I heard from Phil’s assistant today, as Phil and Kaja are traveling. She said she believed it to be entirely coincidental, although she said it was a “not-even-remarkable” coincidence considering how innately humorous giraffes are.
Well the band said, “We never saw that panel before!” Phil hasn’t replied yet but at the moment, given the date of the strip, I’m leaning toward “crazy coincidence.”
Hmmm just found that strip and noticed that it was also dated around 2008. I know the guys in the band so now I’m curious; I’ll have to ask if the chicken or the egg came first.
Actually, I believe the Foglio’s giraffe was a nod to SPG, and not the other way around. Phil likes to work in nods to current events/pop culture in his strips. Steam Powered Giraffe have been busking since 2008 under that name, and the Girl Genius strip is considerably more recent, so obviously it was a sly nod to the band.
And don’t miss Electricity Is In My Soul on Rock Band Network, either. :)