2016, that terrible meme-filled meme of a year, is finally over. Here we are on the other side of the calendar, and I think we need to be reminded of what’s worth waiting for in the realm of nerdiness in the coming year.

1. New Justice League of America Comic

I am rather excited for this one myself. I have gotten to the point where, even with the addition of the awesome Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, the main Justice League team has gotten kind of stale for me, and the departure of Geoff Johns signaled the end of me reading that comic. However, this oddball team with Lobo, Killer Frost, the Atom, Vixen, the Ray, and Black Canary seems right up my alley. It’s apparently going to take place in the aftermath of the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad story. Not too much has been revealed other than this, and I hope it turns out great. It’s going to be written by Steven Orlando with art by Joe Prado and the great Ivan Reis. It’s slated to come out on February 8^th. There are also some one-shots for some of the members, including the Atom, Killer Frost, Vixen, and the Ray, being released this month.

2. New Iron Fist Comic

In addition to his adventures with his partner, Power Man (read that comic read that comic read that comic), Danny Rand, the Living Weapon, is taking on a young apprentice. These exploits will be shown via a new comic called Iron Fists. This comic has been shrouded in mystery as well, and I can’t even find a definitive release date yet. It will be written by Ed Brisson and drawn by Mike Perkins. It is supposed to pick up where the previous series left off, which added some interesting new details to the Iron Fist mythos.

3. The Kamandi Challenge

In honor of the 100^th birthday of Jack “King” Kirby, one of the fathers of comic books as we know them, DC Comics is putting together the Kamandi Challenge, based on one of the King’s more interesting creations. Kamandi is the last boy on Earth in a dystopian future, and he has to find a means of surviving the apocalyptic wasteland alongside talking, highly-evolved animal-people. This series will be in 14 parts, each one leaving with a cliffhanger that a different creative team will pick up the torch for and continue the story for the next issue. This is an ambitious and unprecedented idea, and I’m very curious to see how it turns out. The first issue comes out on the 25^th of this month. It will be written by Dan Didio and Dan Abnett with art by Scott Koblish, Keith Giffen, and Dale Eaglesham.

4. Monsters Unleashed

Back before Marvel’s Silver Age of heroes, they were known for their creature feature comic books, and some of these survived into the heroic age, such as Fin Fang Foom. Well the monsters are coming back, and it’s up to the heroes of Earth to stop them from bringing about the end of mankind. This will crossover multiple titles, with the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Inhumans taking up the fight against the monsters. It will start on the 18^th, and it will be written by the great Cullen Bunn with art by Steve McNiven.

5. Captain Atom Miniseries

The man made of living energy has made his return at last, and it’s in called The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom. It’s actually already started, with the first issue having come out last week. Cary Bates and Greg Weisman wrote this one, and Will Conrad has drawn the art for the comic. When we last saw Captain Nathaniel Adams, he, well, exploded after a fight with Firestorm, and shards of his suit spread out across time and space while his reconstituted human body showing up in the 31^st Century, the era of the Legion of Superheroes. This tale will tell us how he is going to make it back.

6. The Return of the X-Men

Though they never left us, the X-Men have been shunted off to the side by Marvel as of late. The books have still been good, with Cullen Bunn bringing us Uncanny X-Men, Dennis Hopeless writingAll-New X-Men, and Jeff Lemire in charge of Extraordinary X-men. However, they have been on the fall thanks to the Inhumans and the Terrigen Cloud. After Inhumans vs X-Men concludes, we will be getting a slate of new X-Men titles: Weapon X, X-Men Blue and Gold, Jean Grey, Iceman, and more. I’m pretty excited myself, and I look forward to where this is going. The books are slated to start in April.

7. Legion TV Series

I’ve never been a big fan of Legion in the X-Men comics, but I am very curious to see how this bizarre and intense-looking television series turns out. The character is an Omega-level mutant in the comics. It seems he will be equally powerful in the show, and his powers are driving him insane. I will definitely give this one a try. It looks quite good. It starts on February 8^th.

8. Powerless

This looks…iffy. However, I will certainly give it a try if for no other reason than Danny Pudi and Ron Funches. This is a show that takes place in the DC Universe. It is an insurance company that specializes in disasters caused by superheroes and villains. It kind of seems like a cannibalized version of the Damage Control television series that Marvel had in the works and cancelled. This could be charming. It could also be horrible. We’ll see. It starts on February 8^th as well.

