Since the page posted above appeared on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, causing quite a bit of excitement, the dingbots mounted on mimmoths haven't reappeared in the story. However, while going through the front matter of all the Girl Genius graphic novels in the First Journey to confirm something for the wiki, I happened upon what might be considered a preview.
This is the spot illustration on the title page of volume 10, Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse. I'm sure I've looked at this image more than once, but I certainly didn't remember it. To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes (who surely would have been some kind of Spark in the Girl Genius Universe), "I saw, but I did not observe!"
This isn't a significant find, to be sure, but I still felt it was of enough interest to post here.
This character's silhouette is startling similar to the Dreen in Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio, at least at first glance. I'm not suggesting a connection, just pointing out a surprising resemblance.
Cover of issue fourteen of the Girl Genius comic book. Story by Phil & Kaja Foglio; Pencils by Phil Foglio; Feature Story Colored by Laurie E Smith; Lettering, Logos, Book Design & Cover Colors by Kaja Foglio. On this cover, the Girl Genius tagline is A Gaslamp Fantasy with Adventure, Romance & Mad Science.
This issue of the Girl Genius comic book was printed in February 2004 and includes pages 89 to 118 of volume 4 of the graphic novel series, completing the book. (In this issue of the comic book, the pages are numbered 85 to 114.)
I have to publish "Floppy Friday" early this week and jump to the end of the sequence because I am traveling so my schedule is disrupted and I don't have access to my usual computer with most of my files on it.
See the rest below the cut.
APRIL FOOL!
There never was an issue 14 of the comic book, because the Foglios decided to move to online publication of Girl Genius before this issue was printed. But they did complete the cover for it and shared it with their fans. If you think you've already seen it, that's because you probably have; it was posted to the Girl Genius comic website on Sunday, April 17, 2005. I'm glad they shared it; it's a great cover.
The information I posted about it is my best guess at what the actual credits, page numbers, and date of publication for issue 14 would have been.
For April Fool's Day, I made the post I'm rebogging about the never-printed issue 14 of the Girl Genius comic book. I am doing this now to make the cover appear in the proper position in my Floppy Friday sequence.
More specifically, I'm reblogging @leletha-jann's reblog of my post, because Le'letha made an insightful and interesting comment in her tags, as she so often does, specifically: #genuinely do not think we've ever seen agatha in that outfit
I agree and found this puzzling. I reread the pages that would have made up issue 14 of the comic book (roughly the last quarter of volume 4, Agatha Heterodyne and the Circus of Dreams) to make sure it wasn't there. It isn't, but I think I have figured out why this illustration of Agatha wearing an outfit and wielding a device, both of which are never seen in the comic, was (or, rather, would have been) included on the cover of issue 14.
The key can be found on the page shown below, on which Agatha whispers, "Eek! But my costume!"
What follows is purely speculation on my part, but I find it compelling. The costume Agatha is referring to is the one shown on the unpublished cover. The device she holding in that cover illustration is the Telluricomni Visualization version of a crystal ball. The costume and device ended up on the "cutting room floor" for some reason, perhaps related to the decision to move the comic from print to web publication, but Phil and Kaja had already designed it and Phil had drawn it, so they decided to use it on the cover of the comic book before it was scrapped. Perhaps there was a plan for a scene including that costume and prop that was also scrapped. Am I right about this? The world may never know!
This is the final installment of Floppy Friday with a new comic book because issue 13 was the last part of the main Girl Genius story ever published that way. However, there probably will be one or two more installments of Floppy Friday with additional information about the history of the comic books.
Cover of issue thirteen of the Girl Genius comic book. Story by Phil & Kaja Foglio. Pencils by Phil Foglio. Feature Story Colored by Laurie E. Smith. Special Thanks To Payne Fifield, Gentleman, Scholar, Magician, and Marie Cooley, Corsetiere, Historian, Junior Astronaut. Lettering, Logos, Book Design & Cover Colors by Kaja Foglio.
Read the rest after the cut.
This issue of the Girl Genius comic book was printed in November 2004 and includes pages 60 to 88 of volume 4 of the graphic novel series. The pages in the comic book are numbered 56 to 84. The pages in this issue of the comic book are larger than those in the first ten, which were standard comic book size. In this issue, as well as the previous two, the pages are the same size as in the graphic novels.
Inside front:
More of our famous low-budget action figures. (They stand up, they fall down. Action!) Permission is, as usual, granted to our readers to make copies of this page for personal non-profit use ONLY! Thank you.
