Girl Genius XXVIII: Dancink! Ve is here for de dancink!

[Thomas Cardew]

Even worse - she was Heterodyning. Being a child Spark makes her stand out and is dangerous. Being a child Heterodyne outside of Mechanicsburg is suicide.

I'm not convinced that the Hetrodyning bit is well enough known outside of Mechanicsburg for anyone beside maybe Klaus to know about it. The Seneschal recognized it, but he's expected to be unusually well informed. As Krosp remarked, 'what the music? She does that all the time', and no one else commented about it previously.

[PraetorDragoon]

Honestly, the most shocking part of the new page is that the vozzler is named Kjarl. I wasn't aware he was named.

[geoduck]

Honestly, the most shocking part of the new page is that the vozzler is named Kjarl. I wasn't aware he was named.

Before this, he was named "Karl Thotep", but only in the link titles on the GG site navigation menu, never in-strip.

[Shining Wrath]

So Kjarl is "None of my guesses". I am not surprised to be wrong, merely publicly humiliated.

By the looks of him, he's a Spark, but maybe not a human spark. Are we about to get an alien race? Or is he purple because of the same thing that changed the color of his gloves?

Also, he looks to be 9 or 10 feet tall. Is that just an art perspective? If not, he's (again) maybe not human. Or maybe another side effect of dimensional / temporal travel.

EDIT:

The facial expressions in 8, 9, & 10 show some real personality differences. Agatha's ecstatically hopeful, Violetta's concerned as is Gil, Tarvek looks nervous, and Higgs (surprisingly) looks like he's ready to kill someone. And what's-his-name the Brit is frightened.

[HandofShadows]

It is very strange, but i KNOW I have seen that character design before (or something VERY similar). Even the white hair. But for the life of me I can't remember where. A western cartoon or something. ARGH!

[Calemyr]

You gotta admit, "Oh, interesting, my gloves have changed color..." is the perfect first response for a Spark after having been dimensionally dislocated, trapped and left dying in an in-between neverworld, and then forcibly re-anchored to the wrong dimension.

I imagine Kjarl is now a whole lot easier to draw quickly, at least by GG standards. Curious what he'll bring to the table.

[Thomas Cardew]

It is very strange, but i KNOW I have seen that character design before (or something VERY similar). Even the white hair. But for the life of me I can't remember where. A western cartoon or something. ARGH!

The skin tone, exxagrated physique, and waist coat make me think of Dr. Mundo from League of Legends. Perhaps one of his skins or some fan art?

[Rogar Demonblud]

He also kind of reminds me of some of the character designs from a space-western cartoon in the 90s whose name escapes me. A pseudo-Native American sheriff and his robot horse.

[Traab]

Its wreck it ralph wearing mickey mouse gloves and a different color. /serious nod

[TeChameleon]

Huh. Yeah, that's not entirely what I expected, although he should fit in just fine with all the wackiness that Sparks inflict on themselves. Going to be interesting to see what the character design looks like from a few other angles.

[wingnutx]

So Kjarl is "None of my guesses". I am not surprised to be wrong, merely publicly humiliated.

Also, he looks to be 9 or 10 feet tall. Is that just an art perspective?

Foglio frequently doesn't give a damn about scale, so it's hard to say.

[TeChameleon]

Foglio frequently doesn't give a damn about scale, so it's hard to say.

Yeah... given that even a character who appears as frequently as Baron Wulfenbach wavers between 'a bit over six feet' and 'pushing twelve feet', it's honestly tough to tell..

[PraetorDragoon]

Considering he is top heavy, I think he is supposed to be the big and stout type.

[Shining Wrath]

Yeah... given that even a character who appears as frequently as Baron Wulfenbach wavers between 'a bit over six feet' and 'pushing twelve feet', it's honestly tough to tell..

To be fair, the Baron is fond of domineering looming.

[St Fan]

Hrmmm, is it accurate to say that the Zeetha/Agatha/Violetta trio matches up with the classic archetypes of Fighter/Mage/Rogue?

Pretty accurate, given Zeetha even spells it out.

[Wayson]

I just noticed that he has six fingers on his left hand.

