I am Kyle's self-indulgence

Here are my own personal top ten popular culture artifacts of 2004. I cannot say they are the best, for I have not seen, read, or heard the vast majority of items released this year. Rather, these are the top ten products that have brought me joy or otherwise helped maintain my sanity in a tumultuous year.


10. Spider-Man 2. I was delighted to see Sam Raimi again exceed all expectations in creating what is undoubtedly the best comic-book-super-hero adaptation ever made.


9. FactCheck.org. This site proved to be an essential resource in counterng the endless stream of lies and distortion propogated furing the Presidential election. I'm looking forward to when the authors resume adding to their site.


8. The Incredibles. Brad Bird's pet project lived up to all of my highest hopes and then some, demonstrating once again that animation can appeal to a very wide audience without pandering to the basest tastes.


7. Fahrenheit 9/11. Love it or hate it, this film had a profound effect on our National political discourse. When I heard people (finally) talk on TV about the Bush family's ties to Saudi Arabia and John Kerry ask the President about a missed opportunity to capture Osama Bin Laden, I knew that these issues would not have been addressed if Michael Moore had not pushed them to the fore with his controversial movie.


6. Doonesbury. This year Gary Trudeau continued to show why his creation remains one of the best comic strips of our time. He manages to use satire to criticize what others ignore, while maintaining a dynamic, human quality in his characters. May his pen never run dry.


5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Somehow, Charlie Kaufman manages to turn out consistently funny, original, and thought-provoking scripts time and again. This film is both his most accessible and heart-warming, yet also, perhaps, his best.


4. Sojourners. A valuable resource for progressive-minded Christians, this magazine began making waves this year with its "God is not a Republican... Or a Democrat" campaign. As Jim Wallis becomes increasingly visible in panel discussions, Sojourners promises to be a counter to the monopoly conservatives have on representation of Christianity in the media.


3. McSweeney's Quarterly Concern Issue 13. I have not previously mentioned this book here because I didn't receive it until two weeks ago. McSweeney's Quarterly Concern is a literary periodical started by Dave Eggers. Each "issue" (actually a full-length book) features a different guest editor. For the 13th issue, Chris Ware compiled an anthology of North American comics. This volume is an essential read for die-hard fans or anybody curious about all the fuss over comics.


2. In the Shadow of No Towers. In his first solo work since Maus, Art Spiegelman takes on the September 11 attacks and their aftermath. The volume is short, yet unbelievably dense as Spiegelman packs multiple mini-strips into giant two-page collage-like spreads. In it, he shows why he is regarded as one of the modern masters of comic storytelling, despite having only two books to his name.


1. The Complete Peanuts. Charles Schulz's classic comic strip is given fine treatment in Fantagraphics' comprehensive collections. The price is daunting for what will eventually be 25 volumes of the strip's entire run, but the beautiful hardcover collections are hard to resist.