Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 4: Materia

Gunnerkrigg Court #4

by Thomas Siddell

Being a teenager is tough. Even more so at the magical and mysterious school, Gunnerkrigg Court.

Antimony Carver and her best friend Kat continue to uncover terrible secrets about their eccentric school, Gunnerkrigg Court, as their second year comes to a close. If navigating the dangerous world of teenage relationships weren’t hard enough, Annie and her fellow Mediums In Training learn that there is a far more to their powers than they could have imagined. They must take things into their own hands if they want to get to the bottom of the Court’s dark past.

Thomas Siddell’s popular and award-winning webcomic (www.gunnerkrigg.com) is here, collected in print for fans and new readers alike.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Webcomic, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2013

About the author

Very little is known of Tom, as he doesn't speak about himself much. He is English, resides in Birmingham, recently was employed as an animator at a video game company but in 2012 decided to leave to work on Gunnerkrigg Court full time.

There is also conjecture that he likes Cadbury Extra Thick Chocolate Cakes, but no suitable references were provided.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series begins to take a more adult tone as Antimony spends a lot of time in the forest. There's a lot of world building going on in both the forest and at the Court. We find out a lot about past events as Antimony grows apart from a lot of the other class members. This series just gets better and better.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antimony Carver returns from the forest stronger and more confident, until she has to deal with the rift her abrupt departure caused with her best friend, general high school romance drama, and the ongoing court intrigue of the many, many factions in Gunnerkrigg Court and the forest.

Parley and Smith remain excellent and the origin of Jones satisfies immensely. Other interesting stuff occurs, but nothing huge until the twist in the closing chapter which has me ready to jump right into the next volume. Thank goodness for Hoopla.

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continually surprising series. Meshing classical myth with original ideas, this kid-friendly series of light adventures and comical mishaps often stumbles into darker territory, heady themes, and far-reaching consequences. While I long for more maturity, it is nice to see rich character development throughout each volume. The players change subtly, and I doubt the level of gore, violence, or sensuality will ever rise above PG-13, but the nuances of the relationships and interconnectedness of the subplots are increasing. A few strands of the set-up remain a mystery, but hints toward our protagonists origins and the other students' desires and powers begin to play a larger role. A slow burn, but satisfying, safe, and pleasant comic.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am up to date on Gunnerkrigg Court the webcomic, so before purchasing the book I thought to myself that it must be a *bit* redundant to buy it and read it again. Materia covers Chapters 32 through 41 of Gunnerkrigg Court, and the comic is only on Chapter 43. Of course, reading it, all I could think of what a pleasure it is to get to see this already wonderful piece of work in book form, so I can run my fingers down the sides of the pages and hold my face inches away from the ridiculously gorgeous art without seeing spots from the light of my screen afterwards. It's a different experience, too. I love reading the story online, but it is definitely meant to be read in quick succession, and in that way there are no sections that are boring, whereas some of the pages on their own might be considered so.

The story continues to mature, as do the characters, but no growth is greater than Tom Siddell's art. I truly hope that Siddell is finding working on the comic full time agreeable, because I don't think he should ever do anything else. His natural talent and skill have only been improved by the extra time he gets to spend on the art, and I live in awe of him. I feel as though I should probably stop gushing, but I am so happy that I just got to sit down and read these chapters of one of my favorite stories in a gorgeous and polished book form.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, first we have a overnight teen party (don't look at me like that, it's PG) where we have several short stories about other people's adventures in the court including these two pages that really highlight the comic's themes of looking deeper beyond appearances (or maybe being really patient with scary things because they may get to a point eventually). But the idea of those two ghosts waiting all that time to finish their song is really sweet in its own way.

Also, there's Annie's way of playing hard to get. "Phew" indeed. And I just noticed how they have the same GC on their shoulder's, the coat's must be standard issue at the Court.

Then there's Annie's visit to the forest student's classroom. Also, Blue getting jealous of Annie's attention and summoning a demon worm/caterpillar thing.

Then there's Annie's latest trip to the forest where she learns Coyote's great secret. And I love the art on that page; makes me wonder how much time Tom spent looking at coyote skulls before drawing that. And this page. Wow.

And it turns out that Ysengrin really dislikes the idea. Coyote is still a bastard though.

Finally, the treatise page. Looks like Kat and Annie are less intertwined than previously and Annie's still facing the forest and getting more intertwined there. And I'm not sure but I think that's an ophan in the upper left.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cats, this series is good! I keep expecting it to hit a plateau, but it never does. We learn a wee bit about Antimony's parents, among other goodies. And, by the end of the volume, the Court seems to have a new medium ... Endlessly inventive and brilliantly written, this is a series every fantasy lover should be reading.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really digging this series as it goes on. It's a web comic so you can read it all for free online, but I prefer waiting until collected volumes are published.

