- Mexico 2012 -
- October -
- Numero 3 -
El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine
“REWARD” If you’re reading this publication we share one thing in common and that is we both likeRetrofuturism. It doesn’t matter if it is a genre or subgenre, no matter if it is only one, several or all. You, us and the rest of those who have hooked in this way, we did it by the same door: the first thematic image that we saw, it caught us and we begin to explore the intricate universe of the bastard sons of cyberpunk. Maybe you are attracted to the root, since its origins, perhaps the literature of H.G. Wells or Julio Verne; you can even without being fond of history, science, philosophy or the arts, it’s irresistible to feel some attraction to the aesthetics of a retrofuturistic movement. This is our third issue and November 2010 seems so distant, when Brigadier Bennet Winterman appeared for the first time, then came December accompanied by Chocolate. January just gave time to append a German touch to an already underway history and later in February came a joke called “The Rápido of Sabine”. There began the adventure that gave birth “El Investigador” in March and that brought us to this restructuring that we hope you enjoy. In addition after five months of work and in the middle of a rain of conventions, meetings and other events of the movement, we are nervous, and excited - we must confess - presenting you a small preview of our project “Retrofuturism: 1875”; a preview of our series “Reward” set in the Weird Wild West written by N. Inmunsapá and soon adapted into comic format. Hoping that this edition meets the expectations of everyone; both the people that committed and work in this magazine, like yours, that read us just now. Be sure to do so in the future where, month to month, we continue to investigate in the past. That will certainly be our Reward.
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EDITORIAL COUNCIL THIS PUBLICATION IS PRODUCED BY
GENERAL DIRECTOR N. Inmunsapá
EDIOR-IN-CHIEF
Araceli Rodríguez (Von Marmalade)
LAYOUT
Note for the Anglo-World The Interview Alternate History Reward Kinetoscopio Micro-Scope Le Petit Trianon División Lúdica Retrofuturismo Jules Verne in Mexico Victorianism without Victoria En El Archivo
4 6 8 9 12 13 18 19 20 22 24 27
Mr. Xpk
CONTRIBUTORS
Hodson, Rouge Girl, Elisa, J Keats, Meyrilu Wendorf.
TRANSLATIONS
Miguel Ángel Manzo Martínez, Carolina Hase, Abel Hernán Arias, Araceli Rodríguez, Pablo Begué, María Gutiérrez, Ecce Mono.
This publications respects the authors’ rights, which means that every illustration published has been obtained trough legal ways in several commercial stocks. Every illustration is property of its author.
El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 3
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A NOTE TO THE ANGLO WORLD
even months ago we published our second issue of “El Investigador International” and the truth is that we had the intention to continue translating in a regular way but it has not been possible. Our monthly releases in Spanish and other proyects we have, as creatives colective Mercenarios de DIOS, keep
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us very busy. However, and thanks to the big effort of our translation team, here we are, bringing to the anglo world a better project. So this time we have for you a revised version of our magazine, where we are not limitated to translating the articles appeared in May 2011, but choose some of the best and added others from afterwards issues, plus some exclusive for you, hopping
to offer a fresh issue, interesting for all of you who have been waiting for the opportunity to read the content of our pages. This way, we begin with this publication directed not only to the Hispanic world but to the entire world. Welcome, then, to this timeless journey of words and stories, welcome to “El Investigador International” N° 3.
N. Inmunsapá General Director
El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 5
JZ: Real characters have also inspired some songs. “Queen of the Delta” is based on the famous Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau. “The Curse of Whitechapel” is sung from Jack the Ripper’s perspective, the notorious murderer of the Victorian London.
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ernian Process is a music band formed in San Francisco in 2003. It takes name from the works of Jules Verne, and they create their music around themes such as the Scientific Romance of the Victorian era and its current counterpart, the Steampunk. In words spoken by Janus Zárate, bassist of the band: “Good morning! I am Janus Zárate, bassist of Vernian Process. We are a Steampunk band based in San Francisco, California. I thought you might appreciate that two of our members are of Latin origin. I am a Chicano (my parents are from Jalisco, and I was born in the United States), and our guitarist Martin Irigoyen was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m not sure if you are familiar with our music, but we have existed since 2003. We have inspiration from a wide range of science fiction, and combine different styles of music. We mix progressive rock, neo-classical, new wave, Gothic and other genres to create our sound. Guitar, bass, Calliope, harpsichord, organ, cello, and more are present in our songs. We invite you to listen to our music and tell us what you think. We have always maintained an open dialogue with the fans because without them we wouldn’t exist.”
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W
e know that Vernian Process started as the project of Josh Pfeiffer to create “Steampunk music” 9 years ago. Since then, many things have happened and according to the data on you, some people has come and gone from the group, even we learned that you count with a new drummer for the Gaslight Gathering on May 7 in San Diego. Who conform currently VP and what role play within the Group? Martin Irigoyen: VP is currently formed by Josh Pfeiffer in Vocals, I (Martin Irigoyen) on guitar and effects, Peter Zarate “Janus” on bass and effects, Brian Figueroa on keyboards and accordion, and Eugene Dyer III on drums and percussion. We also have the great honor of Erica Mulkey “Unwoman” as guest in live presentations with the cello. Janus Zarate: Each member contributes something more than just their musical skills. Martin is our producer. Josh writes many of the lyrics of our songs. I am in charge of our web site and the commercial aspects of the band. Brian and Kyle are involved in promotions. On your website, the album “Behold the Machine” is presented as an anthology to Victorian science fiction; personally it seemed inevitable to note “Unhallowed Metropolis” as a clear reference to the role-playing game of the same name. In which other works were the songs inspired? MI: Each song has a different origin, but as to what works: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, has directly influenced the creation of “The Exile” and “Into the Depths”. “The Last Express” was born from a Josh’s dream.
