The first webcomic strip I followed was Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet. I found it in late 1997 and quickly caught up with her past posts. Helen is a literal genius with all things tech. She is clearly attractive but isn't focused on that aspect of life. This strip ran from 1996 - 2005. I can't find an archive of this strip which makes me terribly sad. However, without Helen I would never have found Girl Genius.
Girl Genius is an ongoing webcomic collaboration between Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio. I consider it steampunk but they believe it should have the genre heading gaslamp fantasy. I actually don't care what we call it, it's amazing. A heroine who is a compassionate, funny, genius in a mad science world populated with interesting characters some of which are monsters and/or evil geniuses. The Foglios have been putting out three strips a week (M,W,F) since 2005.
Wikipedia simplifies the overall plot to:
"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. 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 famous hero Bill Heterodyne and villainess-turned-good Lucrezia Mongfish. Agatha Heterodyne (whose surname is based on a real scientific concept) learns to mix scientific genius, a streak of true heroism and an obsessive possessiveness for what she considers her own in order to claim her monstrous heritage and birthright, even as the eyes of all Europa watch her carefully in case she turns out to be one of the monsters herself"
Eventually they started pulling the strips together and publishing graphic novels. Yes I have all of them. Now they're turning the plots into actual novels enhancing the world and the material in the strips with more detailed information without removing or twisting any of the comic strip plot points. Gifted, they are super gifted to achieve this kind of coherence across multiple media venues.
I highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone. Start reading here: https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
- Jenny
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