Girl Genius XXIX: A giant corkboard of continuity madness

[Shining Wrath]

Also the Master's whole deal was that regardless of whatever was going on aroind them, he kept Paris safe. A display of power like that probably helps reassure the Parisians.
As for the defense of the undergrounds, what do you think the subterranean kingdoms are for? Buffer states.

They only work as buffer states while communication remains clear and the kingdoms uncompromised though, the old Master seemed unaware of the spread of the Other's allies underground.

Obviously the circumstances are very different now, but they still have the potential to be subverted by enemies of Paris. Not that Colette can do much about that potential though, most actions that would prevent them becoming enemy patsies would violate the sovereignty of the undergrounders, and that would push them into the arms of potential enemies anway.

Who knows, maybe Colette has access to more systems underground than her father did in his old age and as such is more aware of what goes on down there.

The Other's wasps complicate matters considerably, and it seemed the politics of the Catacombs were Byzantine. OTOH our heroine did manage to secure the Library, which should serve as a considerable bastion against shenanigans. I'm going to guess that the old Storm King popping out of the catacombs and wreaking havoc served to remind Colette that they were there, and that her defenses are three-dimensional in nature.

[Agi Hammerthief]

now that looks definitely like half of a „middle of the book“ splash page.

[runeghost]

This doesn't have anything to do with the current storyline - it's a bit of GG trivia that I had never even heard of before (but perhaps others were aware of and I'd just missed it). I've been reading my way through Grimjack, an 80s comic book series that chronicles the adventures of John Gaunt, a mercenary in the multidimensional city of Cynosure.

I knew that Phil had done some B-stories for several issues. The first two were funny, and definitely felt like Phil Foglio stories (but also fit the setting). But my jaw dropped tonight when I got to issue 40 (November, 1987), and saw this at the start of the B-story:


The Hetrodyne boys get shuffled off to John Gaunt's bar in Cynosure by the evil Doctor Mongfish, and then return home:


Thought it might be of a little interest to anyone who wasn't already aware of this GG connection to this bit of Phil's much earlier work.





Also, here's how the titular Grimjack normally looks:



And here's how Phil drew him in 1985:

[Manga Shoggoth]

I knew that Phil had done some B-stories for several issues. The first two were funny, and definitely felt like Phil Foglio stories (but also fit the setting). But my jaw dropped tonight when I got to issue 40 (November, 1987), and saw this at the start of the B-story:


The Hetrodyne boys get shuffled off to John Gaunt's bar in Cynosure by the evil Doctor Mongfish, and then return home:

The whole strip is on the Girl Genius website under Extras. I knew I'd seen it before, but it took me ages to look in the obvious place....

EDIT: And who does the barkeeper remind you of? There's a creature very like a pog, and I'm still looking to see if the Winslow is there.

[Willie the Duck]

This doesn't have anything to do with the current storyline - it's a bit of GG trivia that I had never even heard of before (but perhaps others were aware of and I'd just missed it). I've been reading my way through Grimjack, an 80s comic book series that chronicles the adventures of John Gaunt, a mercenary in the multidimensional city of Cynosure.

I knew that Phil had done some B-stories for several issues. The first two were funny, and definitely felt like Phil Foglio stories (but also fit the setting). But my jaw dropped tonight when I got to issue 40 (November, 1987), and saw this at the start of the B-story:
<big pics cut for space>

Yeah, it seems Phil was bandying about these base concepts (adventure serials/radio dramas, mad science, etc.) along with the primordial characters for quite some time. Another example --'Prof. Phil Foglio, Storyteller and Creative Historian' (the boring storyteller/Oggie's descendent character) is pretty much Phil's avatar from his comic in the back of Dragon magazine.

[geoduck]

Agatha made a cameo appearance in the 1995 GURPS "Illuminati University" supplement (not written but illustrated by Phil), so the Foglios were working on the story by that point.

[Grif]

My, my. Colette certainly has grown.

[JavaScribe]

A growth ray, a robot duplicate, or second breakthrough? And if it's the 3rd one, didn't she only just receive her first breakthrough?

[Radar]

A growth ray, a robot duplicate, or second breakthrough? And if it's the 3rd one, didn't she only just receive her first breakthrough?

