Girl Genius XV: The Weasel, the Spark, and the Wardrobe

[eee]

Heck with from the frying pan into the fire, they've gone right into the incinerator. Maybe we're going to have one of those 'wolves chasing the sled' scenes like you get in Russian literature!

She fixed that when she escaped from him. She just needs the wasp-hunter weasel. Come to think of it, we haven't seen that one recently.

It keeps disappearing. I think it just likes crawling under Violetta or Agatha's clothes and taking naps.

[anon62453]

You'd rather we spend a year real time with her trying to escape?
I'm fine with this.

Me, too. In-story, though, I can see how it might be a bit jarring. Agatha's ability to put clanks/clank-y solutions into play has grown exponentially. Remember that coffee engine? She didn't even (seem) to need helpers this time. Don't know if this is a product of the dyne, the sickness, her natural ability starting to kick in or the ability to draw on Lucrezia's knowledge & abilities. But, she's getting a lot better very fast.

Now if only she could figure out how to pick the right monster for the right job . . .

[Silva Stormrage]

She hasn't removed it, but she did make a temporary work-around.

AH now I get it, I misread that. I thought what had happened was that Tweedle had to touch the waspeater every once in awhile or die not that Agatha could tough either Tweedle or the waspeeater. Thanks for that.

[Dr. Simon]

Though to be serious, I AM a bit bothered by how seemingly easy it was for them to get out...

Say that once they're back in Mechanicsburg and not a moment before!

It keeps disappearing. I think it just likes crawling under Violetta or Agatha's clothes and taking naps.

Well, who wouldn't?

[eee]

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Ya gotta give Tweedle one thing: He doesn't give up easy. I notice he brought his sister along; that should help. So should summoning up all the Sparkhounds. (I wonder why the one has an "A" on its collar?). And of course he knows the terrain, and is apparently skilled at hunting. Still, he's up against Agatha: I think he's outmatched.

Ishtvan? As a reader of Myth*Adventures (including the Foglio adaption), THAT gets my attention! It's not spelled exactly the same, but still...

[Volthawk]

I assume the 'A' is for Alpha, as in a wolf pack.

[stsasser]

I assume the 'A' is for Alpha, as in a wolf pack.

I think so...although I see 'evil panda' face, too.

[Miklus]

Heck with from the frying pan into the fire, they've gone right into the incinerator. Maybe we're going to have one of those 'wolves chasing the sled' scenes like you get in Russian literature!

So who gets kicked of the sled when the wolfes sparkhounds close in? I vote Krosp.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Yeah, Tortall isgood and so are the Circle sets. I was just surprised because nobody I know IRL read them.

Follow-up: Read the first four books (song of the lioness), quite enjoyed them. Thank you for the recommendation. I'll see if I can get hold of everything else Pierce has written.

Grey Wolf

[Qwertystop]

Follow-up: Read the first four books (song of the lioness), quite enjoyed them. Thank you for the recommendation. I'll see if I can get hold of everything else Pierce has written.

Grey Wolf

Make sure you get the other series in order - they look like separate serieses but there's continuity between.

Same goes for the two Circle sets and the one finale book to it.

Just check the publication order on the inside cover.

[eee]

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Zogok has a lot better instincts than Ishtvan. Ishy should have sent part of the pack after the sled to keep it in sight while the rest went looking for Tweedle. Now there's a semi-wild, out of control pack on Agatha's tail. This does not bode well.

I keep thinking, if the Jagers and the Sparkhounds met, the carnage would probably be horrific. But the survivors might be best buds forever.

[Lochar]

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Is it just me or are the spark hounds one of the few actually loyal creations we've seen outside the Heterodynes? It's an interesting contrast to the gelatin monster that ate his master.

[NEO|Phyte]

It's possible Tweedle is the rare breed of spark that has some degree of common sense.

[slayerx]

Y'know i'm kind of bothered whenever these things stand on two legs... i guess they feel too much like humans in wolf suits as oppose to being wolves; just look a tad ridiculous to me. Frankly i can't help but feel i would find them a bit more intimidating if they stayed on all fours.

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Is it just me or are the spark hounds one of the few actually loyal creations we've seen outside the Heterodynes? It's an interesting contrast to the gelatin monster that ate his master.

Well the constructs serving the baron all seem loyal to him. Granted most of them are not his creations; but we have no info on them being disloyal to their original creators before said creators were squashed by the baron. Lucrazia's girls might also count, but its possible that she uses her mind controlling wasps to keep them in line.

And also there's zoing; he'd never betray gil.

[Porthos]

It's possible Tweedle is the rare breed of spark that has some degree of common sense.

