Girl Genius

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Girl Genius
Girlgeniuspromopic.jpg
Agatha, main character of Girl Genius
Author(s) Phil & Kaja Foglio
Illustrator(s)Phil & Kaja Foglio
Website www.girlgeniusonline.com
Current status/scheduleUpdates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays.
Launch dateJanuary 2001 (2001-01) (Secret Blueprints, Vol. I preview issue)
February 21, 2005 (web publication)
Genre(s)Fantasy, humor, science fiction, steampunk, gaslamp fantasy

Girl Genius is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company Studio Foglio LLC under the imprint Airship Entertainment. The comic won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story three times, has been nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist and twice for Eisner Awards, and won multiple WCCA awards.

Contents

Girl Genius has the tagline of "Adventure, Romance, Mad Science!". It follows the main character Agatha Heterodyne (introduced in 1995 [1] ) through an alternate-history Victorian-style "steampunk" setting, although elements veer from what is usually thought of as steampunk. Kaja Foglio describes it as "gaslamp fantasy" instead to suggest its more fantastic style.

As well as the comics, the Foglios have also written four Girl Genius novels, all published by Night Shade Books, and two games based on the world have been made.

Overview

Setting

The setting has been described as steampunk, [2] [3] [4] [5] with reviewers for Wired describing it as a "mosh of Victorian era, magic and emerging technology" [4] and "steampunk to the core", [2] but co-creator Kaja Foglio dislikes the term and instead coined the term "gaslamp fantasy" to describe the work. Kaja said in a blog post that when Girl Genius was first coming out, there was a comic called Steampunk and she wanted to avoid confusion. She added that "we have no punk, and we have more than just steam, [so] using a different name seemed appropriate." [‡ 1] Girl Genius differs from classic steampunk in that technology is not just limited to machines but also encompasses biology such as "constructs" – biological creations which range from Frankenstein-style creatures [‡ 2] to talking cats [‡ 3] and mouse-sized mammoths. [‡ 4]

Girl Genius is set in an alternate-universe Europe [5] with Industrial Revolution-like surroundings, airships, and mad scientists called Sparks. [2] These Sparks, who have incredible powers of invention, [3] turned the Age of Enlightenment into a full-scale war that ravaged the continent, until Baron Wulfenbach brought an uneasy peace through force. [‡ 5]

Plot

Girl Genius tells the story of Agatha Clay, a student and apprentice at Transylvania Polygnostic University, whose experiments never work until she encounters an electromagnetic pulse and is robbed of her locket. [3] [4] [5] This leads her to break free of an attempt to suppress her powers as a Spark and to hide that she is the long-lost daughter of legendary figures William "Bill" Heterodyne and Lucrezia Mongfish, [‡ 6] and thus is the last of the prestigious and dreaded House of Heterodyne. [‡ 7] Agatha Heterodyne learns to mix scientific genius, a streak of heroism, and an obsessive possessiveness for what she considers her own in order to claim her heritage and birthright while trying to remain safe from the many European powers trying to use her for their own ends. [‡ 8]

Major characters

The main and recurring characters of Girl Genius include:

Publication history

Kaja and Phil Foglio in 2007 Phil and Kaja Foglio Gen Con 2007.jpg
Kaja and Phil Foglio in 2007

The idea for the style of Girl Genius came about when Kaja Foglio went through some of Phil's loose drawings, saying in an interview: "I was going through all of Phil's old files and I was filing all of the old sketches, and I was coming across weird airships and cats in tophats with walking canes, and all of this wonderful... Victoriana sci-fi stuff... it was like 'Oh, this is everything I love!'" [6] Phil Foglio said, "We wanted to do something with a strong female lead character. We both like the tropes associated with mad science, and I really enjoy drawing fiddly Victorian-style gizmos". [7]

