Cynthia J. Miller

Blending Genres, Bending Time: Steampunk on the Western Frontier

Abstract Western steampunk uses fantastic images of technology-out-of-time to create critical commentary on the notion of progress and the inherent tension between “civilization” and nature. As a hybrid subgenre it uses the steampunk aesthetic to introduce technology-as-spectacle—breathtaking, larger than life, focus rather than backdrop—and traffics in fetishism, making technology the stuff of fantasy and obsession. Through the steampunk Western, we see the working out of the tension between popular fascination and fear in relation to technology and the machine age—a commentary on the loss of the wildness, independence, and freedom of the frontier West.

“To Learn from the Past …”: Becoming Cold War Citizens with Captain Z-Ro

“Somewhere in a remote, uncharted region of the planet Earth stands the laboratory of Captain Z-Ro …,” a booming voice intoned, and the latest episode of the exploits of Captain Z-Ro, Research Explorer in Time and Space, began. His mission? Not to rid distant worlds of deadly foes, but “to learn from the past … to plan for the future.”