Inside back:
CUT FROM THIS SIDE! (It makes a difference.)
Oh, look. It's the return of that bookmark that we like so much and didn't get enough copies of the first time! And what are those things above it? Tree ornaments? Scentless car air fresheners? Something quick that Kaja can stick on the back page and get this issue out the door? We're sure that all the paper-specialist Sparks out there will find some creative use for them. Sorry about that one with us on it—that one's purely there for our kids. Everybody else can use the side with the lovely airship on it, cut out the picture and use the frame for one of their own or even use us as a coaster when we kill off your favorite characters. For ornamental purposes only—do not eat.
Back:
CUT FROM OTHER SIDE! (It makes a difference.)
Girl Genius is suggested for an audience of Teens and up. Thank you.
Back issues, free online comics and all sorts of other goodies are always available on our Web site. Please visit us soon!
Additional content before the comic: Title page, Our story so far. Additional content after the comic: The Girl Genius Secret Cypher Society page.
Page 56 of issue 12 of the Girl Genius comic book presents three of the Jägershots strips out of a set of ten that were originally posted online and are included (in color) at the end of volume 9 of the graphic novel series. According to a note included with the printed version of the strips, this was before Girl Genius had become a webcomic, so there were no actual pages from the the main story on the website at this time.
See the alt text for a transcription of the text in the comic strips.
Visit our Web site to keep up with our doings, read free comics, download desktops, printable bookplates and other free stuff… or even order back-issues! The Jägershots strips aren't in any way a regular feature, but they're in there and we thought those of you who've never checked our Web site should know what you're missing.
And there is a nice sketch of a dingbot at the top of page page 56, which also contains the Girl Genius Secret Cypher Society entry for this issue.
Cover of issue twelve of the Girl Genius comic book. Story by Phil & Kaja Foglio. Pencils by Phil Foglio. Feature Story Colored by Laurie E. Smith. Special Thanks To Payne Fifield, Gentleman, Scholar, Magician, and Marie Cooley, Corsetiere, Historian, Junior Astronaut. Lettering, Logos, Book Design, Puzzle & Assorted Illustrations by Kaja Foglio. Cover Colors by Kaja Foglio & Laurie E. Smith.
Read the rest after the cut.
This issue of the Girl Genius comic book was printed in July 2004 and includes pages 32 to 59 of volume 4 of the graphic novel series. The pages in the comic book are numbered 28 to 55. The pages in this issue of the comic book are larger than those in the first ten, which were standard comic book size. This issue, as well as issues eleven and thirteen, have pages the same size as in the graphic novels.
Inside front cover:
The Girl Genius Block Puzzle
Cut out the four "T" shaped pieces (two on the inside front cover and two on the inside back) and fold each one into a cube—so that you have four cubes. Folding will be easier if you score the back of the paper along the fold lines with a sharp craft knife, but be careful not to cut too deeply—you don't want to cut all the way through. Glue the tabs of each cube to the inside—this will be easiest if you do them in order starting with Tab 1.
For a more solid puzzle, you can glue the panels to a cube of wood or foam, but make sure you get each picture in its proper place—no shifting them around to make solving the puzzle easier!
Inside back cover:
Now that you've built your puzzle—take the four cubes and line them up in a single straight row so that each side of that row contains one of each of the four pictures—Girl Genius Logo, Agatha, Krosp and Airship Fleet (not necessarily in that order). We have it on good authority that this is supposed to be reasonably challenging, but then, said authority probably never met our Sparky readers.
You can tell the folks at Kinko's that permission is granted to make a copy of these four puzzle pieces for PERSONAL NON-PROFIT puzzle-making use ONLY!
www.airshipbooks.com
Back cover
www.airshipbooks.com
Back issues, free online comics and all sorts of other goodies are always available on our Web site. Please visit us soon!
Girl Genius is suggested for an audience of Teens and up. Thank you.
Additional content before the comic: Title page, Our story so far. Additional content after the comic: Jägershots, The Girl Genius Secret Cypher Society page.
With this installment, the Agatha through other eyes meets Floppy Friday crossover event comes to its thrilling conclusion, as it moves into the THIRD DIMENSION!!! (Please note, this isn't necessarily the last installment of the regular Agatha through other eyes series.) This photograph was reproduced on page 37 of issue 8 of the Girl Genius comic book.
View the alt text for the transcription of the text in this image.
The amazing story behind this sculpture can be viewed after the cut!
