Top 15 of 2024 + More
On the Fake Nerd Podcast, my friends and I came up with a unique “Best of” system. A Top 15. Well now that the podcast is gone, I wanted to bring that tradition to my Substack. So here is my first post-podcast Top 15 of all the shows, movies, and comics.
TL/DR Section
Non-2024 Top 5
This is just a little top four of media I consumed not from 2024. A fun little holdover from our Christmas specials.
Blue Eye Samurai
Great show, believe the hype.
Bad Boys For Life
The best Bad Boys movie.
Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy
In my top five D20 seasons.
Past Lives
A brilliant and relatable movie.
Honorable Mentions
Hellaween: Spellbent
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Quantum Leap Season 2
Dimension 20
The Massive-Verse
Flow
15) Arcane Season 2
14) Wicked
13) Abigail
12) Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5
11) The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3
10) My Adventures With Superman Season 2
9) Star Trek (Comic)
8) Daniel Warren Johnson
7) Hazbin Hotel
6) Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
5) X-Men ‘97
4) Radiant Black: The Catalyst War
3) Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
2) Ultraman: Rising
1) The Wild Robot
Expanded Thoughts
Honorable Mentions
Hellaween: Spellbent – The first volume was a surprise hit for me, so I was looking forward to the second volume. Hellaween: Spellbent was even better than the first. I loved exploring the world of the hallows and meeting all the new characters, including the new villain for the volume. I hope we get more Hellaween soon.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 – I need to watch out for recency bias with this. But Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is probably one of my favorite video game movies and for sure my favorite Sonic film. Jim Carry is incredible and the introduction of Shadow is perfect. It’s big, bold, and ends in a fight scene straight out of Dragon Ball.
Quantum Leap Season 2 – I’m very upset that they canceled this show. It found its footing in the second season and delivered a truly great Quantum Leap story. Ben’s travels being tied to a woman in the past for a mysterious reason was very compelling and the setup for the third season was brilliant. I think the third season would have been the best yet. It’s such a shame we’ll never know.
Dimension 20 – Fantasy High: Junior Year, Never Stop Blowing Up, Misfits and Magic 2, and Time Quangle. This was a great year for Dimension 20 and I loved getting to watch the series as it was airing for once. But, while I loved Never Stop Blowing Up a ton, the other seasons didn’t rank as high as some of the best the show has produced.
The Massive-Verse – For many years, I was scared to read my comics. But this year, I caught up on the Massive-Verse. Rogue Sun, Dead Lucky, Inferno Girl Red, Shift, C.O.W.L. and Radiant Black. I became obsessed with this wonderful universe. I genuinely couldn’t pick a favorite.
Flow - A wonderful film that many people probably haven’t even heard of. I really enjoyed this foreign animated film about a cat surviving the rising water levels. It’s also adorable.
15) Arcane Season 2
Created by Christian Linke & Alex Yee
I debated not putting this on the Top 15, because I found the last arc to be rushed and underwhelming. But at the end of the day, Arcane at its worst is better than most shows at their best. The animation is still incredible, but I think what saves the show for me is Jinx. Her entire arc and the story she went through was, for me, the best part of the show.
14) Wicked
D: Jon M. Chu / W: Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox
No one is more surprised than me that this made it to my Top 15. But this was incredible. I wasn’t a fan of the stage show when I saw it MANY years ago, but I loved the movie version. The songs are delightful, it moves at a clip and the performances are incredible.
13) Abigail
D: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett / W: Stephen Shields & Guy Busick
Until my number one came out, this was going to be my favorite movie of the year. I’m a sucker for a vampire movie and I thought this was a ton of fun. I genuinely love Radio Silence as filmmakers, ever since Ready Or Not, and if you loved that then I believe you’ll love this. The cast is incredible with each one delivering a standout performance.
12) Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5
Created by Mike McMahan
Truthfully, I don’t think this was better than the fourth season, but the final two episodes rank as some of the best of the series. The issue is that many episodes didn’t feel like they were made for a final season. I’m going to deeply miss this show though. It was some of the best Star Trek shows being produced and it deserved to go on for more seasons. Like the main cast, this show was the underdog and proved time and time again that it was truly something special.
11) The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3
Creators: Critical Role
I think season 2 made my Top 15 last year. Season 3 topped it though. The writing was great, the animation was great, and the action was next level. Almost every episode had me on the edge of my seat. There’s one major change they made to the show from the original campaign and that was fun to experience with the rest of the fandom.