It is very clear in these times identifying the Steampunk aesthetic, the look; what can you say about the sound? What is the sound of Steampunk music? MI: I do not think that there is a clear definition, or a set of rules to follow when we talk about Steampunk music. Our personal philosophy is that if the music evokes Neo-Victorian or Steampunk images, then it qualifies as such. JZ: But there are some traits shared by the music of the most recognized bands. Speaking generally, combining the instruments of the old world with the modern genres and lyrics of the anachronistic world. Then, could we be talking about Dieselpunk and/or Clockpunk music? JZ: There are artists that could fit into the category Dieselpunk. It makes me think of swing, blues, theremin, jazz, carnivals, spies and detectives: Dr. Steel, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Lee Person, bands like them. Some of our songs correspond to the “Noir” description: “Queen of the Delta”, “The Maple Leaf Rag”. Clockpunk is another matter. What is the sound of a Renaissance anachronism? I don’t know... but someone will invent it eventually! MI: Of course. If there is a desire to make music with a label in mind, everything is possible. Unlike other movements, the Steampunk emerges from the science fiction literature and manifests in various artistic fields; in addition to the scientific romanticism of the 19th century, Victorian fashion and the creation of devices - functional
or not-, for you as Vernian Process, what else is there in the Steampunk? MI: The Steampunk has it all. It is one of the few movements where one can decide if be spectator or participant. We also believe that the Steampunk brings certain message at the social level. In a society where everything is manufactured in mass, the individuality as artistic expression is an oasis of sanity and hope. JZ: The community Steampunk dislikes talking about the socio-political side, but the philosophy of individualism and artistic expression are firmly rooted in its policy. To survive, the movement must embrace its origins and its values. We strive to address sociopolitical issues, among other things, in our music; as Verne and other science fiction authors. Currently is very noticeable the boom that is touring the planet; for example in the Spanish-speaking world, the SP Spain Forum exists since 2008 and SP Mexico was born in mid-2010. Places like Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru are showing signs of virtual groups; what is your opinion of this movement taking place and the ways in which it’s manifesting?
After little more than 20 years of the birth of the Steampunk, its development, growth and dissemination do you believe that we are approaching a critical moment where will become more than a fashion or do you think it will take strength of cultural movement, reaching changes in various levels of our society?
JZ: I think that it also implies that the music makes more to convey an emotion or atmosphere. A story, even if there are no lyrics.
JZ: Fashion and aesthetics of a subculture is almost the first thing the dominant culture will notice. This is what we have witnessed in recent years. The real challenge will be to prove to the world that the Steampunk movement is more of what appears.
MI: We’d love to! Having born and raised in South America, nothing would give me more pleasure playing for the Latin America brothers.
MI: The Goth movement went out of fashion in the 1980s, but is still alive and healthy. I think it depends on the people involved to make last the Steampunk culture. Returning to you as individuals and as the band name, how would you describe what a Vernian Process is? MI: In my personal opinion, is the process of transforming our music into something appropriate to listen to while read Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, etc.
Are there on the agenda of VP any visit or presentation close to Mexico or some other Spanish-speaking country?
JZ: I have cousins who would love to see us play in Guadalajara or Mexico City. And finally, what do you think it would take the Steampunk to take root in other country like Mexico? MI: People willing to assimilate the concept. Mexico is a country with a very rich and very old culture that has been able to receive new expressions without losing identity.
MI: It is fascinating how the Steampunk erased borders through the Internet. It is very common to enter a forum and see people from all over the world, sharing an interest in common. Either from Russia, Mexico or Australia, the Steampunk has the same roots in any part... how wonderful is that each lives it in its own way, regardless of the nationality. JZ: This is good news for the future of the Steampunk. Some people in the community think that the Steampunk may be too ethnocentric, due to its Victorian origins. The development of these new communities in other parts of the world will help to diversify the movement.
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R ea di ng
El Investig ado r is as easy as reading any other electronic publication, however there is a section that is not so simple to understand: Alternate History. Well, this is the section that brings the news more relevant of the uchronic universe created by Mercenarios de Dios to develop their projects as a collective. This world has its protagonists and antagonists, its heroes, antiheros, villains and people like you and me. Here you will find clues about the stories about Retrofuturism 1875, coming in the form of news; brought directly of weird and wild west of Reward 1875: in which a Ranger, Tadeo Solomon Taylor, tries to put their hands on a diverse group of elusive bandits, who we will know according to the news that we have of them; slaves, fugitives, assassins, m o r m o n s, N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s and so; is it true what the Sabine press has created around Chuck Olate and his companions, or is a string of lies created by a master mind about the allegedly guilty innocent lives? Check out for the true, reading the news of these uchronic lands where the law of the strongest prevails and corruption is the order of the day.
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STA MPEDE SAVES HIM! Arizona territory, May 19th The clock marked just the 12 noon when the four sentenced to death by hanging were on the scaffold; the ropes hung and surrounded their necks already, when, according to the witnesses, “the Earth began to shake and the sky to roar”. “We didn’t know what was happening until we look towards the cloud of black dust. At first, we thought it was a sand storm, so we hasten to execute the convicts” said Charles Jay Drinkwine, sole survivor.
