Girl Genius Volume 5: Agatha Heterodyne & The Clockwork Princess (v. 5) (edition 2009)

by Kaja Foglio, Phil Foglio, Phil Foglio (Illustrator)

Series: Girl Genius (5)

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krau0098's review

This is the 5th TP in the Girl Genius series. I have really been loving this series a lot. It’s a lot of fun to read, there is a lot of humor, and I really enjoy the heavy steampunk theme throughout.

Agatha and Krosp (the emperor of cats) are still traveling with Master Payne’s Circus of Adventure. Now the Jaggers have joined the circus too and they are awesome, always itching for a brawl. However, during a performance Agatha’s voice is recognized and she is kidnapped for evil purposes. Who will come to her rescue?

This whole series has been spectacular fun. Lots of comedy, wonderful steampunk elements, and tons of adventure. This book throws in some creepy automatons (particularly the Clockwork Princess) which were fascinating. There is also a horde of creepy monsters that have been devouring villages. In addition to this poor Prince Gil has thrown himself into his inventing after believing Agatha is truly dead.

I continue to really enjoy Agatha, she comes up with some awesome inventions and is just pretty darn funny. Krosp played a smaller role in this book, but was also hilarious. We do learn a little bit more about her background and the mythology surrounding the Heterodynes.

Then there are the automatons and the whole idea of souls or spirits inhabiting machines, which is something I love reading about.

Things move fairly slow in these books, but the events that do happen are highly entertaining. The illustrations continue to be brightly colored and all the women continue to look a bit manly. But I still feel like the illustration fits the story really well.

The book does start with a “the story thus far” which I really am happy is there. The story is getting more and more complicated and it is good to have a little refresher as to what is going on.

The only thing that was a bit disappointing is that this book ends on a horrible cliffhanger. I am dying to know what happens next!

Overall, this book was just as much fun as all the previous books have been. The story is getting more complicated and I continue to enjoy it. There are some wonderful steampunk things in here and the book is hilarious. My husband always rolls his eyes while I read these because I just sit on the couch and laugh and laugh until I am nearly in tears. I highly recommend this graphic novel series to everyone, especially those who love steampunk. (

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krau0098 | Jun 1, 2014 |

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This book gets a little more complicated than the prior versions, so I didn't enjoy it quite as much, but it's still very enjoyable and worth a read. Plus, it does set up the events in the next books (I've read through book 7, currently, and am re-reading them all so that new-to-me books 8 & 9 make more sense) and so is an important installment in the series. (

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ca.bookwyrm | May 18, 2020 |

Nota bene: This is not the first volume of this series, but it's the first one that was posted online. Mad scientist Agatha Heterodyne travels incognito with a circus to her father's ancestral home, but they're intercepted by a prince and a cult of warrior women, both eerily obsessed with her mother... (

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Excelsa | Apr 15, 2018 |

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krau0098 | Jun 1, 2014 |

This is the 5th book in the Girl Genius series. It begins with the circus on the road to Mechanicsberg. The circus has sent scouts ahead, and when they are late returning stop on the far side of a bridge before committing to the route. Creatures chased the scouts back and with the help of some Jagermonsters and Agatha's death ray, they were able to save everyone. However, it sent them on a path less favored.

Girl Genius is a web comic about a mad scientists who seem to be able to break the laws of physics, and it all happens in a gaslight/steampunkish universe. This is my favorite section of the story. Great art, great story and lots of fun. (

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readafew | Jan 4, 2011 |

Love Girl Genius - I've been reading them online for quite a while, finally got the books (some of them - there's a couple volumes out that I don't have yet). The story flows nicely between volumes, but I think I can distinguish between them (as I can't for some, like Modesty Blaise). Very rich, this one - Moxana and Tinka, Tarvek and the whole thing with the geisterdamen and the Other...and Agatha finds out a whole lot about her past and her family. And Gil and the Baron come back into the story. (

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jjmcgaffey | Jun 4, 2009 |

As the compiled "Girl Genius" volumes move entirely to being drawn from the website (here June 2005 to March 2006), there's an interesting change in the feel of the series. While the Foglios have always primarily played for the long run, a certain short-term rhythm was enforced by the format. With an online comic, that's gone and they're free to pace the story as they like.

"Agatha Heterodyne and the Clockwork Princess" starts showing the result of that; it's mostly positive, but has some minor downsides. For something with the sweeping scope of "Girl Genius", being free to delay payoff for greater development is excellent; the cast is perpetually growing and it helps to not be limited by the format. The only downside is the varied pacing throws of the trade editions somewhat; this volume has a clear enough stopping point, but it doesn't really fit with the flow of the story.

Beyond that, the Foglios are well into the swing of things in this volume - which leads into the extremely complicated jumble around Sturmhalten. But complicated works here - both in the sense of the world (there's more players than just the Wulfenbachs and the Heterodynes) and in terms of story. Keeping the action wild and messy fits the work and the Foglios better than showing restraint.

So while this perhaps doesn't fit together on its own as well as it could, the change in pacing is for the best overall - and, anyway, if you're buying Volume 5, you're probably buying 6 as well. (

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agis | Sep 10, 2008 |

The ongoing adventures of Agatha Heterodyne, a young scientific genius in a World Gone Mad! Adventure! Romance! Mad Science! This is gorgeous. The illustrations are beautiful, the story is amusing, interesting and self-aware and I am utterly in love. http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php

Black_samvara | Feb 4, 2008 |

As much as Agatha would prefer to spend time in a laboratory instead of coping with the insanity of politics, her heritage doesn't leave her much choice. Some of her background comes back to haunt her with unexpected enemies and allies. (

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