I have a rec for you: Girl Genius
It has recently come to my attention that several of you are not aware of the awesome and wonderful comic Girl Genius. So this is a post to remedy this oversight.
Now, I don't expect my friends to like everything I like. As my dad never said, if everyone in the world wanted the same things, mom would be a busy woman. Girl Genius doesn't have to be your cup of tea, and I respect my friends' right to have their own tastes and individual viewpoint. But I do love the comic so much that I think it would be a shame if it was something you would love, except you never heard of it or had it recommended.
Girl Genius describes itself as a 'Gaslamp Fantasy'. It's a very steampunkish sort of world, as imagined by the Foglios, who won't use one bad joke when they can use ten. Imagine what Europe would be like if the ruling powers weren't in charge because of aristocratic birth, but because they're all a bunch of mad scientists. In the world of Girl Genius, these are called 'Sparks' (and sometimes 'madboys'), people of inventive genius with no common sense and delusions of sanity. There are regularly monsters (constructs), mad machines (clanks), and wars (the long war, the war with the other). There are mysterious forces at work. There are tall tales. There is really good coffee and talking cats.
So it's not all bad.
The world is unstable. Years ago, two Sparks, the Heterodyne Boys, managed to be both genius AND good guys (a rare combination) and brought peace to much of Europe. Then they disappeared, before the horrors of the war with the Other, a force that enslaved people. Baron Wulfenbach, once a friend of the Heterodynes, took over and proclaimed himself a very effective despotic ruler after the Other vanished. There's still no stability.
But there's Agatha. She's our main character, and she's very special (even if she doesn't know it yet, at least at the beginning). There will be mad inventions. There are massive explosions. There are merry-go-rounds that can level a small village and really miraculous pies.
Did I mention that I've reread this a few times?
Now, I've had a few folks I know say "Eh, I tried it and couldn't get into it". In a few cases, I've asked and found they never read past the first few pages. Now, it may very well be that the comic really isn't for them, but it's also true that this is not a joke-a-day comic, this is a story with some very long arcs (very long. It's been running since 2002 and we're only starting to get to some of the stuff that was set up in the first few pages). As a result, it starts out a little slow, because it takes a while to build up steam. But it builds up some really lovely and hilarious steam.
You can just take my word for it and dive in. I'd say that to give it a fair shot, you ought to try reading at least until the story switches over to color. If you're thinking "Hmm, intriguing, but I'm not quite hooked", keep going until Agatha is off the airship (which will be far enough to give you a hint of many of the major story arcs to come). If you don't love ti by then, it's probably not for you and you can give up, having made a fair shot at it.
But in case you'd like a few teasers, here are some of my favorite bits from the many, many times I have reread the series (contains some spoilers and context confusion, but if you don't want to commit to reading the whole thing without a taste of what it's like when it's really moving, just try some samples):
Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan ("This is turning into one of those plans where we kill everybody that notices that we're killing people"). Also, I ♥ the Jaegers.
Yes, there are monsters called Jaeger Monsters. They have their own special drink called Jaeger brau. Seriously. This is utterly indicative of the series.
The benefits of calming pie. There are days I just want to collapse and cry "Horse! Pie! Horse! Pie!".
The Unflappable Airman Higgs. This comic has an excellent supporting cast. I love Higgs. Fans are eagerly awaiting the day he gets promoted to Bo'sun.
Get on the slab, I want to get to work! (Agatha gets... well she gets a little more assertive. Also, I love her lab coat.)
(Actually the coffee machine arc is my favorite- no wait, the fight at the circus- um, well there's also castle Heterodyne- but those are a little too spoiler-y and long to link to.)
If you'd like a (mostly) stand-alone story to read, you should give a go at Girl Genius's Take on "Cinderella", sort of, source of the most wonderful line "Who thought having two boyfriends was a good idea?". I love the Foglios. This is how the story ought to go (two princes. A mad science fair instead of a ball. And the best and most happiest ending ever. Well, in a PG rated comic, anyway.)
So anyway, there's Girl Genius. If you try it and like it, let me know. It has an LJ Community: girlgeniuscomic for folks following it (where someone suggested we should all get some new folks following it, so I'm posting). It has several years of archives you can read (probably not all at once, not that I've ever done that), and it updates three times a week (not. often. enough!). I've been reading it since around 2006, and I am not bored yet. Word from on high is that we're still only half way through, so you too can be part of the active and enthralled viewing audience.
