My pop-culture consumption is often time-shifted, where I’m reading or watching or listening to things from weeks, months, or years ago. Even if I could make it my full time job, there would still be no way to get to everything in a given year and then you would miss out on discovering great things from the past. So, what you will read is a snapshot of my year and not just things from 2023.
BOOKS
I have had a goal of reading 80 combined books and collected comics/OGNs since 2021 and this was the first year I achieved that goal with 46 and 37, respectively. Do I wish I had more books in that total? Sure, especially since I managed 1 more last year, but there were plenty of school nights where I didn’t have the mental bandwidth for prose. So it goes. I still found plenty of good things to read…
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (2023) - Schwab’s Shades of Magic trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy stories from the last decade. This starts a new trilogy set in the same world and it was absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait to read the next one.
Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman (2023) - A book about middle age, romance, and music set in Baltimore. I loved it.
Fairy Tale by Stephen King (2022) - I saved this one to be my first book of 2023 and it did not disappoint. It’s a sprawling fantasy and a page-turner.
The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz (2023) - This is the 8th novel in the Orphan X series and it shows no signs of slowing down. Eagerly awaiting the new one in February.
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (2023) - I was a big fan of Lehane’s, but had drifted away from his work over the last decade or more. Glad I picked him back up, because this was a gut-punch of a tale in the best way.
Deliver Me From Nowhere by Warren Zanes (2023) - Zanes is a favorite music writer (and great songwriter in his own right). Here he writes about Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska album, which is right up my alley.
Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker (2023) - A story collection in which every story is a winner. Shout-out to Kelly Link, whose White Cat, Black Dog story collection was also very good.
Endless Vessel by Charles Soule (2023) - This is a novel full of big ideas with a mystery at its core. I bought a special edition via Kickstarter and am still waiting on the companion novella. I was also a big fan of his creator-owned comics this year too.
Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway (2023) - Harkaway novels are not usually summed up in a sentence and that is a good thing. A sequel is coming this year (I think/hope).
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian (2023) - A weird Western, full of horror and magic and characters you get invested in.
COMICS
In addition to those 37 collected editions, I’ve read upwards of 1050 comics this year. Yes, I recognize that’s a massive number. My subscriptions to DC Infinite Ultra and Marvel Unlimited give me access to a ton of comics, as well as Hoopla with both single issue and trades. I am relatively current with most DC titles thanks to Ultra and its one month delay in getting new comics to me. Unlimited has a delay of 3 months, but I’m mainly into early 2023 with much of my Marvel reading. How do I convert this all into a list for the year? I don’t exactly know, but here’s what I really enjoyed reading…
World’s Finest - I’m including both the flagship Batman/Superman and the Teen Titans spinoff here. Mark Waid doing out of continuity DC stories is catnip for me and his artistic collaborators like Dan Mora and Emanuela Lupacchino are fantastic.
Justice Society of America - I’m including the Stargirl: The Lost Children mini-series here as well, because the two titles are intertwined. I love these characters and the first arc was strong and the second is shaping up that way. The only drawback is that it doesn’t quite come out monthly. Kudos to DC for putting out minis with Jay Garrick, Wesley Dodds, and Alan Scott as well. Oh, and I went back to Geoff Johns first JSA run via a collection. It was great to revisit and I will keep going with that project in 2024 as well.
Nightwing/Titans - This is the Tom Taylor mainstream DC corner, which remains a delight and not just because of the Dick/Barbara relationship. A hit tip to Taylor’s out-of-continuity DC work like Dark Knights of Steel and DCeased as well.
Fantastic Four - I’ve only read the first 3 of the current FF series by Ryan North and Iban Coello so far, but those are 3 great issues. The Dan Slott run was a favorite, so it’s nice to see the book in good hands going forward.
Flash - Jeremy Adams wrapped up his great run this year. As Wally is my favorite Flash (and favorite character), I was so happy to get a comic starring him that I couldn’t wait to read each month. The year ended with a new series written by Si Spurrier that is off to an interesting start and is something completely different.
Amazing Spider-Man - I read the first 17 issue of the current Zeb Wells run and am right at the end of the ‘Dark Web” storyline. It features an interesting shift in the status quo and is full of the mix of fun and dread that is classic Spidey for me. Not gonna lie, I don’t mind Black Cat being a bigger presence in the book either.