It's also very hard to describe what it's about (see all the shelves I tagged it with!). Gunnerkrigg Court is...what? Harry Potter + girl friendships + robot mythology + Lovecraftian extra-dimensional beings + magic vs. technology, all served with a healthy dollop of humor, some subtle and some slapstick, and the occasional bits of wisdom, poignancy, and tragedy.

You have to read it (and I recommend reading from the start) to follow the story at all, and after four volumes it is still sometimes hard to follow. But awfully fun.

Antimony Carver, the "fire-head girl," continues to develop as a medium and a protagonist. She's getting older and more powerful, and also a bit more adolescent. She's usually quite controlled and mature for her age, but we see her doing some reckless and petty things in this volume, such as her silly attempt to set up Jack for a fall by leading him on and then spurning him, which is pure tween drama, and normally out of character for Antimony, who seems so far to be largely immune to romantic/hormonal urgings. But it made sense as a vengeful streak that is beginning to fester in her - the girl has a lot of issues she's been burying, evidenced also by her unexpected message from her father.

Who, by the way, is a jerk, though Antimony's best friend Kat, the preteen robot-building genius, is the only one willing to say so.

Poor Kat. Yeah, she has a big ol' girl-crush on Antimony.

We also learn in this volume about the true origins of the curiously affectless Miss Jones. But the highlight of this volume is Coyote. Coyote is awesome.



Funny, insane, and just when you think he's just a clown, he reminds you that he can be scary as hell.

I highly recommend this series. It's bizarre and heartwarming and weird and has lots of literary allusions. And the students are going to school in an abandoned oil platform watched over by a giant psychic sea monster crustacean with a PhD.

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

While not as near-singularly focused as volume 3, there is a running theme through this one of Annie's increasingly 'wild' behaviour, and its consequences to her and the Court, both expected and not. More broadly, passion flows throughout. Kat's passion for her work is reinvigorated by the possibilities of lab-grown bone and muscle. Annie is brought to the emotional verge by her father's callous disregard. And love blooms on the battlefield.



I've always joked around that the Shadow/Robot romance is the greatest love story ever written, but what on Earth is it? Symbolically, it is the union of a being purely of the Court and one of the Forest joined in love. But the potential impact is dampened. Jeanne already loved a tree elf, and Renard loved the humans before the Court and Forest were split. Perhaps this one will somehow not end in tragedy? Shadow's lack of characterization combined with Robot's increasingly big prophet complex makes for an uneven match. Over the years I've forgotten that Shadow exists entirely several times. Beyond that, there's an entire chapter, "Faraway Morning" about love among the students, and Jack takes the rare opportunity to get one over Annie by being glad that Annie doesn't like him back. And of course the Kat business, but that doesn't actually happen yet.



Weirdest of all is Eglamore's attachment to Jones. You'd think she'd be more of a mother to him, but the way they interact is anything but. I have zero idea what this is supposed to mean about him. But "The Stone" is such a great chapter I don't care. The telescoping scale of it, the little reverse stories told through it, it's perfect. My most re-read chapter by far. And not only is it a great read, it answers a long-standing question...kind of. Knowing Jones' story is not knowing what exactly Jones is. And in fact, the chapter problematizes the other big reveal of this volume.



The idea that gods are powered by human belief is an odd trope, in that it seems to have been invented out of whole cloth relatively recently but became very widespread in a short amount of time. You'll find it in sources as disparate as American Gods and Warhammer 40, 000. As far as I can tell it was invented by someone involved in Dungeons & Dragons, but I have no exact source. It has no ancient antecedent I'm aware of, and may in fact be the one and only example of "something new under the sun". It's an exceedingly humanistic (or narcissistic, if you like) view of divinity. Nothing, not even the gods can stand above humanity. Gunnerkrigg's take on it in "The Great Secret" is not the excessively literal form of this trope, where the number of human worshippers is a direct power level. Nobody outside Gillitie worships Coyote, but nonetheless he is all-powerful.



It's more that Coyote is the archetype of the trickster. But is he? Isn't the point of a trickster that he must use his guile to succeed where his might can't take him? But Coyote seems to be capable of anything. He can pull the moon out of the sky, he can stop time, he can pull your memories out of your head. It's not that he must use his wits to get ahead, it's that he limits himself to make things more fun for himself. Is he a mockery of the concept? A "trickster" who pulls all the strings?



While this isn't the first villainous action he's taken, his manipulation of Ysengrin's memory is the most disturbing so far. It shows such total disrespect for the integrity of another being. It's up there with the worst evils perpetrated by the Court (that we've seen). This is certainly no good vs. evil story.