According to Drinkwine, the Marshall ordered shot the prisoner due to the proximity of the alleged storm and the huge weight of the convicted person: a black slave of about 330 pounds. “All aimed the slave with our pressurized Uberti, but then out from nowhere appeared the herd of buffaloes in stampede and literally trampled everything” said the victim. About how he had survived he said: “I believe that it was the work of God”. Meanwhile authorities’ reports that they have not found the corpse of the slave, the possibility that he is still alive exist. According to the Constitution of the Confederate States, if after two days John H. Black does not appear, he will be declared a fugitive slave, in addition to the charges of destruction of two towns, Hawk’s Nest and Helvetia, in truly unusual ways.
for me and in my time seconds barely elapsed. Smith says that it is because I look into a world different from ours, one of spirits, holy angels and fearsome demons. The only thing I know is what I see, whether it’s past or future…
Free State of Sabine, 1875
(Located between the Confederate state of Louisiana and the Republic of Texas)
“Give up, Chuck! Throw your weapon and surrender! Just tell us where the skull is and I promise I’ll let you go back to Méjico! What do you say…?” I hear the proposal the ranger’s voice made while I see the bullet holes on my stomach. Looks bad. I turn my head to look for my partners. I don’t hear any of my muchachos, I see Búfalo Black, Speakwithdeads and even inclement Clementine, everyone lying on the ground… Dead? Who cares? I hear the Rangers of the Republic coming close and I see my hands looking for my converted R&M. I watch with my only eye, my hand dripping blood, my face making a gesture of incomprehension… What happened? This was neutral zone, from Sabine River to Arroyo Hondo; from the Gulf until it abuts into Indian Territory. It’s been No man’s land for years… How did they get in here without anyone noticing? Where’s that damn Chinese when you need him? Ah, what the hell! I’ll have to see it myself! I lift the patch that covers the empty socket on the left side of my face; I daub with blood both my eye and the metallic sphere, similar to a clock’s mechanism that I have as a replacement. Then the tool of doom starts moving, free from its mystical sheath that protects and contains it. Each gear moves, each piece follows one other consequently, like the little strings colliding one another in a little music box, only this song is an infernal one. The mechanical eyelid it’s about to open, I cover my right eye with my bloody hand and my whole vision becomes crimson until I begin to get its perspective. The devil’s eye has been activated. El Investigador is a
Colored lights spinning incessantly, multicolored spheres colliding and forming pieces of images that once were, could have been or should have been… Vivid colors speaking as if they were singing songs in Indian languages, floating figures that form vibrant, bright drawings/pictures with designs so vivid and pulsating …. The closest thing I’ve seen in the real world are the ornaments the Wixarikas make, back in Mexico. Everything becomes less clear, according to the way how things look like in the normal world, viewed with normal eyes. Only that this vision goes to the past, to the moment when happened what I want to see. It’s the past but at the same time it isn’t. It’s hard to explain, because even though I watch scenes that last for several minutes,
There’s some kind of office, bookshelves, a desk and a fancy armchair where a 70 year old man is sitting. Behind him, hanging on the wall, I can see a red pennant, crossed with blue and white with thirteen stars distributed throughout the cross: the Southern Cross, the flag of the Confederate States of America. The southern old man stretches out a roll that he gives to who is in front of him. The man in uniform takes the scroll, the silver plaque with the five-pointed star that clearly states “Texas Rangers Republic”, I recognize his factions. Tadeo Solomon Taylor, he’s been chasing me for years, I think I’m some kind of obsession to him, to the extent that he asked the Texas Senate to break the neutral zone and claim for itself what he called “the den of outlaws, Indians, fugitive slaves, witches, Mexicans and the worst scum that humanity has ever known”
Of course, the Republic refused the request because even though Louisiana is a Confederate State everyone knows that French had never left and they never will, therefore the movement could be taken as expansionist and create an expense that the Republic wasn’t willing to take for a piece of land that gives them nothing. But southerners are quite a different thing, they’re peculiar, so each state governs itself at free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 9
their convenience, a lot of millionaires, landlords and eccentric European residents would take any chance to seize of anything they think they can take any advantage from, even if it’s as small as an ant, as in the case of Silvestre de Tonti, Mississippi’s landlord and owner of Ton Time Technology. A big boiler burns, tubular metallic connections entangled without any kind of order. A huge propeller and what looks like a condenser. I find a couple of boilers more and what appear to be turbines: A steamship. And what a ship, nothing more and nothing less than the Natches VII, able to travel from New Orleans to Saint Louis in 2 days, 13 hours and 27 minutes over the Mississippi and also rumored, under it. With machinery and eritronium reinforcements. It’s a mechanical naval monster.They land surprisingly right on the north. There are no lookouts nor warnings, as sentinels in the river are dead; riddled by the pair of Gatlings spewing all the lead. They’re coming closer on, leaving the horses in the Natches. The moonless night hides them and they take advantage from the fact that I could finally sleep thanks to the brew of the gods that the Indians call tesgüino. It’s not the noise of the bullets what wakes me up but the pain. Bangs and some agonizing screams on the background tell me that the fight
