Series: Girl Genius

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Steampunk, for those of you who don't know, is a type of science fiction featuring steam-powered technology of a far greater complexity than ever occurred in real life. Examples of the genre include The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Wild Wild West.

This sort of thing, pretty much.

And one of the more recent classics of the Steampunk genre is the webcomic known as Girl Genius -- though the author prefers to refer to it as "Gaslamp Fantasy." The series has won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for every year that the award has existed, was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist (As well as several non-Hugo awards, such as the Eisner Awards), and has won five Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards.

The comic takes place in a "What could have been" version of Europe ("Europa," actually, but it's obviously supposed to be Europe) where, as the genre suggests, steam-powered technology took hold far more than it did in real life. The reason for this is the existence of "Sparks," people who possess the innate ability to create technology that violates the laws of physics -- but tend to be more than a little bit mad.

In spite of this, order was kept for a time by a pair of Sparky heroes known as the Heterodyne Boys -- but after they mysteriously vanished, Europa dissolved into chaos until a man named Baron Wulfenbach conquered all of Europa, to rule with an iron fist.

Years later, our story begins with Agatha Clay, a mentally damaged girl who is working as a lab assistant at Transylvania Polygnostic University when the Baron pays it a visit. After a rather dangerous series of events, Agatha discovers that her "brain damage" is actually a result of a locket that she wears, which is actually a device designed to repress her abilities as a spark. She is taken as a prisoner to Castle Wulfenbach, where the story truly begins...

It's worth noting that Girl Genius actually began life as a print comic, only becoming a webcomic after four volumes. As a result, it holds itself to a much higher standard then most webcomics, and lacks the usual artistic evolution most webcomics have -- it starts out with good artwork, and that art doesn't change that much as the story progresses. It updates three times a week, every Monday Wednesday and Friday at midnight, and it keeps to this schedule no matter what, updating at the regular times even when the colorist ended up in the hospital from a heart attack. And in addition to its adventurous plot, it can be pretty funny, too.

Overall, Girl Genius is a very good series. There are only two real problems that might prevent someone from enjoying it. The first of these is that some of the story arcs tend to drag on a bit, most notably the Mechanicsburg arc (Which started three years ago and is still going). The other, much more minor problem is that the art style is a bit too cartoonish for some people's tastes. If you can get past those, I think that you'll find reading Girl Genius to be an enjoyable experience.

Overall Verdict: Considered one of the classics, both as a webcomic and as a part of the Steampunk genre, and for good reason. Definitely worth reading.