In the realm of subplots, there's another great chapter in the form of "Divine". This is one of those chapters that's incomprehensible in its implications when first read, but exceedingly cool in retrospect. I wish Siddell didn't make the baffling decision to delete the comic's online comments each new update, I'd love to see what people thought of how Zimmy sees Kat back in the day. And watching Zimmy poke about in Annie's memory like Sherlock Holmes is cool too.



-When exactly the series takes place is never explicitly established. The albums "Music for the Jilted Generation" (1994) and "Fat of the Land" (1997) are mentioned in volume 1, putting 1997 as the latest possible starting point. Kat mentioning Annie's "Princess Mononoke look" (1997 Japan, 2000 U.S.) moves the timeline forward at most one year. Volume two features a Lobster Johnson action figure on Kat's shelf, which is actually a real thing that came out in 2006. If book two takes place at the earliest point it could, then book one would be set in 2005, which is the same year the comic started, which would dovetail nicely. This would fit with Jones owning a flip phone in this volume. However, Angry Birds (2009) also gets referenced in this book, which place it at least that late, and Annie's first year in 2007 at the earliest. But the canonicity of this stuff is totally up in the air. The collected books weirdly don't include the pencil bonus pages where Annie watches Kat play video games and watch anime, so I don't have to consider how it's possible for Metal Gear Solid V, Death Stranding and Elden Ring to all come out within a handful of years of each other. Sad, because the Princess Mononoke bonus pages were such a sweet Renard moment.
-Book 1 is year 7 (age 12), book 2+3 year 8, book 4+5 year 9. Gamma is a year older but in the same year as Annie and co., Smith is two years above (year 11 in this book), Parley three (sixth form).
-Coyote wanted to create people, made the glass-eyed men, Diego made the golems, who made the robots, glass-eyed men hate humans for crowding them out in coyote's heart
-Golems could not recreate their hearts
-Parley's special move is "the unsichtbarhau"
-Coyote's tooth did not cut through Shadow, has only been tested on non-living matter
-Ayilu can create memory-altering illusions
-Shadow men symbol when Tony calls Jones
-Sent scalpels to Tony
-"the Court isn't too keen about having things fly above it"
-Zimmy can see Kat's angelic form
-Jones was working in a filling factory during WWII, so she came to the Court after that
-Jones left footprints in the fossil record and saw the stars long before Coyote placed them in the sky
-"this is not such an easy place to find by accident"
-"S13, you have long since predicted the coming of an angel that will usher us into a new realm of existence"
-Seraph robots "built pretty different to normal Court robots"

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays...
three days of the week I fervently go to http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/ to `catch up` on the story of Anthimony, Kat, Renard and all the other fascinating characters of Gunnerkrigg Court.
I am fascinated by this story, and I have a deep admiration *cough*jealousy*cough* for Tom Siddell for being able to produce such a great series in such a timely matter.

This is the 4th book in the series and puts us pretty much up to date on the series... which means it will be quite a while before the 5th book comes out damit!

Why buy the book if you can read the story online you ask? yeah, that`s right I heard you asking!
Seriously, you don`t really need to buy the books, and while reading the series one page at a time 3 pages per week online does hook you in, re-reading it in these nice little hardcover books `refreshes` the memory, gives you a more `continuous` feel, and puts a bit of money in the author's pocket, which in turn keeps him fed and housed and allows him to pursue his great web-comic.

So, go ahead, and read this fantastic web-comic... and if it turns out you really, really, like it (like moi), buy the books... heck buy multiple copies of the books and do like I do and give them away as X-Mas and Birthday and Halloween presents to the nieces, nephews and the local Library.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

need i repeat it
Y S E N G R I M U S

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

...and there's not even an entry yet for Volume 5! Waaaah!

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume certainly answers some long-standing questions: Who's Jones? Why is Ysengrin always angry? Why do the robots call Kat Angel? And who will be the Court's medium?

The class is moves to new underwater (!!!) dorms for the new school year. After the summer, Kat's reluctant to get close to Antimony. Antimony tries hard to apologize and they eventually make up. Kat discovers more about the old robots in the tomb and it becomes clear that the robot with clothes has been preaching the coming of an Angel who can call the spirit of the dead. He interpret's Kat's experiments as his word coming true. They kids sneak out, with Bud's help, to party. There's some awkward couplings. Paz thinks Kat's queer and Kat denies it. Antimony and Jack show their true colors. Parley trains with robot (Robby) and cuts him in half by mistake with Coyote's tooth/sword. The incident makes Robby understand that he loves Shadow, and lucky for him, the sword somehow turns Shadow three dimensional. We learn where the shadow people come from. Shadow gets to go to school and Antimony experiences "school" with the forest creatures. She accidentally names the forest fairy from Vol. 2 "Red." Antimony's father calls her with an encrypted message for Donlan, Kat's father. Donlan tells Antimony more about her father and their past. They send a package up in space for Antimony's father. Zimmy comes to Antimony's rescue after she goes into a coma for unknown reasons. There is some weird bond between her father and Antimony, which Zimmy breaks, curing Antimony. Zimmy and her friend make fun of Kat's efforts to look more girly (ever since the queer incident with Paz). Coyote tells Antimony his big secret: why he loves humans and why Ysengrin hates Coyote's love for humans and his theories about how the gods came to be. Ysengrin attacks Antimony and Jimmy rescues her. Jones finally tells Antimony who she is. Robby is captures by secret robot police (who look like Shadow's old robot body) and eventually release him and declare they will protect Kat, the Angel. The big day arrives: The Court announces they chose Andrew as their medium to the forest. Antimony is upset, but Coyote then chooses her to be the forest's medium to the court. Antimony and Kat becomes roommates. A love letter arrives...for Kat!

