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Art by Captain Lovehandles! |
2015
has been a very good year. We got a lot of great blockbuster movies, as well as
some innovative and compelling films like It
Follows, Cooties, and Creep. In a field full of bland and
tired comic books there were still many remarkable standouts, including most of
Marvel’s new Star Wars titles. There
are a few categories that were tough because of the competition and a few that
were tough because of the lack of contenders.
I’ve
been working on this list since the end of October and I’ve been waiting until
December 18th to write the opening category. I had no idea if The Force Awakens would be good or not,
but I didn’t want to write a whole section about one movie only to have it
rendered null by an excellent new Star
Wars flick.
Essentially,
that’s what happened. I adore Episode VII
and can’t wait to see it a third, fourth, and more times. As such, I am
removing it from contention. It was my favorite movie this year, but unless it
tanked that was a bit of a no-brainer.
If you buy anything from the links on this page - or just click them and buy other junk - Needless Things gets a ha'penny!
If you buy anything from the links on this page - or just click them and buy other junk - Needless Things gets a ha'penny!
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Art by Trevor Henderson |
Best Movie – It Follows
There
were some great movies this year that made an impact on me and left me wanting
more. As many fun, interesting, and beautiful movies as I saw, It Follows is the one that has stuck
with me the most. From the powerful and relatable performances to the timeless
setting, this movies delivers one hundred minutes packed with
attention-grabbing, unique thrills.
Between
bland studio fare and dull, unskilled indie releases I had fallen out of love
with the horror genre a bit. There didn’t seem to be anything new that was
worth watching over the hundreds of older movies sitting on my shelves. It Follows and The Babadook reignited my interest in the genre, with the former feeling
like a genuine eye-opening experience along the lines of my first viewings of classics
like The Evil Dead, Phantasm, or Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Obviously it’s a very different kind of
movie from those, but it resonated and inspired in a similar way.
You’ve
probably seen it by now, but if you haven’t I highly recommend you grab It Follows and see what we’ve all been
talking about.
HONORABLE
MENTION: The Babadook, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mad Max: Fury Road, Ant-Man, Crimson
Peak, He Never Died, Spectre, The Peanuts Movie, Krampus, and of course Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
Best Ongoing Comic
Book – Saga
Last
year I sad that I couldn’t see another book winning as long as Saga was still going. I’ll repeat that
sentiment this year.
Brian
K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples continued their exemplary tale this year. The art
and characters are as on point as they’ve always been, but in 2015 the comic
truly lived up to its name. The creators have already done a fantastic job of
creating a massive universe for their characters to inhabit, but this year I
felt the size of the narrative that is being told.
This
is the only comic I have ever read where I don’t particularly care about the
release schedule. The quality has been so fantastic on such a consistent basis
that I want Vaugh and Staples to take as
much time as they need to tell this story. I prefer that consistency over any
sort of regular release. That’s not to say that Saga has ever been late, but they do take breaks from time to time.
Good for them for knowing the formula and their limitations and respecting the
story enough to do what it takes to maintain the quality.
HONORABLE
MENTION: The Walking Dead, Batgirl,
Spider-Woman, Harley Quinn, Silver Surfer, The Wicked + The Divine
Best New Ongoing Comic
Book – Darth Vader
I
was initially disappointed (but not surprised) when Marvel got the publishing rights
to Star Wars comics back from Dark
Horse. Much like the novelizations of the Expanded Universe, Dark Horse’s
comics kept me going in the years that we didn’t have movies and helped to
build a narrative that I came to love as much as, if not more than, the
Original Trilogy.
I
never would have guessed that Marvel would be capable of not only making great
new Star Wars comic books that were
as good as some of the best Dark Horse produced, but that they would actually
end up being some of the best overall comics of the year.
Kieron
Gillen has managed to take a character that doesn’t necessarily lend himself to
exposition, sympathy, or action and craft a compelling narrative that is dependent
upon Vader. Gillen formed a cast of characters that are entertaining and
interesting. Darth Vader drives the plot, but the characters of Doctor Aphra
and her murderous droid companions 000 and BT-1 keep the reader invested. We
all know Vader’s eventual fate, but these new players are full of potential.
HONORABLE
MENTION: Howard the Duck, Public
Relations
Best TV Series – Game of Thrones
I
feel a little stupid.
I
always leave my favorite TV show off of this post because by the time I’m
writing this it has been off the air for months and isn’t coming back for
several more. Game of Thrones is
awesome. I don’t know that I’ve ever watched a show as compelling. I’d rather
watch any two characters on this show talk than see the most action-packed set
piece from anything else on television, and I am not generally a fan of
talky-talk.
