''Gold Digger'' is a comic book series, written and drawn by

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

, and published by

Antarctic Press Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book publishing company which publishes " Amerimanga" style comic books. The company also produces "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on areas of comic book creation and craft. Beginning in ...

. Counting all the regular series issues, in addition to all the connected limited series, annuals, special issues, and handbooks produced by the author, ''Gold Digger'' is the most extensive, long-running, self-contained North American comic book in history that has been consistently written and drawn by the original creator. The artwork and design of ''Gold Digger'' are strongly influenced by Japanese manga, and Perry himself describes the book as a mixture of '' Indiana Jones'' and ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

''.

Publication history

Perry came up with the initial inspiration for Gold Digger during his tour of duty in the First Gulf War, and released the debut one-shot in Antarctic Press' ''Mangazine'' in 1991. A four-issue

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

followed in 1992 and 1993, followed by a regular monthly black-and-white series, and finally the current color series beginning in 1999. In 2011, Perry discussed being inspired by the way the contemporary '' Doctor Who'' television series develops

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...

s, and he adapted ''Gold Digger'' to a similar consistently self-contained format from issue #101 and onwards, with each issue easily accessible and possible to enjoy for new readers.

Summary

''Gold Digger'' focuses on the adventures of Gina Babette Diggers,

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

superscientist, archeologist, teacher, adventurer, nerd, and idealist extraordinaire, accompanied by her colourful extended family, friends, students, and acquaintances, as she explores the strange and ancient hidden histories of the world, spanning a wide distinctive variety of characters, stories, environments, worlds, societies, times, species, and universes of magic and science fiction, in a world filled with possibilities.

Plot influences

Thanks to the author's very diverse interests, and personal experiences ranging from the U.S. Marine Corps to

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

studies, the stories have included

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

references to a wide variety of popular culture, spanning anything from science, fantasy, science-fiction, television series, books, superheroes, computer games, animation, manga, or even

internet memes An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

Characters

''See: List of Gold Digger characters''

Collected editions

*''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 1'' – Collects the original miniseries issues #1–4. – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 2'' – Collects the first issues of the Gold Digger regular series. – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 3'' – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 4'' – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 5'' – Collects vol. 2 #17–21. – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 6'' *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 7'' – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 8'' – Collects vol. 2 #32–35 plus ''

Ninja High School ''Ninja High School'' (also known as ''NHS'') is a comic book series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Dunn, and published by Antarctic Press (at one point being published by Eternity Comics). On occasion other artists and writers have co ...

'' #54–57. – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 9'' – Collects vol. 2 #36–40. *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 10'' – Collects vol. 2 #41–45. – *''Gold Digger Pocket Manga, vol. 11'' – Collects vol. 2 #46–50. *''Gold Digger Max Pocket Manga'' – Collects the ''Asrial vs. Cheetah'' and ''A Science Affair'' miniseries, plus the ''Gold Digger Beta'' and ''GD Minus 18'' one-shots. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 1'' – Collects issues #1–8 of the colour series. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 2'' – Collects vol. 3 #9–15. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 3'' – Collects vol. 3 #16–21. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 4'' – Collects vol. 3 #23–30. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 5'' – Collects vol. 3 #31–36. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 6'' – Collects vol. 3 #37–42. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 7'' – Collects vol. 3 #43–47. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 8'' – Collects vol. 3 #48–52. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 9'' – Collects vol. 3 #52–56. – *''Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, vol. 10'' – Collects vol. 3 #57–61. – *''Gold Brick, vol. I'' – Collects vol. 2 #1–25 *''Gold Brick, vol. II'' – Collects vol. 2 #25–50 *''Gold Brick, vol. III'' – Collects vol. 3 #1–25 (51–75 overall) – *''Gold Brick, vol. IV'' – Collects vol. 3 #26–50 (76–100 overall) – *''Gold Brick, vol. V'' – Collects vol. 3 #51–75 (101–125 overall) – *''Gold Brick, vol. VI'' – Collects vol. 3 #76–100 (126–150 overall) – *''Gold Brick, vol. VII'' – Collects vol. 3 #101–125 (151–175 overall) – *''Gold Brick, vol. VIII'' – Collects vol. 3 #126–150 (176–200 overall) – *''Gold Brick, vol. IX'' – Collects vol. 3 #151–175 (201–225 overall) – *''Gold Digger Platinum, vol. 1'' – Collects vol. 3 #101–105. Starring Gina and her new batch of supernatural archeology students. – *''Gold Digger Platinum, vol. 2'' – Collects vol. 3 #106–110. *''Peebo Manga Vol. 1'' – Starring Brianna, Peebri, and the Peebos. *''Peebo Tales TPB'' – Collects "Gold Digger: Peebo Tales #1–6". *''Tifanny & Charlotte Pocket Manga'' – Collects the first miniseries. *''Tifanny & Charlotte, 2nd Semester Pocket Manga'' – Collects the second miniseries. *''Throne of Shadows Pocket Manga'' – Collects "Throne of Shadows" #1–4, starring the wererats. *''Maidens of Twilight Pocket Manga'' – Starring Gennadrid and Seance. *''Gold Digger Tangent Pocket Manga'' – Starring Ayane and the Northern Edge Guard. *''Gold Digger Sourcebook TPB'' – Collects the Gold Digger Sourcebook #1–17. *''Gold Digger Tech Manual'' – Collects Gold Digger Tech Manual #1–9

DVDs

*''GD-ROM 1.0'' – Collects ''Gold Digger'' vol.1: #1–4, vol.2: #1–50, vol.3: #1–75, and ''

'' #54–57. *''GD-ROM 2.0'' – Collects ''Gold Digger'' vol.1: #1–4, vol.2: #1–50, vol.3: #1–100, and ''

'' #54–57. *''GD-ROM 3.0'' – Collects ''Gold Digger'' vol.1: #1–4, vol.2: #1–50, vol.3: #1–125, and ''

'' #54–57. *''Gold Digger: Time Raft'' – A full length

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

movie.

Awards

In 2013, Perry received an

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

for his work on the series.

External links

Fred Perry's Deviantart profile page
– Contains drawings, news, and comic strips.
Antarctic Press page
– Publisher of the ''Gold Digger'' series, collections and spinoffs, with an online store for ordering collections and back issues.
Antarctic Press Library
– Official free online celebration preview of the 199 first Gold Digger issues.
GD Tangent
– A

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be c ...

by Fred Perry featuring drawings of various Gold Digger characters, ''Lvlup'', set in Vana'diel (the world of ''

Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantas ...

''), and two Gold Digger subcomics, ''Ayane'', set on Earth, and ''Northern Edge'', set in the world of Jade.

References

{{Antarctic Press Original English-language manga Feminist comics Comics about women Fictional archaeologists 1992 comics debuts