Best of 2018 - Food

Last year I ate out about 300 times. This year it was a little closer to 275.

I'm not qualified to be a food critic, but I did eat a lot of food and I do have opinions. So here are my top 20 favorites, the ones that are accessible, affordable *and* delicious enough that I went there numerous times during the year. My list of favorites is mostly down to how many times I went there, with a little fudging.

Favorites:

1. Snooze A.M.
2. Easy Tiger
3. Home Slice
4. Hopdoddy
5. Chuy's
6. Velvet Taco
7. Rolling Rooster
8. Kerbey Lane
9. New Fortune Chinese
10. Hoover's
11. Deckhand Oyster Bar
12. Jack Allen's Kitchen
13. Tumble 22
14. Kura Revolving Sushi
15. Fareground
16. H-Mart
17. Michi Ramen
18. Ng Cafe
19. Texas Roadhouse
20. Jim's

I also kept track of where I ate lunch this year, and these are my favorites, based on how often I ate there. It's not just quality of food, here, but also closeness to work, where I'm usually eating lunch.

Lunch Favorites:

1. Torchy's Tacos
2. Culver's
3. McDonald's
4. Wendy's
5. Vera Cruz
6. Pei Wei
7. Taco Bell
8. Popeye's
9. Slab BBQ
10. Smokey Mo's
11. P. Terry's
12. Whataburger

Then there were the places that I ate at once or twice, due to either it's location (downtown especially) or price. This list is purely down to my favorites, where I'd eat if location and price were no object.

Rare Treats:

1. Colleen's Southern Kitchen
2. Kemuri Tatsu-Ya
3. Loro
4. Peached Tortilla
5. Holy Roller
6. Hightower
7. Franklin BBQ
8. Estancia Churrascaria
9. Terry Black's BBQ
10. Babe's Chicken Dinner (Dallas)
11. Batch
12. Black Star Co-Op
13. Gus's Fried Chicken
14. Noble Sandwich
15. Thai Kun
16. Tyson's Tacos
17. Valentina's Tex-Mex BBQ

Best of 2018 - Boardgames

Last year I played 57 games, 35 of which were new. This year, thanks in no small part to going to BGG Con twice, I played 138 games, 76 of which were new.

New Games:

1. Alien Frontiers
2. Azul
3. Betrayal at Baldur's Gate
4. Blackout Hong Kong
5. Captain Wackelpudding
6. Catch the Moon
7. Codenames Marvel
8. Detective - A Modern Crime Board Game
9. Dice Chase
10. Dice Settlers
11. Dice Throne
12. Dungeon Mayhem
13. Eminent Domain
14. Fae
15. Fake Artist Goes to New York
16. Fear
17. Flow of History
18. Fog of Love
19. Fortune
20. Ganymede
21. Gizmos
22. Guardians
23. Holding On... The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr
24. Hoyuk
25. Impact: Battle of the Elements
26. Istanbul Dice Game
27. Jungle Smarts
28. Lanterns
29. Master Thief
30. Memoarrr!
31. Mesozoic
32. Monster Crunch
33. Mountains of Madness
34. Neon Gods
35. Nyctophobia
36. Outpost Siberia
37. Pandemic Fall of Rome
38. Pandemic Legacy Season 2
39. Photosynthesis
40. Pikoko
41. Pioneer Days
42. Plums
43. Rattus
44. Ravine
45. Rick and Morty Close Encounters of the Rick-Kind
46. Saturn
47. Sentient
48. Shadows Amsterdam
49. Shaky Manor
50. Skyward
51. Space Base
52. Star Trek Catan
53. Stop Thief!
54. Stroop
55. Tamamool (Wolf and Hound)
56. Terraforming Mars
57. Terrifying Girl Disorder
58. Thanos Rising
59. The Big Score
60. The Expanse Boardgame
61. The Faceless
62. The Table is Lava
63. Topiary
64. Unlock! House on the Hill
65. Unlock! The Nautilus
66. Unlock! The Formula
67. Unlock! Tonipal's Treasure
68. Untold Adventures Await
69. War Chest
70. Warhammer Fantasy Quest
71. Welcome To...
72. Western Legends
73. What Do You Meme?
74. When I Dream
75. Who Do We Eat?
76. Who Goes There?

