What if Batman were a Steampunk hero?

That's the question they're asking over at io9.com.

Well of course Batman already is a Steampunk hero, but he goes by the name of Spring-Heeled Jack. And you can read a brand new Spring-Heeled Jack adventure, starting this December, on the Abaddon Books website.

Spring-Heeled Jack, by Mark Harrison

Spring-Heeled Jack

Spring-Heeled Jack is of course one of the heroes of Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects but he's made a few cameo appearances since then as well.

The character is, of course, based on the spectre that haunted Barnes Common during the 19th Century (and other parts of the country besides). The following video sums up what we know about this particular villain rather well.

24 hours in the Asylum

So, a week ago I headed up to Lincoln for Weekend at the Asylum, the UK and Europe's premier steampunk event. This was the third year it had been running and although it was my first visit, Pax Britannia had been there from the start, with guests at the inaugural event receiving either a copy of Unnatural History or Leviathan Rising as a gift.

I arrived at my hotel in good time and so headed off into Lincoln itself. The Asylum is located within the historic part of the town at the top of the hill. Close by are Bailgate, the Cathedral and the Castle. During the course of my walk I discovered that Steep Hill is aptly named and was delighted to see that the city was gearing up for a weekend of steam-themed goodness, with many shops bearing a sign that read...

I also encountered various ladies and gentlemen in elegant dress, looking like they had just stepped out of a Doctor Who Christmas special. By comparison, my 'Powered by Steam!' T-shirt looked like a very poor effort indeed.

Before I knew it, it was time to check in at the Asylum itself, ready to join the merriment surrounding the launch of Robert Rankin's latest novel The Mechanical Messiah and Other Marvels of the Modern Age. It was here that I bumped into old steampunk friends Willoughby Chase and Herr Doktor*, and met a number of other first-timers, Esther, Vincent and James. My new friends had really entered into the spirit of the event, with Esther basing her look on the entirety of Alice in Wonderland, and it was several hours later that we parted company before we drank the bar at the Victoria Inn dry.

Fellow first-timers - James, Esther and Vincent.

Next morning I was up bright and early** ready to bring Pax Britannia to the masses when Weekend at the Asylum really got going in earnest. Major Tinker welcomed everybody in the Exhibition Hall and then proceeded to introduce all of us visiting authors to the indulgent throng. This was totally unexpected (at least on my part) but also totally brilliant because it really helped to break the ice. I was particularly pleased because Tinker referred to me as 'a Geek's Geek' which is probably the nicest thing anyone's said about me in a long while.

With introductions over, people started to visit my table - attracted no doubt by Pye Parr's fabulous banner - but before I knew it I was being author-wrangled upstairs to the Little Theatre to give a talk about my writing and the world of Pax Britannia, concluding with a reading from the forthcoming Time's Arrow and a Q&A session. The audience*** were most appreciative and included Wilf Lunn - yes, the Wilf Lunn from my TV childhood!

Wilf Lunn, the man himself - living TV legend and the original steampunk!

It was then back downstairs to flog my wares, with The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus selling particularly well. The rest of the day passed in a blur of fantastic costumes, appreciative fans, new converts, Penny Farthing races, chats other steampunk authors****, and River Song look-a-likes. My new friends stopped by to provide a bit of moral support and also looked after my stall for a while so that I might take a look at the art exhibition***** which featured pieces by Herr Doktor and Arfon Jones' stuffed Womble.

Mr Vincent Shaw-Morton and Miss R R Hood.

'Womblus Wimbledon Vulgaris', discovered by Professor Arfon Jones.

As the day's events drew to a close - which included a costume competition, won by a young lady in jodphurs wearing something akin to Spring-Heeled Jack's jet-pack - the steampunks departed to take part in a sanctioned Guinness World Record attempt****** and the hall was emptied in preparation for that evening's Empire Ball. I was released from the Asylum******* as, unfortunately, my twenty-four hours were up. It was time to head back down south, my mind a-whirl with fresh ideas and my heart lifted by a host of new friendships made.

This bottle of toffee vodka and absinthe lolly were both gifts - so my thanks go to Professor T Bottom and Miss Emilly Ladybird.

Oh, and having met Ulysses Quicksilver himself at the steampunk event at Kew Bridge Steam Museum, this time I think I met my Steampunk Muse!