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is ending and some of my riders are still with me. “I don’t know anything about a skull that you are talking about, Taylor!” I answer quick, trying to cover again with the patch the infernal tool that releases a spark when it’s back on its position, that’s it, stay there before anything else happens. I hear footsteps approaching from both sides, I sit up as fast as my reflexes allow me, leveraging the hangover from using the eye. My converted R&M spits its entire load, eliminating five of nine rangers. I come back covered to reload my weapon, my belly burns as if I just had eaten a kilo of chillies. Taylor screams again. “Damn it, Chuck! I’m gonna pull off your head with my own hands and I’ll put it as a trophy on my cabin!” I’ve been hearing that threat since I know him, just this time I´m sure that he can fulfill it. I get up again with the reflexes of a diamond rattlesnake when I hear noises again. I shoot with precision right in one of my favorite targets. I like stars; its five points remind me of a person’s body that will end up being a skull and bones. The three rangers accompanying Taylor fall in a speed really out of this world, the Texan waiting by my side. He welcomes me with a heavy blow in my stomach that pushes the bullets further inside and bends me, pulling off my air just to be topped with a forehand drive on my face. I fall to the floor aching and bruised by Taylor’s blows, I don’t have time to react and his hands are holding me by my neck against the wall. “Where is the skull, dirty and filthy mejican? Finally I got you, god damn it!. You’re going to tell me where it is and then I’ll rip your nasty, gruesome head.” The strength he imprints on my neck it’s not natural. The blows I received
could have killed any other, that’s a fact; Tadeo Solomon Taylor now holds in his power the fists of Hell. I can’t breathe; I have no strength to fight. They say that when one is about to die, all your life goes through your head in a matter of seconds. They say that if you’ve been bad, you will go to hell; that if you’re not a man of faith in these lands away from God, the spirit may wonder without rest; that the devil comes for his children. What I see now at the verge of death, like a distant dream, is one of my outlaws running and approaching the gringo’s back with a shovel in his hand trying to make him let me go, but simply with a gesture of disdain on his face Taylor backhand slaps that flips the neck of my soldier leaving his face crushed. I’m about to take my last breath and when the blackness of la niña blanca are falling over my eyes I distinguish the huge silhouette of Buffalo Black approaching with his enormous being and holding the ranger’s neck, pressing it without letting him breathe. Taylor runs the same fate as two bulls, three bears and over thirty men; I feel the floor hitting me as I get free from Taylor and everything blacks out.
@VictorianSteam
El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 11
“The Great Race” Director Blake Edwards By J. Keats At the beginning of the 20th century the famous pilot, adventurer and heartthrob known as the Great Leslie faces his nemesis, the evil Professor Fate in a crazy race from New York to Paris. With them, the journalist Maggie Dubois, committed to defend the women rights and to prove that she could make the journey without the help of any man, traveled with them. Automobiles with impossible gadgets, sabotage, persecutions and vicissitudes of all kind, will happen over thousands of miles, while they pass through the American West, Alaska and most of Europe. In this cinema masterpiece, Blake Edwards achieved a prowess: creating a comedy which combines perfectly the adventure, the western or the purest The Prisoner of Zenda style. The Great Race is a film that any fan of the Steampunk will enjoy, although not conforms fully to the genre definition.
Tony Curtis plays the hero dressed in spotless white. Natalie Wood is a damsel in distress but who is not intimidated to nothing, and the great Jack Lemmon as Professor Fate is the archetypal villain, with top hat and twisted moustache, capable of creating all kinds of strange vehicles but without making them to work as he would like. There are also fictional countries, princes who are in danger of being supplanted and conspiracies that can only be prevented with sword duels in sinister castles. There is emotion, romance and zero minutes of boredom in more than two hours and a half of duration. In conclusion, a title that any fan can’t lose and it deserves a place on our shelf along with other jewels (also with some Steampunk alike) as “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” (1965) and “The Assassination Bureau” (1969). As a final commentary, The Great Race inspired a cartoon series: The Wacky Races.
Producers Dick Crockett Martin Jurow Writer Arthur A. Ross Music Henry Mancini Photography Russel Harlan Cast Jack Lemon Tony Curtis Natalie Wood Peter Falk Keenan Wynn Vivian Vance
JKeats
Spanish writer and designer. Administrator of FrankenRol, a we b s i t e d e d i c a t e d t o role-playing games. Author of the “Los Mapas del Reino Antiguo” in the publishing house NoSoloRol. Member of “Horned Dice Society”, a group with the initiative to publish professional-quality amateur games with the main rule of having fun. http://frankenrol.blogspot.com
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I
“As the heart beats, while flesh beat, cannot explain to myself a being endowed with will letting itself to be dominated by despair.”
f you’re reading this, presumably it’s because you have the slightest notion of what’s the matter, right? But on the other hand, if you came to this magazine by mistake and we managed to hook you with aesthetics, we poked your curiosity and you want to know more of what it’s all the movement about, then, Welcome! You’re in the right place.
The first evidence of the attraction felt by Jules Verne for mathematics come from his schoolmates, who said he spent the day sketching strange flying machines and other artifacts of difficult understanding for them.
The Steampunk movement, cold blood explained to you is a subgenre of science fiction, is a retro-futuristic genre that focuses on the era of steam power and mechanical technology (Industrial Revolution). To enter this exciting world we need to know more of the roots of where the movement originated, in the case of Steampunk are found in the “Fantastic Literature.” Many great authors of this literature, currently considered classics of universal culture, are the food of the Steampunk imaginary, H. G. Wells, with his novels “The Time Machine”, “The War of the Worlds” and “The Island of Dr. Moreau”. Mark Twain’s “A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. Arthur Conan Doyle with “The Lost World” and his great “Sherlock Holmes”. H. P. Lovecraft with his unspeakable monsters. Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker with vampires and monsters. And mainly Jules Verne, they are those who forged the destiny of this genre, little by little we will be reviewing each of these authors, knowing a bit about how and why their influence on Steampunk.
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Biographers debate the moment that Verne decides to tell stories, but everyone agrees that his interest was awakened by the sea and its mysteries, and from the conjunction of concern to technology and journeys was born a work filled of forays into the technological future of man and his geographical conquests.