Favorite Games:

1. Pandemic Legacy Season 2
2. Sagrada
3. Scythe (#10 on last year)
4. Codenames Duet (#5 on last year)
5. Unearth (#7 on last year)
6. Fuse
7. Splendor
8. Dice Throne
9. Azul
10. Terraforming Mars

Best of 2018 - Comics Miniseries and One-Shots

Last year, I had three Marvel series, a pair of IDW series based on licensed properties (one of them Star Trek), and a Black Hammer spinoff from Dark Horse. There were 2 Image series. This year? 2 Black Hammer spinoffs, 3 IDW series (2 Star Trek, 1 D&D), 3 Image, one Marvel, one Valiant, and one Dynamite.

Best Miniseries:

1. Black Hammer The Quantum Age #1-5 (Dark Horse)
2. Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Tomorrow #1-4 (Dark Horse)
3. Star Trek TNG Through the Mirror #1-5 (IDW)
4. The Dead Hand #1-6 (Image)
5. Analog #1-4 (Image)
6. Marvel Knights 20th #1-4 (Marvel)
7. D&D Evil at Baldur's Gate #1-5 (IDW)
8. Charlies Angels #1-4 (Dynamite)
9. Star Trek TNG Terra Incognita #1-6 (IDW)
10. Harbinger Wars 2 #1-4 (Valiant)

Also in the running: Hunt for Wolverine Weapon Lost #1-4 (Marvel), and Flavor #1-5 (Image).

Last year I read about 40-50 first issues and one shots, this year it was closer to 70, but I still found a lot to like. In some cases, I dropped off a series or miniseries but still had warm feelings toward the first issue.

Best First Issues:

1. Edge of Spider-Geddon #1 (Marvel)
2. Venom #1 (Marvel)
3. Miles Morales Spider-Man #1 (Marvel)
4. Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe #1 (DC)
5. Shadowman #1 (Valiant)
6. Outpost Zero #1 (Image)
7. Hardcore #1 (Image)
8. Murder Falcon #1 (Image)
9. Die! Die! Die! #1 (Image)
10. Marvel Action Spider-Man #1 (IDW)

Best One-Shots:

1. Klaus and the Crying Snowman (Boom!)
2. Rat Queens Neon Static (Image)
3. Black Hammer Cthu-Louise (Dark Horse)
4. Batman Annual #3 (DC)
5. Superior Octopus #1 (Marvel)
6. Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey #1 (DC)
7. Infinity Countdown Prime #1 (Marvel)
8. Aquaman/Jabberjaw #1 (DC)
9. Armstrong and the Vault of Spirits #1 (Valiant)
10. Super Sons/Dynomutt #1 (DC)

Best of 2018 - Top 10 New Comics

Best New Series:

Marvel has 5 of my top 9 (up from 2 last year), Image has 2 (down from 6), DC has two (like last year), and Lion Forge has one (up from zero). Five of them are superhero books, up from four last year. The other two are science-fiction and gaming/fantasy.

1. Domino #1-8, Annual #1 (Marvel)
2. X-Men Red #1-10, Annual #1 (Marvel)
3. Immortal Hulk #1-10 (Marvel)
4. Tony Stark Iron Man #1-6 (Marvel)
5. Skyward #1-8 (Image)
6. Crowded #1-5 (Image)
7. Rolled & Told #1-4 (Lion Forge)
8. Hawkman #1-6 (DC)
9. Fantastic Four #1-5 (Marvel)
10. Green Lantern #1-2 (DC)

New Series That Are Too New To Judge:

These series are not quite far enough for me to judge them Best New Series yet, but I really like them all, and can see any of them making my Best Continuing Series next year. Because I don't think it's fair to compare a single issue or a two- or three-issue run to the more extended runs above, I'm ranking them separately. Last year, there were only 4 on this list, one of which made my Best Ongoing and two of which made the "also ran" list. This year there are 6.

1. Firefly #1-2 (Boom!)
2. Outer Darkness #1-2 (Image)
3. Killmonger #1-2 (Marvel)
4. Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #1-3 (Marvel)
5. Exorsisters #1-3 (Image)
6. American Carnage #1-2 (DC/Vertigo)

Best of 2018 - Top 10 Ongoing Comics

This year, there were four on my list that have been there for the last two years, Ms. Marvel that's been on there for all the years it's been published. These lists are my favorites, based on a reading over 500 single issues for the year (last year it was closer to 600), and access to more than that.