HONORABLE
MENTION: The Flash, Arrow, Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. (which was on fire this season and gave The Flash a run for its money),
Parks and Recreation, Key & Peele, Maron
Best New TV Series – iZombie
The
middle of the first season got a little heavy with some of the procedural
elements, but the fantastic cast kept me excited to come back to this world
every week. While the story is compelling, this is the very best cast of
characters that was assembled in 2015.
The
second season has been fast-paced and world-changing. Rose McIver is one of my
favorite people on TV right now, delivering killer performances each and every
episode. But I can’t claim that she’s carrying the show, as her supporting cast
– Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, and Robert Buckley – are all wonderful. She
also has some amazing antagonists in David Anders and Steven Weber(!).
HONORABLE
MENTION: Into the Badlands, Galavant,
Agent Carter, The Last Man on Earth, Killjoys,
Ascension
Best Not-on-TV TV
Series – W/ Bob and David
Perfection.
I
will admit that I doubted the ability of the Mr. Show cast to return twenty years later and deliver the same level
of biting, satiric humor. I honestly wasn’t even excited about this show. But
once I finished Jessica Jones I saw
it on Netflix and watched all four new episodes and the documentary in one
evening. Every member of the cast displays a level of maturity and experience
that I didn’t expect. And the humor actually exceeds that of Mr. Show. What was once youthful vigor
supported by solid writing is now excellent writing supported by wit and
impeccable timing.
Perfection.
HONORBALE
MENTION: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Daredevil,
Jessica Jones, Master of None
Best Kid-Oriented
Cartoon – Teen Titans Go!
I
know that some people hate this show and are let down by the fact that it isn’t
the same thing as the older Teen Titans
(though it does feature mostly the same cast). I don’t feel that way. While I
did grow to love the original show, its mixed tones never sat quite right with
me. It had great action and solid humor, but the styles were far too
conflicting for my taste.
While
Young Justice took the concept of
teen superheroes and dialed the action and drama way up, Teen Titans Go! has taken the humor and done the same. You can’t go
into this thing expecting a DC Animated product. It’s a comedy show. And it’s a
great comedy show, full of satire and
physical comedy and even some light social commentary. We watch this one as a
family and have a ton stored on the DVR so that we can watch them over and over
again.
HONORABLE
MENTION: Adventure Time, Gravity Falls,
Regular Show, Star Wars Rebels
Best New Kids Cartoon – We Bare Bears
I
didn’t know a thing about this show going in, but as long as the animation doesn’t
look like garbage (Clarence, Johnny Test)
I’ll check out any new show on Cartoon Network.
So
much animation now feels like an imitation of some other thing. There are so
many clones of Ren & Stimpy, Adventure Time, and The Simpsons that it is very difficult to find anything that feels
fresh. It’s also tough to find cartoons that don’t employ some manner of snark.
We Bare Bears is sweet and hilarious
and doesn’t mock in the way that so many shows do nowadays. Grizz, Ice, and
Panda are very much archetypes, but they are also unique individuals that allow
for new takes on old concepts.
Best Adult Cartoon – Bob’s Burgers
The
Belcher family won my heart this year.
H.
Jon Benjamin has been working for years, but he first came to my attention for
voicing Sterling Archer. It took me a while to accept that voice as a father
running a burger joint, but once I did Bob’s
Burgers pulled me in to its warm, weird embrace. I’ve watched the four
seasons that are available on Netflix several times now and look forward to
every new episode.
Looking
at the animation I’m still convinced that this show was originally meant to
feature puppets.
HONORABLE
MENTION: Archer
Best Album – Sol Invictus – Faith No More
It
took me a couple of listens, but this album grew into my being and now occupies
the same place of reverence as my favorite band’s other releases. I don’t even know
how many times I’ve listened to Sol
Invictus since it came out, but I have done my best to absorb every note,
beat, and syllable. It had so much to live up to and it delivered.
HONORABLE
MENTION: They Might Be Giants’ Glean,
Calabrese’s Lust for Sacrilege
Best Professional
Wrestler – Seth Rollins
I’m
not sure any of us realized it until he got injured, but Seth Rollins carried
the WWE for the greater portion of 2015. While John Cena was busy bolstering
the midcard, Rollins was making an impact as one of the best Main Eventers we’ve
seen in the last decade. He is a work horse like few on the roster and is so
natural in the ring that you almost don’t realize how good he is. Rollins’ mic work
is the same. You don’t doubt his character or his convictions for one second
and he generates heat like nobody else on the roster. Despite some questionable
handling of his character by the writers, Rollins always shone through as a
performer to pay attention to.
HONORABLE
MENTION: Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens, Paige, John Cena, Sasha Banks, Bayley
Side Note: Sasha Banks and Kevin Owens have both been severely
undermined by terrible booking. Owens was on fire and had the rug pulled out
from under him shortly after hitting the main roster. Sasha Banks had a similar
problem that was only made worse by her association with BAD, who are now
basically a comedy act. It’s gotten to the point where I dread hearing that NXT
performers are being called up to RAW
and Smackdown.