Finally decides to study law at the School of Paris, at this time he wrote his first play “Alexander VI” which opens the way in literary circles, where he meets the Dumas family from who receives great influence, both personal Born on the island of Feydem in the and literary. province of Nantes (western France) on February 8th 1828, he was the Following its strong interest in letters, eldest of 5 brothers in a family he has confrontations with his father devoted to the law, and with a strong which leads to the separation of Jules military influence, he began his formal from his family and the beginning of studies in the year of 1939 where he his economic misery, resented in his stands with his skills in Greek and Latin physical health. languages, from which is understood his fascination with letters and strong This does not stop his passion for attraction to technology. literature and in 1850 wrote “The broken straw” light comedy, stories varied as “The Museum of Families”, “Martin Paz”, “A Drama in Mexico”, yet was not envisaged that would be great. o, to open this column let’s review to:
Jules Gabriel Verne
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Verne’s work is first essentially a geographical work, an immense amount of planetary exploration. But also, his geography presents the remarkable interest that is not only perfect and scientifically documented, but where could not reach the eyes of the explorers, he had made his omniscient powers of deduction, advancing many discoveries to his contemporaries. In 1856 he married and began a series of trips to fuel the imagination of the author and is in Scotland where he wrote his first science fiction work, “Paris in the Twentieth Century” which presaged a society obsessed with m o n ey and im m ediate communication, is about a young man living in a world of glass skyscrapers, high-speed trains, gas cars, calculators and a global communications network, but cannot achieve happiness and goes to a tragic end. moon in two parts “From the Earth to the Moon” and “Around the Moon” o begin his prolific publishing where there are great similarities with stories under the name of “Voyages the true first trip to the moon in 1969. Extraordinaires”, name which his long series of novels is known, is a scientific Jules Verne is the precursor of sample of the progress of man in a modern science fiction and adventure century of discoveries. novels, believed in the imagination as an engine of progress, his main source This collection includes titles such as was nature. The fish inspired the “5 Weeks in a Balloon,” “Journey to the submarine; the swan, the boat; the Center of the Earth”, “From the Earth bird, a plane. He was a visionary ahead to the Moon”, “Children of Captain of his time, in his works that described Grant”, “Twenty Thousand Leagues the great machines which shape the under the Sea”, “the Mysterious universe Steampunk. Island”, “Around the world in 80 Days”, “Michael”, “The Sphinx of the ice”. During these dates contacts the adventurer Felix Tournachon, who begins to investigate the scientific advances that could be applied to flying machines, those described in “Five Weeks in a Balloon”. In 1865 published the passage of a trip to the
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he ships were to Verne more than instruments to travel, were vehicles leading man of his time through the unexplored spaces in a real and safe way, with scientific reliability, he wanted the readers to believe in his travels as true. He avoided by hook or by crook go beyond the limits of reality, describing meticulously every part of their function. All Verne stories can be found rigorous technical and scientific explanations in which the writer likes to dwell. However, he had no science background, although an insatiable thirst for knowledge that took him regularly to the National Library. And to write many of his books interviewed various experts in the fields he did not know. As a result, artifacts or theories exposed in his novels are very credible.
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Another astonishment vehicle is the airship carrier of the novel “Robur the Conqueror” Known as “The Albatross”, the novel is about the progress of ballooning, which shows a boat with many masts, a powerful internal machine (probably electric) made to rote propellers crowning it, to prevent turning on itself during flight, uses a propeller rotating in the opposite direction. The entire ship has been created based on pulp paper glued and pressed under high pressure: this way is lightweight and fireproof at a time.
ome examples of these creations are the submarine better known as “Nautilus” (and perhaps the most famous of his ships), the engine was powered by electricity produced by batteries of a sodium-mercury amalgam (sodium was extracted from the sea). It had a turret, in which the driver, protected by thick glass, could direct the navigation of the ship, also had a powerful electric reflector, with which it was possible to illuminate the area around the ship that could go high speeds. Had a triangular shaped beak in one end, with which attacked the ships, the Nautilus ended his days in a cave described in the novel “The Mysterious Island”.
In the novel “From Earth to the Moon” Verne anticipates by more than 100 years the Apollo project With the continuation of “Robur” that put man on the Moon, which (“The owner of the world”) presented presents a space capsule that has an update of “The Albatross” now almost the same characteristics as the called “The Horror” by adding the one launched into space in the 60’s, is feature of being a high-speed vehicle manned by 3 persons and is launched on the ground and also being a from a location very close to the submarine. current Florida Kennedy Space Center In the novel “The House of Steam” in Florida, touches down just 4 presents a rare invention “The Iron kilometers away from where the capsule Giant” steam rolling machine shaped of Apollo VIII did, the duration of elephant which runs along the northern the trip is much the same. territory of India. El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 15
Here’s a short list of fabulous EXTRAORDINARY SHIPS with which can feed your dreams:
The Victory
“5 Weeks in a Balloon”
The Nautilus
“Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea” and “Mysterious Island”
The Lunar Missile
“From the Earth to the Moon” and “Around the Moon”
The Great Eastern of “Floating City”
The Iron Giant
“The House of Steam”
The Raft
“The Raft”
The Albatros and Go A Head “Robur the Conqueror”
I take my leave from you hoping that the article on Jules Verne and his relationship with Steampunk has been to your liking, we receive complaints, comments, questions and/or clarifications to the mail: Gorgonzola666@gmail.com or Mercenaries of God’s Facebook page, See you next time!