A second one most likely - she looks like a Queen. There was no mention of a 3rd breakthrough ever in the story, so I would not theorize anything like that. As for why she got queened so quickly, it might have something to do with channeling such huge energies through herself - Agatha got a forced (if temporary) glimpse at the second breakthrough by getting supercharged.

[JavaScribe]

There was no mention of a 3rd breakthrough ever in the story, so I would not theorize anything like that.

By "3rd one", I was referring to the 3rd option I mentioned.

[Radar]

By "3rd one", I was referring to the 3rd option I mentioned.

Oh, I guess I fail at reading comprehension.

[InvisibleBison]

My initial reaction was that it would be rather unlikely for Colette to have had a second breakthrough, as I didn't see how she could have figured out how to do it so quickly. But then it occurred to me that her dad had almost certainly had a second breakthrough, and it's quite possible that he left some notes on how he did it, so maybe she actually has had a second breakthrough.

[Shining Wrath]

I think that even for a Queen Collette is pretty darn big. I'm going to go with 250 feet tall, more or less. Although I guessed she had achieved Queen status a few strips back, I'm now wondering if instead she's faking it to daunt possible attackers. For one thing, between Gil's spies, Tarvek's spies, and Seffie's spies, one of them should have heard if she's achieved Queen status, especially if she's flaunting it.

Of course, Foglio perspective may mean that she's actually going to appear to be 100 feet tall next strip. I don't think Phil has heard of the invention of the measuring ruler yet - it's one of those Sparky things.

Anyway, impressive Collette is impressive. Large and in charge.

[Scarlet Knight]

I don't think she's a queen, I think it's the perspective.

I am a bit disappointed; seeing the Mistress of Paris, I was hoping Colette would be ..I don't know...more scantily attired? It's looks like Phil chose a provocative pose, and someone said, "Oh no no no. Not here! You put lots of clothes on her this instant!"

I guess she wishes to appear more like Papa.

[Fyraltari]

My initial reaction was that it would be rather unlikely for Colette to have had a second breakthrough, as I didn't see how she could have figured out how to do it so quickly. But then it occurred to me that her dad had almost certainly had a second breakthrough, and it's quite possible that he left some notes on how he did it, so maybe she actually has had a second breakthrough.

The master was dying of old age despite being significantly younger than Albia, so it doesn't look like he'd achieved a second breakthrough, of maybe just a partial one.

[Shining Wrath]

I don't think she's a queen, I think it's the perspective.

I am a bit disappointed; seeing the Mistress of Paris, I was hoping Colette would be ..I don't know...more scantily attired? It's looks like Phil chose a provocative pose, and someone said, "Oh no no no. Not here! You put lots of clothes on her this instant!"

I guess she wishes to appear more like Papa.

Look at Friday's strip. See the green blog in the lower right corner? It's comparable in size to the car, maybe 20 or 30 feet long. The car is landing in front of it, so perspective is tricky.
Look at Monday's strip. That green blob is Collette's throw pillow. It's smaller than the distance from her ankle to her knee. The portion we see Friday is not a full pillow diameter, so that pillow is probably 30 or 40' across, so Collette's calf is 50' or 60' long.

The master was dying of old age despite being significantly younger than Albia, so it doesn't look like he'd achieved a second breakthrough, of maybe just a partial one.

Agree, and he remarked that she had not shared the secret of her eternal youth. Since all the ancient Queens with the mirrors were Queens, there may be a "Y chromosomes need not apply" thing going on here.

[Fyraltari]

Agree, and he remarked that she had not shared the secret of her eternal youth. Since all the ancient Queens with the mirrors were Queens, there may be a "Y chromosomes need not apply" thing going on here.

Oh definitely, especially since we know from Snackleford that Kings are possible.

[Divayth Fyr]

Look at Friday's strip. (...)Look at Monday's strip.

Or maybe look at both together?

Agree, and he remarked that she had not shared the secret of her eternal youth. Since all the ancient Queens with the mirrors were Queens, there may be a "Y chromosomes need not apply" thing going on here.

The Queens certainly seemed not to want to include men in their ranks. I guess the secret could be the power source Lucrezia mentioned when talking to Albia...

[Fyraltari]

I thinks the most impressive thing is that they built this entire throne room and everything in it in, what, the week or so since we've seen Paris?

[Radar]

I thinks the most impressive thing is that they built this entire throne room and everything in it in, what, the week or so since we've seen Paris?

