Huzzah for Mad Science!

Avigon : Gods and Demons, by Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson. Several years ago, I browsed through a comic book store in a suburb of North Dallas. I was looking for the hardbound collections of Will Eisner's The Spirit which had recently been reviewed in library trade journals, but something else caught my eye while I was there. It was a slim, dark graphic novel titled Avigon, by Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson. The style of the artwork was unique and strange, with a kind of surreally playful Gothic style to it. (Robinson, in an afterword, refers to the style of the book as "the Tim Burton thing".) More importantly, the story was considerably more subtle and morally complex than one usually finds in this type of publication. When I looked for further information on the web, I found reference to an upcoming expanded version of Avigon's tale, to be published under the title Avigon : Gods and Demons.

I waited for it. And waited. And then waited some more. At one point I even looked up the telephone number of the publisher and called them. No information.

Finally, in 2005, the expanded book appeared. I have some mixed reactions to it, but I'm glad that I can enjoy it and try to get it into a library or two for other people to enjoy.

The titular character, Avigon, is a "clockwork" -- a mechanical being who possesses no rights, but does possess the ability to think. She also possesses the ability to wonder why she has no rights and whether she would be better off escaping from her circumscribed life in the mansion of her creator, the serenely egotistical "clockworker" Pulsifer. Outside the doors of that mansion lies a world of baronial indulgence for the privileged aristocrats, of Machiavellian patronage-games for the most skilled artisans, and industrial chaos for everyone else. A world in which "clockworks" are treated as disposable chattels, the lowest of the low, who can be used and degraded shamelessly or set to destroy each other in gladiatorial combats for the amusement of their "betters". After all, they have no feelings and no souls. Or that's what all the authorities say, anyway.

I won't reveal the twists and turns of Avigon's tale, nor the outcome of her curiosity. But it's an intriguing and atmospheric tale with a number of surprising twists in it. The original publication of Avigon left the story hanging after a critical moment in Avigon's quest, a bitter disappointment that left everything about her nature and her future in doubt. The expanded version provides both more background and a continuation of her tale that leads to a resolution of sorts. It's something of a disquieting resolution, but it can be read as a kind of redemption.

Disquietude notwithstanding, it's highly recommended for anyone who enjoys atmospheric, moody graphic novels.

Girl Genius : Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank (A Gaslamp Fantasy with Adventure, Romance & Mad Science, by Phil & Kaja Foglio).

Poor Agatha Clay. She's a poor student, in both senses of the word, at Transylvania Polygnostic University. The University's motto -- "Know Enough to Be Afraid" -- suggests that its curriculum involves something more menacing than calculus and Renaissance poetry. That suggestion is right, for Agatha lives in a world ruled by Mad Science, in the person of eccentric and megalomaniac inventors possessed of "the Spark", or the ability to create robotic creatures called "clanks".

Old-time readers of Dragon magazine will no doubt remember Phil Foglio's long-running cartoon feature, What's New with Phil & Dixie. Since leaving Dragon, it appears that Foglio has worked a spell doing similar cartoons for the company that produced Magic : The Gathering, done covers for books, and embarked upon several comic and graphic-novel ventures. One of those ventures -- the "Xxxenophile" series -- appears to be, shall we say, a Very Graphic Novel indeed.

Happily, the Girl Genius graphic novel series doesn't fit that definition. It's an enjoyable and adventurous romp through a strange, steampunk-ish world in which the grim reality of murderous realpolitik mingles with the bizarre whimsy that characterizes all of Foglio's work. Agatha, of course, is more than she appears to be, and the conclusion of the first volume points toward all kinds of interesting complications. I'm looking forward to the subsequent volumes.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys whimsical adventures.