The thrills of a settled life - 2003By 2003 I'd taken stock of my life a bit. I was settling down. I was kinda learning who I was, for good and bad and not just that, but accepting who I was as well. Old friends were moving away, but new friends were coming in. Life didn't have quite, quite the cut and thrust of before. I was doing things that I wanted to do, not that tried to avoid who I was and my fears that that might be all there was.
Oh I still had my crazy moments, some I'd regret, some I wouldn't, but I was certainly becoming much more settled in myself.
So therefore I was also becoming quite 'dull'... and so we get to the year in Prog review. Lets be clear the Prog in 2003 was not dull, far, far from it. Talking about the Prog in 2003 however can be becoming a bit dull*. I'm beginning to suspect these years in review will become simply a list of what happened rather than a reflection of the changing state of the Prog. All the elements that will take the Prog to its current state are in play. Matt Smith is fairly embedded, Rebellion own the Prog. I think they are settled in the Oxford offices. The Prog feels likes its safe.... not in its content but in its future.
So with all that said lets reflect back on what I said this time last 'year'
As for a look ahead. Well I'm expecting 2003 to be much of the same. The thrills of the future of late emphasis that. VCs (with Anthony Williams as expected in my mind!) alongside Callabistics Inc. We'll still have limited Dante (I think) but Sinister Dexter will do a stirling shift. There's a few multi-part one offs I think are coming, so I fully expect the same exciting energetic mix, peppered with missteps it will be easy to forgive.
Yep this gets it.
Dredd however does find itself in an interesting place. As Wagner starts to move away from his ever presence new writers of the strip are flexing their muscles. And of course flexing your muscles can look a little silly. Grennie however really starts to find his Dredd voice and enters the time when he became the front runner in folks mind (I think???) to replace John W. I'm excited to see how this develops in 2004.
Elsewhere as you settle in life you start to build new foundations. And 2004 does just that. Red Seas, Lobster Random and Caballistics Inc (which okay started at the end if last year) all debut or settle in and all are superb.
You also build the traditions of your past and Strontium Dog, Sinister Dexter what little Dante we get all have great years. You'll return to things you may have missed from your past with a fresh look and gain a new perspective and NuTrooper, NuVCs are both so much better than the strips that originated them.
Likewise some firm favourites of your youth will no longer work for you as well. Slaine and ABC Warriors represent here.
Of course you will also expose yourself to new experiences, some good some bad. The Good this time include Interceptor, Dead Men Walking, From Grace and the exceptional Leviathan. The bad I've mentioned already.
Overall though while you may not have quite the same rollercoaster ride as before things haven't really evened out. The good bits are still there but the lows, well generally they aren't quite so low and overall life is getting better.
And so we head to 2004 and what can I say I'm looking forward to pulling the Progs from my nerdcave and seeing what will be there I strongly suspect it will be much the same. The misfires will still be there, but slowly getting fewer as we continue to realise what works and are able to find that more often. The balance will slowly shift and only in good ways as we continue to settle and become comfortable with who we are and like it.
Onwards and upwards...
*[Normalsizedfont]And you can hush your mouth that it always has been since I've been doing it![Normalsizedfont]**
**Do I need to do that anymore?
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