Agatha Heterodyne first appeared in print in 1995 in a GURPS sourcebook that the Foglios illustrated. [1] Phil Foglio states that plotting for Girl Genius started in 1993, and it was first published in 2000. [8] Girl Genius: The Secret Blueprints Vol. I was printed in January 2001, followed closely by the monochrome Issue 1 in February.[ citation needed ] In 2005 Girl Genius became a webcomic, and quarterly print publication of the comic ceased. [8]

The first three printed issues (which make up Volume 1) were in black and white. Subsequent printed and web comics were in color. Volume 1 was inked by Brian Snoddy, Volumes 2 and 3 by Mark McNabb. Volume 4 by Laurie E. Smith, and all subsequent volumes by Cheyenne Wright. [‡ 19] Wright also colored the comics of Volume 1; these colored versions were used for a new print edition of Volume 1 and have replaced the original comics on the website. [‡ 20]

In an interview recorded in January 2008, shortly before they began releasing pages of volume 8 of Girl Genius on their web site, the Foglios stated that they expected the climax of Volume 8 to be the rough equivalent of "the end of the first season," and that it would provide a logical break in case of author catastrophe and a fresh jumping-on point for new readers. [9] However, this was an underestimate of the length of the remaining "first season": the end of Volume 13 turned out to be approximately halfway through the planned overall story arc. [‡ 21] The "second season" of the series began March 3, 2014, with "Act 2, Volume 1," [‡ 22] after a two-month hiatus of the main story.

Published collections

The webcomic, as well as the initial printed issues, have been collected into printed volumes, and in some cases those volumes have been collected into printed omnibuses. Unless stated in the notes below, the books reprint works first published as the webcomic.

The First Journey of Agatha Heterodyne (also called "Act 1")

Vol / Omnibus #TitlePagesISBNNotes
Volume 1Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank96

Paperback: ISBN   1-890856-19-3, full color paperback: ISBN   1-890856-50-9, hardcover: ISBN   1-890856-20-7

Reprints issues #1–3
Volume 2Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City112

Paperback: ISBN   1-890856-30-4, hardcover: ISBN   1-890856-31-2

Reprints issues #4–6
Volume 3Agatha Heterodyne and the Monster Engine128

Paperback: ISBN   1-890856-32-0, hardcover: ISBN   1-890856-33-9

Reprints issues #7–10
Volume 4Agatha Heterodyne and the Circus Of Dreams128

Paperback: ISBN   1-890856-36-3, hardcover: ISBN   1-890856-37-1

Reprints issues #11–13 and webcomic from April to June 2005
Volume 5Agatha Heterodyne and the Clockwork Princess112

Paperback: ISBN   1-890856-39-8, hardcover: ISBN   1-890856-38-X

Volume 6Agatha Heterodyne and the Golden Trilobite150

Paperback: ISBN   1-890856-42-8, hardcover: ISBN   1-890856-41-X

Volume 7Agatha Heterodyne and the Voice of the Castle128

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-45-8, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-46-5

Volume 8Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones144

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-47-2, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-48-9

Volume 9Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm144

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-52-6, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-51-9

Volume 10Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse152

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-53-3, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-54-0

Volume 11Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell168

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-55-7, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-56-4

Volume 12Agatha Heterodyne and the Siege of Mechanicsburg192

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-57-1, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-58-8

Volume 13Agatha Heterodyne and the Sleeping City160

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-59-5, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-60-1

Omnibus 1Girl Genius Omnibus Edition Vol 1Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-40-3 Reprints Volumes 1–3, in a smaller, black & white edition
Omnibus 1Girl Genius Omnibus Vol 1: Agatha AwakensHardcover: ISBN   978-0-7653-3132-8 Reprints Volumes 1–3 in color and new lettering [2]

The Second Journey of Agatha Heterodyne (also called "Act 2")

Vol / Omnibus #TitlePagesISBNNotes
Volume 14The Beast of the Rails128

Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-61-8, hardcover: ISBN   978-1-890856-62-5

