Top 10 Annotations Compiled

I've gone through all the annotations I could find and put them together! Except where I labeled the comment as my own, I'm not claiming these are or are not accurate. Then it wouldn't be a game!

Let me know if you spot anything else....


VOLUME ONE

Page 1, Panel 1: [Xteve] 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 ...

[Bryan] 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 2-3: [Xteve] 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 3, Panel 1: [Bryan] 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, Panel 1: [J. Kevin Carrier] 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.

[SirDeuce] I like how the Fight Censorship flyers are censoring the bodies.

[Bryan] Guy walking up stairs looks like a blue version of Forager from New Gods (or maybe a version of Ambush Bug) - looks very Giffen-y

Page 6, Panel 1: [J. Kevin Carrier] 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.

Page 11, Panel 1: [Xteve] upper right, It's the Flying Pope!

Not sure who the two medics are in Panel two.

[SirDeuce] Oops, forgot to mention the Watcher!

Page 13, Panel 1: [Xteve] 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...

[J. Kevin Carrier] 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.

[SirDeuce] Batmanuel, Chainsaw Vigilante, and Captain Liberty from The Tick TV show and comic. Could that be Filth from the Tick cartoon next to Sweetums?

Page 15 Panel 5: [Xteve] 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 ...

[J. Kevin Carrier] The kids are Artie and Leech, two of the sewer-dwelling "Morlocks" from X-Men.

Page 16 Panel 4: [Xteve] (This) 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.

[SirDeuce] The literal Hawk and Dove.

[Bryan] The character Xteve identifies as Mokkari's kid looks like a juggalo AKA a fan of the Insane Clown Posse.

Page 17: [Xteve] 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: [Xteve] 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: [Xteve] 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?

[J. Kevin Carrier] I wouldn't recommend drinking anything from the "Red K" machine... in Superman comics, Red Kryptonite causes bizarre transformations.

[Bryan] Next to the soda machine, seen from behind, it looks the red brain from 1963 #3: Tales of the Uncanny?

Page 23 Panel 5: [Xteve] 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.

VOLUME TWO
Page 4, Panel 3: [J. Kevin Carrier] The yellow bird-creature kind of looks like one of Dr. Seuss' Sneetches.

Page 4, Panel 4: [Xteve] 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 ...

[Bryan] "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.

[Gene Ha] I’ll just clarify that one graffiti says “B. Galactis will eat ur world.” A nod to Bryan.

Page 8, Panel 1: [Xteve] 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.

[Bryan] Guy standing on corner looks like he's wearing Dr. Strange's cloak of levitation.

Page 11, Panel 1: [Xteve] 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: [Xteve] 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: [Xteve] 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 resembles Kilowog in a funny helmet...

Page 17, Panel 5: [J. Kevin Carrier] Looks like Orko from the He-Man cartoon is moonlighting as a waiter.

[Bryan] Definitely Orko!!!

Page 17, Panel 7: [J. Kevin Carrier] 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 18, Panel 1: [SirDeuce] Anyone mention that the thing on the desk looks like the guts to Robby the Robot's head from Forbidden Planet?

Page 20, Panel 1: [J. Kevin Carrier] 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.

[Xteve] Not sure who the two cuties and the fat guy with the gun are on the left, but they appear to be up to no good.

[Bryan] The girl looks like Poison Ivy (but maybe she's the Riddler's daughter).

Page 21: [Xteve] Pixie the babysitter reminds me of Cyclone of the JSA.

Page 22, panel 1: [Bryan] The Monarch from Venture bros is walking behind Traynor.

Page 22, Panel 4: [J. Kevin Carrier] On the left, that's Hank and Dean Venture flanking Dr. Girlfriend, all from the Venture Bros. cartoon.

Page 23, panel 1: [Bryan] The 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 23, Panel 3: [J. Kevin Carrier] If Mickey Millions is a takeoff of Richie Rich, then that must surely be Hot Stuff the Lil' Devil standing next to him.

Page 23 Panel 4: [Xteve] Dr. Sivana working for Mickey Millions? I think so...

Page 24, panel 4: [Bryan] 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
[J. Kevin Carrier] 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 1, panel 4: [J. Kevin Carrier] "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 1: [SirDeuce] 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.

age 2, panel 2: [J. Kevin Carrier] "F.O.U.O." may stand for "Fire Of Unknown Origin", which is the name of an album by Blue Oyster Cult.

Page 3, Panel 1: [SirDeuce] Bob's Big Boy in the sky.

Page 4, panel 5: [Bryan] 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.

