http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php

It's a webcomic based on the premise of 'What if MAD SCIENTISTS ruled the world?' and it is absolutely awesome. The genre is action-adventure/romance, with the titular character, Agatha, being a Spark (Mad Scientist) on a quest to retake her family's rather powerful kingdom (sparkdom?) and invent mad and awesome things on the way.

Tehan will back me up that this is an amazing comic that everyone should read, no matter what. Just a warning though, the creators used to do some very nsfw comics and it really shows through in the character designs, to the point where the main character spends most of her time in her underwear (Victorian underwear). It doesn't detract from the awesome in any way, and I highly recommend even just having a look. You won't be disappointed. The artwork has also improved dramatically over the course of the series (I just looked back at some earlier chapters - yikes!).

Now for spoilers.

Spoiler

Just read the newest chapter and Gil has reaffirmed his place as my favourite male character, though I extremely doubt that Klaus has died. He's just too badass for that plus Lucrezia was in the hospital; chances are she's activated the slaver wasp already. Emperor Gil is a cool thought though, and he's certainly looking to live up to his dad's reputation. Bets on Gil having to fight his own father under Lucrezia's control in the near future?

Still, the Castle Heterodyne arc has been going on for a long time now and while it's not quite gotten old for me yet (I love the castle's casual sociopathy too much for that) I do want to see a conclusion to it... Which has seemed to be in the works for months now.

On another note, Agatha's back story seems very strange to me and I firmly believe she's not of natural origin. From Klaus Barry's grave and the Seneschal's statement that he only ever knew of one Heterodyne child (that being the boy), I'm lead to believe that perhaps Agatha is the result of an experiment by Lucrezia into one-upping even van Rijn's clanks; a biological clank, or a genetically engineered spark that Lucrezia had some type of plans for.

Thoughts?

 

Oh man, I remember loving this comic.

I just kind of lost interest in the middle of the Heterdyne Castle thing. It was dragging on so long, everything was getting twisted up, and I couldn't follow it anymore. Random filler in the middle kind of put me off as well.

Resolved to re-read the entire thing when it got out of that arc.

 

I've been a huge fan for years, and in hindsight I'm not sure why I haven't tried to pimp it out on the forums, so a tip of the hat to you, Aek. You are kinda overstating the cheesecake elements - it makes an appearance, but nowhere near as much as you make it sound. The Foglios may have made the also-excellent Xxxenophile series ages back, but they're keeping Girl Genius at a solid PG rating. And hell, it's Victorian underwear. Girls these days wear less-covering clothes than that to formal events.

Spoiler

She's definitely a Heterodyne, she's got the whistling down, the Castle's convinced, Punch and Judy dedicated their lives to bringing her up and died to protect her, Barry visited her often and even gave her that locket to keep her from breaking through too soon. But there's probably some sort of shenanigans related to her birth, considering that the known heir was male and apparently died in the attack on the Castle. It's probably a similar situation to Gil - shady origins and unusually quirks in their genetic make-up (Gil responded very well to Jager medicine, suggesting Klaus reverse-engineered part of the Jagerkin's hardiness and applied it to his heir).

What impresses me most about Girl Genius is that the love triangle (Gil-Agatha-Tarvek) is recognized by the characters and even joked about, but they've all put it on the backburner while much more important shit is going on instead of letting it grow into a plot tumor.

Endgame is probably the three joining forces, either strategically or bow-chicka-bow-wow to form an even bigger Empire than the one under the Pax Transylvania. The combined forces of the houses of Wulfenbach, Heterodyne, and the Storm King would be an absolute juggernaut - and if Wooster can bring about an alliance with Her Undying Majesty and Zeetha can bring in Skifander, we're looking at a world-dominating superpower. But that's an incredibly long way into the future.

 

I haven't been a fan for years, but I picked this up last December and read through the whole thing on like a week. It was gripping to say the least. It does drag somewhat at times, the recent arc being a big one, but with me checking into it every few weeks to get caught-up I really don't notice it too much.

I've LOL'd countless times, plus the sheer awesome that is sparks is, well, awesome. One of my favorite pieces of their world was where she accompanied the traveling show.

Spoiler

And it turned out they were kind of sub-sparks(Can't think of a better term.

That little tidbit showed how much depth their world had.

What I'm wanting to get to is that brief flash in the beginning. What, I think, triggered all this, but it looks like its way in the future.

One really annoying thing that I hate is trying to figure out what the fuck the Jagers are saying. Sometimes I can read it easily, most times not. Also have to say their are so many factions I'm kind of lost. It seems that just keep adding more and more, but the central three characters are what draw me to it.

Still, definitely recommend this to everyone.

Also, agree with Tehan's assessment. Would be damn sweet if that were the end result.

 

I tried reading this, I really did, but there's just something about Foglio's art style that works like nails on a chalk board for me.

 

Just read it as it's typed, add a German accent and you're set.

 

I've read it for years too. It's one of the first webcomics I started reading. I got Foglio's autograph on a few books he put out when he was in Chicago for Windycon a few years ago :awesome

The story's very gripping, and in spite of the somewhat more raw art style in the beginning, it's very well done. The dialogue is decent to very good, and very funny in many places. I love how the Jagers come off, and the accent is very deliberate and well done.

Also, Olaf Trygvasson. Gentleman Adventurer.

The castle storyline arc is INCREDIBLY long. I think it's been going on for over two years, and at the least, it FEELS that long. Still, I understand why; everything is and revolves around the castle: Her mother's insanity, he family's history, why she's hunted, etc. etc.

Spoiler

SHOWTIME! was perhaps the funniest part of the story. I lol'd pretty damn hard, and then the Calming Pie (Extra butter! Less nutmeg!). :awesome

I get the feeling that the story will end with a final confrontation with The Other, and I'm not even sure if Agatha will survive. I don't see her shacking up with either of the guys, but I don't see her sitting high in the castle, either. At this point, I don't have an inkling how it's going to end. EXCITING!!

 

That was what I tried to get across when I said sometimes I can read it. Dunno, I guess its just hard for me to keep the accent in mind. Or maybe I'm just trying too hard on it....:?

Still doesn't distract from the comic, though.

 

Weirdest love triangle dynamics ever.

 

This comic just keeps getting more and more hilarious as time goes on.

 

I had only ever heard of this in the occasional reference on TvTropes, but this fic convinced me to read the comic some three or six months ago. Very awesome.

 

Well, ok, there's that answer.

 

Thanks for reminding me of this. I last read it over a year ago when I was getting regular RSS updates on my old computer. Now I just have to work out where I was up to.

I'm pretty sure it was Tehan who pimped it to me. Probably on IRC. It's a very good read.

 

Praise be to Tehan, the pimper of webcomics. Most of my favourites I've found through him.