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El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 17
by: Meyrilu Wendorf
M
achinarum is a very dieselpunk themed game. In it we can see how a Little robot, assembled by yourself with elements you find in the screen, goes around finding various items that will help him to complete missions advancing through the game. This is a point-and-click game (you must use your mouse to interact), developed by the creators of Samorost y Samorost 2, an independient studio from Czech Republic and called Amanita Design. In the beginning of the game we can see how a spaceship arrives to a waste dump and leaves a shipload of garbage and pieces of iron, which seems to be useless, but with some inventiveness we can assemble a little robot.
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Once assembled, we go to a bridge which the robot achieve to cross with the user’s help, but when he attempts to, there’s some oil dropped in the way, and he slides off falling to some rails; the game is composed by 30 levels. The user’s got only one single hint per level to solve the stage’s enigma, and the curious thing about it is that it doesn’t have any written dialogues between characters, but they appear in animated balloons, and that’s how the user sees the dialogues, and more than a strategy game that requires to think with imagination, it’s all a funny puzzle involving dieselpunk elements, such as industrial units and diesel technology.
The three first levels can be found at the official web* as a demo version and a complete version can be downloaded for 20 dollars.
*http://machinarium.net/demo/
support from any sponsor yet and that's why Marco is trying to bring it out by his own methods and trying to put it on sale in iTunes soon. A whole love story full of action and with a huge cinematic style. Fiction, action and romance is what you will find in this great comic, what else could you ask for?
VERNE SON OF THE MOON
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magine just for a minute, what if Jules Verne lived all those adventures in a parallel world? Which one would be his last adventure? From that starting point begins Verne: Son of The Moon, a comic by the author Marco D. Carrillo, who took care of making a characteristic retro modernism of the works of Verne himself. This is basically a history of love full of action and a huge cinematic style. Marco works as writer, cartoonist, inker and colorist for this comic, that's why this project lasted so much to be released, because from the original idea 5 years have passed, and although Marco himself says to have finished his master piece in 2010, it wasn't until the last year that he could finish with the color. Verne: Son of the Moon is already translated to English, and it's no surprise to haven't been done in Spanish although it's the mother language of the author because there was no
More information in: https://www.facebook.com/mdavidct.art http://indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6703
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Creative Arts
What was done once, can be repeated N. Inmunsapá This Retrofuturism is known since twenty-eight years ago being accessible for a public that is attracted to the aesthetic that belongs to this movement. And how not to be attracted into it? In 1983 Lloyd Dunn coin the word in the art magazine “Retrofuturism” this involves the birth of the tendency in Creative Arts that started to show an influence in the representations of future, before the 60’s. Four years later K.W. Jeter writes to the Locus magazine: -“Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like “steampunks”, perhaps…”Thus was born the name of the most popular tendency nowadays; that covers and names other subcultures and art styles like the dieselpunk, the new clockpunk literature and the atomicpunk attempt to get a site. The other punks are the demonstration and proof of what I’m trying to say in this topic: Steampunk wants to become a cultural movement. The days of the Victorian fantasies written by three Californian young
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authors is far away because now these Victorian fantasies are not only in literature and comics but in the visual arts and, logically, the cinema, reaching the music, the dance and other performing arts, also the dramaturgy. Gallery and Art Museum have exhibited works that are inspired by the steampunk aesthetics. To sum up the art has been invaded by the steampunk aesthetics. We can find a difference between other moments when all the countries adopted an artistic wave, now each place around the world have his own display that starts imitating the Victorian/ Eduardian aesthetics or the “Jazz Age” in order to become a Retrofuturism of 19th Century (Steampunk) or a Retrofuturism of the period that includes the World Wars (Dieselpunk) but with the characteristics of each country. With the visual invasion starts a natural cultural movement. People start to be interested in different historic periods. They spend time looking for the possibilities of the technology and the science or they study other aspects of the societies of the time. A lot of people think that they have discovered the magic spell when take works as a “new” Retrofuturism only taking the external appearance. T his behaviour makes name like dungeonpunk, biopunk, greenpunk, nanopunk, elfpunk, mythpunk… and a lot more. Although the true Retrofuturistic Wave is the result of some works with the objective of showing a new
Term used to describe the different ways of art, specifically to present art ideas, techniques, skills and mass media. It’s used as a umbrella to the drama, music (Musical theory, History of music and musicology), Graphic Arts/Cartoons, Performing Arts, Film and Publishing, Galleries and Museums and Visual Arts.
and particular concept opposite to the normal and fashionable practice that wants to copy expressions that already exist and to fit them into a new wave. And they forget that Steampunk, Dieselpunk and Clockpunk have a particular vision and their own philosophy that characterizes them and allows us to distinguish between them beyond the aesthetics from one time to another. They forget or don’t know what the cultural movement means and, although we aren’t in a movement yet, the possibilities to get it are a lot. This only can be gotten if we pay attention to the cultural area, and with culture we can understand this: “and that culture gives man the ability to reflect on himself. It is that makes us specifically human beings, rational, critical and ethically compromised. Through it we discern values and make choices. Through it man expresses, becomes aware of himself, recognizes his incompleteness, questions his own achievements, seeks tirelessly for new meanings and creates works that transcend it.. ” On the other hand we could only fall in to abrade the scene -And the public too- filling all with images and names getting only a “fashionpunk” moment.
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JULES VERNE IN MEXICO
By: N. Inmunsapá
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o the Nantes-born French writer and author of the most famous adventure stories that turned into classics like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, A Journey to the Center of the Earth and Around the World in 80 Days, among many others, he has been attributed with various titles: Father of science fiction, visionary, a man ahead of his time and even has come to be called “prophet” by some. There are others in the retro-futuristic scene who call him the steampunk grandfather or to qualify some of their stories and written as proto-steampunk. But what many seems to miss is that, first of all, Jules Verne was passionate about traveling. This is clearly defined over fifty titles written over little more than forty years, compiled in the collection entitled “Voyages Extraordinaires”.
