To ring in the new year, I’ve made a bunch of lists of 20 good things from 2020, a year that will be remembered for not having anywhere near enough good things.
Since my actual favorite comics of the year are elsewhere in CBH’s best comics of 2020, those won’t be included here. Otherwise, enjoy the selections below and Happy New Year!
Best Comic Book Writers of 2020
For both the writers and artists portion of today’s festivities, I’ve given a pretty heavy weight to the amount and variety of comics from each creator (For example, James Tynion gets a boost for the sheer volume of taking over DC’s Batman and dropping Department of Truth, Wind, and Something is Killing the Children this year).
- Gene Luen Yang
- Jonathan Hickman
- Al Ewing
- W. Maxwell Prince
- Matt Fraction
- Chip Zdarsky
- Ram V
- Si Spurrier
- Jeff Lemire
- NK Jemesin
- Zeb Wells
- James Tynion IV
- Ed Brubaker
- Kieron Gillen
- Stephanie Phillips
- Kelly Thompson
- Steve Orlando
- Alex Paknadel
- Mark Russell
- G. Willow Wilson
Best Comic Book Artists of 2020
- Mike Huddleston
- Jesse Lonergan
- Sloane Leong
- Daniel Warren Johnson
- Pepe Larraz
- Martin Morazzo
- Dan Mora
- Rod Reis
- Marco Checcetto
- Gurihiru
- Mitch Gerads / Evan Shaner
- Stan Sakai
- Valerio Schiti
- Jamal Campbell
- Steve Lieber
- Sanford Greene
- Carmen Carnero
- Greg Capullo
- Liam Sharpe
- Chris Samnee
Best Comic Book Websites / Platforms
These are literally all the comics sources I read/watch/listen to with any kind of consistency. If there’s a good one missing from here, I would truly love to hear about it!
- Comic Book Herald
- Women Write About Comics
- Sktchd
- PanelXPanel
- Comics Bookcase
- Comfort Food Comics
- Shelfdust
- The Comics Beat
- Newsarama
- Polygon
- iO9 – Gizmodo
- Dopespill Comics
- ComicTropes
- Xavier Files
- Sequart
- Blerd Without Fear
- Matt Draper (YT)
- Bitches on Comics
- War Rocket Ajax
- Contest of Challengers
Best Albums of 2020
Oddly enough, I actually document my rankings of a year’s albums more regularly than I do comics. Every album I listen to throughout the year goes into a continually ordered Spotify folder, with the rare exclusive favorites making it into “best of 2020” folder consideration. This year, my “Best Albums” folder runs 30 deep, and I’ll include those outside the favorite 20 in the honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions: Fleet Foxes “Shore,” Short Fictions “Fates Worse Than Death,” Poppy “I Disagree,” Metz “Atlas Vending,” Rina Sawayama “SAWAYAMA,” Def Loaf “Sell Sole II”
- Run the Jewels – RTJ4
- Grimes – Miss Antropocene
- Dogleg – Melee
- Envy – The Fallen Crimson
- The Weekend – After Hours
- Melt Yourself Down – 100% Yes
- 070 Shake – Modus Vivendi
- Dehd – Flower of Devotion
- Bars of Gold – Shelters
- Kvelertak – Splid
- Jeff Rosenstock – NO DREAM
- Bully – SugarEgg
- SAULT – Untitled (Black Is)
- Touche Amore – Lament
- Hum – Inlet
- Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
- Hippie Trim – Cult
- Knxwledge – 1988
- Open Mike Eagle – Anime, Trauma, & Divorce
- Little Dragon – New Me, Same Us
Best 20 Songs of 2020
I have right around 300 songs I’ve compiled into my favorite songs of the year, and frankly, any of them could show up here. Nonetheless, these 20 stand out right now!
- Archers of Loaf – “Raleigh Days”
- Beach Bunny – “Dream Boy”
- Riz Ahmed – “Toba Tek Singh”
- The Weeknd – “In Your Eyes”
- Dua Lipa – “Don’t Start Now”
- Bully – “Turn to Hate”
- Grimes – “Delete Forever”
- Tierra Whack – “Dora”
- Envy – “Rhythm”
- DeJ Loaf – “Cross That Line”
- Dope Body – “Known Unknown”
- Perfume Genius – “On the Floor”
- Run the Jewels (feat. 2 Chainz) – “Out of Sight”
- Sada Baby, Nikki Minaj – “Whole Lotta Choppers (remix)”
- Lady Gaga – “Stupid Love”
- BLACKPINK (feat. Selena Gomez) – Ice Cream
- Dizzee Rascal – “Body Loose”
- Jackknife Lee, Open Mike Eagle – “Made it Weird”
- Agust D – “Daechwita”
- Kari Faux – “While God Was Sleepin'”
Best 20 New Albums To Work To
- MoMa Ready – Gallery S
- Roisin Murphy – Roisin Machine
- Neon95 – Pokewave III
- Adrianne Lenker – Instrumentals
- John Frusciante – Maya
- Patricia – Maxyboy
- Jyoti – Mama, You Can Bet
- Cut Copy – Freeze, Melt
- Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – Soul (Pixar Soundtrack)
- Bloto – Erozje
- Plone – Puzzlewood
- Four Tet – Sixteen Oceans
- Nicolas Jaar – Cenizas
- Melonade – Splash!
