Agatha H and the Airship City

Agatha H and the Airship City a Girl Genius Novel (2011) Phil and Kaja Foglio

I stumbled across Girl Genius in 2007, and was immediately hooked.

Phil and Kaja Foglio publish the Girl Genius comic online twice a week, and then publish a compilation graphic novel approximately once a year.

Which is totally not frequently enough.

So what does that have to do with anything? Agatha H and the Airship City is the novel of the first three volumes of the comic: Agatha Heterodyne and the Bettleburg Clank (2002), Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City (2004), and Agatha Heterodyne and the Monster Engine (2004). We meet Agatha on what turns out to be her last day as a student at Transylvania Polygnostic University in Beetleburg. We also meet the other major players in the series: Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, his son Gil Wulfenbach, Bangladesh Dupree, Krosp as well as Adam and Lilith, Agatha’s adopted parents.

Oh. And the Clanks.

And the Jagermonsters.

I love the Jagermonsters, though they are a lot more interesting in later volumes than in the first graphic novel.

So, as I said, this is the start of the Girl Genius story in a single novel. If you’ve read the graphic novels, there are no stories here you have not already read, however, you do get to pick up on things that might not be quite as apparent in the graphic novels, especially regarding the Jagermonsters. (Did I mention I love the Jagermonsters?)

Should you start with the novel?

Of course not.

You should start with the online comic so you can decide if you like the story or not. Then once you do, you can get the graphic novels and then the novel.
Rating: 7/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• The Hanging Garden » »
• « « The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Wisdom And Wit in the Wild West