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But not as many might believe that these extraordinary journeys began with Five Weeks in a Balloon, his first novel, published in 1863. No, the first of his trips was in 1851 at the age of 23 when he ignores the writings of theatrical works and sets his sights on Mexican soil.
translated into English as “The Mutineers: A Romance of Mexico” in charge of William Henry Giles Kingston appearing as a supplement in the novel Michael Strogoff, The Courier of the Czar published in 1876 and that ended under the title of “A Drama in Mexico”.
The first ships of the Mexican Navy, is the first account that Jules Verne wrote and was published in July 1851 in the journal Musée des familles. This same story was
In this story Verne narrates the insurrection of two Spanish ships, the Asia and the Bergantín Constante, where the captain is killed and the rebels try to sell the boat to fledgling Mexican government. For this, they travel from Acapulco to Mexico City without knowing they are being pursued by loyal men to the captain killed in the riot. The journey that make the Lieutenant Martínez and the seaman José, describes the geography of Mexico in 1825 with mention of places like Chilpancingo, Iguala, Taxco, Cuernavaca, Tenancingo or Toluca or even archaeological
Then, how can a man who never visited Mexican lands make a story with descriptions as accurate as those achieved in A Drama in Mexico? Probably due to two reasons: First Jules Verne was a writer who was characterized by his constant research being conducted in public or personal libraries, especially in the areas of geography and botany, before science and technology. The second one was very probably due to his friendship with the explorer and writer Jacques Arago, who not only was part of the Uranie crew as an illustrator but also brother of Jean Arago, who was general in the sites like Xochicalco, located in the service of the Mexican army in the current state of Morelos. The story is war of independence and Worthy I like to think that as his first story rich in topography and hydrography Citizen in the year 1833. was located in Mexico, so was the of the Mexican lands, as well as last . That way is like Jules Verne was, Note that the first ships that the from the beginning of his writing botany, as Verne makes numerous references to the different variants Mexican navy had were four Spanish career to the end of it, in Mexico. and plants that abound in the ships that deserted in 1825 The Asia, geography of the described area. the Constancia, the Aquiles and the In A Drama in Mexico we won’t Corbeta de transporte Gavinton, find any genius scientist or some therefore Verne’s story is based on extraordinary invention, nevertheless real events. how Verne describes a meal that Lt. A drama in Mexico this is not the Martinez and his companion José eat (chicken with green chili sauce, only story of Jules Verne located saffron rice, sweet pumpkin and on Mexican soil since it’s said that the classic tortillas) makes think to one of his last writings is located in anyone that the French writer set Rosario Sinaloa, Mexico. I’m talking about The Eternal Adam whose foot once on Mexican territory. authorship is questioned whether it Is known that Jules Verne visited belongs to Jules or his son Michel, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and published posthumously in 1910. Norway, Denmark including New Whether The Eternal Adam is the York, Albany and even Niagara Falls, but none of his biographies or work of Michel Verne and is simply interviews that were performed is based on the name of the project Edom’s notes written by his father, known of a trip to Mexico. El Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 23
Victorianism without Victoria Also published on Beyond Victoriana
By: Hodson Hawk There are many reasons why the Victorian era is considered the Golden Age of the British Empire. Not only the economic and social stability came at a time where social inequalities were as big as scientific advances, but the huge explosion of advances in production, communications and transportation allowed the existence of a global colonial government facilitated by the ability to improve the response time of all regional governments. At a time when the great modern empires grew and spread across five continents populated by man, Victorianism quickly became the spirit of the time. The idea of progress and mastery of time through greater efficiency in transport and production was a constant among all the nations of the world, and those who had the power to launch big technology and conquest ventures, had secured a bright future in the international area. The Victorian era was undoubtedly the light bulb that shines light upon this century. It was the time when big government combined a vision of the future and the present into an immediate moment that inspired prosperity and development. For those living in First World countries, it is easy to imagine a glorious past that never ceased to be, and it is done through an alternate technological advanced reality. Whether it’s a world of steam or of world war, to imagine that moment of past glory is not a particularly difficult endeavor. But I dare to say that for those who live this kind of retro-futurism from the Third World, must be a little
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more difficult to imagine a glorious past drawn from the very distant past of their own 19th century. Just remember that the Victorian era was the era of colonialism. The steampunk retrofuturism of the Victorian era in England is diametrically different from Latin American’s Victorian era, for example, at least conceptually. This is often reflected in the very limited amount of retro-futuristic works that are created in Latin American countries using their own past in comparison with the big paraphernalia based on countries such as England, France, Germany, Spain, United States, Russia, China, Japan or Italy, which were at the forefront of history when talking about colonization. To think about a glorious Victorian era effected countries like Mexico, which faced a period of transitional changes, is a little harder for people. The 19th century was when Mexico was born as an independent country in a continent that began to break away from the domination of Europe and when the borders of the new Latino nations began to take their shape. By 1821, Mexico had just achieved independence, and the country first attempted to establish an imperial government under the figure of Agustín de Iturbide - the first and only recognized Emperor by Mexican government, but who was later exiled by his own independence movement because of political and social disagreements - and this established the first Republic of Mexico. The independence of Mexico triggered the independence of eight different countries. After the fall of the first Mexican Empire, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the republics of Yucatan and Chiapas, which later were re-annexed to the Republic of Mexico, declared independence. The Republic also still retained the territories of Texas, New Mexico and southern California. Therefore, while nations such as England, France, Germany and the United States experienced an
