Ax (right) and Nell (left) ready for battle...
Steamgear Inc.
is an original steampunk action comic written by snuffysam. It is available to read on Webtoon Canvas, and began uploading in February of 2022.
Alexandra "Ax" Arcenast is a young woman from a small town, who hears all about the adventures of the Steamgear Defenders over the radio. When her brother Hatch gets a job as a scientist at Steamgear Incorporated, Ax is finally granted the chance to join the Defenders, using her brother's inventions!
Armed with a modified extinguisher that can reverse any fire damage, Ax journeys on her quest to become an elite warrior - and uncovers the truth of Steamgear Inc. along the way!
Tropes appearing in Steamgear Inc. include:
- Cool Sword: Terry's katana that shifts into a propeller.
- Couple Theme Naming: Business/life partners Charles Washer & George Dryer have this - Washer-Dryer.
- Descriptive Ville: The city of Tierra Barata, literally Spanish for "cheap land", is a tiny city located in the middle of some mountains.
- Improbable Weapon User: Ax's fire extinguisher arm cannon.
- Ironic Name: Alexandra Arcenast (named for "arsonist"), given her foam that reverses fire damage.
- MegaCorp: The eponymous Steamgear Incorporated, the largest tech company in the word that effectively has its own police force.
- Steampunk: Gears, steam, mechanical weapons, corsets, railroads, telegraphs, and airships! Oddly enough, despite using retro-futuristic technology and common steampunk tropes, the setting is neither Victorian nor English - the story takes place in 2020s' America.
- Reveal Shot: In Secret Adversary Part 2, The blue background behind Chisel's head appears to just be the interior of the guard house... before Chisel's true size is revealed.
- Stock Shōnen Hero: I'm gonna be a Steamgear Defender! Ax's strong sense of justice, her belief in the power of friendship, her skills in battle, and her obliviousness to the way the world really works all make her an example of this trope.
- Theme Naming: Every named character thus far has been named over a common tool or appliance.
- Alexandra "Ax" Arcenast: Axe
- Hatch Arcenast: Hatchet
- Charles Washer: Washing machine
- George Dryer: Clothes dryer
- Ro Terry: Rotary saw
- Chisel
- Nell: Nail
- Wham Episode: Page 31 of Great Expectations Ax has finally gotten into Oasis Campus and met Administrator Phillip Driver, who accepts her as an up and coming Steamgear Defender. Excited that she's about to achieve her dream, she asks about her brother's whereabouts so he can celebrate with her. Only for Phillip to reveal that, Hatch died before her arrival. He was only able to complete two inventions for the company and quite literally worked himself to death before he could complete a third. And Phillip only seems to care that he failed, not that he died. Ax, furious at Phillip's nonchalance, attacks him, refusing to ever work for the company that killed her brother. Now that she knows too much, Phillip orders her death to the entire campus. The result? Alexandra Arcenast is now a wanted fugitive with the most powerful company in the world gunning for her life.
