For our 2023 Year in Review, we’ve got a different approach. With the world feeling colder and more distant, we wanted to turn the tide in our coverage and give the most personal approach to our wrap ups yet. Over the next week or so, you’ll be hearing from our staff on what they felt was the best of 2023. We hope you enjoy.
Favorite Comics Series: “The Incredible Hulk”
After Don Cates and Ryan Stegman’s “Hulk” run collapsed (due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, so we’re clear), the Green Goliath’s ongoing returned to form with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein at the helm this summer. Admittedly, it’s the second horror take on him in as many runs, but I already like Klein’s earthy artwork, and the way he balances horrifying Hulk transformations with more traditional ones, better than the overly gross style “Immortal Hulk” had.
I think Johnson’s stroke of genius here though, was to pair up Bruce Banner with Charlie, a girl fleeing an abusive home. It is by far the best follow-up to the idea of the Hulk being a product of Banner having an abusive father, witnessing his mother’s murder, and eventually killing his father, that we’ve ever had, and I can’t wait to catch up on how Johnson has explored this parallel.
Favorite Original Graphic Novel: “Disenchantment Untold Tales: Treasury the First”
I know, this is sort of cheating given this was originally intended as a monthly series, but my god, finally getting to read the “Disenchantment” comic brought back so many wonderful childhood memories of poring over “Simpsons Comics.”
This book not only offers the kind of fun, low stakes, standalone adventures the TV show lacked, but all the kinds of goodies that remind you of just how much fun a comic can be, being chockful of board game parodies, fake documents and instruction manuals, and absurd infographics. And Karen Bates’s lettering? What a tour-de-force, being legible yet completely consistent with the Medieval fantasy world the whole time. “Treasury the Second” can’t come soon enough.
Favorite Film Adaptation: TIE
2023 was a really weird year for superhero film fans, and an exciting one for animation anoraks, so this toss up between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Nimona feels appropriate. Vol. 3 was a fantastic send off for James Gunn’s corner of the MCU, with every character being given their due, a fight sequence that is one of the most jawdropping uninterrupted action shots of all time, and Florence and the Machine being used for the final, non-credits scene.
Nimona also made me laugh and cry from beginning to end, with another tale of an outcast finding a family, and an important message about how people like the title character or Rocket Raccoon are rarely the freaks and monstrosities those in power claim they are. Sure, Nimona‘s shading was simpler than I hoped, but we can blame Disney for that: and on that note, I’m just so glad we got both these movies after all the turmoil their creators went through with the House of Mouse’s execs.
Favorite Live-Action TV Series: American Born Chinese
A lot’s been said about Ke Huy Quan joining the MCU in Loki season two (itself an excellent slowburn reminder that Marvel Studios are still the best in the business), but his strongest post-Everything Everywhere performance came in the penultimate episode of Disney+’s American Born Chinese, an excellent reworking of Gene Luen Yang’s relatively brief graphic novel, where he effectively breaks character discussing the lack of opportunities for an Asian American actor in Hollywood.
It is one of several incredibly profound moments in a show that really brought home the difficulties of being a diaspora teenager, while also offering a fun fantasy adventure, and an absolutely spot on, episode-long homage to the Monkey King dramas I grew up with. Yeah, Disney have probably already canceled it, but that’s all the more reason to treasure it and watch it while you still can.
Favorite Animated Series: My Adventures with Superman
I admit, What If…? nearly piped this to the post, especially thanks to “What If… Kahhori Reshaped the World?” (seriously, go watch it, now), but my overall favorite of the year had to be the first bona fide Superman cartoon since the ’90s. It’s reductive to say My Adventures with Superman is basically a Superman anime, but that’s a huge reason why it is such a fun and refreshing new take on the Man of Steel: it looks completely different from what’s come before, but still feels right when it comes to what’s important.
Continued below
Despite “Alex” Luthor being a minor character so far, it’s probably the closest we’ve come to an adaptation of Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu’s “Superman: Birthright,” being an incredibly contemporary take that immediately takes down any misconception Big Blue’s boring. I can understand some being critical of the tech-based reimagining of most of the villains so far, but like Matt Reeves’s Batman, the show feels like it’s building towards a more familiar Superman universe, and it’s going to be fascinating to watch how it fluctuates towards its final state.
Retcon of the Year: “X-Men Blue: Origins”
Every now and again you see someone trying to stir the pot by saying something as inane as claiming current comics writers don’t love superheroes, and use them solely to push agendas (or morals, as we used to call them in the good old days.) To which I say, did you not see Si Spurrier, Wilton Santos, and Marcus To finally canonized Chris Claremont’s original idea that Mystique was Nightcrawler’s biological father, and Destiny was his mother?
Critics cry everything is so censorious nowadays, forgetting (or ignoring) just how much didn’t transpire back in the day simply because it was gay, or Black, or whatever didn’t reinforce irrational fears. Anyway, Nightcrawler officially has two moms, and thank god we’re never going to have acknowledge some hackneyed origin story about him having a literal demon for a father (which I’m certain even its writer hates) outside of that historical context. Happy new year indeed!
