It’s that time of year again! The end of the year. And at the end of the year, pop culture sites across the internet come together and share their Best of the Year lists. I’m a pale imitation of those sites, but at least I can share my favorite media from throughout the year. My favorite games, shows, movies, comics and whatnot.

As always, I don’t listen to music and I don’t read books, so those won’t make for easy entries in this list. I’ve got to search for other random entries to get up to six. What will I come up with? Favorite movie trailers? Favorite LEGO sets? Hopefully something good. But at least I devoured a ton of TV shows, movies and comic books this year! So that should be fun.

Join me after the jump for a few of my favorite things from 2022! And feel free to share your own in the comments.

6. Dumb Purchase: NECA Wingnut and Screwloose

Look at that thing. It’s both beautiful and silly at the same time. I am terrible with money. And I’m great at spending any money I have on dumb, pop culture stuff. I admit I have a problem, but I’m not likely to stop anytime soon. And this year, when I had a couple bucks come my way from a side gig, I decided to spend it all on these retro ’80s cartoon action figures of Wingnut and Screwloose from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They’re my favorite TMNT characters (bats are my favorite animal), and I just love the look of these figures from the company NECA. The detail, the paint style, the look; it’s so pretty in action figure terms. But I haven’t done anything with them. I definitely didn’t take them out of the box. And I have nowhere left in my tiny apartment to display them. So I’m just gonna share with the internet, on this list, that I indeed spent money on these things and I own them. Life is good.

5. Movie Trailer: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

I love movie trailers. I watch a lot of them. And sometimes a movie trailer comes along that is truly wonderful, truly captivating, and just plain excellent all around. The teaser trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was one such trailer. The music, the lack of dialogue (except for one powerful speech by Queen Ramonda), the building intensity and the new BP reveal at the end — this thing was a trailer masterpiece and deserves to be recognized by this one, random blogger.

4. Video Game: Total War: Warhammer 3

Crucify me if you will, but I did not play either Elden Ring or God of War: Ragnarok this year. I’ve never been a fan of those Dark Souls-style games, so I’ve never been interested in Elden Ring (though my brother loved it, so I’ll probably give it a try one of these days). And I’m on the cusp of needing to upgrade to a Playstation 5 or a better gaming PC, so I can’t exactly play the latest, greatest games. Still, I think Total War: Warhammer 3 would be at the top of my favorite games this year, because I love this series, and the third entry has lived up to the hype! Real time strategy with armies of fantasy creatures is just darn cool. And this third entry opened up the map even more, to be a massive, world-sized battle arena. The game is a ton of fun, and it’s one I will be coming back to year after year — especially with some of the DLC prospects in the long run.

Runner-Up: Horizon Forbidden West

Again, I didn’t play any of the other big titles this year, so this Horizon sequel gets a big nod in my book. It maybe wasn’t as impactful as the first game, but it’s exactly what I love: fun characters in a fun, open world with a lot to do, see, collect, upgrade and battle.

3. TV Show: Peacemaker

This was probably the hardest entry on this list! So many damn good shows this year! But in the end, I think Peacemaker is my winner, from all the way at the start of the year. James Gunn delivered a touching, nuanced, ass-kicking show about his Suicide Squad also-ran, with John Cena and the whole cast delivering full and fulfilling performances. The story was great, the characters and their arcs were superb, the drama was good; Peacemaker had it all, as well as the best damn opening credits in possibly the history of television.

Runner-Up: The Afterparty

One thing I did this year was subscribe to a couple of months of AppleTV+ in order to binge a bunch of great shows. I don’t have high opinions of most streaming services, but Apple proved me wrong! They had a slew of great shows, each one I watched a real banger! Severance was as good as everyone says, and probably should be on this list…but personally, I just enjoyed The Afterparty a little bit more. It was fun, it was wild, it was very creative, and I enjoyed every single episode.

Sorry Severance, Andor, Ms. Marvel, The Boys, Rick and Morty, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, you were also great shows this year!

2. Movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once

This one wasn’t difficult at all. There were a bunch of great movies this year, but only one true, undeniable masterpiece of a motion picture. Everything Everywhere All At Once could very well be my movie of the decade. It’s certainly found it’s way into my all-time Top 5 films. This thing is an experience, an emotional roller coaster that truly has you feeling everything, from disgust to pain to joy to shock to silliness to love. It’s a wonderful story of sheer madness, as a seemingly ordinary person rises to every single challenge before her, in a story that goes pretty much everywhere all at once. I loved the characters, I loved the callbacks laced throughout, I loved how the movie gave Evelyn an ending with every other important character. I loved the drama. I loved the comedy. I loved that Raccacoonie running gag more than words can say. Everything Everywhere All At Once is perfection.

Runner-Up: Glass Onion

This one was a real toss up between Glass Onion and Top Gun: Maverick. The latter was a rip-roaring good time, earning all of its praise for it’s crazy filming and jet plane action. But I think Glass Onion notches itself just a bit ahead, with Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig delivering another creative, hilarious and wonderfully clever murder mystery. Sign me up for an entire franchise of Benoit Blanc mysteries. Thankfully, I caught Glass Onion in theaters, and that was fun. Whereas the Tom Cruise-ness of Top Gun: Maverick rubbed me just enough in the wrong direction that it only gets third best movie of the year from me.

Comic: Nightwing

Nightwing is the best superhero comic book on the stands, from any and all companies. Written by Tom Taylor, with art usually by Bruce Redondo, this is the perfect comic book. It’s a wonderful balance of superheroics and personal life stuff for its main character, with a rich supporting cast and a stable of solid villains. It’s somewhat back-to-basics, with no gimmicks or overbearing plots weighing it down. It’s just pure fun. And on top of being a solid comic, there’s just so much else to love. The writing is warm, smart and clever. The romance is sweet and sexy. The artwork is so damn good, so expressive, so detailed, so colorful and so larger-than-life. Nightwing is the complete comic book package and thankfully shows no signs of slowing down.

Runner-Up: Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty

It’s only a few issues deep at this point, but I’m really enjoying Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty. The new creative team of Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and artist Carmen Carnero has been telling a really fun story that balances Steve Rogers’ superhero life with his real life, and I love that stuff. I’m not fully on board with the new villains and their big picture retcon, but I’ll allow it for now. And I know I need to be reading the Sam Wilson companion story. I’ll get around to it.

Also, because they get mentioned every year, the Power Rangers comics at BOOM! Studios have also still been stupendous!

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