Phil and Kaja Foglio, text, and Brian Noddy,
Brian McNabb, and Laurie E. Smith, illustrations,
Girl Genius, issues 1-10 (Airship Entertainment, 2001-2004)
Adventure! Romance! Mad Science!
Some people call it steam punk, but creators Phil and Kaja Foglio call Girl Genius a "gaslamp fantasy," and I have to say that I'm becoming awfully fond of the term.
Agatha, the girl genius of the title, is coming of age in a mad world. A man named Klaus Wulfenbach rules most of Europe, a Europe made up of walled cities between which exist, mostly, horrible wastelands. Mad scientists, those who have the Spark to create machines which break the laws of nature, create robots called Clanks, living creatures called Constructs, and even entire races of sentient beings which never existed before. The Americas are lost, all communication cut off, and the ships which set out to get there never return. Most of this madness can be laid at the door of the Other, an alien being who seems to have been trying to take over the world with tools like the Slaver Wasps, which turn people into revenants, slaves dedicated to the mysterious enemy. Once, the Heterodyne Boys, Bill and Barry, protected Europe, fought for good, and helped people to defend themselves. But the Heterodynes, and Bill's wife Lucrezia Mongfish, disappeared years ago. Stories of their adventures are now told on street corners and at bedsides, like tales of Arthur and his Court. It is hard for many people to believe that they ever really existed. But they did, and Bill and Lucrezia left behind a daughter. . . .
Agatha Clay attends Transylvania Polygnostic University in Beetleburg, on the eastern edge of the Carpathians. She lives above a machine shop with Adam and Lillith Clay, almost the only parents she has ever known. As much as she loves Science, and as desperately as she wants to be a Spark, nothing she tries to build actually works. She gets terrible headaches, too.
When her trilobyte locket is stolen and Baron Wulfenbach visits the University and discovers that Dr. Beetle has been keeping things from him, Agatha's life is turned on its head — and everyone else's is about to be.
A Clank no one will claim walks the streets of Beetleburg, attracting the Baron's attention. When he follows it back to its place of origin, he finds two people, a young soldier of fortune, and Agatha (in her underwear). Assuming the soldier is the Spark, he takes them both, the man to study, and Agatha to keep her presumed lover in line. Aboard Castle Wulfenbach, Agatha quickly makes friends and enemies. There are other young people here, mostly hostages to the behavior of noble or Sparky relatives. The Baron's son, Gilgamesh, is intrigued by Agatha, and suspects that his father is wrong about who built that Clank. Also aboard are Jägermonsters, members of the weird race created by the Heterodynes. Then there's Othar Tryggvassen, self-proclaimed Hero; Krosp, the Emperor of All Cats; and Von Pinn, the terrifying construct-nanny whose dress would look right at home in a fetish club. All of these will unexpectedly help or hinder her as she tries to figure out who she is, where her parents (either set) are, and why she keeps waking up in labs wearing only her underwear.
Issues one through three of this quarterly comic are in black and white, and available in trade paperback or the vanishingly rare hardcover editions (Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank); from four onward they appear in stunning color. The hardcover and trade paperback are in a large format for better appreciation, and also include the eight-page short "Agatha Heterodyne and the Electric Coffin," a vignette from Agatha's future.
While all ten issues (all that are out as I write this) are penciled by the marvelous Phil Foglio (the g is silent, by the way), the first three are inked by Brian Snoddy, four through eight are colored by Mark McNabb (no mention of inker), and nine and ten have colors by Laurie E. Smith (again, no inker listed).
Brian Snoddy's work makes the art crisp and clear. It jumps off the page at you, even (or perhaps especially) in the slightly sepia-toned brown-black ink of the hardcover. When I first read it, I didn't miss the color.
Mark McNabb's stint bring us vibrant, glowing colors, including the gorgeous image of Castle Wulfenbach which adorns the Foglio's Airship Books Web site splash page. He provides many gorgeous pages for your enjoyment.
Laurie E. Smith gives a somewhat subtler hand to the comic, with more intricate shadings. It may not have quite the "pop" of McNabb's, but her coloring is beautiful in its own right, and fits the story better as the characters gain depth.
Phil, as penciler, still gives the work its base, and brings as much charm to the illustrations as to the story. He fits so much detail into everything, it's astonishing! In the first issues alone, paying close attention to what's going on around the characters will show you a wealth of amusing bits and bobs. The fish from the University sequence has become very popular with fans, and Agatha's bedroom is simply amazing. You have to love a girl who has the prime numbers stenciled around the ceiling.
Much as I love the art of Girl Genius, for me, it's all about the story in the end. And the story is best thing about it. Phil and Kaja (which is pronounced like "Kaya") strike a wonderful balance between two extremes I've grown to dislike lately in hero tales. One is the image of the hero as a nobody, an anyman, a normal person who just stumbled into the job; in its place, this is fine, but it tends to cause the mythic quality of a story to get lost. The other is the hero as someone who was always perfect and good and wonderful. Agatha manages to get in that normal-personness: she's a bit clumsy, she's unsure of herself, she gets frustrated and angry and upset; still, she is clearly made of greatness, for greatness. What we're seeing here is her journey as she finds the greatness within herself.
The writing is witty, funny, touching, inspiring. It's got terrific throwaway lines: "'Und any plan vere you lose you hat iz?' 'A bad plan?'" "It's a falling machine. Oh, I'm so impressed." The little references are wonderful, too, like Gilgamesh's manservant Wooster. I'm not quite sure why the girl mechanic is called Sleipnir, though. She doesn't seem too similar to Odin's eight-legged horse to me. Perhaps this will be made clear in time, or perhaps it's just there because they liked the sounds of it. (Heck, I just like the sound of "Lucrezia Mongfish"!)
The characters, too, are fascinating. Baron Wulfenbach, the villain of the piece, isn't evil. He just wants Europe to function. If he has to bully everyone into pulling together to get that to happen, he will. But really, like any Spark, he'd rather be in his lab. Gilgamesh is another matter. He loves his father, and wants desperately to please him, but he's getting tired of all the tests his parent keeps setting him, and he wants to be able to do his own thing. Most of his clashes with Agatha are the result of normal misunderstandings between a young woman and a young man. And then there's Othar, who has cast himself as the hero, and Agatha as his spunky girl sidekick. Agatha's too smart for him, though! She's probably too smart for her own good, as well.
In addition to all of this, each issue of Girl Genius includes extra goodies for fans (as well as a complete lack of ads). Covers have tiny fleets of dirigibles and submersibles to cut out and make into a mobile; a replica of Agatha's trilobyte locket; stand-ups of characters; and new inserts for the Decoder. As you might have guessed, there are secret coded messages in each issue, too, and for those who missed the preview that contained the original decoder, it can be found on the Girl Genius site in various forms. Also find maps, newspaper excerpts, extra art, and even a Mad Science etiquette column (a personal favorite).
If you couldn't tell, Girl Genius is one of my favorite comics. You just can't beat smart, funny, beautifully illustrated stories about a genuinely smart, funny, and beautiful young woman, at least for me.
It's had a bad effect on me, though. My friends are having to try to convince me that no, really, I wouldn't make a good mad scientist, and I have enough bubbling pots of stuff around as it is. Now, if only Cat doesn't find out about the lab I've started in the basement here. . . .
You can read the first issue of Girl Genius online for free.