When I saw this picture, aside from being blown away by the skill of the sculptor, I had a nagging feeling it looked very familiar. I finally realized that it had a strong resemblance to the Agatha 3-D model that was released in 2022 on cgtrader.
Kaja wrote about this 3-D model on Patreon (you have to be a Girl Genius patron to see the original post):
My big news today is that I've recently connected with an old friend! Kim Beaton used to be a Seattle artist who did incredible sculpture for Wizards of the Coast, then moved to New Zealand to work on the Hobbit for WETA. She's been there ever since. She's one of the most classical "Mad Genius" type people I know (and that's saying something) and lately she's been directing her astonishing creative energy toward learning 3D rendering. You can see her first offering in what we hope will be a Girl Genius line of 3D printable figures on CGtrader.com. I'm so pleased about this, and I hope that any of you with 3D printers will try it out!
Of course, Kim Graham is not the same name as Kim Beaton, but it seemed likely they were the same person. However, I like to deal in certainties, not likelihoods. I was able to track down an email address for Kim and she was kind enough to quickly respond and confirm that she was the sculptor for the statue pictured in the comic book, saying, “It was a gift to Kaja and Phil years ago.” Her wonderful creations can be see on her website, Kim Beaton Studios, and the WETA Workshop site.
The latest installment of the Agatha through other eyes meets Floppy Friday crossover brings us to another name that will be familiar to many Girl Genius fans, Pete Abrams, author of Sluggy Freelance! Today's Agatha illustration is from issue ten of the Girl Genius comic book, page 32.
See the alt text for a transcription of the text in this image.
The Agatha through other eyes meets Floppy Friday crossover extravaganza continues to continue, with a name that will be familiar to many Girl Genius fans, John Kovalic! Today's Agatha illustration is from issue ten of the Girl Genius comic book, page 31.
See the alt text for a transcription of the text in this image.
John's strip Dork Tower shared space in Dragon magazine with Phil's What's New for years.
More amazing crossover action can be seen after the break!
The strip below is a crossover between What's New and Dork Tower that appeared in Dragon, although I haven't been able to identify the issue.
It even has a Girl Genius Easter egg! (See the background of panel 5.) I assume that each artist drew their own characters, but I don't have the full story for this comic. All the What's New strips were posted to their own section of the Girl Genius website once upon a time, but they have been missing in action for years, although some can still be retrieved using the Internet Archive.
The Agatha through other eyes meets Floppy Friday crossover extravaganza continues! Today's Agatha illustration is from issue six of the Girl Genius comic book, page 38. It is fan art from another comics artist, Rich Larson.
See the alt text for a transcription of the text in this image.
Welcome to a spectacular crossover event—nay, an extravaganza! Here is: Agatha through other eyes meets Floppy Friday! In other words, this is an "Agatha through other eyes" image from page 28 of issue one of the Girl Genius comic book, by Brian Snōddy, the inker on the first three issues of the comic book and, so, the first graphic novel.
Text transcribed below the cut.
We are very pleased to have artist Brian Snōddy as our inker for the first three issues to Girl Genius. Brian is usually very busy with his own work, and it is a true privilege to have him on board. (We only got him to do it by promising him lots of cool machinery and military uniforms.) You can see the work that is completely his own on the Legend of the Five Rings card and roleplaying games, Magic the Gathering cards and various Deadlands paraphernalia, as well as some of the new D&D editions. Don't miss his hilarious clueless zombies on Cheapass Games' award-winning series Give me the Brain, Lord of the Fries and The Great Brain Robbery. We asked Brian to do a Girl Genius illustration of his own for the first issue, it is included below for your viewing pleasure.
The previous two entries in this series were actual Girl Genius comics. This one is an image Kaja shared on the comic website with the following note (see the image as posted by visiting the link above):
Back when I was in the hospital, Batton Lash & the Wolff & Byrd crew sent me this wonderful card:
Today, on the occasion of their new KickStarter campaign, I feel the need to share it with all our readers.
Please go support the new book:
Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre
THE WEREWOLF OF NEW YORK!
This was thirteen years ago. Not only is the Kickstarter long over, but, unfortunately, Batton Lash has passed away.
I have always been fascinated by characters from illustrated works I am very familiar with being being rendered by someone other than the original artist, especially if both artists have distinctive styles. While there is great deal of wonderful Girl Genius fan art on tumblr, in this series I am going to be focusing on work by professional artists.
First up, Cheyenne Wright's version of Agatha from "The Mechanicsburg Guild of Monsters".