10) My Adventures With Superman Season 2
Developed by Jake Wyatt, Brendan Clougher & Josie Campbell
“I tore Krypton from the heavens and cast it into hell below” is one of the hardest lines in fiction. I think about it all the time. This is probably my favorite Superman show. I love how Dragon Ball-inspired it is, from the way Superman’s powers are visualized, to Supergirl’s Android 18 look. There are also just some incredible anime moments. Adore this show. Can’t wait for season 3.
9) Star Trek (Comic)
W: Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing / A: Mike Feehan, Rachael Stott & Marcos To
One of the best comics on the market! I’m sad that I only read this in Hardcover and wish I got to it through single issues cause the wait for each volume is torturous. It’s not just one of the best comics out there, it’s one of the best Star Trek stories being written right now. I love how it bridges all the eras together with pitch-perfect character writing. Shout out to Star Trek: Defiant which is just as good.
8) Daniel Warren Johnson
I’m cheating a bit here, but I read almost everything Daniel Warren Johnson has written this year (I’m going through Extremity right now) and they’re all incredible. I originally just had Transformers on here because it’s one of the best comics on the market, but then I read Beta Ray Bill: Agent Star, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Space Mullets, and Do A Power Bomb and they’re all incredible. He brings such a dynamic feel to each story and never forgets to deliver emotional character moments. I’ll read anything he writes because I know I’ll love t
7) Hazbin Hotel
Created by Vivienne Medrano
Every character is wonderful in Hazbin Hotel. It’s so vibrant, fun, and delightful from start to finish. We started watching it to only watch one or two episodes and we finished the season within a night. I love the lore of the show and, especially the music. If I had a Spotify wrapped, it would just have been the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack. I adore these characters and this show.
6) Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
Created by Kevin Hageman & Dan Hageman
Unlike many of my Trek peers, I did not love the first season of Star Trek: Prodigy, but season 2 blew me away. One of the best seasons of Star Trek, and the best Star Trek season to come out in 2024. The plotting is so tight for such a long season, and the character writing is taken to a new level. The things this season does for Star Trek while keeping a complicated time travel plot simple for kids is nothing short of miraculous. I hope we get a third season, even though I know it’s unlikely at this point.
5) X-Men ‘97
Created by Beau DeMayo
I almost didn’t include it because of the scandal that befell this show. But it’s incredible. Frankly, it’s better than it had any right to be, especially because the trailers didn’t look very good. Everything from the voice acting, to the animation, to the action scenes, to the writing were some of the best a superhero show has ever produced. It’s perfect.
4) Radiant Black: The Catalyst War
W: Kyle Higgins & Joe Clark / A: Eduardo Ferigato & Marcelo Costa
While the Massive-Verse as a whole made my “Honorable Mentions,” Radiant Black’s 12-issue multiversal event made my Top 5. This was consistently a great and inventive read. Getting to read how both Marshal and Nathan would handle the coming of Catalyst was very cool and the book constantly had me guessing. It was a riveting read that had me eagerly opening every issue the moment I bought it.
3) Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
D: Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui / W: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui & Otto Burnham
The best documentary I’ve ever seen. It’s not done in a normal documentary format, which makes it feel fresh. As if you’re watching a documentary that was put together with real care and thought. I was left in tears multiple times throughout the movie and I’m grateful I got to watch it in theaters. Christopher Reeve is one of my heroes and I believe this film showed the world why he was a real-life Superman.
2) Ultraman: Rising
D: Shannon Tindle / W: Shannon Tindle & Marc Haimes
I had heard good things about this movie, but I did not expect to love it so much. A beautifully animated film about fatherhood wrapped in an incredible kaiju film. I can’t sing this film’s praises enough. The characters are great, the writing is sharp and the story kept me engaged and never faltered. Then it ends with one of the coolest Kaiju battles ever put to film.
1) The Wild Robot
W/D: Chris Sanders
Chris Sanders is a wonderful director. How To Train Your Dragon, and Lilo & Stitch rank as some of my all-time favorite animated films. Well, I’m glad to say he’s done it again with not only one of the best-animated films ever made, but the best movie of the year for my money. Beautiful animation, and wonderful performances, especially from the main three leads, this movie had me enthralled. By the end of it, I was a mess of tears.
