Girl Genius is a webcomic started in 2002 written by Phil and Kaja Foglio and colored by Cheyenne Wright about a world of steampunk mad scientists that build amazing robots. Girl Genius has greatly influenced our art and writing and we recommend you read it. You can read it for free online, or buy physical copies. The authors write a new page every other day, so if you get to the end, make sure to look back to find new pages.
What we like most about the main character Agatha Clay is that she is really smart and hilarious. She builds lots of cool inventions that do amazing things, and since she thinks differently than the other characters, her dialog is really funny. Our favorite quote is, “But I want to do math now!” Some of our favorite inventions that she had made are a coffee machine that makes coffee so perfect it makes people go mad, a deer robot that looks really pretty but has a bunch of different types of weapons, little circular robots that can make other robots, and a weaponized wagon army controlled by an pipe organ. The fact she is also very dangerous just adds to the fun!
The artwork is fantastic and really brings to life the rich world of Steampunk Europa. What is most impressive is the attention to detail, for example, there are sometimes little monsters on the page, and you have to look carefully to notice them. Also, the steampunk robots look like they can actually work! There are also lots of scenes that are happening in the background, so look carefully, otherwise, you might miss some information! In the beginning, it is black and white, but most of the story is in lots of colors.
Each location is rich in details and lets the reader explore a steampunk world like no other. Our favorites are a huge underwater city buzzing with lots of steampunk submarines and Mechanicsburg, the home of the Heterodyne family which is packed with danger, mystery and dominated by the powerful Heterodyne castle.
The plots take unexpected and fun detours but everything is intertwined, all the characters are somehow connected to each other, and there are no loose ends. The dialogue is hilarious and rich, for example:
Violetta, “So, when can we be sure it is done and we haven’t doomed the Earth?”
Agatha, “Oh once the containment limit returns to normal. As for not dooming the Earth- well- that is more a lifelong goal, really. But so far so good.”
And another example of witty dialogue after Franz, a cyborg dragon defeats Humongulus, a huge robot, in battle:
Franz: What? you are not mad?
Humongulus: Humongulus angry? Never! You have used guile! Tactics! Awareness of the landscape! Humongulus is impressed!
Franz: Good ’cause with those arms you could punch me into next week.
Humongulus: You know the very sole of Humongulus.
And it is not just us who thinks Girl Genius is great, it has gotten multiple Hugo awards!
The best part of the world is the crazy robots and monsters. There are lots of weird monsters that just live alongside everyone else, and crazy robots are an everyday sight. The robots and monsters are central to the story and some are main characters who act and think very differently than humans which adds to the realism.
This is a picture of a little clank (robot) that the main character made. Girl Genius is in a steampunk world and has cool robot illustrations. We were so inspired by Girl Genus’s cute and cool-looking robots, we spent two years designing and building our own working steampunk robot Number Five !