Action Comics/Superman - The Super-titles are in great hands with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Joshua Williamson at the helm, respectively. Great Superman stories with rock solid art, which makes me very happy.
She-Hulk - Rainbow Rowell time on this title has been great. Fun stories with plenty of heart and compelling art. I think the title just relaunched, but I have many more issues to read before I get to that point.
Unstoppable Doom Patrol - This Dennis Culver/Chris Burnham series was an absolutely off-kilter good time. I am awaiting an announcement of a follow-up series and will be annoyed if we don’t get one soon.
Human Target - I only read 7 issues of this series this year and have 3 more to go. Tom King’s noir story featuring members of the JLI is very interesting, but Greg Smallwood’s art is at another level. I enjoyed most of King’s work this year and am currently reading through Gotham City: Year One and Danger Street.
Eight Billion Genies/Curse Words - I mentioned Charles Soule’s creator-owned comics earlier and here are two recent ones with artist Ryan Browne. I liked Eight Billion Genies better, but at 8 issues, it was also tighter. I love the creativity of these titles and look forward to their next collaboration, which should start some time next year.
Invincible - I read 5 volume of this series (13-17) and loved the twists and turns of the story. I have been doling these out, but with only 8 volumes to go, I think I’ll have to finish in 2024.
Love Everlasting Vol. 1 - More Tom King, along with amazing art by Elise Charretier. This is a romance comic, where each issue is a new scenario (or two), but there is a bigger story at play. I have the second volume in hand to read early in 2024.
Friday Vol. 2 - This is the second volume of the Panel Syndicate series from Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin. It is a kid detective series with a supernatural element and I can’t wait to see how it wraps up.
Fire Power Vol. 5 - Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee’s martial arts series reaches its penultimate volume. The mix of mythology, action, and character relationships remains very appealing.
TV
I am nowhere near current on TV shows and am either partway through or haven’t started some of the most notable ones. That’s okay. This was a year where I let myself binge shows as well, which is not something I have often let myself do in the past. In the first half of the year, I watched a ton of Jeopardy as well, before tailing off in July. All of that adds up to watching just shy of 850 episodes of television, which was way more than last year. Here’s my attempt to sum it up…
The Last of Us S1 - I would never have suspected that a video game adaptation would be my favorite TV show of the year, but here we are. Come for the fungal zombies and stay for the relationship between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey with an amazing side episode featuring Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett.
The Bear S2 - When a show comes out of the gate with a strong first season, you always wonder if they can follow it up. Well, this show did in spades by delving further into the characters (Marcus in Copenhagen, anyone?). All of that and the soundtrack remains great too.
Clone Wars/Rebels - On the recommendation of a friend, I decided to finish my watch of Clone Wars (picking up in S4) and then watch all of Rebels. 133 episodes later, I am so glad I did. These animated stories do a lot of work in and around the prequel trilogy to strengthen the story and give us great characters and arcs. I am only 1 episode into Ahsoka, but hope to finish early in 2024.
Succession - I watched all 4 seasons this year. What a brilliant show about a bunch of terrible people. It’s helped by how funny it is. Tom and Greg forever!
Bob’s Burgers - We got the back half of S13 and the first half of S14 this year. The show is just as good as ever for me and recent episodes have been very creative while still telling character-based stories. Honestly, this might be my favorite animated show ever.
Picard/Strange New Worlds - Yes, I watched both Star Wars and Star Trek TV show this year, satisfying my inner nerd. The 3rd and final season of Picard hit all of the Next Generation pleasure centers and the 1st season of SNW was really impressive (luckily, S2 came out this year, so I can dive in soon). Anson Mount is great as Captain Pike.
Ted Lasso S3 - I thought the final season ended very well and will miss spending time with Ted and Rebecca and Roy and Keeley and Jamie and the rest.
Doctor Who - I picked up my rewatch of this series with S3 in the hopes that I would be done by the time the 60th Anniversary specials came out. I failed spectacularly. I did enjoy 52 episodes of David Tennant (10) and Matt Smith (11) and the second of those specials with Tennant and Catherine Tate (as Donna Noble) returning was an all-timer. Excited to finish the specials, finish my rewatch, and enjoy the new Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa).
