#mark mcnabb

Inside front cover: Cutouts of your TPU History Professors… …and others.

Prof. P. Foglio Transylvania Polygnostic University Dept. of Irrefutably True History Narrator #1

Prof. K. Foglio Transylvania Polygnostic University Dept. of Irrefutably True History Narrator #2

Inside back cover: It's true, we're almost out of airships and submersibles… for now, anyway. The last one wouldn't fit on the page, no matter how I turned it around. Argh. So the last one will be here next issue, and then I can make my mobile! Huzzah! Danger! Cut from the other side! Well, from the response of our friends and several readers, the goldfish seems to be the most popular character in the book. Sigh. Suspend it in a jar and you'll have a lovely low-maintenance pet.

THE OFFICIAL TPU STUDENT ID CARD: You can fill out the card, stick your photo on it and have it laminated. Whee! We'll be doing one of these every year. Student numbers are only valid for future promotions if assigned by the University. Instructions for official TPU registration are to be found on page 40.

Back cover:

The penultimate tiny submersible. Also a special cutout of the fish and this year's TPU student ID card. Whew. Carassius Auratus- life size-ish! Be sure to cut from this side.

The instructions from page 40, referred to on the inside back cover, are below:

TRANSYLVANIA POLYGNOSTIC UNIVERSITY STUDENT REGISTRATION-WHAT TO DO WITH THE ID CARD ON THE COVER The Student ID card on the back cover of this magazine is mostly for fun. But if you want to be on our mailing list and get an official student number, send your name, "major", address, and e-mail (optional) to TPU Registration c/o Studio Foglio 2400 NW 80th St #129 Seattle WA 98117-4449 USA or fill out the form that we're putting up at www.transylvaniapolygnostic.com

And we'll send you a student number and a report card. For those of you who already sent your info in and are waiting for your number, it'll be on its way soon. The school records department was on sabbatical for a while. Sorry about that. We don't share or sell our mailing lists, because we think that sort of thing is vile and we hate it when other people do it to us.

Additional content before the comic: Our story thus far. Additional content after the comic: Girl Genius fan art by professional comic book artist Rich Larsen, A Letter to Our Readers, The Girl Genius Secret Cypher Society

Sample page: A Letter to Our Readers

This page was posted at slightly higher resolution than the covers because of all of the text, but most of the text is also below:

A LETTER TO OUR READERS An Explanation, Update and Apology From Professors Foglio & Foglio To Our Loyal Transylvania Polygnostic University Students Hello, everyone. We are very sorry that we had to push back the release date of this issue. We had some problems late in 2001 that caused us to miss the shipping deadline for our major distributor, and so had to begin the solicitation process all over again. Sadly, we are a very small publishing house and have too few people doing too much work. In addition, the work that we are doing is something that we plan to keep in print forever, and it is important to us to do the best job that we can. So we were late this time, and we apologize profusely. The next issue is hot on the heels of this one, and then we will revert to our usual quarterly schedule. We are far enough ahead now that we think things should go more smoothly in the future.

Please note that we have changed the name of the publishing company to Airship Entertainment. Now seemed as good a time as any. It's easier to remember, spell, pronounce and find on the Web (airshipcomics.com).

Thank you all for your patience, we are so glad that you haven't given up on us. (You're reading this, aren't you?) Thanks especially to the honor students of the Girl Genius Yahoo Club, who threw a fantastic tea and croquet party last April. We're so glad you invited us. —Prof.s Phil & Kaja Foglio Dept. Irrefutably True History Transylvania Polygnostic University

AND NOW, A NOTE ABOUT OUR CARD GAME From TPU's own Professor Wright Attention all students and faculty— It has come to our attention that our card game Girl Genius: the Works (required materials for Prof. James Ernest's award-winning Game Theory 101 class—available at the student store) has been nominated for two awards by the Game Manufacturers Association and the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Designs. The categories are—

Best Traditional Card Game of 2001 and Best Graphic Presentation of a Card Game 2001.

This pleases us. As we have often taught in our classes, the only thing more important than the recognition of your peers is seeing them crushed and wailing before you.

Public voting for the awards begins soon, with the winners to be announced at the July 2002 Origins Game Expo. Your new homework assignments are to spread the word and vote. Voting is open to all citizens so please take the time. We will make available a link on our "WEB SITE" (studiofoglio.com) that will allow you to access the Origins awards voting booths as soon as they are open. (Voting will be at www.originsawards.com)

Inside front cover: For those who do not choose to cut up their books and who don't feel like monkeying with photocopiers or scanners, extra covers are available from the publisher at a small price from our Web site—airshipbooks.com, as are a selection of back issues and other works by Phil and Kaja.

The cover cutouts are, as usual, ™ & © 2002 Studio Foglio. Permission is hereby granted to make photocopies for personal use only.

Inside back cover: No text from the cover is reproduced here.

Back cover: Happy Holidays! Here are some tags for your presents and another sub for the fleet. Permission is granted to make copies for personal non-profit use only.

Additional content before the comic: Our Story Thus Far. Additional content after the comic: Mimmoth sketches; Photograph of Agatha Heterodyne sculpture; Transylvania Polygnostic University #3: Ethics Exam; Ad for Tozer-Kiltz Robotics; the Girl Genius Secret Cypher Society.

Sample pages:

Our Story Thus Far: Note that the caption of Agatha’s picture is still “Agatha Clay”. I have no idea if the fact that she was a Heterodyne was still a big secret or an open secret among the fans at this point.

When a strange clank stalks the streets of Beetleburg near Transylvania Polygnostic University, Agatha Clay is mistaken for the assistant of its builder and taken aboard the airship city Castle Wulfenbach.

Clumsy, perpetually distracted and prone to headaches, Agatha has the drive to create but seems unable to build anything that actually works. Since boarding the Castle, her head has begun to clear, but she has now begun to wander in her sleep. To her embarrassment, she usually awakens at an empty workbench in her pajamas.

Castle Wulfenbach is ruled by Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, a particularly powerful Mad Scientist (or "Spark" to be polite) who has long enforced a kind of peace over the squabbling powers of Europe.

The Baron's son Gilgamesh has come to believe that Agatha herself is responsible for building of the Beetleburg Clank, and is hoping that just this once he has caught his brilliant father in a mistake. Gil has arranged for Agatha to be transferred to his lab as an assistant, and is keeping a close eye on her.

Meanwhile, Agatha has met Krosp, an experimental creature created to be the "Emperor of all Cats" and Othar Tryggvasson, a rather famous Hero being held captive by the Baron. Each of these meetings has reinforced Agatha's suspicion that she has not fallen amongst the "Good Guys" and that she herself may be in some danger. This is not a bad guess.