Volume 15City of Lightning128Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-63-2
Volume 16The Incorruptible Library122Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-65-6
Volume 17Kings and Wizards120Paperback: ISBN   978-1-890856-67-0
Volume 18Queens and Pirates128Paperback: ISBN   978-1890856-69-4
Volume 19Sparks and Monsters128Paperback: ISBN   978-1890856-71-7, hardcover: ISBN   978-1890856-72-4
Volume 20The Exorcism Engines122Hardcover: [10] ISBN   978-1890856-74-8
Volume 21An Entertainment in Londinium122
Volume 22The Chronometric Lantern Expedition121
Volume 23Escape from the Island of the Rat Queen120

Girl Genius in other media

Girl Genius has been adapted, or proposed for adaptation, for other media:

Novels

The Foglios have written four Girl Genius prose novels, which follow the same story as the comics:

The prose novels are published by Night Shade Books.

Games

Movie

In 2010 it was reported that Felicia D. Henderson had optioned the rights to Girl Genius and was adapting it into a movie. [19] However, as of 2020 no movie had been produced.

Awards

The Foglios' acceptance speech at the Hugo Awards ceremony in 2010 The Foglios' acceptance speech.jpg
The Foglios' acceptance speech at the Hugo Awards ceremony in 2010

Girl Genius and its creators have won multiple Hugo Awards and Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCAs). They have also been nominated for further Hugo awards, WCCA awards, and Eisner Awards.

YearOrganizationAwardRecipient / BookOutcomeCitation
2014 Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story Girl Genius, Volume 13: Agatha Heterodyne and the Sleeping CityNominated [20]
2011Hugo AwardsBest Graphic StoryGirl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian MuseWon [21]
2010Hugo AwardsBest Graphic StoryGirl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the StormWon [22]
2009Hugo AwardsBest Graphic StoryGirl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of BonesWon [23]
2008Hugo Awards Best Professional Artist Phil FoglioNominated [24]
Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Outstanding ComicWon [25]
Outstanding WriterWon
Outstanding Environment DesignWon
Outstanding ArtistNominated
Outstanding Character WritingNominated
Outstanding Long Form ComicNominated
Outstanding Use of ColorPhil and Kaja Foglio (and Cheyenne Wright)Nominated
2007Web Cartoonists' Choice AwardsOutstanding Science Fiction ComicWon [26]
Outstanding ComicNominated [27]
Outstanding Long Form ComicNominated [28]
Eisner Awards Best Digital Comic Nominated [29]
2006Web Cartoonists' Choice AwardsOutstanding Story ConceptWon [30]
Outstanding ComicNominated [31]
Outstanding Science Fiction ComicNominated [32]
2005Eisner AwardsBest Writer/Artist—HumorPhil FoglioNominated [33]