economic, technological and military boom, Mexico just began to forge an identity, and its first attempts as a nation were led by military forces rather than by democratic statesmen. One such an attempt oat political rule was embodied by the eleven nonconsecutive times General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ruled the country in Mexico’s first 40 years as a country. His administration gave adjustments to the domestic and foreign policy of the country: some of them were ridiculous, such as the tax collection based on the doors and windows in each house. Others were foreign policy disasters such as the war against the United States in 1846 and 1848. The first war was driven first by the separation of Texas. Later, he led the campaign which ended in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ceded the territories later known as California, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico and parts of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma to the United States for a ridiculously small amount of $15 million dollars, though the amount of land was more than half of Mexican territory. Following these wars and the overthrow of Santa Anna, the Mexican Magna Carta was rewritten, thus beginning a period of political reforms that lead to the success of the federalist state led by President Benito Juarez. The re-founded Republic is threatened again, however, this time by the French invasion and the creation of the Second Mexican Empire, which tried to set up Maximilian of Hapsburg as Emperor of Mexico. It is during the Franco-Mexican War that granted Mexico its only major military victory in the nineteenth century. On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces clashed with French troops on the outskirts of Puebla, under the command of the General Ignacio Zaragoza, they managed to defeat the invaders. From that victory, the people of Mexico were filled with a renewed spirit in their resistance against the
invaders. Guerrillas were constantly undermining the French army and the change in the European political scene allowed Mexico to be triumphant in the War of French Intervention in 1867. Unfortunately, the weakened Mexican state suffered under a new military and political movements afterwards, which led to the creation of the dictatorship of the General Porfirio Diaz from 1876 to 1910. Ironically, this time period also ended up being the peak time of Mexican economic growth and technological development. Interestingly, it is this point in history that many Mexicans use as basis for its aesthetics and steampunk characters. This later time period that we know of as the Mexican Revolution in the early twentieth century also acted like a late call to join the spirit of technological renovation and industrialization that had been held by the European powers. The Mexicans of the late nineteenth century conceived many elements of progress and technological heritage from the French, who were a major presence in the country’s development during this century. Both the fashion and lifestyle, cuisine, style of education, politics, economics and technology came from the French style. From this period the phenomenon of Mexican historical revisionism for steampunk can be established. In the world of parallel realities, Mexican steampunk can be drawn from their experiences of the Old West for their own use, taking advantage of the weakness of political boundaries during America’s colonization of the Far West.
than it was and its economic and military power is more on par with their indomitable spirit. The attitudes of resistance in the era that are evident in the Mexican retro-futurism can breathe new life into the idea of “what if the world had been different?” Remembering the difficult parts of our histories is often painful, considering that many of these nations and territories had a Victorian era without Victory, having neither the Queen nor the concept of winning. The advantage of retro-futurism, however, is that you can create a different past, where not only the culture and technology took a different path, but the story has changed. So the retro-futurism that seems destined for the elite of the First World, becomes the new opportunity for Third World countries to create a glorious past in the present. You just have to look at the kinds of character types that are common in Latin American storytelling compared with the Europeans and Americans, for example. While most American and European character types are basically Gentlemen/Ladies, Adventurers, Scientists, Engineers and monster-hunters, in Mexico we have, in addition to those already mentioned, Priests, Generals, Mercenaries, Cowboys, Sheriffs, progressive Indigenous peoples, Statehooders and Preachers. These characters are not only different, they
are also more directly linked to our past and reflect perfectly the social classes and occupations developed at that time. It is during this period where a sense of identity of the next century and more innovative Mexican steampunks look to their own past rather than looking back to the Euro / U.S. in an effort to reclaim the lost history of defeat and the 19th century represented to this nation. This tendency to change the past to make the Third World countries more competitive may be the secret of succ ess in these nations’ retro-futuristic ideas. In Latin America, steampunk has spread almost virulently in the minds of enthusiasts without any advertising beyond the steampunks themselves among their relatives and the occasional curious observer. Although the above countries lived Victorianism without Victory, steampunk in particular has enabled countries that were exploited by the spirit of European colonialism a chance for historical-literary revenge. The transformation of losers to winners is what drives the revolution of ideas in the minds of the followers of retro-futurism. After all, the imagination is still the fuel of mind and passion that drives our spirit.
Mexican steampunk history can create new independent states or territories which are formed by parts of lost territories. In Mexican steampunk, technology can not only reinvent the fashion of the time, but also reinvent the story, allowing the re-writing of history and political boundaries. In this view of retrofuturism, is more glorious ElMexico Investigador is a free distribution retrofuturistic themed magazine 25
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By: Araceli RodrĂguez
The Race for the Roses!
/Mercenarios.de.DIOS @MercenariosDIOS
Horse racing is perhaps one of the sports that give more pleasure to the gentlemen of high society, but not without the rest of the population. Perhaps the attraction is its very short duration, or perhaps large sums to be won in bets.
Attracted to the sport, Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr. was one of the founders of the Louisville Jockey Club in order to raise funds for the races outside the city. He, along with his cousins, John and Henry Churchill donated part of the lands they had inherited was built for the race track, due to this, now known as Churchill Downs. And it was at Churchill Downs where he opened Kentucky Derby, the May 17, 1875. The most exciting two minutes in sports. The colt named Aristides won the inaugural race half mile run, equivalent to 2.4 kilometers with a duration of 2 minutes 37 seconds 75/100. The race for the roses is the name given commonly because it delivers a crown of roses 554 the colt winner. Tradition that began in 1883 when socialite E. Berry Wall give away roses to the ladies present in the after-party of the year. The Kentucky Derby has been all continued success since 1875!
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