Clockwise from the top: Flash Gordon, Zorro, The Phantom, Vampirella, Red Sonja, Green Hornet, Captain Victory, Steve Austin, Silver Star, and Kato.
Welcome back to Strange Times & Places, where today we’re looking at one of the oddest AU stories I’ve encountered to date. Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure takes nine licensed heroes who don’t typically share a universe and puts them together in, shockingly enough, a steam punk world.
How’s It Different?
…I’d say Imaginary Story for this one. While the setting has a clear For Want of a Nail vibe (more on that later) and all the characters have basically their standard backstories but in a Steampunk world (nominating it for Royale with Cheese), but the utter randomness of the crossover aspect propels it into the realm of kids playing with action figures.
What’s The Story?
Magna Spadarossa is a young woman with several serious problems. First, her beloved older sister Sonja has gone missing. Second, there
Pictured: A dark conspiracy.
are mysteriously identical men trying to kill her. Third, both of these problems are tied to a conspiracy far beyond her understanding. To solve her problems, she will have to embark on a voyage from end of the land of Legenderry to the other, enlisting the aid of its most powerful heroes to unravel the mysteries before her.
Best of Differences
- The Phantom’s wolf sidekick, Devil, is reimagined as a steampunk robot that speaks English. And is desperately trying to land The Phantom a bride to make the next Phantom. He is perhaps one of the most entertaining characters in the mini-series.
- Zorro’s stories took place during the Age of Steam, so Steampunk Zorro seems a touch…redundant even with the science fiction additions.
- The Six Million Dollar Man is appropriately renamed The Six Thousand Dollar Man.
The Robot Devil (not the Futurama one).
- Seeing Jack Kirby’s latter day, creator owned characters Captain Victory and The Silver Star get some love is always appreciated.
- Including Flash Gordon as a spacefaring hero whose crash landing in Legenderry kick started their steampunk sci-fi age is a strange choice, since it means that there’s an Earth out there. Is there a Phantom or a Green Hornet on that Earth?
Come Back Next Week For a New Installment of Strange Times & Places!
