THAT’S RIGHT! It’s Leap Day so I’m finally doing my “Best of the Decade” list, using the poorly-defined and completely arbitrary categories! In whatever order that comes to mind! I’m going to break down what some of the best stuff I read, watched and played that was released this decade. Keep in mind to qualify this list I have to have consumed this media and it had to have come out in the past decade; sadly that disqualifies a lot. For instance, I first read Name of the Wind in like 2011, but it didn’t come out in this decade so it doesn’t count.
There’s a lot of stuff that didn’t make this list, which is sad, so I’ll try to at least give them shout-outs. If I mention it at all, it’s probably worth looking into. This is also delivered in parts (as you could probably tell from the title) as A) I couldn’t finish them all in time) and B) this was seven pages in Google docs, which is over twice the ordinary Note length.
Best Comic: Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Adrian Alphona
[And I realize that it had a butt ton of illustrators, but that was the one of the first volume and the style that was most recognizable to this run of the comics.]
So I read a lot of comics in the past decade, so much that it kind of inflates my Goodreads book count unfairly, but when I think of serieses that not only started well, but stayed consistently excellent throughout most of their run, that list starts to drop down a bit. Even then, what makes Ms. Marvel so good isn’t that it’s got action or humor (though it has those too), it’s that it’s got a lot of heart. Telling the story of a Pakistani-American superhero fangirl who suddenly gets superpowers, Ms. Marvel follows Kamala Khan’s adventures fighting supervillains, but also navigating school crushes, trying to figure out where she stands in regards to her family’s Islam, and trying to help her friends change the world.
It feels like it was written for an audience the same age as the main character. Maybe there’s a lot of social commentary in this series, but it never bothered me too much because it ultimately boils down to this: as long as you treat everyone with love and acceptance, you won’t go wrong.
Also, avoid clones of Thomas Edison that are also cockatoos.
Best Comic Event: Batman Eternal by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins and Tim Seely
“Haven’t you heard? I’M BATMAN!”
Should give an Honorable Mention to Forever Evil, I think? I really liked that one more than I expected.
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Batman, DC decided they had to do something BIG. Something MASSIVE. And that something was Batman Eternal, an homage to the enduring legacy of the Dark Knight, bringing in basically all of the supporting cast, along with ALL the villains into a tangled, convoluted plot to bring Batman to his knees. It is intense, it is hardcore, it is surprisingly humorous at times, and also we can credit it with the return of Stephanie Brown.
Unlike Tom King’s run on Batman, this one event comic solidifies something that everyone and their mothers miss when talking about Batman: he’s nothing without his supporting cast. Without all of those people helping him, he’d never be able to last as long as he has. Batman’s reputation as a loner is silly at this point; he’s got the largest supporting family of any superhero. And instead of painting this as a weakness, Batman: Eternal strengthens the family, calls upon it in his hour of need, and expands it.
This isn’t the best Batman comic of all time, no, but it’s darn close to everything I want in a Batman story.
Best Spin-off Comic: Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan and Brendan Fletcher, illustrated by Karl Kerschl
“How do kids in Gotham feel about Batman?” is one interesting question. Another is, “What if we made a mystery boarding school series set in Gotham City?” Of course, both are worth asking and Gotham Academy does a great job with both by making a series that’s (relatively) short and sweet, telling us the story of a group of kids who form a Mystery Club at Gotham Academy, a place that’s naturally crawling with secrets of every kind.
It’s clear this is written by people who love everything they’re writing about: Batman, mystery stories, boarding school stories, ghost stories, and found family narratives. There’s drama and scares and all, but in the end it’s a story about two girls, Olive and Maps, who don’t quite fit in for different reasons but end up becoming the best of friends and taking on the secrets of the school.
[And I ship Maps and Damian I have no regrets]
Also one issue has a time travel plot that references Batman Beyond? That was weird in all the best ways.
Best Television Series: Person of Interest
Person of Interest wasn’t always at one hundred percent, but I feel like out of the shows I watched in the past decade, this is the one that maintained a mostly consistent quality throughout its run. And I watched a lot of shows, some of which had at least one season where plot or characterization took a nosedive. Not so with Person of Interest!
And it’s good. It’s really good. And despite it selling itself at first as a procedural about stopping crime with some stuff about computers, spies and national security, it evolves (or perhaps warps?) into this massive sprawling thing that asks questions bigger than I ever expect from any piece of media. How much invasion of privacy is justified? How much security is justified? If ultimately surveillance technology did exist, should anyone have it? What does it mean to be a good citizen? What does it mean to live in America post-9/11? Can law enforcement be trusted? Can governments be trusted? Is any level of criminal activity okay? How far should we go to protect our own people? What does it take to be a god?
And it all begins with that one terrifying line at the beginning of every episode that sticks in your head like a burr: “You are being watched.”
