Nimona

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Format: Original Graphic Novel
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: 2015
Length: 266 pages

I believe this started its life as a webcomic and eventually became Noelle Stevenson’s debut graphic novel. She has since gone on to write Lumberjanes, which is a comic I’ve considered in the past and am much more interested in after reading this.

A young woman shows up in a villain’s hideout and declares herself his new sidekick. This begins as a classic young adult fantasy narrative between an ineffectual (in the big picture) villain, Lord Ballister Blackheart, and the town hero, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, who are in a state of a perpetual, and comfortable, stalemate. Nimona enters and changes everything. If you’ve ever read or watched a movie with this scenario and thought if the villain would just stop with the micro-scheming and actually cause some mayhem and kill a few people, they might actually succeed, this is an exploration of that. Together Blackheart and Nimona set out to show the town that Goldenloin and the institution behind him aren’t the heroes they appear to be.

I really enjoyed this. The art is a fun, cartoonish style, and the writing is amusing and surprising throughout, although I do think the humour peaked in the first chapter. The story feels like it’s going to be a light comedy, but it actually shows great character development and continually subverts stereotypes of the genre. This is a book that will appeal to all ages, and I think it could lead to some great discussions between kids and their parents if they read it together. It’s very cute but also has a lot of depth, exploring the grey area between good and evil.

Apparently, this is available on Audible as well. I’ve never listened to a graphic novel audiobook before, but I think they’re similar to the radio novel adaptations you find on BBC Radio 4 sometimes – full cast, sound effects, that sort of thing. Could be fun.