Mad science webcomic Girl Genius has launched an accelerated Kickstarter to generate funds for a print run for a paper edition of “Girl Genius Volume 12” – this volume will actually run 192 pages rather than the usual 120 pages, and the Foglios plan on printing 9,000 copies due to how quickly they ran out of a previous print run. As of their first day, they’ve already reached over 23K dollars, nearly half of their minimum goal of 55K dollars. In addition, if and when they reach other monetary goals, other volumes will be reprinted as well, and Girl Genius medals will be cast as well for supporters. And to be honest? Of all the Kickstarters I’ve mentioned here in the News section… this is the one I want most to reach its final goal. Hey, if Order of the Stick can get a million dollars over Kickstarter, then Girl Genius can garner 220K dollars. (As a brief aside, I must admit to being amused by the “Tea Party” offer for a patron who bids 10K dollars. Having met Kaja Foglio, I must admit I could see her coming with tea and cakes. And a nice hat. ^^)
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Skin Horse
But first I need to rewind a little to a previous storyline in which Sweetheart was upset that her coworker and subordinate Unity was busy gorging on lab-grown brains… and in doing so, becoming more intelligent. She would become downright dismissive of Unity and do her best to ignore Unity’s perceptions as to what was going on; as a result, the Skin Horse team failed to realize what was going on until it was nearly too late.
Looking forward to the latest update, and I noticed this pattern was unfolding once more. Sweetheart was dismissive of Unity’s perceptions concerning WhimsyCorp (which Unity either hallucinated or was visited by). Further, the moment Unity comes up with a logical and reasonable reason for Skin Horse to try and save WhimsyCorp (in that corporations are persons but not human… and thus under Skin Horse’s jurisdiction), Sweetheart accuses Unity of being on brains.
This is the moment I realized Sweetheart is threatened by other people’s intelligence. Nor is this a recent thing; when Tip first joined Skin Horse, Sweetheart was threatened by his obvious intelligence (and disdainful of Tip’s eccentricities, despite the fact these “non-professional” tendencies have helped the group on multiple occasions). Similarly, when Unity becomes smart, Sweetheart immediately becomes dismissive and brushes off any suggestions Unity may make. This distrust of other people’s intelligence even can be found in her opinion of their boss, the sentient bee swarm Gavotte.
As to why Sweetheart is so distrustful of other intelligences, I have to wonder if part of it lies with the fact Sweetheart is just an intelligent dog. She’s not even necessarily brilliant by human standards; she seems to thrive in a structured environment where there aren’t a lot of surprises. Within that setting, she does quite well. Outside it, however, she becomes defensive and unwilling to consider the opinions of others. And she’s aware of her limitations… and may very well be afraid that if she’s revealed to be just ordinary, she’ll lose everything she’s built.
The question ultimately is, what’s next for Sweetheart? What are her motivations? Is she afraid of being shown up by Tip… and later by Unity? Does her rank as team commander mean so much to her? And if so, why? In time, Garrity and Wells will likely expand on this and on Sweetheart. In the meantime, it’s clear Skin Horse has room to grow, even as the Skin Horse team slowly learn more of the subversive elements operating in the background of their world and why the massive cover-up on the Old War. And perhaps along the way we’ll learn more about Sweetheart… and see if she can overcome her fear and disdain of other intelligences before it’s too late.
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Posted in Webcomic commentary
Tagged Character development, Humor in comics, Mad science