sergebroom | the true origin of vapor-ruffian tales

"...it seems likely that film adaptations of Verne's works impacted steampunk as much as, or potentially more than, the original works..."

So said Mike Perschon, on page 40 of Locus #596. And it's about time someone did - besides yours truly, that is. That Locus issue was about Steampunk and it was perplexing how nobody else brought up the influence of movies on those stories. Neither did a panel at a recent con, come to think of it. Heck, if not for films, I'm not sure there'd be a Steampunk. A few novels were written since the genre's birth in 1902, but they never inspired others t follow suit. There were many films to keep the flame alive though. In 2006, I had someone make me a 19th Century outfit to wear at that year's worldcon and I long pondered how I'd justify it, steampunk costuming being pretty much unheard of. I eventually decided, thanks to my vest's clock-shaped buttons, to refer to myself as a Victorian time traveller. Things have changed at cons since then, and Steampunk's written stories now vastly outnumber movies. Still it remains that the genre's eventual rebirth in prose is due to movies, but also to another visual media - spoecifically Alan Moore's "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and then Kaja & Phil Foglio's "Girl Genius". And to this 1954 film.