FAVORITES OF 2012

Here is my last minute, half-assed "FAVORITES OF 2012" post:

FAVORITE MOVIE OF 2012:

My personal favorite movie of 2012 was DREDD. Outside of a few minor minor gripes not even worth mentioning, I think they really nailed it. I reallyyyy want them to make sequels with the same team. Karl Urban is the Law and the blu ray comes out January 8th!

Honorable Movie Mentions:

Dark Knight Rises, John Carter, The Grey, The Hobbit and The Avengers 

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FAVORITE TV SHOW OF 2012:

I didn't think it possible to beat Season One of 'GAME OF THRONES', but holy shit Season Two just may have. If you haven't seen this show yet, do yourself a favor and do so NOW! If you love Fantasy, Sword Play, Drama, Great Acting and anything that's super goddamn awesome, then 'Game of Thrones' is for you! And remember, Winter is Coming.

Oh, and how fucking incredible is PETER DINKLAGE as Tyrion Lannister?!!!!!

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FAVORITE COMICS OF 2012:

This year in Comics was a disappointing one from the Big Two. We had our first full year of New 52 stuff, which is 95% lame IMO. Marvel spent most of the year churning out watered down versions of the teenage fan fiction crap they've been putting out over the past decade, and then did another Relaunch after only a dozen-plus issues after the previous renumbering relaunch. Image Comics and the return of Valiant gobbled up talent and have been putting out great books all year. So in a nutshell, these are the comics I felt deserving of mentioning in this favorites of 2012 post:

PROPHET and GLORY: If you're a fan of great European comics and/or 70s Heavy Metal [magazine], I highly recommend these books. Start with Prophet #21 and Glory #23.

SAGA: Brian K. Vaughn's latest epic. Sci-Fantasy goodness!

THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS: Jonathan Hickman just finished an epic, instant-classic Fantastic Four run (seek it out!), and is now also doing creator owned projects. This one is pretty cool.

X-O MANOWAR and HARBINGER: Valiant Comics is back and kicking ass!! These are my two favorite Valiant titles so far, but their other books are pretty sweet, too. Also check out Bloodshot and Shadowman.

BATMAN and BATMAN & ROBIN: Scott Synder (w) and Greg Capullo (a) are producing some of the best Batman comics in a long time (some argue ever) in their book "BATMAN". Start at Batman #1 (of the New 52 relaunch) and enjoy "Court of Owls", "Nite of Owls" and the in-progress Joker story "Death of the Family". Then over in "BATMAN & ROBIN", Peter J. Tomasi (w) and Patrick Gleason (a) are kicking ass with some exciting stories and gorgeous art. Of these 2 bat-books, this one is my personal favorite. Recommended issues: #1-8 "Born to Kill', and current-issue #15 "Death of the Family".
 
GREEN LANTERN: Continuing Geoff Johns long running Green Lantern run, this starts off immediately after the "War of the Green Lanterns" event that transpired just before the New 52 relaunch. Sinestro has been chosen by a GL ring (again) and brought back into the Corps, and Hal Jordan has been kicked out. The first 2 storylines under the New 52 era are awesome fun by G.Johns with super kickass art by DOUG MAHNKE. Johns' Sinestro is a delight! Recommended Reading: #1-12, but stop before the in-progress & lame "Rise of the Third Army".

THOR: GOD OF THUNDER: This newly relaunched book is only 3 issues in, but the creative team of Jason Aaron (w) and Esad Ribic (a) is doing such a bang-up job of nailing the Norse God, that I felt it's worth including as one of the best comics of the year. This already has the potential of being one of my favorite Thor stories out there!

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COMIC CHARACTER OF THE YEAR:

CYCLOPS!

Not only was Cyclops proven to be RIGHT about Hope,  the Phoenix Force, and the Re-Ignition of the Mutant Gene during the god awful event of shame 'AVX', but he is now in a position to being the only interesting X-Man out there. Wolverine is now an overexposed,  hypocritical jackass running around being the good lil' Marvel Mascot, which leaves Cyclops in a place where he was supposed to be this entire time (until Wolverine debuted and derailed his destiny) - that of THE X-Man Superstar. It's been a bumpy, messy ride getting here, but the overall character arc of Cyclops makes him the Comic Character of 2012.... and The Character To Watch in 2013.

What were YOUR favorites of 2012?!