Well, yes. He bred his creation out of an animal that believes in the pack hierarchy instead of creating it from scratch. As we've seen with Krosp you can't completely take the animal out of whatever gets made.

I presume that Tweedle didn't particularly want to breed out loyalty anyway.

[Rockphed]

And also there's zoing; he'd never betray gil.

Although I think he would try to pick up Agatha if given the chance.

[Lappy9001]

Although I think he would try to pick up Agatha if given the chance.

Well, from what we've seen Zoing is a lady's man...bug...lobster thing.

[Mauve Shirt]

Can I have the cliff notes version of who these guys are and why we should care?

[factotum]

I don't think we've ever met them before, have we? The werewolf dudes are clearly Martellus' minions, which means they're enemy to Agatha--that's pretty much all we need to know at this point!

[eee]

Can I have the cliff notes version of who these guys are and why we should care?

The Sparkhounds? From what little has been said they're some sort of biological construct or transformation, perhaps like the Lackya - who may be REALLY enhanced squirrels - or the Jagers. They're apparently regarded with something like horror by most people, since Agatha spoke about how her grandfather Lucifer Mongfish used them at times during his evil scientist career as a way of indicating her family wasn't much nicer than Violetta's. They're also very strong, fast, and dangerous. And now they're after Agatha...

[eee]

"We've blown the fore starboard hog!!"

WE'RE GETTING POTENTIAL THREAD TITLES UP THE YING-YANG, HERE!!!!

But we can't use them all. T_T

(Ah, the weasel's under Agatha's hat.)

[The Glyphstone]

Not The Face!

[BannedInSchool]

Tsk, no redundancy? I guess that's not in the spirit of Mad Science!!!

[Qwertystop]

Tsk, no redundancy? I guess that's not in the spirit of Mad Science!!!

What, you thought she was going to build extra pigs and make them strong enough to carry the spares?

Now we get to see how well the deer can run.

[BannedInSchool]

What, you thought she was going to build extra pigs and make them strong enough to carry the spares?

I mean that it should be able to stay aloft with fewer than four pigs operational.

[Qwertystop]

Ah. Yeah, that sorta makes sense. Except then she wouldn't have weightspace for all the guns!

[Rockphed]

"We've blown the fore starboard hog!!"

WE'RE GETTING POTENTIAL THREAD TITLES UP THE YING-YANG, HERE!!!!

But we can't use them all. T_T

(Ah, the weasel's under Agatha's hat.)

Girl Genius XVI: Thread Titles Up the Ying-Yang!

And I am liking the pacing of the last couple weeks of strips. Also, we are getting some really cool effects going on. Like when Tweedle's face broke from seeing Agatha out the window.

[datalaughing]

The Sparkhounds? From what little has been said they're some sort of biological construct or transformation, perhaps like the Lackya - who may be REALLY enhanced squirrels - or the Jagers. They're apparently regarded with something like horror by most people, since Agatha spoke about how her grandfather Lucifer Mongfish used them at times during his evil scientist career as a way of indicating her family wasn't much nicer than Violetta's. They're also very strong, fast, and dangerous. And now they're after Agatha...

There's a footnote about them in the second Girl Genius novel. When Tarvek opens up the box with robo-Lucrezia's head in it after deactivating Anevka, there's a bit about them. I'll post the quote and the footnote:

The head in his hand smiled. “Tarvek, dear boy! I was beginning to think something had gone wrong.”
“Sorry. Perhaps I should have put a clock in with you. You know, like a puppy.”
“Father raised Sparkhunds*.” Lucrezia replied conversationally. “They tended to eat clocks. We lost Auntie Skullchula’s favorite grandfather clock that way.”

*Sparkhunds were a breed of wolf/mastiff hybrids, specially bred to hunt down Sparks. It was inevitable that some of the more perverse Sparks had found the concept amusing, and thus had made their own contributions to the breed. As a result, the Sparkhunds at the time of our story were enormous, semi-intelligent creatures with rudimentary hands and jaws that could tear through armor plating. Naturally they still hunted Sparks, but now they enjoyed it.

And then, of course, they get a mention on this recent comic page.

[sherlock]

Heck with from the frying pan into the fire, they've gone right into the incinerator. Maybe we're going to have one of those 'wolves chasing the sled' scenes like you get in Russian literature!...

Or like the Rhosgobel rabbits sled in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A01_ef_mtM

[John Campbell]

“Sorry. Perhaps I should have put a clock in with you. You know, like a puppy.”

I don't know how many times I read this before I saw the "with".

This being Girl Genius, it kind of still makes sense that way.