The Movies of December 2024
To the surprise of absolutely no-one, I watched a bunch of Christmas movies in December. But as much as I love my seasonal treats, the movies that left more of an impression this time around were some of the other movies I watched during the month. In particular, The Outrun — which is harrowing and life-affirming in equal measures, I think, and cements Saorise Ronan as one of my favorite actors working right now — and Conclave, which is exactly the “bitchy Priest Succession” that I was promised by early reviews. The Red Shoes is also on there, which I hadn’t seen in close to three decades and is, if anything, so fucking wonderful that I feel embarrassed for not getting it earlier. Movies! They’re wonderful! (Also on the list: The Virtues, which is technically a TV show but has a movie-length final episode, so I counted it.)
Here’s the month in full.
The Comics of December 2024
In a very strange way, December — a month where I read a lot of holiday comics, and a lot of Teen Titans comics and related series thereof — might have been the month that most perfectly represented my 2024 reading trends (revisiting old series and/or catching up with things I hadn’t read but felt like I should as a superhero fan, but doing so in bulk) and also the month that broke me of that tendency, at least in the short term. I read a lot of comic books in December, but outside of the obvious choices, very few were memorable, and very many were instantly forgettable if not downright bad. (Most of the 2003 Teen Titans series, I’m sadly looking at you.) Maybe 2025 is a year where I read less, but what I do read will be of higher quality. Check in with me this time next month and we’ll see if I followed through on that promise to myself.
- The Titans (1999) #s 1-2
- The Titans Secret Files & Origins #1
- The Titans (1999) #s 3-4
- Secret Origins (1986) #13
- Action Comics Weekly #s 613-618, 626-634 (Nightwing stories only)
- The Titans (1999) #s 5-20
- The Titans Secret Files & Origins #2
- Crisis #8 (Third World War story only)
- Rogue Trooper: The War Machine
- DC Rebirth Holiday Special #1
- Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #1
- The Titans (1999) #s 21-25
- Team Titans #s 5-11
- Fantastic Four: Antithesis #s 1-4
- Team Titans #s 12-14
- The Titans (1999) #s 26-30
- Marvel Team-Up (1972) #1
- The Brave and the Bold (1955) #148
- Batman (1940) #309
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #79
- The Titans (1999) #s 31-37
- The Titans (1999) #s 38-41
- Marvel Holiday Magazine Digital Comic #s 1-3
- Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #25
- Gwenpool Holiday Special: Merry Mix-Up #1
- All-New Venom #1
- Iron Man (2024) #2
- West Coast Avengers (2024) #1
- X-Men (2024) #8
- The Avengers (2023) #21
- The Titans (1999) #s 42-50
- Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #s 1-3
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #s 61-62
- The Christmas Spirit of 1940: Black Henry and Simple Simon
- Avengers Assemble (2024) #s 3-4
- Wolverine (2024) #4
- Teen Titans (2003) #1
- Titans East Special #1
- Titans (2008) #s 1-3
- Titans (2008) #s 4-5
- World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special #1
- Batman Annual (2016) #1
- Harley Quinn Holiday Special #1
- Titans (2008) #6
- DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #s 1-4
- Titans (2008) #s 7-11
- It’s Jeff! Infinity Comic #38
- Klaus #1
- Titans (2008) #s 12-15
- Blackest Night: Titans #s 1-3
- Titans (2008) #s 16-23
- Titans Hunt #s 1-2
- Klaus #s 2-7
- DC’s Nuclear Winter Special #1
