By
Philip Schweier
February 20, 2011 - 13:22
The novel Ghosts of Manhattan
introduces the Ghost, the world’s first steampunk super-hero. However, it owes
more to the pulp novel than the proto-industrial world of steampunk. It’s more
of a Great Gatbsy meets The Shadow meets H.P. Lovecraft.
Meet Gabrial Cross, a scarred young man who served in the Great War, but in the
years since – the book is set in 1926 – he has returned to a playboy’s life in
New York City, fully aware that his wartime experiences have made him jaded
where the wealthy upper class is concerned. The New York he has returned to is
littered with jazz, bootleg hooch and a growing underworld that is only now
becoming organized under a criminal mastermind known as the Roman.
The cars of this world run on steam, powered by coal rather than gasoline. A
holographic telephone is common enough, and there are a few more gadgets to
appeal to the retro-technophile for which steampunk is known, as well as
twisted history. Britain and America are in the midst of a cold war.
The Ghost himself I envisioned as resembling very much the Gray
Ghost, a character featured in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.
Broad-brimmed hat and goggles for mask, the TV character proved an inspiration
to young Bruce Wayne, prompting Batman to seek out the actor who played the
role – Adam West in a bit of inspired casting – when Gotham City is
threatened by a plot device taken from the old television series.
The Gray Ghost, from Batman: The Animated Series
Supporting characters include a New York City police inspector by the name of
Donovan, taken from the same mold as The Shadow’s Detective Joe Cardona; and
Celeste, a jazz singer who is our hero’s Achilles heel.
The forces of darkness are most ably represented by Gideon Reece, a sadistic
killer and chief underling of the Roman. As villains go, Reece is the Darth
Maul of the book; which is to say he is far more interesting than his master,
who makes little more than a cameo appearance toward the end of the story.
George Mann, the author, lives in Britain, and perhaps it’s the small
differences in lingo that mar the story. For instance, he uses the word
“prized” where my American sensibilities inserted the word, “pried.” Or maybe
it’s just sloppy editing, I don’t know. Such flaws are in character with the
fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method of pulp literature
Author George Mann
In any event, I’m happy to overlook such trifles in my appreciation for a book
that deftly blends the steampunk world with that of classic American pulps,
though in my opinion, it leans more toward the latter.
Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at
philip@comicbookbin.com.
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