The
culmination of years of waiting. After picking up an “Import” CD of one of
Faith No More’s performances from Germany in 2009 I was very concerned about
the quality of this show. I was obviously going, but I did not know how good it
might be.
It
was incredible. Patton was on point and avoided mangling vocals or spouting too
much gibberish. The rest of the band was as tight as I’ve ever seen anyone. They
were there to entertain and have fun. You know when a band is into it and when
they’re just there to pay the bills. Faith No More was into it and everyone
there felt it.
Add
to that the fact that I was there with my oldest and closest friends and this
was a night that will likely never be equaled.
Coming
in to take the prize right at the end of the year is this brand-new style of
figures from DC Collectibles. I gave glowing reviews to Batman and Deadman and was tempted to go all-in on
this one because they were such satisfying toys. While I’m not taking that
step, I will be keeping an eye on future releases and picking up any favorite
characters that get the Icons treatment.
DCC
has had some pretty major missteps over the past year, but the Icons line is
not one of them.
This
category looks at a toy company in its entirety – as far as the things I
follow, anyway – and how it has fared in the areas of quality, selection, and
relevance.
Almost
every company that I buy toys from had some major fuck-ups this year. Hasbro
relegated its classic 3.75” Star Wars line to the hell of being Walmart
Exclusives (and those figures are not amazing) and has seemingly discontinued
any kind of higher quality line of vehicles. They also put out a huge but bland
assortment of Marvel Legends with a wide variety of questionable paint/sculpt
decisions. Also they put out some terribly uninspired GI Joe toys for the 50th
Anniversary.
DC
Collectibles had some horrendous quality control issues with most of its lines.
Until they get that under control, I can’t love them.
Funko
is mostly fantastic, but my perception of their 6” Legacy line is that we may
or may not ever see any more of them. They recovered nicely from the QC issues
in the Game of Thrones line, but
their release slate is so slow that it’s hard to stay excited about them. Plus,
they seem to sit at retail.
Mattel
killed my interest in the Masters of the Universe Classics line. The decline in
quality of the figures combined with the ever-increasing shipping led to my
decision to end it. I’ll talk more about that in next week’s Needless Things Podcast, where Mr. Beau
Brown and I will do our annual review of the line.
That
leaves NECA. They did a great job of continuing their various Reel Toys lines
with solid releases from the Aliens and Predator franchises, as well as the new
“Ultimate” figure series with definitive versions of Leatherface, the T-800, Sarah Conner, and more. NECA also
continued their excellent retro cloth line, which are basically Mego-style
versions of their Reel Toys figures, complete with all of the excellent sculpt
and paint. Finally there were the surprise Fall releases – 7” scale figures of
Adam West as Batman, Heath Ledger as the Joker, and Christopher Reeve as
Superman. These beautiful figures popped up at Toys R Us and were immediately
snatched up by eager collectors. Despite the fact that Superman needed about
ten minutes of heating up and flexing, these were still great releases and
exciting reminders of the good old days of hunting toys.
The
early quality control issues seem to have been taken care of. Now we are
getting solid, great-looking figures representing one of the greatest comic
book-inspired franchises of all time.
While
I still hate the hip joints, everything else about this line is outstanding. I
look forward to each and every release (well, except for the recent Bane and
Scarecrow figures) and keep track of when they’re shipping and how soon I can make
it to my Local Comic Book Shop to pick them up.
HONORABLE MENTION: Funko ReAction, NECA Reel Toys
HONORABLE MENTION: Funko ReAction, NECA Reel Toys
While
I do like this Batmobile quite a bit, it’s sad that there wasn’t anything
better released. There were no Star Wars, GI Joe, or any other kind of vehicles
to even attempt to compete. The lines and scale are wonderful and I appreciate
the lights, but in all honesty this thing isn’t a great toy. It’s a wonderful collectible, though.
Oh,
no, hunty.
EXTREMELY NSFW
I
want to create things with my DDCCGGSS people always. Every single day I think
about meeting with them, planning nonsense, and performing. If this was my day
job, I would work 24/7 without ever working. I cannot believe I lucked into not
just knowing, but working with such talented and creative people.
2015
was a magical year at Dragon Con. We overcame adversity and put on what I say
with all confidence was the most entertaining thing at Con.
Happy New Year, Phantom!
ReplyDeleteHopefully I'll see you sooner than later in the new year!
DeleteWOW Sparkle Hooves thanks you. He is so excited. You can watch all 10 of his videos here also: https://vimeo.com/album/3286548 and follow him on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/SparkleHooves69
ReplyDeleteI laughed until it hurt. Hurt so GOOD.
Delete