The Brass family has just returned from another of their adventures, but all is not well. Sinister forces, led by the notorious villain the Crime Minster, are conspiring against the British Empire. The First Family of the Realm must draw upon all their wits and cunning, and their many allies, to save the empire they love for queen and country.
I was first asked to review Brass by series creator John Longenbaugh, who acts as the narrator for the series, and is also the head writer and producer. He'd seen my review of Red Moon over on the Audio Drama Lovers group on Facebook, and correctly guessed that I'm into alternate history. I said I'd be happy to, after I attended to We Fix Space Junk, and few other obligations and personal projects. So, here we are at last.
I can best describe Brass as a steampunk superhero show. It has a very The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets The Fantastic Four vibe to it. We've got a family of four individuals who each have their own special talents, and who are well known as crime fighters and adventurers. They also live in an alternate history steampunk world complete with several public domain characters, or those closely modeled on public domain characters.
Brass began life as a pitch for a television series, but it was never able to get off the ground. Undeterred, John adapted his ideas into a short film, and later a stage play. Not long after this, John decided to expand his idea into an audio drama podcast. This legacy of theatrical productions is most evident in the first season. From what John tells me, he began as a playwright, and theatre is the medium he's most comfortable writing in. The first season production is fairly barebones. No music or sound effects, other than the opening music. The actors perform their lines the lemony narrator, played by John, sets the scene at the opening and during scene transitions. He also does a brief "how will our heroes escape this" monologue at the end of each episode to entice the listeners to tune-in next time. This gives the impression of being a recording of a stage performance. Though, it was also pretty obvious that the team hadn't quite gotten the hang of making audio drama yet.
Midway through season two, however, this begins to change. First off, we got new opening theme music. Whereas the old music was a soft piano piece, the new music is bombastic trumpets that practically sing with the sound of adventure. We also get actual music and sound effects added into the episodes. This trend continues into seasons three and four, which are stronger still. It is clear that, by this point, the production team got more comfortable working with the medium of audio drama. They used these new found talents to give us an excellent audio drama.
Okay, now let's talk about the world of Brass. As should be obvious by this point, it is a world of mechanical steam-powered marvels. Apparently, this is partially due to the rise of new British political called the Technocrat Party. They were founded by Lord Byron, who went on to become Prime Minister. In fact, he's considered one of the greatest prime ministers of the world of Brass. His poetry is but a distant footnote to his political career. Meanwhile, Jules Verne is an Elon Musk style inventor, and has created . Robur the Conqueror prowls the skies aboard the Albatross, and Captain Nemo charts the seas aboard the Nautilus.
The British Empire still rules much of the world, but it is a more socially progressive empire, in addition to being more technologically progressive. There is talk of granting dominion status to Ireland and India. Brass where the worst excess of British imperialism were blunted, if not outright avoided. As for the imperialism of other European powers, well, we'll get to that soon enough.
Moving along, Britain seems to be more open minded about homosexuality. We see that Oscar Wilde is still producing plays. Cyril also openly lusts after several male characters, but never show in concern about hiding his sexuality, nor does he fear getting thrown in jail. The rise of the Technocrat Party, along with Prince Albert still being alive, has contributed to British society being more open-minded and less ridged.
Queen Victoria is still doing quite well, and so is Prince Albert. Oh, they had a bit of a scare in 1861, but the doctors were able to save him, and now...well, he's not in perfect health, but the important thing is he's still alive. This is a sharp contrast to our world, where Albert died in 1861. His death was a major blow to Victoria, who wore widow's weeds for the rest of her life. In the world of Brass, with Albert being alive, Victoria is in much better spirits.
Of course, the world outside the British Isles has also changed. The Opium War still occurred, but it ended much quicker, and still in Britain's favor. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for China. Following the war, China enacted a series of reforms and successfully modernized. China also seems to have a fairly good relationship with Britain. In fact, Chinese youths are often sent to universities in Britain to learn about engineering and other subjects.
