Review: A Prince of Mars
A Prince of Mars cover
The next instalment of the Space 1889 & Beyond series and I can say only one thing: The dive that was Vandals on Venus was used to build up momentum and now it is going full steam ahead. Abattoir in the Aether was already one great novella and A Prince of Mars by Frank Chadwick is , well, I tell you what it is, just bear with me.
A Prince of Mars starts with intrigue and mystery, setting the stage for a more political adventure. Next, we get introduced to Kak’hamish, an old, experienced Martian also with an air of mystery about him. Than the story shifts back to our beloved main protagonists, Annabelle and Nathanael, who once again seem a bit different from the last instalment of the Space 1889 & Beyond series.
Both Earthlings are in a bit of a situation, after their aetherflyer crash-landed on Mars and owe their survival to the chance-meeting with Kak’hamish, who is the archetypical noble savage (or is he?).
After Kak’hamish helps them out, in a rather unfortunate way, get ready for a nasty surprize, all three travel on by merchant caravan and later merchant flyer. It soon becomes apparent not every Martian, in their trading caravan and in general, is too fond of humans and of Martians helping humans.
American Southwest Boom in Steampunk
Admiral Babbage Narasimhan
Steampunk has been a minor attraction at anime conventions in the American Southwest at best but that is all changing now. In the last twelve months, twelve new and different steampunk events have been announced in the region.
The incredible growth of steampunk conventions in the United States and especially the South is the fastest and most pervasive change in convention fandom I have ever seen. Why is this happening?
There were smaller steampunk events in the past at local nightclubs but the first large specifically steampunk event in the South Central United States appears to have been The Green Steam Circus in May 2010. It had musical performances by local Texas steampunk and dieselpunk band White Ghost Shivers, the world renowned steampunk band Abney Park, and assorted other musicians played there. The circus part related to several acts such as balancing, juggling, blockhead and self piercing acts, as well as burlesque and an assortment of other forms of entertainment as well as vendors.
The circus was poorly advertised, unfortunately. The organizers wanted to be “green” and not print any flyers or paper ads and relied exclusively on the Internet and word of mouth which did not work well for a new event. It was also set in an outdoor venue on a weekend that had heavy rain predicted so attendance was poor in spite of an excellent event!
Cover of El Investigador's second dieselpunk issue
The retrofuturist monthly magazine for Spanish speakers has gone dieselpunk again.
In its first dieselpunk issue, published in March, experts talked about the essence of the genre’s philosophy, tasted its flavors and covered art deco and dieselpunk style.
To do any retrofuturism, it is necessary to observe the past with a visionary’s point of view but without losing sight of the present because this is what we build our future on.
Some may think that El Investigador is going too fast in putting out a second special dieselpunk issue because it does not have a lot of followers in Spanish. However, for the Mercenarios de DIOS collective, the only limit for retrofuturism development is a lack of information. That is why we try to give as much information as possible, in order to be understood by the reader who is attracted to any retrofuturist style and wants to go beyond the aesthetics.
In this issue, you’ll find a great article about pinup girls, the art of a brand new graphic novel from Chile called Der Stahl Projekt, and in the column Abordo del Condottieri, the director of the magazine talks about the Sindicato Dieselpunk, a Spanish language initiative that has become an international group.
So, books, music, experiments and more! Read the magazine online or download it for free on the new El Investigador’s blog.
Cover of the Martin Mystère anniversary edition
Martin Mystère is an Italian comic published by Sergio Bonelli Editore. It was created in 1982 by Alfredo Castelli and its protagonist, the Martin Mystère giving the title to the series, is a professor that investigates on impossible facts denied by official science.
During thirty years of monthly publications, “the Detective of the Impossible” and his companion, the Neanderthal man Java, dealt with Atlantis and other lost realms, UFOs, parapsychology, supernatural and worldwide conspiracies.
The series is set in the present day and the character grows old year after year, an event almost unique in comics. For the thirtieth anniversary of publication, Alfredo Castelli decided to publish a celebratory album, called Anni 30, where the series is moved to the 1930s.
It is not a question of time travel or any other strange plot device. The characters are the same, they just live and act in the thirties, as though they always have.
This allows the Martin Mystère to meet an incredible number of characters from the popular culture of the era, making this adventure a must for every dieselpunk fan.
In short, while Mystère is trying to rescue the Maltese Falcon, he is requested by Inspector Travis (an espy for Inspector Dick Tracy) to stop a giant gorilla that climbed up the Empire State Building in New York. He is involved in a story of gangsters (Flattop, the famous Dick Tracy’s enemy, makes an appearance), crazy scientists (Doctor Cyclops), giant monsters and more.
The experiment is very interesting. As Castelli states, “in the last thirty years [Martin Mystère] has become so recognizable that it is possible to transfer it in other epochs or other worlds without any need to give explanations and without fear to loose its identity.”
The album has an appendix where all references to 1930s are exposed and, as a bonus, the first version of the first Martin Mystère album, when the protagonist was still called with the work in progress name of Doc Robinson, “the Doc,” a reference to Doc Savage, who was an inspiration for the character, closing in this way the circle and returning to the 1930s.