9. Logan

I hurt myself… today. Yeah, Johnny Cash makes everything better. Even without the superb song choice, this movie looks to be the best Wolverine movie…well, ever. The last two were disappointing to say the least. It may be the best X-Men movie since First Class (bear in mind, I did like Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, and Deadpool a lot, this just looks that good). This one is actually going to be rated R, which is a good idea for a movie about a guy with knives coming out of his hands. If this does at least as well as Deadpool, maybe we can get some more R-rated super hero action in the theaters. R-rated Hawkman anyone? No? No. Oh, that’s just me then. I’d cast Karl Urban as Hawkman by the way. Anyway, this one is going to be out March 3^rd, and you can have it all…my empire of dirt.

10. Iron Fist Netflix Series

Speaking of the Immortal Iron Fist, his long-awaited Netflix will be streaming on March 17^th. After the powerhouse series of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, I have high hopes for this one. Starring Finn Jones of Game of Thrones fame, this will focus on the origins and development of the Living Weapon, the Iron Fist. It will also costar Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing. For those who do not know, Colleen Wing is the partner of Misty Knight (from Luke Cage) in the comics. The two are known as the Daughters of the Dragon and often worked with the Heroes for Hire Luke Cage and Iron Fist. I’m very excited to see how this series turns out.

11. Defenders…Maybe

The Avengers-style amalgamation of the four Marvel Netflix series may be released this year. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist will all be united against Sigourney Weaver’s as-of-yet-unnamed character. I hope it’s released this year. We’ll see.

12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

What can I say? The first one was so fantastic, and I can’t wait for the second. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper made for an eternally endearing team as Marvel’s galactic rejects, and I can’t wait to see what the second one brings. This one comes out on May 5^th, so you better get hooked on a feeling soon.

13. Wonder Woman

I won’t lie…I’ve really hated everything about the DCEU as headed by Zack Snyder. Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, and Suicide Squad (yes, I know that last one was David Ayer) all came up really flat for me. However, the trailer for Wonder Woman actually looks really good. I’m not even that much into Wonder Woman as a character (take a look at my Top 10 Super Heroines list), but this one looks like it could break the chain of bad DC movies. I certainly hope so. Batman and Superman have had good movies before. Wonder Woman deserves one too. The Amazon flies into the silver screens on June 2^nd.

14. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Speaking of bad movie streaks, there hasn’t been a truly good Spider-Man solo flick since Spider-Man 2. No, no, shut up ASM fans. Amazing Spider-Man 1 was just mediocre. Amazing Spider-Man 2 was genuinely bad. I’m not personally that much into Spider-Man. I prefer Agent Venom, Spider Woman, and Kaine the Scarlet Spider for my spider-related characters. However, this movie looks really promising, and it’s the first time I’ve been excited for a Spider-Man movie since Spider-Man 3. Yeah—let’s hope this one doesn’t end in disappointment. Michael Keaton is playing the Vulture in it. If nothing else, he’ll be entertaining as hell. This one swings in on July 7^th.

15. Thor: Ragnarok

However you feel about the previous two Thor films, I personally like them both but I know many don’t, it’s hard to argue that the God of Thunder hasn’t had the weakest films of the big three Avengers. Thor: The Mighty Avenger was a little too close to being an Avengers prologue, and Thor: The Dark World had a meandering plot and the most boring MCU villain to date (this movie wasted its Christopher Eccleston so badly). Marvel seems to be going all out on this one, bringing back Loki once again, teaming up Thor with the Hulk and Doctor Strange, casting certified badass Karl Urban as the Executioner, using classic Defender Valkyrie, and dropping in the talented stutter-man himself, Jeff Goldblum, as the freaking Grandmaster. This may very well be my favorite movie for the year, and I haven’t been able to say that about a Thor movie yet. Ye verily.

16. Justice League

Oh lord, the trailer did not sell me on this movie. Continuing their trend of trying to do the opposite of Marvel’s shtick, this film looks oddly downplayed for a film about the most powerful team in DC Comics. It has more humor and personality than the trailer for Batman vs. Superman, but it also looks like it’s trying a little too hard to squeeze out those one-liners. Also, the Flash is my favorite DC hero. I wanted to punch Barry Allen during this trailer. Something went wrong. Hopefully this will turn out good regardless. I guess we’ll see on November 17^th.

17.Star Wars Episode VIII

The last Star Wars film for the late great Carrie Fisher, may she rest in peace, Disney hasn’t really let anything slip about the plot to this one. If it’s on par with Rogue One and The Force Awakens (shut up it’s great), it will be another fantastic movie. It comes out December 15^th, so I’m sure by September the PR train will be rolling.

And that’s it for now. 2017 looks to be a great year to be a comic book fan. No, Star Wars did not originate as a comic book, but I love it so shut up. Until next time, see ya!