Master of Paris had a direct control of the whole city (if needed) almost as much as Castle Heterodyne has over the Mechanicsburg. It was very explicitly shown in his fight with the Storm King and the latter even commented that Master uses the techniques of the Heterodynes. If one has such power, rebuilding a structure or two is not that difficult to be honest.

[Shining Wrath]

Or maybe look at both together?


The Queens certainly seemed not to want to include men in their ranks. I guess the secret could be the power source Lucrezia mentioned when talking to Albia...

"Safe power source". While, perhaps, the Dyne is an extremely unsafe power source?
Or maybe that's it. The Dyne is not unique, the Queens built their empires around similar power sources, and the Heterodynes are an example of how that particular sort of power tends to affect men - that is, even more moral depravity than is expected from autocrats.

I thinks the most impressive thing is that they built this entire throne room and everything in it in, what, the week or so since we've seen Paris?

If Colette is a Queen, she might have been able to do that casually. We don't know what the power limit is on a young Queen showing off. Albia is quite old and too proper to show off too flagrantly.

[Fyraltari]

Master of Paris had a direct control of the whole city (if needed) almost as much as Castle Heterodyne has over the Mechanicsburg. It was very explicitly shown in his fight with the Storm King and the latter even commented that Master uses the techniques of the Heterodynes. If one has such power, rebuilding a structure or two is not that difficult to be honest.

Good point.

"Safe power source". While, perhaps, the Dyne is an extremely unsafe power source?
Or maybe that's it. The Dyne is not unique, the Queens built their empires around similar power sources, and the Heterodynes are an example of how that particular sort of power tends to affect men - that is, even more moral depravity than is expected from autocrats.

If think it's more likely that the Heterodyne just harnessed the power of the Dyne differently than the Queens, not knowing it had anything to do with the Queen Godesses.

[Radar]

"Safe power source". While, perhaps, the Dyne is an extremely unsafe power source?
Or maybe that's it. The Dyne is not unique, the Queens built their empires around similar power sources, and the Heterodynes are an example of how that particular sort of power tends to affect men - that is, even more moral depravity than is expected from autocrats.

I think the Heterodynes were simply that unhinged and depraved regardless of the Dyne.

edit: on that note, maybe the cursed waters that the ocean dwellers talked about are something similar to the Dyne as well?

[Divayth Fyr]

It seems that Mechanicsburg (well, the area anyway) was once the seat of a Queen, but after Lucrezia's rampage and slaughter, all that remained was the spring "sacred to a battle goddess"... So using the same source, just in a different way is likely.

the Heterodynes are an example of how that particular sort of power tends to affect men - that is, even more moral depravity than is expected from autocrats.

I dunno - wasn't the first Heterodyne described as being all that we expect from the family even before touching the spring? Also, we know later on der Castle siphoned the power, so the family probably wouldn't be too affected at that point...

[Kantaki]

Is it bad that my first thought was "Huh. She put on weight"?

Though Collette (and Albia) actually has big bones...

[Willie the Duck]

Is it bad that my first thought was "Huh. She put on weight"?

The 'emulate her dad's more than flatters her' outfit is doing no favors. Most of it could be clothes, although the thigh width to length does indicate an attempt to depict a thicker character. This is not out of character for Phil drawing a semi-reclining female character.

[Shining Wrath]

Advice to all: do NOT tell Collette that those pants make her look fat. Not recommended.

[Kantaki]

Advice to all: do NOT tell Collette that those pants make her look fat. Not recommended.

To be fair, I wasn't talking about her pants, just the "turning into a giantess" thing.
Also, I'm on the save-ish side of the fourth wall.

[BRC]

Colette is hooked up to Paris. Being directly hooked up to the largest single technological system with basically mystical capabilities may have accelerated the process.

Simon never broke through, maybe due to that pesky Y Chromosome, maybe he was simply too old by the time Paris was up and running.

Collette broke through as a spark WHILE plugged into Paris, there could be some sort of brain-plasticity thing going on? Her mind expanding while plugged into the city accelerated her development towards Queendom. Simon was "The Master of Paris", Collette might be even more integrated than he was, effectively being "Paris" itself.

[geoduck]

Simon never broke through, maybe due to that pesky Y Chromosome, maybe he was simply too old by the time Paris was up and running.

Snacky was able to do it, so that's not an automatic disqualifer.