sizrobe's review
5.0
Still delivering chuckles and an epic plot. This far in, you really can't say much without a ton of spoilers, so I'll refrain from a deep dive.
misssusan's review
4.0
Someone give the Foglios a high five! This is the most entertaining volume of Girl Genius I've read yet. Gil's attempts to rescue Agatha are getting increasingly hilarious and farcical and seeing Agatha come into her own as the Heterodyne heir to the Castle is pretty satisfying. 4.5 stars
kjboldon's review
4.0
Ooh, things just get better as this series goes on! Storylines and character groups converge on Heterodyne Castle while Agatha attempts to get it to recognize her as the heir. Lots of beefcake, some great comedy asides from the Jägerkin, and past characters appearing in ways that make sense! This series really pays off in its details.
My quibbles, 8 books into the series, are that I wish there were a bigger variety of bodies portrayed sexually, I wish Agatha wasn't being fought over by 2 white Aryan dudes and that the cast, and the sexualities portrayed were more diverse. Also, for all the sexy art, there's precious little sex. It's a weird mix that I wish were more sex positive rather than the occasional slut shaming. Gaslamp doesn't have to equal Victorian prudishness.
Agatha's hardly had time to have sex, as she's building clanks and saving her own ass and others (tho, RIP Lars) so she's the hero I'm happy to root for. I also love how the "mad" in mad scientist encompasses both aspects of the word. Oh, and there is a hilarious hat! So, lots of fun, skillfully done. But enough quibbles to keep it at 4 stars (for now).
My quibbles, 8 books into the series, are that I wish there were a bigger variety of bodies portrayed sexually, I wish Agatha wasn't being fought over by 2 white Aryan dudes and that the cast, and the sexualities portrayed were more diverse. Also, for all the sexy art, there's precious little sex. It's a weird mix that I wish were more sex positive rather than the occasional slut shaming. Gaslamp doesn't have to equal Victorian prudishness.
Agatha's hardly had time to have sex, as she's building clanks and saving her own ass and others (tho, RIP Lars) so she's the hero I'm happy to root for. I also love how the "mad" in mad scientist encompasses both aspects of the word. Oh, and there is a hilarious hat! So, lots of fun, skillfully done. But enough quibbles to keep it at 4 stars (for now).
a_h_haga's review
5.0
REREAD 2019
HUZAAA
That's my general thought on this album. Everything about this arc is amazing, and I'm actually a little sad to know that it isn't the last part of the story. It would be a good ending, when this is over.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, time to read on!
HUZAAA
That's my general thought on this album. Everything about this arc is amazing, and I'm actually a little sad to know that it isn't the last part of the story. It would be a good ending, when this is over.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, time to read on!
tiamatq's review
5.0
This is, in my opinion, one of the funniest volumes of Girl Genius. I love Castle Heterodyne... I love Castle Heterodyne's skewed logic and twisted memory... "I can kill people in the sky! - Yay! Do that! Kill everyone in the sky!" This also has Gil's amazing new hat, declaring him to be a Schmott Guy! And then there's the epic stage battle between Gil and Zeetha, with a spork gun and the walking cage! And Mamma Gkika!!! If you haven't read Girl Genius before, none of that will make any sense, but that just means you should hustle over to Girl Genius Online and start reading. Go! Now!
nwhyte's review
"Agatha Heterodyne is struggling with the legacy of her family castle, which has a mind of its own (or several minds, as it turns out); meanwhile Gilgamesh Wulfenbach is trying to break into the castle and rescue her, against the wishes of his father the baron. The Foglio art style is distinctive (and a bit of googling revealed why I thought it looked familiar); the plotting and scrioting decent enough. It's a fun romp, but difficult to appreciate without having read the first seven volumes. Unlike the other Hugo nominees this hasn't yet been published in a single edition, so you have to read it off the website; no doubt the eventual dead trees version will have some explanatory front matter."
capellan's review
3.0
Agatha's adventures remain fun and action-packed but I do think this volume suffers a little from trying to jam too much into the page count, with the result that it sometimes feels a bit muddled.
tin_squid's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed many things about this volume. It had a lot of very funny dialogue and we met several new and entertaining characters. The audience also gets to catch up with a few old characters we haven't seen for awhile.
Despite all the positive aspects, there wasn't really enough advancement of the main plot to make me happy. We spent so much time running from place to place trying to keep up with a hundred little side stories and trying to get them all connected that basically the story didn't move.
Oh well, it was still entertaining. On to volume 9!
Despite all the positive aspects, there wasn't really enough advancement of the main plot to make me happy. We spent so much time running from place to place trying to keep up with a hundred little side stories and trying to get them all connected that basically the story didn't move.
Oh well, it was still entertaining. On to volume 9!
pumpkinmomma's review against another edition
5.0
I love the castle. It has just the right amount of twisted humor to keep me laughing but not so much that is overwhelms the story. Again a great cast along with the Agatha in the castle.