Venture Bros. - This was a rewatch and watch of the first 6 seasons of the show, in tandem with reading a book on the show. There are so many characters to keep track of, but the storytelling is strong and I laughed many many times.
Amazing Race/Survivor/Top Chef - My three reality TV shows still keep me entertained.
Justified - I decided to rewatch this series before the City Primeval mini-series…and failed to get there after stalling out. I will get back to it in 2024. I did manage the first 3 seasons plus the start of the 4th and was happy that the show really holds up.
Batman: Brave and the Bold - Did I watch 52 episodes of this series in January because it was going to get pulled from Max? Of course I did! The show is a love letter to the DC Universe with inventive stories and a treasure trove of characters. Diedrich Bader is a great Batman.
MOVIES
I was terrible at seeing movies again this year…and much worse than last year. This is something I want to change in 2024, for sure. I saw 5 movies from 2023, so I’ll just list them in chronological order with some comments.
Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed - This documentary focuses on the making of the 2020 Isbell and the 400 Unit album, Reunions. I am a big fan of Isbell and was fascinated by this look at the creative process and his marriage to Amanda Shires.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - A great end for one of my favorite franchises within the MCU.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - This was so much fun and the characters, humor, and plot worked very well together. I can imagine this one becoming something to rewatch and hope we get more of them.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - The animation was absolutely amazing and the multiversalness was grounded in enough character to work. Of course, it’s not a complete story, so bring on the sequel (threequel?)!
Oppenheimer - Yes, I only saw half of the so-called Barbenheimer, but I do want to watch Barbie soon. This was disturbing and inventive and I thought it was very good.
PODCASTS
I passed 900 episodes this morning; this is the first year I’ve kept track. I was also on a podcast - an episode of Outcasters, which is from the Wright On Network; that was a ton of fun. In addition to all my usual podcast listening times, I got to add walking the dog to the list this year. I listened to episodes that came out that day…and episodes from up to 5 years ago. Here is what stood out, no matter the year…
Rockin’ the Suburbs - Was there any other podcast I could have at #1? Jim and Patrick cover a wide variety of music topics with plenty of help from the community/my friends.
House of R - This podcast with Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson started the year as part of the Ringer-Verse feed (shoutout also to The Midnight Boys - pew pew!) and spun off on its own in the fall. I love listening to the two of them talk story; my biggest problem is trying to keep up with what they’re talking about (not really a problem).
iFanboy - I’ve been listening to this podcast since 2010 and still love hearing what Conor and Josh and Ryan (more often) have to say about the week’s comics…and I finally got into Jan. 2023 episodes by end of the year. Add in the Mediasplode episodes with Ron and the Booksplode and Talksplode episodes and there is plenty to hear. They are partly responsible for the amount of comics I read too.
Comedy Bang Bang/CBB-FM - I am back in Aug. 2022 on the main show, in part because I’ve been listening to the tour episodes from that same month. Being behind isn’t a problem, as the improv comedy works whenever. I am caught up on the music show, which I love.
The Watch/Prestige TV Podcast - Here are a couple more Ringer shows that focus mainly on TV. Of course, I have to watch the shows before I can listen, but that’s part of the fun. I’m about 2 years behind on The Watch at this point, but those episodes are waiting for me.
Outcasters - Hey, it’s the show I was on. Tim and AJ are great at breaking down old issues of The Outsiders (in various titles), but delve into so much more. It’s like listening to your friends.
Waiting for Doom - Paul and Mike talk about all things Doom Patrol and are very funny while doing so.
The Pod Has Spoken/No Buffs - Part of the fun of watching Survivor is listening to multiple podcasts about the show. Former winner Tyson is part of the former and has tons of guests from the show.
Baseball Tonight - Buster Olney and a cast of reporters, researchers, and on-air personalities keep me up-to-date about everything going on in MLB.
Life of the Record - This podcast doesn’t put out many episodes each year, but what they do is fantastic. They get artists to talk about what went into making their albums. My favorite this year was the one on Nada Surf’s Let Go.
I heard Red Rabbit was something I would dig and I'm glad you liked it and confirmed that it rocks! Can't wait to get it.