Adventure, Romance, Mad Science!
Now, I don't expect my friends to like everything I like. As my dad never said, if everyone in the world wanted the same things, mom would be a busy woman. Girl Genius doesn't have to be your cup of tea, and I respect my friends' right to have their own tastes and individual viewpoint. But I do love the comic so much that I think it would be a shame if it was something you would love, except you never heard of it or had it recommended.
Girl Genius describes itself as a 'Gaslamp Fantasy'. It's a very steampunkish sort of world, as imagined by the Foglios, who won't use one bad joke when they can use ten. Imagine what Europe would be like if the ruling powers weren't in charge because of aristocratic birth, but because they're all a bunch of mad scientists. In the world of Girl Genius, these are called 'Sparks' (and sometimes 'madboys'), people of inventive genius with no common sense and delusions of sanity. There are regularly monsters (constructs), mad machines (clanks), and wars (the long war, the war with the other). There are mysterious forces at work. There are tall tales. There is really good coffee and talking cats.
So it's not all bad.
The world is unstable. Years ago, two Sparks, the Heterodyne Boys, managed to be both genius AND good guys (a rare combination) and brought peace to much of Europe. Then they disappeared, before the horrors of the war with the Other, a force that enslaved people. Baron Wulfenbach, once a friend of the Heterodynes, took over and proclaimed himself a very effective despotic ruler after the Other vanished. There's still no stability.
But there's Agatha. She's our main character, and she's very special (even if she doesn't know it yet, at least at the beginning). There will be mad inventions. There are massive explosions. There are merry-go-rounds that can level a small village and really miraculous pies.
Did I mention that I've reread this a few times?
Now, I've had a few folks I know say "Eh, I tried it and couldn't get into it". In a few cases, I've asked and found they never read past the first few pages. Now, it may very well be that the comic really isn't for them, but it's also true that this is not a joke-a-day comic, this is a story with some very long arcs (very long. It's been running since 2002 and we're only starting to get to some of the stuff that was set up in the first few pages). As a result, it starts out a little slow, because it takes a while to build up steam. But it builds up some really lovely and hilarious steam.
You can just take my word for it and dive in. I'd say that to give it a fair shot, you ought to try reading at least until the story switches over to color. If you're thinking "Hmm, intriguing, but I'm not quite hooked", keep going until Agatha is off the airship (which will be far enough to give you a hint of many of the major story arcs to come). If you don't love ti by then, it's probably not for you and you can give up, having made a fair shot at it.
But in case you'd like a few teasers, here are some of my favorite bits from the many, many times I have reread the series (contains some spoilers and context confusion, but if you don't want to commit to reading the whole thing without a taste of what it's like when it's really moving, just try some samples):
Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan ("This is turning into one of those plans where we kill everybody that notices that we're killing people"). Also, I ♥ the Jaegers.
Yes, there are monsters called Jaeger Monsters. They have their own special drink called Jaeger brau. Seriously. This is utterly indicative of the series.
The benefits of calming pie. There are days I just want to collapse and cry "Horse! Pie! Horse! Pie!".
The Unflappable Airman Higgs. This comic has an excellent supporting cast. I love Higgs. Fans are eagerly awaiting the day he gets promoted to Bo'sun.
Get on the slab, I want to get to work! (Agatha gets... well she gets a little more assertive. Also, I love her lab coat.)
(Actually the coffee machine arc is my favorite- no wait, the fight at the circus- um, well there's also castle Heterodyne- but those are a little too spoiler-y and long to link to.)
If you'd like a (mostly) stand-alone story to read, you should give a go at Girl Genius's Take on "Cinderella", sort of, source of the most wonderful line "Who thought having two boyfriends was a good idea?". I love the Foglios. This is how the story ought to go (two princes. A mad science fair instead of a ball. And the best and most happiest ending ever. Well, in a PG rated comic, anyway.)
So anyway, there's Girl Genius. If you try it and like it, let me know. It has an LJ Community: girlgeniuscomic for folks following it (where someone suggested we should all get some new folks following it, so I'm posting). It has several years of archives you can read (probably not all at once, not that I've ever done that), and it updates three times a week (not. often. enough!). I've been reading it since around 2006, and I am not bored yet. Word from on high is that we're still only half way through, so you too can be part of the active and enthralled viewing audience.
Adventure, Romance, Mad Science!