Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne & The Beetleburg Clank
Adult/High School-The Heterodyne family, who "travelled the globe negotiating peace, stopping monsters, and shutting down doomsday devices," are heroes among those with the Spark, the ability to play with the laws of physics, until their disappearance. Now, student lab assistant Agatha Clay works for Dr. Beetle at Transylvania Polygnostic University. After soldiers of fortune steal the locket her uncle gave her years before, she is cast out of the university and left alone while her anxious foster parents go to retrieve it. Agatha takes a nap and awakes, disheveled and greasy, to be confronted by one of the soldiers. He is looking for revenge because his companion died and he blames her and the locket, which contains a complicated mechanism. Meanwhile, back at the university, Baron Wulfenbach and his son Gilgamesh run into a clank, a mechanical robotlike device that seems to be searching for someone. They reprogram it to find its maker, whom the Baron suspects is a new Spark. The clank returns to the shop where Agatha and the soldier are arguing, and the Baron orders them both kidnapped. The sepia-and-white art is lively and appealing, with distinctive characters and a richly imagined environment. There are many humorous touches, such as the "big fish" sign on a, well, big fish in the marketplace, or the Jagermonsters, humanlike soldiers who have an odd joie de vivre. The book includes a bonus color story that gives a glimpse into Agatha's future, which apparently involves a talking cat and several constructs. Sly, witty, and great fun.Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools, VACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.