Steampunk: Manimatron by...

...Chris Bachalo, Joe Kelly, and Richard Friend.
This first volume of collected comics comes to our world via Cliffhanger and DC Comics, and is truly a wonderful thing to behold.

One of the things I enjoy the most about this comic is that you have to realign your brain in order to understand everything that's going on in even one panel. It's an insanely detailed world they've woven, one in which it is quite easy to miss things. In interest of that I can't wait to read it again.

Another feature I enjoy greatly is the rather insane use of typography for the arch-villain, Dr. Mortimer Absinthe. Rather than the usual typographical emphasis one would find in a comic book - bold, italics, both at the same time, the occasional switch of color - his typeface is an appropriate patchwork of fonts, sizes, and colors which mirrors both his twisted mind and disturbing, altered frame quite nicely. It's difficult to describe without the use of crazy fonts and colors, so you're just going to have to trust me that when Absinthe scoffs at a French prisoner via referencing Frère Jacques and 'Frère Jacques' appears in a huge, bold font with colors to look like the French flag, it's awesome.

Overall the writing is fabulous, but Absinthe also happens to have some of the best lines. One of my favorite exchanges goes a little like this:
Absinthe: "God is the ultimate scientist. He's just not as good at design as I am."
Iron Monk: "Blasphemy and sarcasm are the tools of Satan."
Absinthe: "Satan and I were roommates at University. You have the information I seek?"
and the conversation continues nonchalantly.
Absinthe, for this reason, is one of my favorite characters: his writing is superb! So are all of the concepts put forth in this world, and the innovations only become wilder and more interesting in book two, Drama Obscura.

It's been a while since I've read Drama Obscura, but as I recall it only gets better. The visuals, in keeping with Manimatron, are stunning, my favorite visual effect being the ability to track one of the character's movements through the various panels by the continuous stream of union-jacks left behind by his scarf of the same pattern as he bounds in Gypsy-parkour style.

This is only a taste of the world of Steampunk!, but I'm afraid this is all we'll get for a while. Though I haven't confirmed it, I heard through the grapevine that book three is no longer in production: funding got yanked because of lack of readership. Rats. And on a cliffhanger true to the company's name.

On a side-note, I happened to read these in reverse order (Drama Obscura before Manimatron), and somehow I think it was even more fantastic than reading it in the correct order! Going back to book one was like being presented with a huge flashback episode, and as one of the plot twists is contained in book one, my mind was blown. I'm going to go back and read it in the right order this summer (when I have slightly less of a life and slightly more time on my hands), but something tells me I'd recommend reading the second book first.

Due to the aforementioned cancellation, I am sorry to say that these might begin going scarce: I don't know if they're still being printed or not, but I know that you can find both books on Amazon, though the prices aren't exactly the best: Manimatron, Drama Obscura

Happy Journeys, fellow adventures, and for you enthusiasts, steam on!