There is a certain charm about titles such as ORGUSS 02 or ESCAFLOWNE that take place in alternate universes. In a day and age where many shows seem to be rehashing the same ideas over and over, the otherworldly feel of an alternate setting often provides just the right amount of spice to spark the viewers' interest.
Asamiya Kia's ongoing "STEAM DETECTIVES" series uses this "retro" theme. In keeping with the early manga style of the 70s, Asamiya breaks away from his intricately drawn, lavishly ziptoned illustrations and uses simpler, cleaner lines and flat-shaded surfaces. The result is a visual style somewhat similar to that of GIANT ROBO or KISHIN HEIDAN, both of which feature stylized mecha designs and characters with sharp-looking hairdos.
The setting is "Steam City," which looks like an early twentieth century London or Gotham City. The premise of the alternate setting is the automatic coal burner, which allows people to use coal the way gasoline is used today, in turn allowing for steam-driven limousines, scooters, and the requisite mecha. The story opens with a villain who bears an uncanny resemblance to Batman confronting a rich couple. Calling himself "The Knight of Phantom," the villain takes the couple's kid hostage and guns them down in cold blood.
Years later, a series of bizarre crimes come to the attention of boy detective Narutaki. The victims are left drained of their blood, and a seemingly innocent nurse named Lin-Lin and her robot turns out to be the one behind the crimes. Confronting the two, the resourceful Narutaki destroys the robot's coolant tank with his gun, to which Lin-Lin surrenders and pleads Narutaki to spare Gouriki's life — her father's brain was transplanted to the body of the robot, and Lin-Lin had been promised by someone that if she gathers enough blood, her father's dead body can be brought back to life.
That "someone" is none other than the Knight of Phantom. Having manipulated Lin-Lin in order to lure Narutaki out, the villain finally makes an appearance. Mocking Lin-Lin's naivete, the Phantom informs her that her father is dead, and no amount of blood can bring him back alive. "As for the robot, I've been using a remote control to operate it... the robot isn't alive!" As Lin-Lin mourns for her father, however, Gouriki (who really is alive) suddenly moves under its own will and strikes at the Phantom! Narutaki puts up a brave fight to capture the masked man; pushed into a checkmate, the Phantom withdraws for the moment but promises Narutaki that they will meet again.
Aside from the Phantom's strong semblance to "The Dark Knight," Narutaki is an independently wealthy orphan with a trusty butler to take care of him. Sound familiar? The alternate setting begins to lose some of its charm once the reader realizes that many details that make up the Steam City setting are taken almost directly from Batman. And while GIANT ROBO and KISHIN HEIDAN's settings proved to be integral to the plot — civilization's over-reliance on the Shizuma energy source in GIANT ROBO, the use of captured alien blackboxes in KISHIN HEIDAN — the setting of Steam City seems no more than an excuse to feature giant robots in a Londonesque setting. Even Narutaki's gun, which can be fitted with a plethora of useful gadgets (my particular favorite is the chaff bullet, which scrambles radio waves and renders remote controlled robots useless), reminds the reader a lot of Batman's utility belt.
As for the story, the Knight of Phantom story showed great promise, including hints of Narutaki's father's role in the construction of Steam City, but the Phantom perishes in volume two before all the loose plot threads can be tied. As of volume three, the Knight of Phantom has not reappeared yet. The rest of the chapters alternate between slapstick and remakes of existing stories (including the "Steam King," a successful novelist who begins to act out the part of his storybook villain in a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" fashion).
Narutaki's character turns out to be the saving grace. Unlike GIANT ROBO's whiny Daisaku, Narutaki possesses a good number of qualities that make him very likable: he is resilient, courageous, and resourceful, and he is very generous and forgiving. Telling the police that Lin-Lin was a victim of the Phantom, he takes both the nurse and her robot under his care, and the three of them work together to solve the mysteries of Steam City together. Lin-Lin herself, a very caring individual at heart, gradually becomes more independent and on occasion even intervenes to save Narutaki's bacon.
Objectively speaking, THE STEAM DETECTIVES scores slightly better than average, ranking far behind Asamiya's infinitely superior SILENT MÖBIUS. And yet I found myself enjoying this title more than Asamiya's more recent NADESICO manga, which returns to his great illustration style but is much too fluffy for my taste. At the very least, the first two volumes are worth reading for the Knight of Phantom storyline, and the other stories begin to grow in appeal after a while. I'll give THE STEAM DETECTIVES a "try before you buy."

THE STEAM DETECTIVES Vol 1-3 © 1995 Asamiya Kia ¥390 Published by Jump Comics / Kodansha Vol 1: ISBN4-0808511257-X Vol 2: ISBN4-0808511258-8 Vol 3: ISBN4-0808511259-6