Across the Atlantic, the South won the American Civil War. As of 1886, slavery is still alive and well in the Confederate States of America. Though, they are also referred to as the Southern States of America, so I'm not sure what their actual name is, but I'll say Confederate States for simplicity's sake. Blacks don't have it much better in the United States. Many whites blame blacks for the war at ruined the Union, and black still face discrimination in the Union. As such, many blacks have opted to move to Liberia to build a society based on the ideals of what the United States were supposed to be. As of 1886, Liberia is major technological power, and a major player in the fight against slavery.
This is much better than how Liberia fared in our world. Liberia was founded by an organization called The American Colonization Society to serve as a homeland for freed slaves. This is why the Liberians flag resembles the American flag so closely. Unfortunately, the fledgling nation didn't get much support for America after its establishment. Moreover, American Blacks didn't get along very well with the native African Blacks. It was pretty much colonialism, except that everyone involved was black.
Moving back to the world of Brass, let's talk more about Africa. The Scramble for Africa still happened, but the European powers tried to be more humane and humanitarian in their colonization efforts. Emphasis on tried. The International African Association and the International Association of the Congo sought to introduce the wonders to modern science and technology to the peoples of Africa. Well, that's what they claimed. Both organizations existed in our world, and were headed by King Leopold II of Belgium. However, also like in our world, it was all a smokescreen so that Leopold could turn the Congo into his personal rubber plantation.
Britain, France, and Germany all wanted the Congo, but it ultimately went to Belgium because they were small and wouldn't upset the balance of power. Leopold then turned the Belgian Congo into a giant rubber plantation fueled by slavery and inhumane cruelty. Congolese who failed to produce enough rubber got their hands chopped off. Children as young as five were subject to getting their hands chopped off. If a white person shot a black person, they were expected to cut off one of the black's hands as proof. Severed hands were practically currency for the Belgian Congo. This is the land that inspired Joseph Conrad's famous novel Heart of Darkness. By the time Belgian rule ended at least one-fifth of the Congo's population had been slaughtered.
A tragedy and a massive human rights abuse, and not as well-known as it ought to be. Partially this is because Leopold's supporters made a point of destroying any evidence that might paint him in an unflattering light. So, I appreciate that Brass acknowledges the tragedy of the Belgian Congo. Oh, and guess who else was involved in both The International African Association and the International Association of the Congo? Why, Lord Brass, of course. To be fair, he didn't know it was all a scam, and he feels deep guilt and remorse for his involvement.
All very interesting stuff, and excellent worldbuilding. Okay, so enough history lessons, let's talk characters. I like the Brass family well enough. I like them, but I can't help but feel that they come across as just a tad vanilla compared to the more colorful side characters. For example, we've got Ponder Wright the cyborg detective, and Dan Abraham the Jewish martial arts master. There's also Tuknor, Lord of the Apes, whose real name is Lord Whitestone. He's seems a lawyer-friendly version of Tarzan, who's copyright status is the subject of much debate. For reference, Tarzan's real name was Lord Greystroke. Though, from what John tells me, this isn't necessarily the case. There were several other lords of the jungle besides Tarzan. So, perhaps it is best to view Tuknor as a cousin of sorts to Tarzan. Ponder and Tuknor were my favorite characters, and I was very happy they even got a few episodes where it was just the two of them together. I loved Tuknor's deliberately stilted and overly formal way of speaking.
Towards the later portion of season four we are introduced a team of freedom fighting pilots called the Lincoln Brigade. They're headquarters is in New York City, fight for freedom and fight against the horrors of Confederate slavery. They're comprised of a Liberian mechanic, who used to be a slave in the Confederacy, a woman from the Union, and a white woman from the Confederacy. That last one isn't as out there as it might seem. There were several Southerners who opposed secession most famously, the Free State of Jones in Jones County, Mississippi. New Orleans was also home to a society of Southerners opposed to secession. Though, I'm not sure they'd name themselves after Lincoln. Unless he got assassinated sooner than in our world, he'd be remembered as the president who lost the Civil War. The name the Lincoln Brigade is a nod to the American volunteers who fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War.
