin-y
Page 16 - The character Xteve identifies as Mokkari's kid looks like a juggalo AKA a fan of the Insane Clown Posse
page 23, panel 1 - next to the soda machine, seen from behind, it looks the red brain for 1963 #3: Tales of the Uncanny?
ISSUE TWO:
Panel 4 page 4 - graffiti, "Thank you M.O.M. 4 the androgen bomb" - M.O.M. is a villain from Tom Strong #19, and the Androgen bomb is her weapon that turns men into women, which is why Roger, the stong-man of Promethea's Five-Swell Guys, is a woman.
Page 8, panel 1 - guy standin on corner looks like he's wearing Dr. Strange's cloak of levitation
Page 17, panel 5 - definitely Orko!!!
page 20, panel 1 - the girl looks like Poison Ivy (but maybe she's the riddler's daughter)
page 22 panel 1 - The Monarch from Venture bros is walking behind Traynor
page 23 panel 1 - butler looks like a Tezuka robot character from Astro Boy (I couldn't tell you which one, but that's just the kind of weird nose he'd draw)
page 24 panel 4 - post-it note has url for bigtimeattic.com - the site for the studio of zander cannon and his partners (all credited for the scripts and layouts)
ISSUE THREE:
page 6 panel 8 - looks like Rawhide Kid (Marvel's definitely given him plenty of origin issues)
page 7, panel 2 - looks like Newt Gingrich dressed as Toad (another guy with issues), and maybe The Spectre behind him
page 7 panel 8 - I thought the ticket taker looked like actor David Warner (but Shooter may be the better guess)
page 8 panel 3 - looks like washed up versions of iron man and ant man, and yes, the li'l robot from the death star
page 14, panel 1 - SirDuece scoped this one out pretty good. I can only add the Shmoo-kabobs
page 14, panel 2 - looks like a washed up Scott Summers
page 14 panel 3 - looks like Shaft and Sentinel of Youngblood tryin' to be cool (but it'll never happen)
page 14 panel 7 - who's the guy in the middle? Lee Majors? Maybe Senator Craig?
page 15 panel 3 - guy dressed in green looks like The Gill Man
page 16 panel 3 - Yes Schwartz and Lee!
page 16 panel 4 - cosmic compass is the dial from "Dial H for Hero"
page 17 panel 3 - graffiti "(Alan) Moore knows the score - can u dig it" are lyrics from the Pop Will Eat Itself song, Can U Dig IT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8cN_qvhfeI
page 17 panel 5 - graffiti - spongebob and kochalka's american elf
page 18 panel 2 & 5 - prolly need not be said, but the red ring gang, with a weakness to orange is much like the GL Corp and their weakness to yellow
page 24 panel 1 - the flying guy kind of looks like Jack Faust from Promethea, but I think it's a stretch.
That's all. Thanks guys!
Forgot one from ISSUE THREE!
Page 4, panel 5: Address given by informant is "Glycon and 6th," Glycon being the glove-puppet snake-god worshipped by original Top Ten writer and co-creator Alan Moore.
A few more for issue 3:
page 1, panel 4: "Premise Keepers" is a play on the real-life organization "Promise Keepers" -- it's a Christian organization that purports to help men become better husbands.
page 2, panel 2: "F.O.U.O." may stand for "Fire Of Unknown Origin", which is the name of an album by Blue Oyster Cult.
page 10, panel 8: On the tv is Samantha Bee, correspondent for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart".
page 14, panel 2&3: The "native healer with silver hair" is a reference to Zsaji, a character from the first "Secret Wars" miniseries.
page 24, panel 1: Right in the middle of the panel you can just make out the heads of Marvel's Hercules (with the beard and headband) and Thor (winged helmet).
I keep noticing more Secret Wars references in the "Origin Weekend" scenes in #3. Come to think of it, the whole idea of the heroes "going away for the weekend" and coming back radically changed is pretty much the whole plot of Secret Wars...
page 7, panel 2: The "Mink" character resembles John Byrne, although if it is him, I don't understand the reference.
page 7, panel 4: An obvious one, but we might as well go for completeness: The title of Eternity's book is a play on John Grey's self-help book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"
page 8, panel 5: "Wrestleworld" -- the planet that Secret Wars took place on was called "Battleworld".
page 8, panel 8: Eternity's quote is a riff on the Beyonder's dialogue in Secret Wars #1: "I come from Beyond. Nothing you imagine is impossible for me to achieve."
page 16, panel 3: "Ground-tentacles" -- parts of the Secret Wars Battleworld had terrain like this.
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