Best Of 2008

I don't plan on making a big list here, but I thought it might be fun to put together a few thoughts on some of the things that most impressed me over the past year. With less than 12 hours left in 2008, now seemed like an appropriate time to do so. And after all, no one had seemed to really oppose the idea, when I put it forth at the start of the month!

Best Comics of 2008

Final Crisis / Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds - Although both of these big DC event titles have suffered major publishing delays (with the latter only seeing one more issue delivered in the 4+ months since # 1 came out!), I always come back to the "Watchmen argument": nobody cares (or remembers) that the original comics came out late when they're reading the trade paperback collection years down the road! We've now gotten five of the seven parts of the main series and two of the five from the Legion offshoot, and I predict that each will be recognized as classics once the dust settles.

Y: The Last Man - This series actually came out over a 5-year span, ending earlier this year... it just happens that I only began reading it in 2008, and am now one thin issue away from finishing it (I just can't bring myself to devour that final chapter because, once I do, there'll be no more Y for me!). I believe this Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra masterpiece will find a hallowed place in comics history alongside peers such as Preacher and Starman, just a notch down from Watchmen, Sandman and The Dark Knight Returns.

Action Comics - Geoff Johns and Gary Frank hit multiple homers this year, starting with their "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" winner and followed up by the Brainiac saga that took "Pa" Kent away from us. I hope they do as well in 2009 with the updating of the Superman origin, but it'll be a hard feat to match.

Captain America - "Mr Consistency 2008" wears red, white and blue and carries a mean star-spangled shield. This title didn't hit a single sour note all year long, came out every month like clockwork, and featured great artwork, issue after issue. Bucky finally got to don his friend and mentor's uniform in January of this year, and he hasn't looked back (or bad) since. All hail Ed Brubaker and the new Cap!

Biggest Disappointments in Comics in 2008 - "One More Day" (technically, it came out late last year but I was still fuming about it in 2008 and haven't bought a Spider-Man comic since then), Secret Invasion (two or three issues' worth of story spread over an 8-issue miniseries and various tie-ins) and the news that Geoff Johns is leaving Justice Society of America in 2009.

Best Movies of 2008

The Dark Knight - Last night we watched TDK on Blu-Ray, making it my third viewing in less than 6 months. And yet, somehow, I was enthralled for the entire 2.5 hours on the third time through and never even came close to being bored! This would almost certainly be one of the best movies of any year, in my estimation. You can read more of my gushing about it here.

Iron Man - Just think, Tony Stark: If your fellow billionaire, Bruce Wayne, hadn't launched his big sequel this year, you'd have ruled 2008! At least we can safely say that Iron Man was Marvel's best movie of the year! More of my thoughts can be found here.

Honourable mentions to Away From Her (which probably actually came out last year) and Breach (ditto).

Best TV of 2008

Lost - Quite possibly the best TV show ever. Ever. And Season Four, truncated though it was by the WGA mess, kicked some serious ass and blew all of our minds wide open.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Sarah just keeps getting better and better. The writing has started to really take off this season, and the acting's been first rate all along. Anyone not watching this show just doesn't want to be entertained, I'm afraid!

Battlestar Galactica - Not the greatest half-season, perhaps, but it certainly ended on an intriguing note, eh? It should be interesting to see what tricks are left up the sleeve for the final dozen or so installments.

30 Rock - All those who didn't already know just how funny Tina Fey was probably found out in the Fall of 2008, at the expense of hapless, would-be-VP Sarah Palin. Thanks for that, anyway, you moose-shooting, evolution-doubting, scorn-spewing liability, you! Now that everyone's discovered the joy that is Tina, we can all agree that 30 Rock is the funniest half hour that doesn't require the inhalation of laughing gas!

Biggest Disappointments on TV in 2008 - Let's not do that whole "WGA on Strike" thing again anytime soon, OK?

Best Music of 2008

Radiohead, In Rainbows - Just as Irene Adler, from A Scandal in Bohemia, is often simply referred to as "the woman" by Sherlock Holmes, In Rainbows is simply the CD for 2008. I've listened to it dozens of times, including on many bike rides to and from work, and its appeal grows with every pass. It's an album that's so accessible and subtle in its deviant messages that even Vicki is starting to like it! (Of course, the fact that I can't think of another CD that actually came out in 2008 doesn't hurt its chances, either!)

I also surprisingly enjoyed Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog more than I'd ever have expected...

Biggest Disappointments in Music in 2008 - Nothing new from Peter Gabriel or Magnolia Electric Company... now that sucks!