I've enjoyed steampunk, in books and comics and on film, for the best part of twenty years or more, before I even realised what steampunk was. I've been writing steampunk for the last five, but I've never actually 'done' the whole steampunk scene.

But since returning from Lincoln I've noticed a change coming over me. I've started checking out Victorian frock coats online and have even bid on a pair of goggles on eBay. That's right - steampunk, like a Bengal tiger, has well and truly got my claws into me now. And I don't think it's going to be letting go any time soon...

PS - If you've not seen it already, my vlog about Weekend at the Asylum is available here for your viewing pleasure.

* 'Old' meaning I'd met them once before.

** One of these statements might not be entirely true.

*** Who made up for what they lacked in numbers with their attentiveness and the quality of their many questions.

**** Amongst those I met were Raven Dane, Sam Stone, David J Howe and Toby Frost of Space Captain Smith fame.

***** Which included Vincent's steampunk rendition of Miss R R Hood - which went on to win the Ruskin!

****** Greatest number of steampunks gathered in one place at the same time, I believe.

******* For good behaviour I believe, although I really rather wish I hadn't been.

A Steampunk Superhero

If you're anything like me, then from time to time you've thought that it would be fun to create your own superhero. Well, now you can - at the click of a mouse.

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If you head over to ugo.com you can try out their HeroMachine 2.5 software. You can choose the pose of your character, gender, hairstyle, companion, costume... pretty much everything!
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So, in part inspired by the new Batman movie The Dark Knight and in part inspired by my preparations for the next Pax Britannia novel (that's the one after Human Nature), I would like to present Spring-Heeled Jack, a steampunk superhero.

But in all seriousness, I could see a tool like this proving very useful when it comes to creating new characters. You simply design their look using HeroMachine, print it out and then you have a consistent image to refer back to during the writing process. I know it will help me, certainly.

Spring-Heeled Jack is coming...

Something to whet your steampunk appetites...

Ulysses Quicksilver, Hero of the Empire!

Ulysses Quicksilver and his various adventures have inspired a number of artists to produce their take on the character. The latest of them is Kit Cox who recently produced a portrait of the Hero of the Empire and another of Ulysses' loyal sidekick Nimrod, the bare-knuckle boxing butler.

Simon Parr (a.k.a. Pye Parr) has produced several pictures of Ulysses and Nimrod as well. Here are just a few of them.

And then there's Pax Britannia cover artist Mark Harrison's take on the character, most easily seen on the cover of Anno Frankenstein.

There are also a growing number of illustrations of masked vigilante Spring-Heeled Jack. The most recent is by that gentleman caricaturist Kit Cox again but Mark Harrison also produced a portrait of the character back when I was writing Evolution Expects.

Steampunk - the genre to watch!

At least according to an IBM number-crunching supercomputer it is.

"Retailers attending the National Retail Federation Convention in New York yesterday (Jan. 14) got an ear-load, and eye-load, from researchers about the next big trend steaming toward the retail industry. Based on an analysis of more than half a billion public posts on message boards, blogs, social media sites and news sources, IBM predicted that ''steampunk" will be the next major trend to bubble up and take hold of the retail industry."

You may have heard that I've done my bit to promote steampunk culture, via the medium of action-packed page-turning novels.

You can find out more here (on the Abaddon Books blog) or here. And you can peruse all my Pax Britannia steampunk titles here.

A number of you have been asking what's next from me steampunk-wise. Well last week I received my author copies of Resurrection Engines (a steampunk anthology I feature in), I've got a new Spring-Heeled Jack steampunk story coming out this year, and at least three other steampunk-related projects in the offing - if not four actually, now I come to think about it.

So keep your articulating monocle focused on this spot or, to put it another way, watch this space...

Steampunk goodness

Looks like someone's been shopping at the same Specialist Gentleman Outfitters Emporium Spring-Heeled Jack goes to...

Steampunking Pax Britannia

It's been a long time since this website had a face-lift. I've been using Blogger's picture window template on my main author website for a while now and felt it was time for this blog to go the same way.

The background wallpaper, if you're wondering, doesn't show Spring-Heeled Jack and the Limehouse Golem (although we can dream, can't we?) but in fact a Steampunk'd Batman.