Last year, Image had 2 of my top 10, Marvel had 7, and Dark Horse had 1. Looking forward in the Previews, I'm not super-crazy about what's coming up, and 3 of the Marvel series on this list ended this year, so I'm not sure what next year's ongoing will look like.

Last year, All-New Wolverine hit 12 issues, and nobody else came close. This year, most of the Marvel books hit 10 issues, and Marvel Two-in-One hit 12 if you count the annual.

1. Black Hammer Age of Doom #1-7 (Last Year: #6 on my Best Ongoing Series)
2. X-Men Gold #19-32, Annual #1-2 (Last Year: #2 on my Best New Series)
3. All-New Wolverine #29-35 (Last Year: #4 on my Best Ongoing Series)
4. Ms. Marvel #26-36 (Last Year: #1 on my Best Ongoing Series)
5. Kill or Be Killed #15-20 (Last Year: #2 on my Best Ongoing Series)
6. Champions #16-26 (Last Year: #3 on my Best Ongoing Series)
7. Runaways #5-16 (Last Year: #1 on my Best New Series)
8. Marvel Two in One #2-12, Annual #1
9. Ninja-K #3-9 (Last Year: #3 on my New Series to New to Judge)
10. Rat Queens #7-10, Neon Static (Last Year: #4 on my Best New Series)

Also in the running: Amazing Spider-Man #794-801, Captain America #697-704, Daredevil #597-612, Doctor Strange #384-389,1-8, and Punisher #220-228, 1-4.

Best of 2018 - Graphic Novels

1. Black Hammer Library Vol 1 HC
2. My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies HC 
3. Astro City Broken Melody HC 
4. Wonder Woman Earth One Vol 2 HC 
5. Ms. Marvel Vol 4 HC 
6. Amazing Spider-Man Red Goblin HC & Amazing Spider-Man Worldwide Vol 3 HC  
7. Rat Queens Vol 2 HC 
8. Star Trek TNG Mirror Broken TP & Through the Mirror TP 
9. Junji Ito's Frankenstein HC 
10. Nailbiter Vol 2 HC 
11. Harrow County Vol 1 HC
12. Moon Knight by Lemire HC 
13. Doctor Strange Vol 2 HC 
14. Batman and the Outsiders Vol 2 HC
15. Injustice Year Three TP  
16. Sugar Vol 1 TP 
17. Lil Donnie HC & Me the People HC 
18. Divinity Complete Trilogy HC 
19. Ninjak Vol 2 HC 
20. Babyteeth Vol 1 HC
21. Eight Million Ways to Die HC 
22. Open Earth 
23. Detective Comics Vol 2-3 HC 
24. Banana Sundays 
25. Usagi Yojimbo Vol 32 
26. Motor Girl HC 
27. Voltron Vol 2 TP 
28. Wahoo Morris Vols 1-2 
29. Super Chill: A Year Of Living Anxiously 
30. Vision HC 
31. Absolute Kingdom Come HC 
32. Incredibles 2: Heroes At Home

Best of 2018 - Television

Best Shows (Every Category):
Somehow, again, there was a lot more television this year.

In general, this list is the "If I had to cut back to a certain number of shows, based on money, time, etc., this is the list of shows I'd cut first (starting with #62) to shows I'd cut last (starting with #1). Last year this list was 56 shows.

There were 11 shows that didn't have new seasons (Fargo, Game of Thrones, Master of None, Future Man, You're the Worst, Stranger Things, Better Things, Rick and Morty, Mindhunter, American Gods, She's Gotta Have It), 6 shows ended or were limited run (Sense8, Review, Godless, The Leftovers, Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later, Defenders) and 8 I stopped watching or plan to catch up on later (Broad City, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Sneaky Pete, A Series of Unfortunate Events, 13 Reasons Why, SMILF, The Tick, Castlevania)

Best New Shows:

1. Haunting of Hill House
2. Altered Carbon
3. The Looming Tower
4. Cobra Kai
5. The Dragon Prince
6. Barry
7. Maniac
8. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
9. Killing Eve
10. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction
11. Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
12. Evil Genius
13. Little Drummer Girl
14. Mosaic
15. A.P. Bio
16. Sharp Objects
17. Counterpart
18. Homecoming
19. Castle Rock
20. Hard Sun
21. Everything Sucks
22. Kidding
23. The Gifted
24. Black Lightning
25. Cloak & Dagger
26. Impulse
27. Good Girls

Best Drama:

1. Star Trek Discovery (CBS All Access)
2. Better Call Saul (AMC)
3. Haunting of Hill House (NETFLIX) 
4. The Looming Tower (HULU)
5. Westworld (HBO)
6. Altered Carbon (NETFLIX)
7. Cobra Kai (YOUTUBE)
8. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (AMAZON)
9. iZombie (CW)
10. Legion (FX)

Best Comedy:

1. The Good Place (NBC)
2. Atlanta (FX)
3. G.L.O.W. (NETFLIX)
4. Bojack Horseman (NETFLIX)
5. Santa Clarita Diet (NETFLIX)
6. Last Week with John Oliver (HBO)
7. Insecure (HBO)
8. Crashing (HBO)
9. Atypical (NETFLIX)
10. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX)

Overall:

1. The Good Place
2. Star Trek Discovery
3. Better Call Saul
4. Haunting of Hill House
5. The Looming Tower
6. Westworld
7. Altered Carbon
8. Atlanta
9. Cobra Kai
10. G.L.O.W.
11. Bojack Horseman
12. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
13. iZombie
14. Santa Clarita Diet 
15. Last Week with John Oliver
16. Insecure
17. Crashing
18. Atypical
19. Legion
20. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
21. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 
22. Dear White People
23. Casual
24. Love
25. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
26. The Dragon Prince
27. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
28. Silicon Valley
29. Barry
30. Trial & Error
31. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
32. American Vandal
33. Maniac
34. The Deuce
35. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
36. Killing Eve
37. Orange is the New Black
38. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction
39. Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
40. Black Mirror
41. Timeless
42. Evil Genius
43. Little Drummer Girl
44. Mosaic (HBO)
45. The Mick
46. A.P. Bio
47. Sharp Objects
48. Counterpart
49. Travelers
50. Homecoming
51. Castle Rock
52. Hard Sun
53. Everything Sucks
54. Kidding
55. The Handmaid's Tale
56. Ozark
57. The Gifted
58. Black Lightning
59. Cloak & Dagger
60. Luke Cage
61. Impulse
62. Good Girls

Best of 2018 - Movies

Or, more accurately, a list of all the movies I saw in 2018. Because I can't claim best, my movie taste is pretty basic and I only see a handful of movies every year. I saw more movies this year, though, thanks to a brief flirtation with MoviePass.

New Movies I Saw This Year:

1. Avengers Infinity War
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
3. Black Panther
4. Ocean's 8
5. Anna and the Apocalypse
6. Ant-Man and Wasp
7. Mission Impossible Fallout
8. The Night Comes For Us
9. Isle of Dogs
10. Solo: A Star Wars Story
11. A Quiet Place
12. The First Purge
13. Upgrade
14. Black KKKlansman
15. Pacific Rim Uprising
16. Crazy Rich Asians
17. Deadpool 2
18. Incredibles 2
19. Mute
20. Ballad of Buster Scruggs
21. Sorry to Bother You
22. Annihilation

Old Movies I Saw For the First Time This Year:

1. Train to Busan
2. The Conjuring
3. The Conjuring 2
4. Purge Election Year
5. Hell or High Water
6. It
7. War for the Planet of the Apes
8. Game Night
9. Logan
10. Christmas Chronicles
11. Creep
12. Coherence
13. Kingsman The Golden Circle
14. Bright
15. Ready Player One
16. The Void
17. The Witch
18. The Box
19. Mamma Mia!

