REMAINS TO BE SEEN, 2011 - BOILERPLATE

A big thanks to fellow crossover enthusiast Jose Ricardo Bondoc for bringing this to my attention:

BERKELEY, CA (6/2)- Local artists and authors Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett have created a steampunk sensation in the form of the robot known as Boilerplate. According to their site, "Boilerplate was a mechanical man developed by Professor Archibald Campion during the 1880s and unveiled at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition... Built in a small Chicago laboratory, Boilerplate was originally designed as a prototype soldier for use in "preventing the deaths of men in the conflicts of nations."..

Although it was the only such prototype, Boilerplate was eventually able to exercise its proposed function by participating in several combat actions, charging alongside such famous figures as Teddy Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia.... Professor 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....

Boilerplate is one of history's great ironies, a technological breakthrough that languished in obscurity—until now...." Recently this reporter had the chance to interview the artist and author behind Boilerplate, and discuss the secrets behind his creation, and the upcoming J.J. Abrams film currently in production.

Here's the link to the interview in Facebook:

Usually at the beginning of the year, I offer up a character that deserves to have a live-action televersion adaptation. In the past I've made the case for comic book characters like Zatanna (which did come true) and Green Lantern (which won't happen now until the movie franchise finally fades away), and for characters from novels like Silver John the Balladeer and Harry Flashman (who technically exists in Toobworld - in an adaptation of the original novel in which he appeared, "Tom Brown's School Days").

Reading through this article and reading about Boilerplate elsewhere online, I think this would make for a great little series on Syfy. Perhaps it could have the same framework like 'New Amsterdam' - with a story set in the present (or some set point in History) but with flashbacks to some point in Boilerplate's "life" interacting with historical figures.

So hopefully - if Abrams' movie is just successful enough to spark interest, but not so boffo at the box office to get tied up in movie sequels - there may be a decision to bring Boilerplate to Toobworld.

BCnU!