Steampunk: It's Just That Awesome

This is quite unprecedented. Due to the number of comments on my introductory post to my new blogging attempt, and the fact that most of them mentioned steampunk, I decided to do a steampunk post. Steampunk is awesome and it fascinates me and I don't really know why. Mostly, this is an introduction to steampunk the way I see it. There are some recommendations at the end of things to watch and a brief musing on what makes steampunk so cool.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert in steampunk. Feel free to correct me, but please do not make me feel stupid. Thank you.

Warning: There are a lot of pictures in this post. It's easier to explain steampunk with pictures. Also, I found most of these pictures by Google Imaging "steampunk," sometimes specifying the type of thing, like "steampunk goggles" or "steampunk robot." And with the examples, those are just things I know about. So, none of these images are mine.


I've always had a hard time explaining steampunk, both what it is and why I like it so much. The best I've heard it described (by my brother, Eric, if I remember correctly) is the aesthetic of the Industrial Revolution era with ridiculously advanced technology powered by steam, of all things. Imagine that, steam in steampunk. It isn't constrained to Industrial Revolution, but I don't think I've ever seen it much earlier or any later than WWII.


To the left and right are a taste of the kinds of images steampunk evokes and below is a picture of some steampunkers all dressed up in their con (convention, as in some sort of sci-fi (probably) convention) best (I'm assuming it's a con, I don't really know). As you can see, there are a wide variety of looks you can go for from upper class to street urchin and everything in between. And some of them are toting some lovely examples of the obligatory steampunk accessories.


People enamored of this subculture (if that's the right word) and handicraftier than I have taken to modifying everyday things into said accessories, sometimes for cons and sometimes just for home decorating. I have run across several sites with pictures of said homes and they make me wish I had that kind of money to burn. Someday, someday. Also, there is a sub-subculture that steampunkifies Star Wars and what they accomplish is pretty darn cool.

a guitar

a fan

Previously seen Nerf guns. Oh, what I would do with more time, money, and talent.

What a steampunk car bike thing might look like.

These are some technologies that may be commonplace now, but would have been absurdly advanced in the time periods steampunk usually takes place in. An iPod skin imagining a steampunk iPod to the left, a laptop to the right.

Steampunk Ironman

Steampunk Spider Robot

There are certain items that tend to turn up rather often in steampunk. Clockwork and watches are one of these. There are almost always visible gears in the many contraptions that pop up, as well as watches that do what super-fancy spy watches do (or some steampunk-era equivalent) but look a lot cooler because they do it with old fashioned watches and a lot of add-ons. Another common entity is the modified gun. They will often look like souped-up guns of the Industrial Revolution era, but will do cool things like shoot lasers or something. Also, air transport will more often than not include a lot more dirigibles (or blimps or whatever).



Steampunkers will also probably have cool goggles. They range from the less-is-more variety (left) to the more-is-always-better (right) to the kind of absurd, I don't exactly what it is but it looks cool and has clockwork (below).



Now, here is some consumable steampunk. The first steampunk that I think I came into contact with was Steamboy, an anime movie. I really need to watch it again, because I don't remember anything about it except that I liked it and that it had Patrick Stewart as a voice actor (which automatically makes it worth watching at least once). I can't even remember why my family decided to watch it. I have a hunch that it was my brother Chris's doing (Chris is older than Eric).












Last Exile is an anime that didn't wow me the first time I experienced it (I got one or two volumes on DVD for my birthday one year), but I think I need to give it another try. I did fall in love with the music and have had the soundtrack for years (and yes, I am listening to it as I write this).

This is the cover of a steampunk anthology (I think there may be two out, now) that I heard about through io9.com (a nerd blog that is pretty awesome). I haven't checked it out, nor have I read any other steampunk, but it seems like a good starting place.

Fullmetal Alchemist is steampunkish. It takes place in the right kind of time period and it has the whole alchemy-instead-of-science thing that means there's some wicked cool technology floating around (including auto-mail limbs as seen in the picture above) and it certainly has the steampunk vibe, so I'm counting it. I greatly enjoyed the original series; I haven't had a chance to read the manga or watch the new anime (a re-do of the old anime to make it closer to the manga called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood). I will warn you that it gets trippy.


Also, the 2009 Sherlock Holmes featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law had a very steampunk vibe, especially with the doomsday device. Maybe that's the reason I liked it so much...

As has been stated, I don't really understand my attraction to steampunk or why it is so much stronger than my attraction to similar subcultures like cyberpunk. Maybe it's that I've always leaned more toward old fashioned than futuristic. I did grow up on things like the Jane Austen movies (all right, I didn't grow up on them, but they were definitely around). Also, at heart, I'm a but of a romantic and that lends itself to the kinds of time periods that produce steampunk. And come on, a laser gun that looks like an old-fashioned pistol but with maybe a few lights and gears is just cool.

With steampunk, the internet is your friend and Google is your best friend. There are several sites specializing in the steampunk look (although they tend to be kind of obscenely expensive with some of the stuff). A lot of it comes down to customization, which is very sad for a handicraft impaired person such as myself, but such is life. For the moment I admire it from afar and dream of spray-painting my Nerf Maverick to look like a certain picture you may have seen floating around the internet...