Description:
In a time when the
Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules
the World... with mixed success. At Transylvania Polygnostic
University, Agatha Clay is a student with trouble concentrating and
rotten luck. Dedicated to her studies but unable to build anything
that actually works, she seems destined for a lackluster career as a
minor lab assistant. But when the University is overthrown, a strange
"clank" stalks the streets and it begins to look like
Agatha might carry a spark of Mad Science after all.
Collects: NA - this is an original graphic novel
Authors: Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
Artists:
Phil Foglio, Brian Snoddy
Published By: Studio
Foglio
Published When: Aug. 12
2002
Parental Rating: PG
Review:
Girl Genius is a wonderful, imaginative and
funny tale. This first graphic novel in the series, titled 'Agatha
Heterodyne and the Beelteburg Clank' gives us a life vest, before
tossing us into the deep end of a world filled with a wild
mixture of social
structures and steampunk-inspired mad science. The introductory
letter from the professors Foglio of Transylvania Polygnostic
University, and a
brief three-paragraph mise-en-scene,
barely prepares us for the onslaught we meet from the very first
page.
Autonomous robots, steam power, airships, medieval peasantry,
Napoleonic social structures and military dress, genetically mutant
Jagermonsters and more all blend into a stunningly original universe.
It is a world where a small handful of Sparks, people of
preternatural intelligence, and a tendency toward advanced and even
Mad science, have shaped the world sometimes for good and sometimes
for evil gain.
But no new Sparks have been born in almost a generation. Until
Agatha awakens. The day before, she had been a half-incompetent
student of decidedly non-Spark instructors at the University. Then to
her own surprise, the Spark in her emerges and she immediately sets
to building a giant searcher robot.
Through a series of mishaps and arrogant wrong
assumptions, she is captured by the evil-Spark Baron Wulfenbach
and his son Gilgamesh. Father and son do not always get along, as the
son tires of his father's constant testing – the
father’s doubts run deep that his heir
will be able to live up to the Baron's own level of brilliance, and
their banter is at times sharp and always witty.
Agatha's capture, however, is based on the assumption that she is
the girlfriend of the true new Spark, so she is brought along almost
as an afterthought, to help motivate or otherwise manipulate him. The
story continues in volume 2.
As rich, humorous and enjoyable as this offbeat story is, the art
matches it gear for gear. Human shapes, facial expressions,
autonomous robots, monstrous genetic mutations, a rich variety of
costumes, and textured backgrounds – there are many demands on the
pencilling skills of Phil Foglio, and he handles the range
beautifully. Brian Snoddy's inks have been done in "black and
white" although the black tends more toward sepia tones, lending
a uniqueness to the visuals, one that feels period-appropriate for
the larger story.
So what is a Beetleburg Clank, from the story's title? It is no spoiler to say it refers to a new robot
(Clank) coming from Dr Beetle’s university campus. Beyond that, you
will have to immerse yourself in the story and figure out other
elements like the Hive Engine and more.
In all, this is a thrilling tale, cover to cover, and leaves us
eagerly anticipating volume 2. I score it 4.5 capes out of 5.
ISBN-10: 1890856193
ISBN-13:
978-1890856199
Language: English
Pages:
96 pages
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