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 Booth, John (May 31, 2012). "Girl Genius: Omnibus Volume One". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved September 15, 2020.
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  7. Jordan, Justin (February 12, 2007). "Getting Smarter: Phil Foglio Talks "Girl Genius"". CBR News. Archived from the original on November 18, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. 1 2 Scheff, Meredith (March 9, 2008). "Meredith Scheff Interviews Phil Foglio". The Steampunk Workshop. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  9. "Interview with Phil and Kaja Foglio, Part 1 of 2, 33m:45s". The Biblio File. TalkShoe. 27 January 2008. Archived from the original (MP3) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  10. Girl Genius: Second Journey: Volume 7: Exorcism Engines (Hardcover) on forbiddenplanet.com (Accessed October 13, 2022).
  11. "Girl Genius: The Works". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  12. Robinson, Tasha (2001). "Girl Genius: The Works". SciFi.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2001. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. "Girl Genius and the Rats of Mechanicsburg". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  14. "The Rats of Mechanicsburg: A Girl Genius® Game". Amazon. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  15. "DriveThruRPG Girl Genius Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game". drivethrurpg.com. Girl Genius Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game is copyright © 2021, 2022 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
  16. "The Girl Genius RPG". SJgames.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2004. Written by Kaja Foglio (assisted by Michelle Barrett on the crunchy bits), and illustrated by Phil and Kaja Foglio, the Girl Genius RPG will be a complete, self-contained gamebook using the Fourth Edition GURPS rules.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. "Girl Genius - Adventures In Castle Heterodyne". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  18. "Girl Genius: Adventures In Castle Heterodyne is out now". GamingOnLinux. September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  19. Renaud, Jeffrey (September 13, 2010). "Henderson On "Titans," "Static" & "Girl Genius"". CBR. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  20. "2014 Hugo Award Winners". August 17, 2014. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  21. "2011 Hugo Award Winners". August 21, 2011.
  22. Cavna, Michael (September 5, 2010). "'GIRL GENIUS' wins Hugo Award for best graphic story". Comic Riffs. Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  23. "2009 Hugo Award Winners". thehugoawards.com. August 9, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  24. "2008 Hugo Award Nominees". World Science Fiction Society. March 21, 2008. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
  25. "Here are you 2008 WCCA Winners!". Web Cartoonist Choice Awards. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
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  27. "WCCA 2007: Outstanding Comic". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  28. "The Outstanding Mystery of the Long Form Comic". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  29. "The 2007 Eisner Awards: 2007 Master Nominations List". Comic-Con. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  30. "Outstanding Story Concept". Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  31. "WCAA 2006 – Outstanding Comic". Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  32. "Outstanding Science Fiction Comic". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  33. "The 2005 Eisner Awards: Nominees". Comic-Con. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2008.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are marked with a double dagger: ‡

  1. Foglio, Kaja (26 April 2006). "Dirt, Collection Vol. 5, Furniture and Gaslamp Fantasy". Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  2. Foglio (March 8, 2006). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  3. Foglio (February 2, 2005). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  4. "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. November 5, 2004. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  5. Foglio (August 6, 2004). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Foglio, Kaja (2014). Agatha Heterodyne & the Clockwork Princess. Seattle, Washington: Airship Entertainment. p. vi. ISBN   978-1890856397.
  7. 1 2 3 Foglio, Kaja (2014). Agatha Heterodyne & the Chapel of Bones. Seattle, Washington: Airship Entertainment. p. vi. ISBN   978-1890856472.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Foglio, Kaja (2014). Girl Genius Volume 13: Agatha Heterodyne and the Sleeping City. Seattle, Washington: Airship Entertainment. p. iv. ISBN   978-1-890856-60-1.
  9. Foglio, Phil; Foglio, Kaja (2011). Agatha H. and the Airship City. San Francisco: Night Shade Books. pp. 1–7. ISBN   978-1597802123.
  10. Foglio (January 16, 2006). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  11. Foglio, Phil; Foglio, Kaja (2011). Agatha H. and the Airship City. San Francisco: Night Shade Books. p. 26. ISBN   978-1597802123.
  12. Foglio (December 16, 2002). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  13. Foglio, Phil; Foglio, Kaja (2012). Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess. Portland, Oregon: Night Shade Books. p. 282. ISBN   978-1597802239.
  14. Foglio (October 21, 2005). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  15. Foglio, Phil; Foglio, Kaja (2012). Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess. Portland, Oregon: Night Shade Books. pp. 144–145. ISBN   978-1597802239.
  16. Foglio (November 1, 2004). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  17. Foglio (March 15, 2004). "Girl Genius". Girl Genius. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  18. Foglio, Phil; Foglio, Kaja (2012). Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess. Portland, Oregon: Night Shade Books. p. 3. ISBN   978-1597802239.
  19. "Girl Genius". www.girlgeniusonline.com. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  20. "Girl Genius". www.girlgeniusonline.com. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  21. "We are Kaja and Phil Foglio creators of Girl Genius". AMA. Reddit. May 30, 2013. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  22. "Girl Genius Comic for Monday, March 03, 2014". Livejournal . Girl Genius. March 2, 2014. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014.