If the creators of Brass ever consider spin-offs, I hope they make one about the Lincoln Brigade. John likes the idea, but worries that he isn't the right person for it. He says he'd rather hand the reigns over to a black creators. So, if you're black and involved in audio drama, maybe consider messaging Battleground Productions. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.
I also hope that we might possibly get one about Ponder and Tuknor having adventures together. But most of all I would hope we'd get one about the Brass family having adventure around the world. That was one of my biggest complaints about Brass. We frequently get old about all the many adventures the Brass family has had around the world, but we never get to see any of it. You could have an episode now and again that could be a flashback to a past adventure. If you really needed, add a framing device to help tie it into the theme of the storyline in the present. For example, instead of having Lord Brass tell us about his shameful role in the colonization of Africa, make and flashback episode and show it.
I will say that I liked that Lord Brass wasn't born into nobility. He was a commoner, but he earned a title of nobility thanks to his work in science and engineering. In fact, he's a Peer of the Realm. That's the highest title of nobility anyone in British society can attain. The only higher title of nobility is that of the ruling Royal Family.
Okay, so let's talk about the villain. The Crime Minister is the lead of all the villains and criminals in Britain. He has a man working for him within the British government. Lord Trent is the public face, but the Crime Minister is the one calling the shots. Trent is a member of the Conservative Party and manages to get elected Prime Minister. He claims that Britain's problems due to foreign influences such as Jews, Muslims, the Irish, and other immigrants. He pledges to Make the British Empire Great Again. Brass began production during the twilight of the Obama years. John has said that, while he did get the idea of progressive heroes fighting against reactionary villains after Trump was elected, Trent isn't meant to be directly based off of Donald Trump.
I will say I like the reasoning for the Crime Minister's schemes. He believes that progress is driven by chaos and strife. Thus, to advance the march of technology and science, he must sow discord and discontent. Technically speaking, he isn't too far off the mark. Technology did see several leaps forward during and following World War I and World War II. You could even argue, to an extent, that the same held true for the American Civil War. Then, of course, there's the Cold War. While it wasn't a war in the convention all sense, the principal holds true.
Trent, and by extent the Crime Minister, want to...make Britain more like it was in the 19th Century of our world. Britain under Trent is supposed to be oppressive, but it didn't sound any different than what our world's Britain was like in 1885. This brings me to a point I made earlier. One of my biggest complaints about Brass is that it often ran afoul of show, don't tell. We are told that Britain is oppressive, we are told that it is a grim time for minorities, we told but are hardly ever shown. Dan Abraham says that anti-Semitism is on the rise, and that Jews are being attacked, but we never see that. It easily fixable. Just have a few scenes where we hear the sounds of angry rioters, and maybe have them shout some mildly racist slurs or slogans.
John tells me that he keep thing deliberately limited as a personal stylistic choice. More power to him, he's free to make his audio drama as he pleases. Still, I can't help but feel that Brass might have benefited from doing a bit more showing, rather than telling.
On a related note, there is a part where it is mentioned that Prince Dakkar has pledged his services to help the Brasses and their allies overthrow the Crime Minister. You probably know Dakkar better as Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It does make since that he'd ally with the Brass family. In the Mysterious Island it is revealed that Nemo was a prince from India who lost his family during the Sepoy Mutiny. So, he'd be concerned about how the Crime Minster's policies would affect India. However, he never gets an on-screen appearance. This was, I would say, a pretty big missed opportunity. At one point, Lord Brass mentions that he's just returned from lunch with Nemo. It would have been nice to have seen that, rather than told it. John says he did so to keep things suspenseful for the audience.
