2012 was a pretty SOLID geek year! The world didn’t end, so that’s a plus! We had some awesome movies, comics, toys, tv shows, and video games hit the shelves! But what really stood out among all the rest? What swag was epic enough to be rated as my favorite? Follow along Towelites!
Movies:
The Avengers! Straight up! There was no way the film that was supposed to be about Batman even held a candle to what Joss Whedon accomplished on a many geekly levels! I get kind of upset when I find The Dark Knight Rises on top of “accredited” comic book sites’ top ten lists. Go eff yourself and learn your Batman mythos, grow some respect for the character!
Cabin in the Woods was such a refreshing take on the horror genre, and again with that Whedon/Goodard twist.
007 Skyfall was a great departure from the Bond films that followed before it. The ending reminded me of Patriot Games. Badass.
Prometheus was entertaining, and I enjoyed it mostly. Mostly because I’m such a huge fan of that universe.
The crazy thing is that I still haven’t seen The Hobbit, which I will remedy when I get away from this crazy work season, and of course Django Unchained.
This was also the year that Disney acquired Star Wars from George Lucas! Here’s to a bright Star Wars future!
TV Shows
I write an Arrow column every week, and it’s not just because I love the character or comics in general, it’s because this is my favorite breakout hit of the year! What a great show from week to week!
I finally got on my arse and watched Revolution, I like it a lot, and I still have the mid season finale to watch, so I would call it my sleeper hit of the year…don’t be fooled though it is an action packed, story driven adventure that you should definitely get on board for!
The Toy Hunter is a show that was recoomended to me this year from my nerdy cohorts and I’m glad they did, I can only strive to be as informed and AWESOME as Jordan Hembrough is! This and Comic Book Men are the only reality TV I watch.
On the cartoon front, Ultimate Spider-Man takes the cake for both the humor and action it packs into a half an hour! All the crazy cameos and team-ups don’t hurt either!!
The Walking Dead and Grimm remain strong, and I hope both of them are around for a long time! Game of Thrones!! Need I say more!!??
Toys:
Marvel Legends made their return this year, yet was a disappointment. Even after Hasbro promised there would be plenty at market, the first two initial waves were bought up and the pegs were constantly empty. Finding many of the figures I really wanted was near impossible. So, I have kinda given up on this series, even after at least 10 years of collecting them, I find that the series now consists of too many jobbers, and figures I don’t give a damn about.
DC and Mattel on the other hand continue to dominate the superhero action figure market. As a collector/OCD toy addict I’ve self-medicated/therapy myself to only buying comic book action figures, and DC Universe Classics has had my attention for the past few years now. After the cancellation of the series, Mattel decided to try the same formula they were using with Masters of the Universe and start a subscription. Thus Club Infinite Earths was born and 2012 was the new beginning for the DCUC collector! This year we got some real stand outs, some duds, and FINALLY some team completions (THE METAL MEN!!) I’m hoping that with all the lines at retail, Batman figures don’t dominate the club too much and we get some more B-listers, but you never know…
Comic Books
DC and Marvel both had an up and down year. I continue to support most of the New 52, as I enjoy seeing how the characters are treated and re-introduced. Marvel-Now is still on the burner, but it will probably sizzle out for my book intake, since I don’t have the time or funds to spend money a single title twice a month…crazy. Before Watchmen became to much for me, I am so backed up so I can’t really make a call on it yet, talk to me in 2013! I was kinda torn on this years “biggest” event Avengers vs X-Men, I enjoyed the story, for the most part, but at the same time found that I didn’t really agree with the direction and motives they gave certain characters, it didn’t really line up with how they were established over all these years.
Best moments in comics 2012
-The Joker returned in Death of a Family!
-RotWorld was a great alternate storyline by great authors!
-The new Thunderbolts team
-Best writer, Scott Snyder. Snyder continues to soar, and my respect for his writing and creativity only grows by the year!
-We got a He-Man series this year! Nuff said!
-New Star Wars Legacy series coming in 2013, can’t wait!
-DC’s Zero issue “event” gave us a little more insight to the origins of this new world.
-But my favorite moment in comics this year was the return of the New Gods! When Orion showed up in the final panels of Wonder Woman #12, I almost lost it! Here’s hoping that they get a regular ongoing in 2013.
This was also the year we lost one of the great comic book legends, Joe Kubert.
Video Games
Borderlands 2 was and will be always my favorite game of 2012. It was my most anticipated title, along with the game I finished the quickest, and trust me it takes me some time to finish games! I don’t think it got enough respect this year. A major improvement over the original without sacrificing what made it special and adding in the elements that would make it even more epic!! With two expansion packs already released (and beaten), the add-on content provides hours of additional playtime! I can’t wait for part three!
Honorable mentions include Journey, Assassin’s Creed 3, LEGO Batman 2, I know that there are other blockbusters out there, but I’m pretty selective with my games and don’t have a ton of time to devote to them.
But most of all 2012 was the beginning of something special, this website. Dontforget atowel.com has been going strong since July and we are looking forward to some major changes in 2013! Thank you to all of our faithful readers and new friends, without you this wouldn’t be possible! So that about wraps up 2012 for me Towelites! Here’s to 2013, Marvel Phase 2 is starting! Some great new comic series coming from my favorite writers, the second year of Club Infinite Earths and the new Watchmen action figure subscription, Club Black Freighter, and I’m sure plenty of AWESOME surprises!!
Stay tooned and Happy New Year 😛
~CynicNerd