Best Comedy: Brooklyn 99
I sat and watched a couple episodes of Brooklyn 99 on the plane ride to Puerto Rico one time, and got hooked almost instantly. I don’t know how they did it, but this show is comedy gold. I was down between this and The Good Place for this category. The Good Place is, I think a better show, but this is a better comedy. Does that make sense? Because while The Good Place is more dramatic and more philosophically relevant, Brooklyn 99 fires joke after joke and never stops, and I can’t help but find it constantly hilarious.
And you know what else is great about this show that no one talks about? All the main characters, the goof cops who keep making us laugh? They’re all really good at their jobs (except Hitchcock and Scully)! They’re not funny people but terrible cops--they’re funny people and amazing cops. And it works, in part because this is a show that doesn’t romanticize crime either--the criminals are almost all idiots.
It’s a great series, and I recommend that you people watch it.
Best Limited Series: Over the Garden Wall
I’m not much for horror, but Over the Garden Wall isn’t scary as much as it’s unsettling. Don’t get me wrong, there are scenes that are terrifying. While those are effective, what works best in this series is the atmosphere. There’s a sense of dread and unease in many of the creepier scenes, and even the ones that aren’t there’s always this sense that something’s not quite right, and the way it might not be quite right could be harmful.
And once again, we have a sibling story! A story about two brothers wandering around the Unknown, a massive sprawling wood that’s… what the nature of the Unknown is exactly is subject to debate, even after having finished the series (though the final episodes give you some more clues). But even through the weirdness of the setting, it’s all filtered through the wacky antics of Greg and Writ stumbling along, especially since Greg as a small child has absolutely no idea how out-of-place the entire adventure is. Add a very cynical bluebird named Beatrice to the mix, guiding them on their way (OR IS SHE?!?), and you have a series that’s both really creepy and really funny.
Best Comic Book Series: Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD
I considered putting Arrow or Flash, which are great fun at their best--but admittedly, those shows aren’t always at their best. And there’s Legends of Tomorrow, which once it finds its footing is insane in all the right ways. But again, I’m going with the consistency of the quality. And yes Agents of SHIELD has had missteps, and Marvel Studios deliberately not telling them what they’re planning, I think it mostly holds up as a great comic book show, a great action show, and a fantastic spy show. It’s astounding that here’s a show which every season has its viewers asking, “What will they do/Where will they go next?” because every season-ending cliffhanger tends to be an intense mindscrew.
With an astoundingly good cast that the show seems to (mostly) care about, real stakes in every episode, kickbutt fight scenes and stories that range in scale from enclosed to world-shattering, Agents of SHIELD is able to tell a wider range of stories than the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe while also giving enough time for its characters to develop and become likable and believable human beings. All while Mulan’s voice actress is beating the snot out of HYDRA agents.
Best Short Cartoon: We Bare Bears
Who would have thought that a cartoon about three bears living around San Francisco would be one of the best sibling shows of the decade? Centering on Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear, this show is about three brothers that keep having misadventures when they drag friends and each other into misadventures.
This is a show that works on how ridiculous everything is. If your sense of humor doesn’t lean towards the silly, this show’s probably not going to work for you. There’s not much continuity, there’s no need for much backstory; each episode just gives you a set-up with the characters and rolls. So you get episodes like the brothers opening a coffee shop! Or their Bigfoot friend needing to go to the hospital! Or Panda finding a new friend through a friend-making app! Or Ice Bear’s feud with a small crab! And it’s all immensely hilarious.
Best Web Animated Series: RWBY
Sadly both Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series and Red vs. Blue didn’t begin in this decade, and though I liked Camp Camp, I can’t say that I can think of another animated web series that I got as invested in as I did with RWBY.
Monty Oum started RWBY a simple concept: what if someone did an epic fantasy CGI anime-inspired series that had some of the best fight scenes imaginable. Sadly, Monty Oum passed away in between the second and third seasons, but not without establishing a powerhouse of a series that continues to wow. Is this writing always excellent? No, it stumbles sometimes. And after Monty’s death, it took a while for the show to get its groove back on with the fight scenes. But if you stick with it, it’s a rewarding action series that manages to have lovable characters, excellent fight scenes, and consistently positive themes.
Also this show is an intertextual rabbit hole. Just look at all the fairy tale, literature, historical, and mythological references in this series. Look at them!
Best Live-Action Web Series: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Video Game High School gets an honorable mention, I think, because it’s not as dramatically great, it’s funny as all get out. This show is also really funny, but it’s also incredibly dramatic and pushes the very idea of web serieses a lot further than people thought possible, and caused a wave of spin-offs and imitators. Which anybody could do if they had a good camera, because it’s a really low budget series. It goes like this: Lizzie Bennet is a college graduate who moved back in with her parents and sisters in a small American suburb, and is annoyed by her mother’s old-fashioned insistence that her daughters need to get married and her young sister’s Lydia being reckless and annoying. There’s a wedding their family attends, in which her sister Jane hits it off with a medical student named Bing Lee (hah). But because Lizzie caught the bouquet, she ends up having to dance with the guy who caught the garter, the most insufferable guy she’s ever met: William Darcy.
