Meet Boilerplate, the world’s first robot soldier—not in a present-day military lab or a science-fiction movie, but in the past, during one of the most fascinating periods of U.S. history. Designed by Professor Archibald Campion in 1893 as a prototype, for the self-proclaimed purpose of “preventing the deaths of men in the conflicts of nations,” Boilerplate charged into combat alongside such notables as Teddy Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia. Campion and his robot also circled the planet with the U.S. Navy, trekked to the South Pole, made silent movies, and hobnobbed with the likes of Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla.
You say you’ve never heard of Boilerplate before? That’s because this book is the fanciful creation of a husbandand-wife team who have richly imagined these characters and inserted them into accurate retellings of history. This full-color chronicle is profusely illustrated with graphics mimicking period style, including photos, paintings, posters, cartoons, maps, and even stereoscope cards. Part Jules Verne and part Zelig, it’s a great volume for a broad range of fans of science fiction, history, and robots.
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Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett have been collaborating on comics and graphic novels since 1989, including the Eisner Award–nominated science-fiction comic series Heartbreakers. Paul is an artist and writer whose clients include the History Channel and the Cartoon Network. Anina is a writer and editor who has worked with Dark Horse Comics and international publisher Egmont. They live in Portland, Oregon.
Paul Guinan is an artist and writer whose eclectic career includes stints as a television personality, cinematographer, commercial illustrator, movie reviewer, production designer, storyboard artist, model maker, and wax-figure restorer for a Ripley's Museum.
He produced and hosted the award-winning Chicago cable TV variety show "The Friday Club", and was lead background artist on the animated series "Stan Lee's Stripperella". In comics, he has worked on a variety of titles, including co-creating and illustrating "Chronos", a monthly time-travel series from DC Comics.
An avid history buff, Paul has garnered international acclaim as the world's foremost authority on nineteenth-century robots. With wife and co-author Anina Bennett at his side, he has lived with the Apache in traditional fashion, sailed the Pacific on a square-rigged brig, and traversed the sands of the Roman Coliseum.
Paul lives at the end of the Oregon Trail, with Anina, and a dog named Sisko.
Guinan and Bennett create an entire world here, an alternate universe in which a talking robot designed to fight the wars of men can be lost to history. Every part of the story is researched and couched in reality, so the effect is disorienting and transporting. Meanwhile, the authors are exploring issues of technology, fame, warfare, communications, and more. The illustrations and Photoshop work are brilliant. Great work... I recommend it highly.
In retrospect the below "Hoax" review may be the most positive compliment paid to this book.
The fact that this book is so well executed, so convincing that a person will ignore common sense, a basic grounding in history and even the slightest knowledge of engineering to believe that Boilerplate was real only attests to the skill, talent and vision of the artist.
Despite the comment by J Stonebraker, who could quite possibly be a complete idiot, this is a great book. Yes, it is a work of historical fiction, but it is an incredibly detailed, beautifully executed work of fiction.
