Late 90's or early 00's graphic novel with a girl and an airship

Question

I'm trying to remember the name of a graphic novel from the late 90's or early 00's. I've done a bunch of searching online but can't find anything. I don't have much to go off of. It was beautifully drawn series of comics or compiled into a graphic novel.

1. It was mostly if not only B/W and a serial comic that were collected into several books.
2. Each book was some grand adventure in a new place (maybe) one of which was on a ship, or air ship, or balloon ship.
3. The central character was this young girl who is looking for her parents or her parents died or something. She has tube like hair and giant eyes. She has been thrown into this fantasy world and is exploring/looking running from... haha. I think she has a crew of weird creature friends that are helping her. There's all these strange creatures, big and small and strange and beautiful landscapes. More on the girl: She looked a little like Popeye's wife and she acted young and would get angry a lot. The drawings were ornate and detailed, but who wouldn't be if you were thrown into a fantasy world.
4. The drawing style was almost like the style of Bone, or the Arrival.

It was so long ago, and I have this vivid memory of reading it, but I've even gone back to search through all the graphic novels at my old library where it was and it's not there... ha. I wonder if it was like a small publishing company or something.

Answer 1

The tube hair gave it away. 😃

Akiko is an independent, black-and-white comic by Mark Crilley. It was first published in the mid-1990s.

Akiko is a Japanese-American girl who ends up in another planet. In the first storyline, Akiko on the Planet Smoo, she and several companions are trying to find the son of the King. The companions include Spuckler, a mechanic adventurer, heart-of-gold kinda guy, Mr Beeba, a older scientist, a robot--Gax, and a alien, Poog.

The stories can be enjoyed by kids and adults. There is some danger, but not as extreme as say, Bone, or a usual superhero comic book.

As you can see below, Akiko has her hair in pigtails which are cylindrical rather than coming to a point like usual pigtails.

Answer 2

You may be looking for Girl Genius, webcomic link.
Started out as a print comic then switched online early 2000's. It's the adventures of Lady Agatha Heterodyne, done in the style of gaslamp fantasy. Beautifully drawn with a mix of black and white and color, has airships and a bunch of adventures. Currently with 16 volumes collected in graphic novels.

Answer 3

Is it Aeon Flux?

In 2011, a deadly pathogenic virus has killed 99% of the Earth's population, forcing the survivors to regroup and scatter across the Earth.

404 years later, in late 2415, all of the survivors inhabit Bregna, a walled futuristic city-state, which is ruled by a congress of scientists. Although Bregna is largely an idyllic place in the destroyed Earth, people routinely disappear and the population suffers from nightmares.

...

She convinces the other Monicans to ignore the Handler and to help her kill Oren and his men. Æon goes to destroy the Relical, the dirigible that stores the DNA for cloning.

The movie came before the comic, however.

Comic book prequel

In late 2005, Dark Horse Comics published a four-issue comic book limited series tying in with the movie. The storyline serves as a prequel to the film and is a mixture of Chung's original TV series designs and characters, combined with the setting and story elements of the film.