Monthly Archives: May 2012

One of the more fascinating and surreal aspects of scientific history can be found just a bit over a hundred years ago, with the theory of aetheric space. If you don’t mind my indulging in a brief scientific tangent, aether was believed to be a substance that filled the interstellar void through which light waves would flow. While this seems foolish today, seeing that man walked on the moon just over four decades ago and has sent interstellar probes that even now press the boundaries of galactic space, early experiments with diffraction patterns revealed that light was a wave; the fact it was also a particle seemed impossible for many scientists, resulting in the creation of a substance through which light could flow… and which, should man somehow break free of the boundaries of the planet, human ships could likewise ply, much akin to the sailing ships of their day.

This concept of space being a vast sea has colored science fiction ever since; even now, with our knowledge of the void of space people still speak of “sailing the sea of stars” and consider space travel in nautical terms. But there is still an odd fascination with the concept of “aether” and aetheric space. This is the setting of the steampunk webcomic Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether, though calling it “steampunk” is perhaps too limiting; the story’s setting includes magic, airships, the above-mentioned aether, privateers, and more. One of the characters (Miles Drake) is a gunslinging Deputy Marshal, and his associate would easily be considered an American Indian if the comic were set on Earth. And of course there’s Lady Seneca Sabre, the comic’s protagonist.

Lady Sabre is the captain of the privateer Pegasus and in many ways reminds me of Captain Morgan from the 1995 film Cutthroat Island (played by Geena Davis). Much like Morgan, Lady Sabre is confident and quite willing to put herself in harm’s way to get what she wants… while being wily enough to outfox her opponents. Interestingly, I never got the feeling that she was over the top; if anything, she has an air to her much akin to that of traditional male protagonists who get away with being larger than life without cries of being Mary Sues. Perhaps this is partly due to the sheer sense of fun inherent in the comic; this is a swashbuckling adventure set in an odd mixture that includes Steampunk, the Wild West, and Europe at the Age of Enlightenment (and in this, once more, I’m reminded of Geena Davis’ depiction of Captain Morgan, another larger-than-life female character that (to me) avoided the Mary Sue label).

The use of aetheric space actually allows for a fascinating and rarely-used setting, with realms set on continents and islands that float in the aether. The aether ships in this world are an interesting mixture, with the Pegasus shown as a wooden sailing vessel while other ships have been depicted as dirigibles and the like. Nor is the aether merely a different sea through which ships sail; as readers have recently learned, the aether is not calm and when the Great Storms erupt, entire civilizations can be laid to waste and formerly-fertile lands can become barren and twisted. Interestingly, Lady Sabre takes a different path when it comes to the depiction of magic and technology, with both co-existing… though the pace of technological advancement has been slowed a bit due to the presence of magic (why develop airplanes, for instance, when magic allows you to fly?).

The comic itself is well-crafted, with clean artwork and characters that come to life on the screen. Over the years I’ve seen several well-drawn comics that ultimately suffer because the characters feel posed. With Lady Sabre, there is much less of this feel. Characters lean forward when speaking passionately, and tend to move from panel to panel. The art also makes use of effective shading and highlights; it can be a touch subtle at times, but this is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. And as I mentioned above, the comic is fun, with a story much akin to the early serials that strove to entertain as much as tell a good story. It is this sense of fun that makes this comic well worth reading, and one I highly recommend.