- DC Universe Holiday Special 2010 #1
- Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #2
- Titans Hunt #s 3-8
- Justice League (2011) #51
- Titans: Rebirth #1
- Titans (2016) #1
- Weirdworld (2015 Vol 2) #1
- Klaus and the Witch of Winter
- Klaus and the Crisis in Xmasville
- 2000 AD Prog 2413 (Year-end Christmas Prog)
- Essential Rogue Trooper: The Traitor General
- Transformers (2023) #s 7-10
- Klaus and the Crying Snowman
- Klaus and the Life and Times of Joe Christmas
- The Ultimates (2024) #7
- DC’s Batman Smells, Robin Laid an Egg #1
- DC’s Very Merry Multiverse #1
- Titans (2016) #s 2-6
- Titans (2016) #s 7-11
- Teen Titans (2016) #8
- Deathstroke (2016) #s 19-20
- Teen Titans: The Lazarus Contract Special #1
- Titans Annual (2016) #1
- Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #2
- Titans (2016) #s 12-19
- Dazzler (2024) #3
- NYX (2024) #6
- Star Wars: Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #s 1-3
- Transformers (2023) #s 11-15
- Titans (2016) #s 20-22
- Titans Annual (2016) #2
- Titans Special (2018) #1
- The Christmas Spirit of 1941: A Trilogy
- Titans (2016) #s 23-25
- Deathstroke (2011) #1
- Deathstroke (2014) #1
- Deathstroke: Rebirth #1
- Deathstroke (2016) #1
- The Christmas Spirit of 1945: Horton J Winklerod
- Adventure Comics (1938) #82
- DCU Holiday Bash III #1
- Titans (2016) #s 26-32
- Green Arrow (2016) #45
- Nightwing (2016) #50
- Titans (2016) #s 33-35
- Teen Titans Academy #1
- Future State: Teen Titans #1
- Hellblazer (1988) #49
- Teen Titans Academy #s 2-4
- The Brave & The Bold (1955) #57
- Teen Titans Academy #s 5-7
- Teen Titans Academy 2021 Yearbook #1
- Shazam (2022) #1
- Teen Titans Academy #8
- Shazam (2022) #s 2-4
- Teen Titans Academy #s 9-10
- The Best of DC #22
- Action Comics #s 1078-1982
- Metamorpho, The Element Man (2024) #1
- The New Gods (2024) #1
- Challengers of the Unknown (2024) #1
- Justice League Unlimited (2024) #2
- Justice League: The Atom Project #1
- Teen Titans Academy #s 11-15
- Superman (2023) #20
- Superwoman Special #1
- Judge Dredd: A Better World
- GI Joe (2024) #2
- 2000 AD Prog 2414 (New Dredd by Williams/Wyatt!!!)
- Batman (2016) #s 155-156
- Batman: Dark Patterns #1
- Green Lantern (2023) #18
- Green Lantern: Fractured Spectrum #1
- JSA (2024) #s 2-3
- Green Lantern/Green Arrow: World’s Finest Special #1
- Titans (2023) #18
- Catwoman (2018) #71
- Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #34
- It’s Jeff! Infinity Comic #39
- Superman (2023) #21
- The Flash (2023) #16
- Black Canary: Best of the Best #2
- Detective Comics #1092
- Jenny Sparks (2024) #s 5-6
- Aquaman (2025) #1
- Absolute Superman #s 2-3
- Birds of Prey (2023) #s 16-17
- Batman and Robin (2023) #s 16-17
- Batman and Robin: Year One #4
- Wonder Woman (2023) #s 16-17
- Super Friends (1976) #42
- Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #15
- The Christmas Spirit of 1946: A Fable
- Deathstroke Inc. #1
- Deathstroke Inc. #s 2-7
- Shadow War: Alpha #1
- Batman (2016) #s 122-123
- Deathstroke Inc. #s 8-9
- Robin (2021) #s 13-14
- Shadow War Zone #1
- Shadow War: Omega #1
- Marvel Rivals Infinity Comic #1
- Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #3
- Dark Crisis #s 1-2
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #62
- Captain America (2023) #16
- Dazzler (2024) #4
- Daredevil (2023) #16
- Fantastic Four (2022) #27
- The Incredible Hulk (2023) #20
- The Immortal Thor #18
- Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #12
- Dark Crisis #3
- Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #s 4-6 (Name change!)