Monthly Update - November 2018

Read 60 Graphic Novels (5+44=49)

1. Super Chill: A Year Of Living Anxiously
2. Banana Sundays
3. Detective Comics Vol 3 HC
4. Doctor Strange Vol 2 HC
5. Rat Queens Vol 2 HC

Play 15 New Boardgames (33+40=73)

• Dice Chase
• Catch the Moon
• Impact: Battle of the Elements
• Shadows Amsterdam
• The Big Score
• Unearth
• Pikoko
• Pioneer Days
• Holding On... The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr
• Welcome To...
• War Chest
• Nyctophobia
• The Faceless
• The Table is Lava
• Mesozoic
• Pandemic Fall of Rome
• Western Legends
• Detective - A Modern Crime Board Game
• Neon Gods
• Guardians
• Fortune
• Fake Artist Goes to New York
• Blackout Hong Kong
• Dice Settlers
• Gizmos
• Ganymede
• Bohnanza
• Monster Crunch
• Jungle Smarts
• Plums
• Memoarrr!
• Dungeon Mayhem
• Hoyuk
• Rattus
• Eminent Domain

My Picks of the Week For This Month:

1. Green Lantern #1
2. Marvel Knights 20th #1
3. Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #312
4. The Quantum Age #4
5. Immortal Hulk #9
6. American Carnage #1
7. Marvel Two-in-One #12
8. Daredevil #612

Comics I Read This Month (440+51=491):

• American Carnage #1
• Bitter Root #1
• Black Hammer Age of Doom #7
• Bloodshot Rising #1
• Champions #26
• Daredevil #611-612
• Dead Rabbit #2
• Doctor Strange #7-8
• Domino #8
• Dr. Horrible One-Shot
• Exorsisters #2
• Fantastic Four #3-4
• Farmhand #5
• Firefly #1
• Green Lantern #1
• Hawkman #6
• Immortal Hulk #8-9
• Jook Joint #2
• Marvel Action Spider-Man #1
• Marvel Knights 20th #1-2
• Marvel Two-in-One #12
• Ms. Marvel #36
• Murder Falcon #2
• Outer Darkness #1
• Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man #312
• Punisher #4
• Return of Wolverine #3
• Rolled and Told #3
• Runaways #15
• Skyward #8
• Spider-Force #2
• Spider-Geddon #3-4
• Spider-Girls #2
• Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #2
• Star Trek vs. Transformers #2
• Star Wars Han Solo Imperial Cadet #1
• The Quantum Age #4
• The Terrible Elisabeth Dunn Against the Devils in Suits
• The Unstoppable Wasp #2
• Tony Stark Iron Man #6
• Uncanny X-Men #1
• Vault of Spiders #2
• William Gibson's Alien 3 #1
• Wonder Woman #58
• X-Men Red #10

TV I Watched This Month:

• Bodyguard "Season 1"
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend "I'm On My Own Path" "I'm Making Up For Lost Time" "I See You"
• Homecoming "Season 1"
• Insecure "High-Like" "Ready-Like" "Obsessed-Like" "Ghost-Like"
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "The Gang Does A Clip Show" "Charlie's Home Alone" "The Gang Wins the Big Game"
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver "November 4, 2018" "November 11, 2018" "November 18, 2018"
• Little Drummer Girl
• Parks & Rec "Seasons 5-7"
• Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj "Affirmative Action" "Saudi Arabia" "Amazon" "Oil"
• Stan Against Evil "Season 1"
• Tell Me A Story "Hope"
• The Deuce "The Feminism Part" "Nobody Has To Get Hurt" "Inside the Pretend"
• The Good Place "The Worst Possible Use of Free Will" "Don't Let The Good Life Pass You By"

Top Ten Shows This Month:

1. The Good Place
2. Insecure
3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
4. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
5. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
6. Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
7. Little Drummer Girl
8. Homecoming
9. The Deuce
10. Bodyguard

Movies I Watched This Month:

• The Martian
• True Romance
• Fletch
• Fletch Lives
• Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
• Goodfellas
• Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
• Christmas Chronicles
• Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
• Scrooged
• Nightmare Before Christmas
• Game Night

Places I Ate This Month (16+238=254):

• Babe's Fried Chicken (Dallas)
• Bush's Chicken
• Corner Bakery (x2)
• Deckhand Oyster Bar
• Doc's Motorworks 38th
• H-Mart
• HomeSlice
• Hopdoddy's
• Jim's
• McDonald's
• Outback Steakhouse
• PizzaRev
• Snooze A.M.
• Texican Cafe
• Velvet Taco