Page 6, panel 8: [Bryan] Looks like Rawhide Kid (Marvel's definitely given him plenty of origin issues).

Page 7, Panel 2: [SirDeuce] The Tick and Arthur are miscolored.

[Bryan] Looks like Newt Gingrich dressed as Toad (another guy with issues), and maybe The Spectre behind him.

[J. Kevin Carrier] The "Mink" character resembles John Byrne, although if it is him, I don't understand the reference.

[Gene Ha] He’s a public figure so I’ll cop to this. AK stands for Alaska, whose Congressman Don Young threatened to bite another congressman: "If we continue this we'll be called biting one another, very much like the mink in my state that kill their own. There is always another day when those who bite will be killed, too. And I'm very good at that."

Page 7, panel 4: [J. Kevin Carrier] 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 7, Panel 5: [SirDeuce] Is that Jim Shooter taking tickets?

[Bryan] I thought the ticket taker looked like actor David Warner (but Shooter may be the better guess).

Page 8, Panel 1: [SirDeuce] Archie Goodwin in an Alien Legion uniform. Alien Legion was from Marvel's Epic imprint, headed by Archie.

Page 8, Panel 2: [SirDeuce] Is that the Wolverine from Earth X?

Page 8, Panel 3: [SirDeuce] The little robot Chewbacca growled at in the Death Star.

[Bryan] Looks like washed up versions of Iron Man and Ant Man, and yes, the li'l robot from the Death Star.

Page 8, Panel 4: [SirDeuce] Why does that remind me of a Cylon helmet?

Page 8, panel 5: [J. Kevin Carrier] "Wrestleworld" -- the planet that Secret Wars took place on was called "Battleworld".

Page 8, panel 8: [J. Kevin Carrier] 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 10, panel 8: [J. Kevin Carrier] On the TV is Samantha Bee, correspondent for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart".

Page 11, Panel 5: [SirDeuce] 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: [SirDeuce] 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.

[Bryan] SirDeuce scoped this one out pretty good. I can only add the Shmoo-kabobs.

Page 14, panel 2: [Bryan] Looks like a washed up Scott Summers.

Page 14, panel 3: [Bryan] Looks like Shaft and Sentinel of Youngblood tryin' to be cool (but it'll never happen).

[J. Kevin Carrier] The "native healer with silver hair" is a reference to Zsaji, a character from the first "Secret Wars" miniseries.

Page 14, Panel 6: [SirDeuce] Smokey the bear; Tony the Tiger; Hamburgler (the original) from McDonald’s.

Page 14, panel 7: [Bryan] Who's the guy in the middle? Lee Majors? Maybe Senator Craig?

Page 15, panel 3: [Bryan] Guy dressed in green looks like The Gill Man.

[Brad Guigar] During a routine perusing of the DC Comics Message Board, I stumbled across a reference to an Evil Inc cameo in Top Ten, Season Two #3.

(In) the upper right-hand corner, are Dr. Haynus and Iron Dragon! I'm gonna have to snag that ish for myself. Meanwhile, big thanks to Henchman CanRock for the scan.

This can only be a heartfelt compliment from the talented team of Zander Cannon and Gene Ha. That is, unless sharing the scene with the likes of Signal Man, Kite Man, Ten-Eyed Man, Ragman, Fisher Man and Letter Man was meant to be a hint! ;)

Either way, having my characters cameoed in a DC pub is an awesome thing! Thanks to whoever is responsible for that!

Page 16, Panel 3: [SirDeuce] Julius Schwartz and Stan Lee?

[Bryan] Yes Schwartz and Lee!

[J. Kevin Carrier] "Ground-tentacles" -- parts of the Secret Wars Battleworld had terrain like this.

page 14, panel 4: [Bryan] Cosmic Compass is the dial from "Dial H for Hero."

Page 17, Panel 1: [SirDeuce] Dozers from Fraggle Rock.

Page 17, panel 3: [Bryan] 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: [Bryan] Graffiti - Spongebob and Kochalka's American Elf.

Page 17, Panel 7: [SirDeuce] Barrels labeled as Kirby-Gaiman Sand (Jack Kirby and Neil Gaiman both worked on characters called The Sandman for DC).

Page 18, panel 2 & 5: [Bryan] 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: [SirDeuce] 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)?

[Bryan] The flying guy kind of looks like Jack Faust from Promethea, but I think it's a stretch.

[J. Kevin Carrier] 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).

Page 24, Panel 2: [SirDeuce] Cyclops and Marvel Girl hugging.