- Titans (2023) #19
- Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
- DC All In Special #1
- Deathstroke Inc #s 10-12
- Super-Team Family #s 11-14
- Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #35
- Catwoman (2018) #72
- Zatanna (2025) #1
- Zatanna: Bring Down the House #s 1-5
- The Question: All Along the Watchtower #2
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023) #20
- Deathstroke Inc. #s 13-15
- Deathstroke (2016) #s 2-4
- Teen Titans (2003) #2
- Superman (1938) #2
- Batman: Dark Patterns #2
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 3-6
- Deathstroke (2016) #s 4-8
- Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #4
- DC Comics Presents (1978) #67
- Teen Titans (2003) #7
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 8-12
- Marvel Holiday Tales to Astonish #1
- Uncanny X-Men (2024) #7
- Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #4
- Phoenix (2024) #6
- Infinity Watch (2024) #1
- TVA #1
- It’s Jeff! Infinity Comic #40
- What If…? (1989) #41
- The Christmas Spirit of 1947: Joy
- What If…? (1989) #s 67-68
- The Question: All Along the Watchtower #3
- Challengers of the Unknown (2024) #2
- The New Gods (2024) #2
- Justice League Unlimited (2024) #3
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 13-16
- Teen Titans/Legion Special #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 17-23
- Outsiders (2003) #s 1-3
- What If…? (1989) #s 46-47
- Astonishing Spider-Man Infinity Comic #9
- The Flash (2023) #17
- Metamorpho, The Element Man (2024) #2
- EC Shiver Suspenstories #1
- What If…? (1989) #51
- The Christmas Spirit of 1948: Basher Bains
- Outsiders (2003) #s 4-10
- Action Comics (1938) #521
- DC Comics Presents (1978) #68
- JSA (1999) #33
- DC Comics Presents (1978) #71
- Outsiders (2003) #s 11-25
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 24-25
- JSA (1999) #s 34-37
- Martian Manhunter: Divergence #1
- Outsiders (2003) #s 26-31
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 26-28
- Martian Manhunter (2015) #1
- X-Men (2004) #9
- West Coast Avengers (2024) #2
- Timeslide #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 29-31
- Iron Man (2024) #3
- Exceptional X-Men #4
- Outsiders (2003) #32
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 32-33
- Outsiders (2003) #33
- Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #4
- Marvel Rivals Infinity Comic #2
- Suicide Squad: Blaze #1
- The Christmas Spirit of 1949: S. Kringle Klaus
- Teen Titans (2003) #34
- Rare Flavours #s 1-2
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 35-37
- Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #5
- The Christmas Spirit of 1950: Darling’s First Christmas
- The Christmas Spirit of 1951: Joe Fix
- Outsiders (2003) #s 34-37
- Power Girl (2023) #1
- Nightwing (1996) #71
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 38-39
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 40-41
- Outsiders (2003) #s 38-43
- JSA (1999) #38
- Astonishing Spider-Man Infinity Comic #10
- The Gargoyle (1985) #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 42
- Outsiders (2003) #s 44-46
- Fantastic Four (1961) #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 43-50
- JSA (1999) #s 39-42
- Martian Manhunter (2015) #2
- JSA (1999) #s 43-45
- Fantastic Four (1961) #2
- It’s Jeff! Infinity Comic #41
- Rare Flavours #3
- Nightwing (1996) #72
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #s 1-5
- Rare Flavours #4
- Cover Story: The 2000 AD Design Art of Robin Smith
- Martian Manhunter (2015) #s 3-4
- Laura Kinney, Wolverine #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 51-55
- Nightwing (1996) #73
- Outsiders (2003) #50
- Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Nightwing/Captain Boomerang #1
- Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Shazam/Katana #1
- Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Martian Manhunter/Lightning #1
- Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Aquaman/Metamorpho #1
- Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Wonder Woman/Grace #1
- Martian Manhunter (2015) #s 5-6
- Batman and the Outsiders (2007) #s 1-9
- Fantastic Four (1961) #3
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #s 7-17
- Hulk (2008) #25 (First Jeff Parker issue)
- The Gargoyle (1985) #2
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #s 18-21
- Batman and the Outsiders (2007) #s 10-12
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 56-60
- Martian Manhunter (2015) #s 7-8
- JSA (1999) #s 45-48
- Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic #5
- Marvel Rivals Infinity Comic #3
- Fantastic Four (1961) #4
- JSA (1999) #s 49-51
- Rare Flavours #s 5-6
- Judge Dredd: Regicide
- JLA Secret Files & Origins #2
- New Year’s Evil: Prometheus #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #s 61-66
- Terror Titans #1
- Teen Titans (2003) #67
- Terror Titans #s 2-6
- Outsiders (2007) #s 13-14
- Batman and the Outsiders Special #1
- Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #s 22-26
- Fantastic Four (1961) #5
- The Avengers (2023) #22
What it Would Affect That Will Not Remain
Who, Where, But Mostly When?
