Who could imagine that the end of another year has come. I turned 40 this year, and life is what it is. My job got a lot busier, my bank account got a lot smaller, and I’ve got a few different comic projects in the works! More on that later. For now, it’s time to celebrate my favorite pop culture media from the past year.

As always, I don’t listen to music, so I don’t have any favorite songs from the year. Mostly I’m here to talk about video games, movies, TV show and comics, my favorite hobbies! I’ve thrown in a couple of other entries to get up to six, because a man has a theme.

So join me after the jump for my favorite bits from pop culture in the past year. And feel free to share your own favorite things from the past year in the comments below!

6. Dying Cinematic Universe: Marvel

Heh, so this was a pretty bad year for superhero comics in general, to the point that even I am willing to admit that superhero movie fatigue is a real thing. One by one, every new superhero movie performed worse than the last, no matter the studio. From Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to The Flash to Blue Beetle To The Marvels to Aquaman 2, they just bombed. There were a few standouts, like Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians 3, but those had proven track records of popularity to ride on. Still, being the Marvel fanboy that I am, I still enjoyed most everything Marvel put out this year leagues over DC. I enjoyed The Marvels a lot, Guardians 3 was a great film, and I probably even liked Quantumania a bit. So of the two dying superhero cinematic universes, MCU was the one for me in 2023.

5. Event: Barbenheimer

Did a lot of stuff happen in 2023? Did politics happen? Real news? Yeah, probably. But I like to stay in my little bubble and only concern myself with pop culture. So the biggest, most fun event of the year for me — at least that which I can remember off the top of my head — was Barbenheimer! Hooray! I watched the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer back-to-back, in that order at my local theater and it was a blast. I highly enjoyed both films (more on that later) and was glad to take part in that somewhat silly, but still fun, movie experience.

4. Video Game: Baldur’s Gate 3

Once upon a time, at the height of the 2020 pandemic, I was flush with government money and splurged on the early access version of Baldur’s Gate 3. I didn’t know much about Dungeons & Dragons at the time, but it was earning all the hype, and I had loved Larian Studios’s Original Sin games. I played it for a little bit, didn’t like it and stopped. Cut to August of this year, when the game officially releases and is a huge hit! I’d since learned a lot more about DnD and was far more eager to play. I would go on to 2.5 playthroughs, one co-op, and had a blast! Baldur’s Gate 3 has a lot of freedom, which I like, a lot of structure, which I like, and told a really fun, interactive story. Some bugs prevented me from finishing that last playthrough, but the follow up patches and updates the developers have been putting out have me excited for some future return to the game. Should be fun!

Runner-Up: Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Probably my favorite game type is big, open world sandbox games, and the Legend of Zelda series is putting out the best versions these days. Years passed before I eventually bought a Nintendo Switch and got to play Breath of the Wild, whereas the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, was a Day One buy for me. And while some people might complain that the game world was simply done over again, that didn’t bother me at all! I love that game world, and there was more than enough change and new stuff to keep me interested. I didn’t go too wild with the new building mechanics, I just had a great time exploring the world, completing tasks, doing side missions and just enjoying the space.

TV Show: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

I love the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Movie, though I’m a bit more lukewarm about the original comic book series. Still, when it was revealed that Netflix was doing another adaptation, and bringing back the movie cast, I was mildly interested. Why not? Should be fun. Little did anyone know that what Netflix and original creator Bryan Lee O’Malley have planned than a surprise reimagining/surprise movie sequel that told a phenomenal story. It took these familiar, beloved characters and sent them down a new, more emotionally fulfilling story. Every episode was a surprise, every storyline was more pleasant, and I had a total blast with Scott Pilgrim Takes Off!

Runner-Up: Shrinking

I loved Scrubs back in the day. I love the early Ted Lasso. So it’s no surprise that I enjoyed that crews’ next project, Shrinking, on AppleTV+. I’d heard good things and finally gave the show a try a few months ago and it was great! I was emotionally invested in the characters immediately, and found myself tearing up several times during the relatively short season. It’s fun, funny, charming and emotionally touching in all those class Scrubs-like ways.

Honorable Mentions: Blue Eye Samurai, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Last of Us and Beef.

Movie: Barbie

I knew Barbie was going to be good. A lot of us did. From the early trailers, to hiring director Greta Gerwig, to all the hype that had started building. I didn’t know exactly what we would be in for, but I can remember getting excited at the potential alone. And then the movie delivered in every possible way, and even more we couldn’t have predicted. It’s legitimately funny, very well-written, acted out the wazoo and just an overall very fulfilling experience. Barbie is such a complete movie, touching upon so many different emotions, while telling a very captivating and entertaining story about its core characters, and not just Barbie as a character, but a legacy as well.

Runner-Up: Bottoms

Bottoms was the funniest movie of the year, by far. There were a lot of good movies this year, but Bottoms really stood out as something really really fun and off-the-wall. It’s not just funny, it’s weird funny. Exactly my kind of weird funny. I wish this movie had made a bigger splash this year. It’s so damn good!

Honorable Mentions: Nimona, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Oppenheimer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Asteroid City.

Comic: Superman

Who could have predicted that the main Superman comic would ever be my favorite comic. It’s not that I don’t like the character, I’ve just never particularly cared about Superman in the comics. They’ve never caught my eye in the ways that Batman, Spider-Man or the X-Men comics do. But I decided to give Joshua Williamson’s relaunch a try and it has been so damn good! Williamson has been combining fresh characters and stories with classic Superman elements, and it’s going great! Coupled with phenomenal art by Jamal Campbell and this has been the best overall comic of the year. Strong writing, entertaining stories and world class artwork always make for a good comic, especially when focused around a classic character.

Runner-Up: Scarlet Witch

Likewise, I’ve never particularly cared about Scarlet Witch as a character, but writer Steve Orlando and his art team really struck a chord with me with their Scarlet Witch solo comic. They came up with a really fun premise and then just had a ball pitting the hero up against a rogue’s gallery of obscure Marvel bad guys. It was a hoot, with artwork that remained very strong and very magical.

Honorable Mentions: Void Rivals, Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey,

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