Welcome to Steampunk Month

I'm breaking a rule I set for this weblog from the beginning by committing myself to a "Steampunk Month". I've noted in ways both subtle and direct that I am not a Steampunk, do not write about Steampunk and that Steampunk is not a subject of this weblog. However, despite these protestations, many readers remember Voyages Extraordinaires: Scientific Romances in a Bygone Age's previous incarnation as the website Steampunk: Victorian Adventurers in a Past that Wasn't (and yes, I do have a penchant for descriptive subtitles). A few readers may even remember the controversy that precipitated the change.

I've had an opportunity to do some soul-searching about that. What I've found is that I've been pretty unfair to Steampunk. What I've taken out on Steampunk has really been my falling out with the membership of a particular, high-profile message board and certain individuals whose personal ideologies and opinions pressed exactly the wrong buttons. Basically, it's the Punk scenesterism that gets my goat... The incessant exposition on their being a (self-)important counter-culture revolution against the empty consumer aesthetics of the enfranchised majority of which they are themselves a disaffected part, the constant fear of people who only attached themselves to Steampunk in the last year or two that it will become more popular than it needed to be for them to discover it and adopted by people yet more mainstream than themselves. Fashionable contempt for the "common man" is an ugly and obnoxious thing.

It is unfair, however, to castigate all of Steampunk for the behaviour and rhetoric of a handful of people on a single forum or editorializing in comments sections and newspaper articles. I obviously appreciate the aesthetics of Neo-Victorianism and have been known to dress up in a suit and goggles on occasion as well. I highly respect and enjoy the work of artists, musicians and hobbyists who are just exercising their creativity without pretentious aspirations. Those who are simply having fun with the latest post-Goth fashion trend are harmless, and though I don't play Second Life, I bear no ill-will towards the residents of Caledon. Steampunk is certainly a lot of artifice, kitsch and gimmick, but I hardly find that offensive and would wonder at anyone who does, or at anyone who thinks it is more than that.

Since a good portion of my readership considers themselves and myself to be Steampunk, the time seems to be ripe for addressing the subject. Therefore, the bulk of this Steampunk Month will be spent in recounting a fairly objective history of the genre come subculture. When I originally wrote my "History of Misapplied Technology" for Steampunk Magazine's second issue, I left off on questions that have since been answered. Therefore a revision is in order.

At the end of the month, I'll review the comic which in part got me thinking about doing this month, which is the unfinished late 90's series Steampunk by Joe Kelley and Chris Bachalo. Never having read it when it was released, I finally took it upon myself and will convey the resulting thoughts to you. Finally, as a little gift, prepare for Volume II of the Voyages Extraordinaires Anthology!

For my Steampunk readers and those who are simply interested in what the big deal is all about, I hope you find my history of the genre informative. Welcome to Steampunk Month.