Unbagging 2024

I’m not really one for “best of” lists or end of year wrap-ups, mostly because my memory is terrible and I’m not particularly organized or inclined to document the things I do in a given year.

I don’t use Letterboxd or Goodreads or even some kind of spreadsheet to keep track of things that I’ve read or watched.

The Pull List is as close as I get to doing that, and let me tell you, even that much is like, er, pulling teeth.

Mostly I just read or watch things and them move on, incorporating them into the jumbled up mess inside my head where with rare exceptions even if they stood out as something I really enjoyed they’ll likely be forgotten, at least at the top level of my consciousness, unless and until I’m specifically reminded of them.

So if you ask me, “What was the best comic you read this year?” or “What was your favorite cover of the year?” my answer will most likely be, “Um.”

To be clear, this is an indictment of my aging brain and in no way reflects poorly on the efforts of people like whosit and what’s-her-name who made those comics I really liked. You know the ones.

The ones I liked.

That said, I have documented my thoughts on some of the comics I read – or reread – in 2024. That sort of thing is, after all, rather the point of this site. So I can at least compile a convenient list of those as a way to wrap up the year.

I’m not going to give any sort of ranking, but at least it’s something, right?

A Year in the Short Box

The Short Box tends to be the place where I’m most negative, focusing on a few comics that I didn’t enjoy as much as I would have liked, though there are also plenty of things in there that I did enjoy a lot. For example, looking at the list reminds me that One For Sorrow was one of my favorite comics of the year. So there you go: a “best of” entry.

The deeper dives, of course, happened in the feature that derives its name from the site itself.

The Year Out of the Bag

January

Unbagging Action Comics #1061

February

Unbagging Captain America Meets The Asthma Monster!

March

Unbagging Cherry Deluxe

April

Unbagging Roxxon Presents: Thor

May

Unbagging DC Comics Presents Annual #2

June

Unbagging MAD #1

July

Unbagging Sprocket Man

Unbagging Dave Stevens The Rocketeer Artists Edition

August

Unbagging Marvel Paragon Collection: Chris Claremont

Unbagging Houses Of The Unholy

September

Unbagging DC Comics Anatomy Of Metahuman

Unbagging DC Comics Presents #81

November

Unbagging Superman: President Luthor

Unbagging Superman Presents The Phantom Zone

December

Unbagging New Mutants #45

Unbagging Ambush Bug: Stocking Stuffer

Unbagging DC Comics Style Guide

There was much about 2024, both in terms of this site and the world in general, that was bitterly disappointing.

One of the most disappointing things that affects both the world and the site was the news about the kind of person Neil Gaiman turned out to be. The worst effect is, of course, the impact his actions have had on his victims, but it’s also disheartening to his millions of fans – like me – the world over.

For this site, there are three posts above that are focused on his work, one of which is not only the most popular post on this site, it’s the most popular thing I’ve ever written anywhere* as a result of Gaiman himself having shared a link to it.

Literally the day before the news about him broke.

I went to bed that night elated that I’d finally gotten that coveted Gaiman bump, and then woke the next day to the horrifying news.

Again, the impact his actions have had on me are unimportant and are nothing compared to what his victims have suffered – and continue to suffer as he engages in damage control – but it was still something of a kick in the head.

*Even that is a hard pill to swallow, given how little that means in terms of the number of visitors and ad revenue.

But, as is evidenced by the final Unbagging of the year, it wasn’t all bad. I did, after all, get to experience having a dream come true, and that is one thing that I can remember without any prompting.

And while I look at its approach with trepidation, I do know that the one good thing about the coming year is that there will be comics for me to read – and largely forget about after. But let’s not focus on that part – and for you to read, and for me to write about.

Which you can then read.

Please?

So now that we’re done looking back, let’s look forward to a year filled with Pull Lists, Mail Calls, Short Boxes, Unbaggings, and, most important of all, comics.

Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.

Unbagging 2024