Yeah, it’s a modern day AU of Pride and Prejudice. The title probably tipped you off. And it’s great! It’s fantastic! Told exclusively through the video blog format, in which Lizzie recaps her day and adventures, often with short scripted sequences. There are quite a few characters who you don’t get to meet first-hand until long after Lizzie has introduced them, which on the one hand seems cheap, but in the end it works because the story is about moving past first impressions, and of course you get Lizzie’s first impressions before meeting these people for yourself.
It’s a brilliant little gem shot on a tiny budget, and I think it outshines all of the imitators and spin-offs by its originality and by making its premise work.
Best Procedural: Elementary
Sherlock had a great first couple of seasons, but ultimately fell apart towards its end because it needed above all to be a giant cinematic drama. But Elementary remained consistently good throughout, and it has two added bonuses: first, it actually makes Sherlock into a person that you might conceivably want to be around, and second, it respects its female characters, especially and including Joan Watson.
Because yes, Sherlock Holmes is probably the smartest man in the room, but he’s not always right, and he’s not always good with people. This show establishes early on that his approach doesn’t always work because of his callousness, and above all that he needs people to help support him and let him do his best work. And Joan needs Sherlock to be her best self. These are two people who love each other, but they by no means are in love with each other because this is a beautiful depiction of a completely platonic relationship.
Many adaptations of the character make the mistake of making Sherlock into a god-level genius that makes everyone around him a bungling fool. Elementary gives us a great cast of intelligent people who all work together to solve the crimes presented every week. If it doesn’t always stay a faithful adaptation of the stories, it is a great procedural and a great take on the character of Sherlock Holmes.
Best First Season That Tanked Ever After: Once Upon a Time
...This was almost Sleepy Hollow.
Don’t get me wrong, OUaT was always insane, but there was a time once where it was actually, legitimately, a good television series. It was a show with a good mystery, interesting characters, a solid plot, and it achieved exactly what it set out to achieve at the end of the first season. There was some useless filler, but overall it was a surprisingly good show.
Too bad after the first season, it was quickly revealed that they didn’t have a plan for what happened next. Hence, seasons of quick plots that introduced dozens of Disney characters only to do nothing with them, hurriedly-written backstories about abusive parents handed out to everyone, and the entire cast making nonsensically stupid decisions. It was nuts, and at least the fanbase all knew it, which was why I never held it against them.
But that first season… it all ties together remarkably well, considering the premise. There are twists and turns all over that make it a great first season for a show that I never thought would ever be that captivating to begin with. Good leads, good acting, alright special effects, and a good wrap-up, it’s what a good first season should be, and it was what made OUaT one of the few Lost wannabes that stayed in the game as long as it did.
Best Book Series: Greatcoats by Sebastian de Castell
Look, there’s some stuff that came real close to this one. The Expanse is still really close to getting the win for this. But ultimately, Greatcoats has finished its story, and I still don’t know the end to The Invisible Library or The Expanse, so I’m giving it to the fantasy novel.
Greatcoats is often compared to Three Musketeers in that it’s got three leads and is a swashbuckling story about saving the kingdom. But I think that’s an overstated comparison, because this is a series that’s incredibly dark and cynical, and the kingdom in which it takes place, Tristia, sucks. Really really sucks. The king tried to establish a peaceful nation, but the Dukes didn’t like having someone limiting their power, so they rebelled and killed the king, and the force of lawgivers he established, the Greatcoats, were disbanded.
Except before disbanding the Greatcoats and getting killed, the King gave each of them a mission. And Falcio, the leader of the Greatcoats, is determined to finish his mission, even if he doesn’t know where to start looking. Helping him are Kest, his best friend since childhood, and Brasti, the snarky voice of reason who really doesn’t want all this stress.
This is a series that’s unflinchingly dark and gritty and the world is horrible; but the characters pull through because through suffering they become better, they become stronger, and gain hope. Because even when things are darkest, and you want to give up (which is, as the novels point out, a completely legitimate option in many cases), there is still one last shred of hope that you can hold on to.
Best Unexpected Surprise: The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan
Oh hey stories about a woman who decides to become a dragon scientist despite living in a country heavily inspired by Victorian Era England and women aren’t generally allowed to do things like that? Where have you been all my life? These books are good; not just because they have a no-nonsense female protagonist who is by no means a badass warrior of any time, not only because it critically examines colonialist ideas and narratives, and not only because it has a butt ton of dragons all over.
Written as memoirs by an elderly Lady Trent reminiscing on her youth, the books go a bit like this: Isabella is obsessed with dragons. They’re very little understood in the world, in part because their bodies rapidly decompose after death, and she wants to know more. So despite all the limits of society, she takes it upon herself to become a scholar in the ways of dragon physiology. And underneath her Darwin-esque adventures there’s another mystery that none of the characters even really pay that much attention to.
It’s fun, it’s unexpected, it’s a completely different direction than I thought I’d get from a fantasy book, and I think it’s what put Marie Brennan on the map in the speculative fiction genre. For good reason.
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That’s it for this week--hopefully I think this will get finished in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!
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