Inventor Charles Babbage and proto-programmer Ada Lovelace have gone down in history as the first computer pioneers, but their true story is a sad one. After writing what many consider to be the first computer program, Lovelace died at the age of 36. Meanwhile, Babbage’s “analytical engine”—essentially a steam-powered computer made of cogs—was never built. Comic artist and animator Sydney Padua writes Lovelace and Babbage a happier ending in her new graphic novel The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage. In it, the duo not only build their analytical engine, they use it for adventuring and fighting crime. Check out an excerpt from the novel here.