⚙️ Prof. Phil Foglio is the co-writer and illustrator for the gaslamp fantasy comic Girl Genius, which he created alongside his wife Kaja Foglio!
You can read it online or published, and to find copies of the printed work and other kinds of Girl Genius goodies, you can check out Topa.to/GirlGenius! ⚙️
Floppy Friday, Volume 4, Issue 11 Addendum: Studio Foglio History
The text of this message is transcribed after the cut.
…And Now, a Note From the Faculty—
We have had a lot of questions about the state of the Girl Genius property. Many of you have noticed that we haven't offered any new Girl Genius merchandise or subscriptions in the last year, that the comic has been delayed, and that there are lots of rumors flying around on the Web. Well, we can finally tell you what has been going on, but be warned: the end of the story is "And Then… NOTHING HAPPENED! Ta Da!" So here we go:
In 2003, a very cool company came along and wanted to take over the publication of Girl Genius. They wanted to do all kinds of great things with it… games, animation, fancy books, novels, the whole works. We were wary of the whole thing, but they not only offered us much needed money, they also answered every question that we had with all the right answers. In fact, every time we came across something in the contract that made us squeal in terror, they said "oh, okay, we'll fix that" and THEY DID. It was a roller-coaster ride, no question. At the end of it all, we ended up with a contract heartily approved by our attorney. The deal was signed, but we were asked to delay the announcement until they could send out a fancy press release. What could we do? We had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
An exclusive license deal meant that we couldn't publish the book ourselves, or do any of the cool side projects that we wanted to do, but that was a minor evil. The company wanted to do better things than we ever could. Meetings were had. It was agreed that we would finish up the current storyline of Girl Genius (Issues 9 and 10) and they would take over with issue 11, slated for February 2004. By this time, word of the deal had leaked out on the internet, due to a slip in a related press release posted on the company's own Web site. But we were still asked not to talk about it ourselves.
Then the company was sold to a larger company. We were all told that this would affect nothing. Having worked with Wizards of the Coast for a long time (back in the day), we all laughed, but soldiered on. Issue 11 was produced, and the deadline for the solicitation materials to be sent to Diamond was fast approaching. Nothing was happening. The day before the deadline, the news came—the entire publishing department was shut down. AAAHHH! We walked around for a couple of weeks with raw nerves… our license was suddenly tied up with a company that no longer published books. AAAHHH!!
Once again, they proved themselves to be Official Good Guys. Kaja had a phone meeting with the head of the company, and never once had to say the things that our attorney had been coaching her on all morning. Mostly, she said "uh-huh" a lot. The upshot was that they didn't want to deprive the fans of the comics, and so they were going to give us back the publication rights. A deal was hashed out and signed. Wonderful!
The company still wanted to do other things with Girl Genius at that time, but in the following months, it became obvious that they had a lot of their own existing properties to work on, starting fresh with something new wasn't in the immediate future. Rather than sit on the rights and keep Girl Genius from moving forward as a successful IP, they chose to terminate the agreement. We have to admit to being very pleasantly surprised. We tend to expect the worst in any situation (this whole drama must have taken years off our lives), so having a large company so willingly take the high road was delightful. We were very impressed.
SO— Girl Genius is officially ours to play with again. Huzzah! We already have our CafePress site back up and running, and a number of fun side projects in the works. Watch our Web site or subscribe to the Mighty Studio Foglio e-mail list (instructions at www.airshipbooks.com) for updates and information And—once again—thank you for your patience.
—Most Sincerely,
Phil and Kaja Foglio
Transylvania Polygnostic Unitersity
It is as irresistible as it is pointless to speculate on what might have been had this deal worked out. Personally, I am sure that Girl Genius would be very different now if someone else had published it and developed it for other media starting way back near the beginning, No matter how much control the contract gave the Foglios over their property, I doubt they could have completely resisted the pressures placed on them to allow other people to change the story as it was developed and adapted for other media.
Also, while the deal might have led to financial security, it could equally well (as the story makes plain) have resulted in an acquisition of the Girl Genius IP by a company that didn't want to develop Girl Genius but that wasn't run by Official Good Guys, tying up the rights to Girl Genius for years, and perhaps forcing the Foglios to move on to other projects.
I have to give the Foglios a tremendous amount of credit and respect for their determination to keep telling the Girl Genius story their way for over a quarter of a century, despite all of the challenges they have faced along the way.
janainaart
areudirty
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theartofmadeline