He had best watch out for any Spanish sparks with vendettas.

[TeChameleon]

To be fair, the Baron is fond of domineering looming.

There is a difference between 'domineering looming' and 'I abruptly double my height for no explicable reason', though. There are seriously panels where Agatha doesn't even come up to his waist. Admittedly, it was in mid-loom, but... wow.

I sincerely doubt that Kjarl has killed anyone's father, so he's probably fine, Spanish spark or otherwise

[PraetorDragoon]

I like this simple vozzler and friend of smeerps.

[Shining Wrath]

Kjarl Thotep, smeerp-friend, lacks our dimension's cultural concepts of personal space.
Why does he think Tarvek, of all the party, is insane?
Setting aside the magnificent coiffure, I'd put his height at about 7 feet. Gil comes about to his chin.
Also, anyone who can hold Tarvek casually in one hand does not lack for physical strength. I'd say Tarvek's a little fellow, but still probably weighs 130 pounds.

EDIT: unless I'm missing something with my aging eyes, he always has 4 fingers and a thumb on each hand. Thumbs are not always visible but I believe in object permanence.
Also, I wonder what the Sparky powers of his monocle will turn out to be.

[sihnfahl]

Why does he think Tarvek, of all the party, is insane?

Callback. It's Tarvek's initial reaction to being so massive.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Tarvek's about the same size as Gil, and since they're both in very good shape (what Spark isn't?), it's probably more like 180-190 pounds. Before you get to all the interesting bits tucked away to be used on whatever fools dare oppose you.

[PraetorDragoon]

Why does he think Tarvek, of all the party, is insane?

Is he wrong?

Kjarl has repeatedly referred to Travek as either "insane" or "mad", so nothing new here.

[Shining Wrath]

Callback. It's Tarvek's initial reaction to being so massive.

Ah, I'd forgotten that. Temporal massiveness.

Tarvek's about the same size as Gil, and since they're both in very good shape (what Spark isn't?), it's probably more like 180-190 pounds. Before you get to all the interesting bits tucked away to be used on whatever fools dare oppose you.

I think Gil is an inch or two taller than Tarvek. Both are short compared to the Baron, who's 6' something.

Is he wrong?

Kjarl has repeatedly referred to Travek as either "insane" or "mad", so nothing new here.

Tarvek is not currently in the Madness Place, so yes.

[Gez]

Kjarl Thotep, heh? I bet he has a sibling/cousin/uncle named Nyarl.

[HandofShadows]

I think Gil is an inch or two taller than Tarvek. Both are short compared to the Baron, who's 6' something.

Not 6', more like 7'. The man is massive. Part of being a construct I suppose.

[Grim Portent]

Not 6', more like 7'. The man is massive. Part of being a construct I suppose.

Given the fact he was resurrected using bits of his own dead siblings it does seem plausible his parents built him as big and sturdy as they could to try and prevent another incident like that. That and I think Gil mentioned some experimentation that the Baron did on himself and Gil.

Out of universe it's probably a combination of a reference to the way that Frankenstein's Monster is usually depicted, the result of inconsistent art, dramatic framing changing his apparent scale in some scenes and a fondness on the Foglio's part for having the occasional huge character.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Kjarl Thotep, heh? I bet he has a sibling/cousin/uncle named Nyarl.

And another cousin named Bubba.

[SZbNAhL]

The previous Baron claimed to have built a construct from his three sons, but he actually just made them all sit on each others' shoulders. That's why "Klaus" always wears a big coat.

[wingnutx]

Yeah... given that even a character who appears as frequently as Baron Wulfenbach wavers between 'a bit over six feet' and 'pushing twelve feet', it's honestly tough to tell..

Sometimes his fist is the size of his head and his forearms are as long as his thighs, especially in the early Castle Wulfenbach scenes.

In his first appearance he was the same size as Gil.

[keybounce]

The previous Baron claimed to have built a construct from his three sons, but he actually just made them all sit on each others' shoulders. That's why "Klaus" always wears a big coat.

I will not reference "my three sons"
I will not reference "my three sons"
I will not ref <bell>