Every comic book TV show of 2024 so far, ranked from worst to best

Before 2024 even began, fans knew that it was going to be a relatively quiet one for the comic book and superhero genre. Well, on the big screen at least. Due to Marvel Studios delaying a number of movies to 2025 and DC Studios' decision to scrap and relaunch the DC Universe, there are just two major tentpoles set for release this year (Marvel's Deadpool and Wolverine and DC's Joker: Folie à Deux). Sony is also in play, with March's underperformer Madame Web setting the internet alight for all the wrong reasons, while they will no doubt be hoping for stronger performances from Venom: The Last Dance and Kraven the Hunter.

That's the movies, though; it's a completely different story on television. We're only around halfway through the year and we've already had some epic additions to the comic book TV landscape. Of course, there haven't been as much as there once was (thanks for that, WB and CW!), but there has been a lot of entertainment for fans of the genre. And that's not even taking into account major upcoming titles like The Boys season 4, the final season of Superman and Lois, and Agatha All Along.

The five we have had so far is just the beginning of the comic book TV goodness we'll get in 2024. But which of these shows reigned supreme above the others? Has Marvel bounced back after a lackluster 2023? Could the TWD Universe sustain the momentum of the previous two offshoots with the long-awaited Rick and Michonne spinoff? And what about that long-awaited revival of X-Men: The Animated Series? Let's find out!

5. Invincible season 2 part 2

I don't want you to take Invincible's placement at the bottom of this list as a bad sign for the show itself; the truth is that, as a whole, the second season was almost as excellent as the first. The problem was its release format, which saw a mere eight episodes split into two sets, meaning that 2024 had just four episodes of the series to go on (as the first half of the season premiered in November last year).

The quality of the show was as high as we've come to expect from Invincible, with some truly surprising moments, as Mark Grayson's story continued to ascend to new heights. Steven Yeun was once again outstanding in the title role, and the finale set the stage well for the intriguing third season. Again, it's just the fact that it feels like a half season (because it is) which ultimately holds it back a bit.

If all of Invincible season 2 had premiered this year, it would have been higher on this list. That doesn't take away from the show itself, but it is a reminder that not every eight-episode season needs to be divided into two halves with months-long breaks between them. It's just not necessary.

4. Echo

Marvel Studios brought back Maya Lopez for the first of its Marvel Spotlight shows at the beginning of this year. Echo broke the norm with a foray into the TV-MA field for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the first to do it), adopting a more violent, unsettling approach from the typical MCU fare, and it worked extremely well.

The show was much more grounded too, providing a character study on Maya and her past kinship with Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin. Their bond had turned sour in Hawkeye when she discovered that Fisk actually had her father killed, so Echo was as much about Kingpin's attempts to break Maya as it was about her attempts to stand up to him. The stalemate was broken in the finale, bringing the tight, concise, and compelling story of Echo to a close on a high note that set the stage for the heavily-anticipated Daredevil: Born Again series in 2025.

After a couple of misfires for the MCU, this one was an unexpected surprise. A grounded, five-part movie that flowed from one episode into the next and featured a strong cast of supporting characters, Echo was the comeback that the franchise needed, showcasing its capability of moving into grittier territory and highlighting Alaqua Cox's hero as the force-to-be-reckoned with that she is.

3. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

The long-awaited returns of Rick Grimes and Michonne to The Walking Dead Universe finally took place earlier this year in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. The third of the new TWD spinoffs, expectations were high after the successes of Dead City and Daryl Dixon, but it didn't take long before it showed us that it could pull it off too.

And pull it off it did, as Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira's screen-presences were nothing short of enthralling, with their first scenes together pulling you right back into their world, their love story, their tale of survival. Lincoln found his groove again as Rick Grimes pretty quickly, picking up where he left off as the tough no-nonsense former sheriff who had survived many versions of the apocalypse. Gurira didn't take center stage until the second episode, but when she did, she quickly reminded us all why she is such a force on-screen, commanding each scene with her powerful performance.

The Ones Who Live was worth the wait, bringing the pair back to us in an epic and explosive way that only the TWD Universe could. It was bigger, badder, and in some ways better than the final few seasons of The Walking Dead and it did exactly what it set out to do; bringing Rick and Michonne back together and ending their story. The only thing holding it back was its rushed finale that took on too much and yet spent too long talking about it. It did what it needed to do but not exactly in the right way.

2. X-Men '97

There are few words that can be used to describe the feeling of goosebumps that come over you when the X-Men '97 opening titles play for the first time. A perfect recreation of the X-Men: The Animated Series credits (with a modernized version of the classic theme song), it fills you with nostalgia immediately and lets you know that - just like it did in the '90s - you are in for one heck of an adventure.

And that's really what X-Men '97's first season was; an adventure. It was an adventure that took us through all of the emotions, making us feel triumph, sadness, heartache, fear, shock, happiness, love, and young; it made us feel young, ensuring that all of those fans who watched the original animated series on those Saturday mornings were watching these new episodes with the biggest smiles on their faces.

The Disney Plus series pushed some boundaries that the first one could not, and that allowed it to adapt some of the X-Men's darker source material. Like the original series, however, it adapted them extremely well, producing a thoroughly compelling - and, as always, thought-provoking - narrative that just didn't stop.

There were one or two episodes after that early flurry came and went that fans didn't respond to quite as well (which unfortunately stand out a lot more in a 10-episode season than they would in a season of 25+ episodes) but X-Men '97 succeeded in honoring the original animated series and bringing Marvel's Mightiest Mutants back for a modern audience of fans. This is what a revival of a classic show should look like.

1. Dead Boy Detectives

Witty, haunting, fun, and surprising in every way, Dead Boy Detectives is a thrilling experience from start through finish. The Netflix series is based on DC characters created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner and serves as a spinoff of The Sandman (although it was initially envisioned as a Doom Patrol spinoff) and it's easily one of the most entertaining shows of the year.

The series focuses on Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, two ghosts who are on the run from Death as they devote their (after)lives to helping other ghosts solve their mysteries and find peace. In doing so, the pair must deal with their own struggles, confront their own pasts, and decide if the Dead Boy Detectives Agency is how they want to spend the rest of eternity.

The show is deceptively complex, masquerading as a fun adventure-of-the-week series. It is fun and filled with adventures of the week, but it's also home to some of the most compelling characters you'll see on TV all year, with clever, nuanced writing and some heartfelt storytelling at its core.

When Dead Boy Detectives is focusing on its characters, it will have you falling in love with every single one of them and their unique quirks, and it somehow manages to make room for some thoroughly entertaining mysteries along the way. As dark as it is campy, as witty as it is heartfelt; Dead Boy Detectives is a hidden gem that makes you feel all the emotions, and it deserves many more seasons to fully explore its beautifully outlandish concept.