Lindsey and Bud!

Recommended for those who like sea creatures, love letters, star-crossed lovers, headbands and unnamed characters.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely represents a shift in tone, as Annie's summer trip as serious ramifications among the entire class. We also get the strangest overnight party, where a number of relationships are defined (in a number of unique ways, and the resolution between Annie and Jack was strikingly unusual), the amazing story of Jones, and an unexpected turn by the Court as a major decision is made. There are still a lot of threads and characters here, but they all work together very well, telling joined stories that support all of them. And Robot and Shadow are an absolute gem in this volume, with their relationship doing some very amazing things. There are a lot of ideas and concepts being thrown around, but they all work together well, and things definitely feel like they are building up, with the setup this book ends with promising even more avenues of adventure. Definitely looking forward to reading more.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one went in some odd directions, and the headmaster of the school is officially on the creepy list. I wasn't expecting the origin of Ms. Jones to be quite that, and I certainly wasn't expecting the finale of the competition for being medium of the school to the forest side to come out quite that way.
I did find the new intrusion of the robots to be interesting, but the growing friendship between Shadow and Robot to be fascinating.
I'm still not sure what's really going on with Antimony's father, and it's past time for that to be clarified, at least a little bit. Even the supportive comments from her father's old friend didn't help. He's still coming across as hiding something, and it's just not clear what or why.
Still, the story is very strong, and I'm still enjoying this binge-read.

[willa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooooooo... my dad brings this book home from the library one night.
And the cover says it's the fourth voulme.
Which is a bad thing cause I HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST THREE
But! This is still a good book and now i want to read the first three and the other ones
Also the love letter (aparrently) at the end? It's from Robot and I know cause the heart was kinda pixelated
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ YAY

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the characters have all aged up over the summer break - everyone's look has matured! The new school year brings more intrigue - there are still some harmless shenanigans, but things seem to be tending more toward weightier matters as the series progresses, as if the plot is maturing along with the students.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlight pages:

Annie’s memory of her father?? Being the thread on his clothes…

Pages about Jones’s origins??? So good. What is existence?! And that first full page panel of jones and eglamore was so so beautiful. I’m cry

Full page of Kat’s “angel” form??? Is this how the robots see her? As a god like amalgamation of polished parts, this weird, beautifully haunting complexity?? Bruh

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is weird. There is so much I don't understand about this series. But…it doesn't matter to me. I enjoy entering the world of Gunnerkrigg Court every time I pick up a volume and I will be sad when I have no more to read.

[Mr. Major · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this volume, not especially because it dives deeper into the belief systems and values of a number of the characters. We see a lot of Coyote, my favorite side character, and we see the author, Tom Siddel, get comfortable experimenting with new visual storytelling styles and pacing.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear this comic gets better every book. The art alone has come miles since the first volume. Coyote and Ysengrin continue to be the most compelling characters. Poor, poor Yseengrin really tugs at them heartstrings.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bit of the series feels very "in between" -- more a bridge between two parts than a story of its own.

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gunnerkrigg remains one of my very favourite graphic novel series. Beautiful art, wonderful writing, heart-warming and happy-making.

[Rachelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eerie and creepy and fantastic all at once. The forest creatures are as fascinating as the students.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice followup of the Gunnerkrigg series. I stopped reading the webcomic, but it gave us some nice books.

[Teodora Lipciuc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah at this point I've kind of given up on words...it's either this, or a 900 word essay on how much I Love Everything About Gunnerkrigg Court.

[Meg Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This webcomic keeps getting better and better...
I wonder when I will start giving it 5 stars...

[Barry Haworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie's training as court medium continues, with an expanding number of other characters, ending with the selection of the new Court medium to the Forest.

[mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

obsessed with all of the drama at the end of this book. like okay squeeze everything into the last 10 pages i see you gunnerkrigg court

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy we are getting into uncharted territory (aka the parts I haven't read before)

[Taha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Çoooooook iyi!!!