New-to-Me: Best of 2024

I’ve always wanted to do one of those end-of-year wrap-up listicle things, but I’ve found that it is so hard to do this without sounding shallow. The writers that do these deserve more credit for being pithy.

Read

Seven Realms Series, Cinda Williams Chima

I’m realizing as I write these that it is hard to remember some of the earlier ones. I read these books in January. I remember them being sort of high fantasy-lite. They are a great starting point for people getting into fantasy because they have all the same tropes but a lot faster pace. The characters and world-building are spectacular.

Five Dialogues, Plato

I was supposed to read this in grad school but didn’t really give it more than a passing glance. I love how Socrates is an asshole that pisses everyone off. I have come back to many ideas from these dialogues throughout the year but the one that has stuck with me the most is that it is easy to avoid death, but difficult to avoid wickedness. This idea comes from “Apology,” but is followed to its conclusion in “Phaedo.” When Socrates agrees to drink the hemlock, he shows us that death is not to be feared by “philosophers”–by people who have spent their life fighting for justice–but rather to be celebrated as an apotheosis of the soul. There is comfort in this idea, especially as we watch hundreds of innocents die at the hands of our government and its proxies every day. 

Archie: The Married Life, Vol. 1, Michael E. Uslan, Paul Kupperberg, Norm Breyfogle

Capitalism’s vampiric nature is unleashed on the people of Riverdale. As Marx says, it sucks your life and humanity out of you to replace it with personal wealth. The Married Life has the perfect blend of despair, melodrama, and goofiness that make a perfect Archie comic. 

Swan Boy- “Injured List” Arc, Branson Reese

Branson Reese is the best comic in the game right now, and I think this arc is the highlight of his year. It plays to Reese’s strengths as a comic in that it has a lot of fun guys. It ostensibly centers around supporting character Noel, but spends the bulk of its time digging into the lives of his fantasy baseball leaguemates. The bulk of the time is spent with leaguemate Sean, who after succumbing to a vision where he meets Thomas Jefferson, realizes Noel’s transgressions are enough to send him to The Device. It also has one of the best cutaways I’ve seen in a comic strip.

The Comics of @ThisStupidTwink 

The subject matter of most of these comics are too lewd to discuss here as someone scared of this blog being found by a higher up in my school district. But I will say that I love a comic that is willing to experiment with form and this is one of those comics. 

The Comics of @HOSTAGEKILLER

Not all of these hit for me, but the ones that do really hit. I remember annoying my friends in the groupchat because I could not stop laughing at the robot that quotes Kanye West. Similar to ThisStupidTwink, I love how the art style varies from comic to comic. Especially when they are doing the Calvin & Hobbes thing of mashing more stripped-down traditional comic concepts with high art illustrations. 

Watch

Rio Bravo, Howard Hawks

“Let’s hear it for the boy[s]” - Deniece Williams after watching this, presumably. This movie is about being at your worst, your most stubborn, and still having your friends supporting you. It’s about putting the drink back in the bottle and jamming with your boys. It is about the purgatory of existence–about putting your dreams of the future on hold to deal with the nightmares in the present–and surviving the night.

Unstoppable, Tony Scott

A perfect action movie, with every setpiece executed flawlessly by Tony Scott. Any movie where Denzel Washington is hyper-competent at his job is a joy to watch. Most importantly, this is a movie about working class solidarity, where two strangers can come together to do a good job in spite of their evil corporate overlords. 

Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

A truly idiosyncratic film. At the time I watched this I was halfway through a playthrough of Inscryption, and I remember thinking how much this movie feels like a video game. The main character slowly levels up his gear and attributes as he kills more beavers. He goes through boss fights and side quests. It’s the funniest movie I’ve seen in a while. If you’re on the fence about watching let me just say: they do not oversell the number of beavers in this thing. There are hundreds of them.

American Psycho (2000)

Years before I saw this movie I saw an animated video on YouTube called “if CHRIS CHAN wrote American Psycho” where instead of business cards the characters traded NSFW fanart of Sonic characters. l cannot express how shocked I was that “the tasteful thickness of it” is actually in the movie. Anyway, the yuppie scum is coming from inside the house!

English Teacher (2024)

Everyone is going to make fun of me for this because I always say I never watch TV but come on, look at the name. Even though I count myself lucky to work in the exact opposite of a wealthy suburban school like the one depicted in this show, I still relate to a lot of Brian Jordan Alvarez’s world. The way the students and teachers talk seems heightened for effect, but I found a lot of it true to life. The teachers in the show–while slightly cartoonish for comedic effect–are flawed and real. And despite the cliquishness that develops there is always that baseline of solidarity that I love so much in the profession. 

Edit from 2025: BJA had allegations come out after I watched this.

Most Virtual Player, Kofie from Secret Base 

Kofie makes videos that I would make if I worked for a YouTube conglomerate. I, too, grew up with opinions about the Madden vision cone. Kofie’s videos work in a way that no other nostalgia-bait videos do. They are interested in the unique way ours and future generations of sports fans interact with sports. Kofie’s videos are always engaging, with high production values and interesting guests. Edit from 2025: Kofie was just laid off by Vox Media. This tells us all we need to know about the geniuses running Vox Media.

Listen

Pink Flag, Wire

I feel least comfortable writing intelligently about music so I’ll just say that I love an album that has short, incredibly catchy songs. This has been in rotation since listening.

The Modern Lovers, The Modern Lovers

Probably the best album I listened to this year. Richman is an asshole, but in a funny and sincere way.

Play

Resident Evil 4 Remake, CAPCOM

My sister and I have been making our way through the Resident Evil games and this is the clear standout for me. The decision to lean more into action–while still keeping the horror and puzzle mechanics at the heart of all RE games–is a good one. There is nothing more satisfying in the franchise than executing a devastating kick on a stunned enemy. The characters are more fleshed out than most RE games. Probably my favorite in the franchise so far.

Hades, Supergiant Games

When I began playing this I thought I would hate it. I’ve always been drawn to games with cinematic sensibilities. I’m typically more attracted to good plotting, acting and writing than gameplay. When I played Hades I completely forwent the story elements because I was so wrapped up in its gameplay loop. Only when I had beaten the game a few times, and began the journey of unlocking everything, did I start paying attention. I was happy to find the story was as engaging as the gameplay. 

Metaphor: ReFantazio, Studio Zero

Takes the social mechanics I love from other Atlus games and improves the combat and better fleshes out the build system. Discovering that you can give Heismay “Knight’s Proclamation” to turn him into a dodge machine was a feeling I haven’t gotten from Persona games. I don’t think the characters here as as charming as Persona–and I definitely prefer the jazzy score from P5– but I think M:RF is a game I see myself replaying often.