While we're on the subject, let's talk about some other things that didn't work. Apparently, Nikola Tesla has moved to Britain and become an apprentice to Lord Brass. Lord Brass mentions how much better Tesla is than that mean old Thomas Edison. Edison gets an undeserved bad reputation. He was aggressive with his patens, but that was because he got screwed over early in his career. Meanwhile, Tesla supported eugenic and advocated sterilizing poor people and minorities. Say what you will about Edison, at least he didn't support eugenics. In fact, Tesla would be far more likely to be working for the Crime Minister. Now, I must be fair. Brass is hardly the most egregious alternate history in this regard. Edison is only mentioned in one scene. I just really don't like it when alternate histories poo-poo Edison while ignoring Tesla's flaws.
Then we have Father Reynard. He's a Jesuit priest that Cyril is attached to. Apparently, the Catholic Church is very displeased with how Trent's government is persecuting Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and other minorities. What a load of bullshit. Obviously, the Vatican would care about Catholics, but I know for a fact that the 19th Century Catholic Church wouldn't care about Jews and Muslims. If anything, they'd be ecstatic about Trent's policies. In 1886, the Catholic Church still had the blood libel on the books. It was the belief that Jews used the blood of Christians for their religious rituals. They also believed that the Jews were the ones responsible for Jesus getting crucified, and thus that Jews were the scum of the Earth. Oh, and the blood libel didn't get repealed until the Vatican II consul in 1965.
As for Reynard himself, well, Brass was starting with a handicap there. I attended Catholic middle school and Catholic high school. As a result, I have an absolute rock bottom opinion of the Catholic Church and its employees. As far as I'm concerned, the only good priest is a dead priest, and the Church is the world's oldest racket. Didn't help that my high school was folded by Jesuits, which is the order Reynard belongs to. I kept secretly wishing that Reynard would get killed, or at the very least seriously injured, by the villains. Still, he was absent from big climax. I suppose I should be thankful for small mercies. But I still say the part where he insisted on sneaking into Britain in a barrel was needlessly stupid. Reynard claims it would be wrong to lie. I'm fairly certain the Catholic Church is okay with lying when your life is in immediate danger. Now, I must be fair. I don't want sound like I'm picking on Brass in particular here. Still, I hope by now it should be clear why I don't have any love for Reynard. Maybe the Catholic Church is more progressive in the world of Brass, but I'm just too cynical to buy that.
Now, I don't want to get too negative here. Despite these flaws, the team behind Brass still managed to put out a reasonably solid show that I very much enjoyed.
Moving on to more positive things, overall, I found that the voice actors did an excellent job. The actors who played the Brass family were a bit rough at first. It was pretty clear they were Americans attempting to fake British accents. That having being said, they got better as time went on, and it was less noticeable. I will add that the rest of the cast had very good British accents. Yes, that includes John. Though, I suspect that some of them were played by British actors. Tuknor speaks with a deliberately stilted and overly formal American accent, which I though worked quite well. I also liked how Ponder has a slight static hiss to his speech, and sounds like he's playing off of a recording. It underscores his cyborg nature. The only real sore spot was Dan Abraham. He speaks in a stereotypically Eastern European accent, even though he's supposed to have lived in Britain for his entire life. Though, in fairness, there are several Jewish neighborhoods in London where the residents do indeed still speak with Eastern European accents.
Brass ran for four seasons of about ten episodes each. The ending wraps-up all the plot threads neatly, but also leaves open the possibility for future adventures. I'd certainly be open for more adventures, but I'd hope we'd get to explore the world outside of the British Isles. One of my biggest complaints about steampunk audio drama is that they seem to be under the impression that the British Isles were the only place of note during the Victorian Era. I would very much like to think that Brass could avoid this pitfall in any future spin-offs. Also, from what John tells me, the team behind Brass are still attempting to get it adapted as a television series. We shall have to see how that pans out.
So, there you have it. Brass is a steampunk proto-superhero adventure audio drama. Despite a bit of a rough start, and a few flaws here and there, it goes on to be an excellent audio drama, and one I happy recommend to all of you. Give it a listen today.
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
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