- AceMo – Mind Jungle
- Nubya Garcia – Source
- Jira – Isese
- Photay – Waking Hours
- Arca – &&&&&
- Dan Deacon – Well Groomed
My Favorite 20 Articles Published on Comic Book Herald!
First 5 from myself, next 15 from extremely talented writers (and not even all of the ones that contributed to CBH this year, I just set this goofy only 20 parameter!).
- Why Sexuality Matters in X-Men Comics
- Post Batman-ism (Birds of Prey review)
- 32nd Birthday challenge – Avengers #32 review
- Is it right that Jonathan Hickman’s never won an Eisner?
- Are the X-Men Villains Now?
- John Galati aka wrote ‘The Legalese of Dimensional Travel | Excalibur Vol. 1 Omnibus Review’:
- Tiffany Babb aka @explodingarrow wrote ‘Superman Smashes the Klan and the Complicated Art of Belonging’:
- Gabi Echenique aka @Ihnanna7 wrote ‘Tarot Readings of X-Men X of Swords’:
- Kyle Pinion aka @kylepinion wrote ‘The Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later – Approaching Middle Age in a Utopia’:
- Mark & Stuart aka @flophousecat @mturetsky wrote ‘Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #1 Review!’:
- Sara Century aka @saracentury wrote ‘Are Black Widow’s 1990’s Graphic Novels Worth It?’:
- Ritesh Babu aka @GhosttGray wrote ‘Matt Fraction, American Fiction, and Jimmy Olsen! (Pt. 1 of 2)’:
- Vishal Gullapalli aka vgulla87 wrote ‘She-Hulk by Dan Slott Omnibus Review!’:
- Sean Dillon aka deathchrist2000 wrote ‘Theses on Three Jokers by Geoff Johns & Jason Fabok’:
- Tony Goldmark aka @tonygoldmark wrote ‘The Official Scene by Scene MCU Chronological Watching Order!’:
- Karen Charm aka @karen_xmenfan wrote ‘Should You Read Jack Kirby’s Eternals Before The MCU Movie?’:
- Zoe Tunnell aka @Blankzilla wrote ‘X-Men Grand Design Omnibus Review: The Flaw In X-Men Cliffnotes’:
- Matt Draper aka @MattDraperYT wrote ‘My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: A Beautiful Descent Into Darkness’:
- Kenneth Laster aka @disasterlaster wrote ‘Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 Review!’:
CBH Creannotators Interviews!
I started an interview series with comics creators this year, really the first time in the history of Comic Book Herald that I’ve entered the creator interview game. From May through the end of 2020 I released nearly 30 interviews, once a week, and already have the month of January 2021 lined up to continue into next year.
I’m extremely grateful for all the creators who took the time to talk to me, and I’ve picked the ones here not based on creator “performance,” but based on my own feelings about preparedness and interviewing!
- W. Maxwell Prince on Ice Cream Man
- Steve Orlando on Kill a Man
- Sanford Greene on Bitter Root
- Ryan O’Sullivan on Fearscape
- Rob Guillory on Farmhand
- Ram V on These Savage Shores
- Rodney Barnes on Killadelphia
- Gisele Legace on Exorsisters
- Joshua Cassara on X-Force
- Tom Scioli on Kirby King of Comics
- Stephanie Phillips on Butcher of Paris
- Leila Del Duca on Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed
- Derf Backderf on Kent State: 4 Dead in Ohio
- Kyle Starks on Old Head
- Dave Chisholm on Chasin’ the Bird
- Sloane Leong on A Map to the Sun
- Kazu Kibuishi on Amulet
- Victor LaValle on Destroyer
- Johnnie Christmas on Tartarus
- Karla Pacheco on Spider-Woman
DCU Movie/TV Power Rankings!
- Harley Quinn (Animated)
- Doom Patrol
- Wonder Woman
- Shazam
- Justice League
- Birds of Prey
- Man of Steel
- The CW-Verse
- Batman v Superman
- Young Justice
- Joker
- Aquaman
- The lifespan of exclusive DC TV on DC Universe
- Suicide Squad (2021) Trailer
- Suicide Squad
- Titans
- Wonder Woman 1984
- 2020
- Justice League #SnyderCut Trailer
- Swamp Thing
Chicago Sports Moments
1) The Last Dance
2 – 19) …
20) Mitchell “Can’t Miss” Trubisky getting the Bears on the cusp of an absurd playoff appearance and possibly securing a new contract with Chicago ensuring our continued mediocrity
And there you have it. Let me know your favorites in the comments, and Happy New Year, Heralds!
I love Comic Book herald is listed in “Best Comic Book Websites / Platforms.” It is true but still funny none the less.