The joke used to be, of course, that people couldn’t get used to writing the correct year on their checks for weeks (or months!) after New Year. That’s gone the way of all things flesh because, well, who writes checks for anything anymore? (I still have some in my office, of course, in case of emergency or the utter collapse of the internet… but we’d never be so lucky for that latter one to happen any time soon.) The strange thing for me, however, is that somewhere in my brain, it’s been 2025 for weeks before the year has even officially started,
I’d love to blame this on being really, really organized and prepared for the year that’s coming, but it’s more likely an after-effect of having almost entirely lost track of time in the past few months. I know that I’m not the only person who, writing this mid-December, feels as if it’s actually somewhere back in late October or maybe early November at the latest; I’ve spoken to enough people in the last couple of weeks who seem as surprised that it’s actually the holiday season as I am to confirm my company on this particular crazy train. But I’ve also been spending more time than I’d like to admit thinking about what lies ahead in the next 12 months that, on countless work documents in the past week, I’ve described our current time frame as December 2025.
That’s not all; in referring to the past 12 months in emails to people or multiple work scenarios, I’ve talked about it as 2025, and asked people what their favorite things have been in 2025, prompting more than one “I don’t know yet, what are you actually asking?” in response. (If only I knew the answer to that question, friends…) Maybe “2025” just sounds better in my head than “2024.” Perhaps I just wanted to skip out of the year that saw me turn 50 all the sooner, thinking that 51 is somehow preferable for a mysterious, probably non-existent reason. Who can tell why my brain does anything it does, at this point?
This sense of disorientation is something that, I can only hope, will lessen across the next few months with no holidays, conventions, and very little travel planned. As strange as it may seem, the space between January and March is as close to a “quiet period” as I get these days, for all manner of reasons; a time when other people need to settle into their new year and find their feet. Some of us, it turns out, have been living here for awhile already.
Trying to Touch and Reach You with Heart and Soul
We’re close enough to the end of the year that I might as well finish up the 2024 playlist that I’ve shared once or twice during the year (okay, three times; it’s because I shared them in bunches of 50 songs at a time; there’s a formula!). As the year came to a close, I added less things to the playlist (intended to be new songs to me, or things I was becoming newly obsessed with after not listening to for awhile) because my attention was on things I’d already added, but nonetheless:
The actual playlist is here. If, by some strange circumstance, I add more songs between writing this post and the end of the year, you’ll find them here.
Ho Ho Ho
Step Three, Seasonal Profit
What makes a good Christmas story?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, for obvious reasons — look at the calendar, after all. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, as any number of singers will tell you if you listen to the radio long enough, and that means that I’ve been watching more than my fair share of holiday movies and reading just as many (if not more) holiday comic books. I even made the mistake of watching Red One, the “Chris Evans is a dirtbag and Dwayne Johnson is a giant security elf and I guess they’re a buddy comedy team now?” movie from this year, and…. oh boy.
The problem with Red One is the problem with Spirited, a very similar holiday movie starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds from last year; both are comedies in which a real-world cynic comes to accept the magic of the holidays while paired with a secretly-disillusioned magical being who also comes to believe in the holidays all anew, and everyone lives happily ever after, and both make the mistake of thinking that the way to do this is by replacing magic with a mixture of special effects and “hilarious” real-world elements. Santa’s treated like the President with a special security detail, get it? The North Pole is an efficiently-run bureaucracy, understand? It’s so relatable.
Except, of course, it’s not. It’s restrictive and boring and makes everything feel more generic; there’s, if anything, a purposeful lack of magic, as whimsy and wonder get replaced by cynicism and formula.
My contrast, I’ve been re-reading Will Eisner’s The Christmas Spirit throughout the month, which collects the various holiday-themed installments of his 1940s newspaper strip The Spirit. Every single story in there feels like a model of what works for a good Christmas story, because every single one is based around a very simple idea: at some point, someone will be moved to make a kinder choice than they normally would, and everything changes for the better as a result. It’s a formula that doesn’t require gimmicks, winks at the audience while referencing Santa, magic, or snowmen, or anything other than the belief that the holidays are really about trying to be kind and good… and seeing what happens as a result.
There’s a lesson there for… well, basically everyone who’s thinking that Vin Diesel should play Santa’s half-brother through adoption who has to save the holidays in a big budget streaming special this time next year. But then, seeing what Eisner did and trying to learn from it has never really been a bad idea.
Christmas is a Time Travel Story
At this time of year, thoughts turn to holiday playlists, and the essential songs that have to make it on to every single one. (I shared mine earlier this week.) I had a thought the other day bemoaning the lack of good new Christmas songs, before I realized two things simultaneously:
- I am old, and therefore almost destined to find so much of “new” music to be boring, dull, or just simply not my bag, daddio.
- More than arguably any other music genre, the appeal of Christmas music is that it’s nostalgic and pulls you back to simpler, earlier times in your life. So finding “new” Christmas songs that appeal to you as much as songs you grew up with it… difficult, to say the least. (Which is to say, sorry Sabrina Carpenter and your Nonsense Christmas Song.)
That last one is something I should have realized sooner, because it’s a lesson I learned when I was a kid myself. There were many Christmas traditions in my house growing up, which is almost certainly why I’m such a holiday fiend to this day. One of the major ones, though, was that when we did the decorations for the living room and the rest of the house, we would listen to Christmas music, and if at all possible, that would start with the music my mother grew up listening to at that time of year — which is to say, Nat King Cole’s Christmas album.
I say, “if at all possible,” because there was a period where the album was gone for some reason. Maybe it was destroyed, or misplaced? I don’t remember what happened to it, but I do remember that a replacement was eventually purchased after a couple of years, and it was clear the difference it made in her experience just hearing him sing “The Christmas Song” again. It was what completed the whole thing for her; without that song, it wasn’t really Christmas.
I’m the same. Not just with “The Christmas Song” (I learned from the best, and was taught at a young age), but with “Merry Xmas Everybody” and “I Wish It Could be Christmas Everyday” and at least half of the Phil Spector Christmas album. That’s not to say that new songs can’t be added to that must-listen list, because they can — things like Low’s “Just Like Christmas,” The Blind Boys of Alabama’s “Last Month of the Year” and The Executor’s “Christmas is a Joyful Day” have all achieved that goal since I was a kid — but the core songs, those ones that get played the most and induce the strongest festive feelings… all of them come from way back, and remind me of the wonder that you feel most strongly when things were simpler, happier, and I didn’t have to worry about taking time off work in order to celebrate everything appropriately.
