Nimona

I really enjoyed this! It was funny, exciting and a little sad, but also very heartwarming. It had everything you could want in a book!

I love love love this graphic novel with every fiber of my soul. I came in expecting this funny little heroes and villains comedy and came away with my heart feeling so many emotions. It was genuinely sweet and sad in the best way. Blackheart may be one of my favorite graphic novel characters of all time. So beautiful. Fully recommend

pretty much the best thing since anything ever

4.5

I don't know how I found Noelle Stevenson, but I started reading Nimona when it was a web comic - and I loved it. It's funny, heartfelt, and has Great Values (yey). Meaning, lots of little things to chip away at the -isms of the world. For example, Nimona herself is drawn as a young punk girl with a normal-looking body. I'm a 30something lady now, you'd think I'm settled in my body image, but I remember feeling more confident after spending some time absorbing those images. Other little things: the gender balance (we meet women who are scientists, heads of institutions); the sexuality (it's revealed fairly early on that the ‘hero', Ambrosius Goldenloin, and villain/anti-hero, Ballister Blackheart, are former flames); the way it all feels like a maker faire and Ren faire had a baby; the general positivity and sensitivity and “it's not all black and white”-ness.

The setting is kind of Medieval/Ren faire-punk; there are knights, dragons, castles - but there are also cell phones, TVs, pizza delivery and evil mad scientists with labs. Blackheart is the designated villain - and it is emphasized, pretty often, that this is a part, a role, and he's been designated for it ever since losing his arm in hideous accident/revenge thing - and, one day, he gets a new sidekick: Nimona. Nimona is a teen girl with a punk haircut, many piercings, and bad attitude: she basically wants to KILL KILL KILL EVERYONE. She's a rambunctious shape-shifter with a shifty (ho ho) past.

Now that I think about it, I realize the many similarities between this and Osamu Tezuka's Dororo: that is, a sidekick-centralizing comix that features a young, rambunctious sidekick coupled with a straight man anti-hero; featuring many Feelings and much meditation on the way childhoods can scar and traumatize. Of course, Dororo's dialogue feels dated - whereas Nimona feels very much of the times.

Overall, a lot of fun.

I'm not a big reader of graphic novels, but am starting to explore...I really like this one. It was a lot of fun :) and I really like the characters of Nimona and Blackheart.

Op een bepaald moment was het bijna onmogelijk om naast de populariteit van Nimona te kijken. Het leek wel alsof iedereen en zijn kat het boek had gelezen en er laaiend enthousiast over was. En ja, zo beïnvloedbaar ben ik wel.

Zelf vond ik Nimona leuk. Niet meer en niet minder.
Het leest vlot, de tekenstijl is bedrieglijk simplistisch en het verhaal sympathiek en innemend. Je raakt snel aan de volatiele Nimona gehecht en wil heel graag haar verhaal te weten komen. Helaas bleef ik daar een beetje op mijn honger zitten.
Al bij al, een leuk tussendoortje en perfect om me uit mijn leesdip te halen!

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Este año me he propuesto leer más novelas gráficas y hasta ahora voy bastante bien con mi meta. En el caso de Nimona, esta es la primera novela gráfica propiamente dicha que he leído, ya que es un libro de más de 100 páginas en la que todas son dibujadas. Al ser una novela, tenía un poco de temor que por ser básicamente dibujos y diálogos en nubes, no le encontraría mucho interés a la historia o que sentiría alguna especie de vacío de argumento ya que no hay explicación detallada mediante párrafos, felizmente no fue así y me devoré el libro en una tarde.

Nimona ha explotado mi mente, ha abierto mi interés a otro mundo de lectura, su historia está tan bien desarrollada, el estilo de Noelle Stevenson es perfecto para lo que mi cerebro estaba buscando en estos últimos meses. Nimona es la historia del villano Blackheart y su nueva secuaz Nimona, secuaz que es más sangrienta que el propio villano, ya que para todo la solución de Nimona es muerte. La adore desde que apareció.

En Nimona es difícil diferencia el bien del mal, héroes que a primera vista son los indiscutibles villanos y villanos que piensan mucho antes de actuar por miedo de lastimar a las personas.

El libro tiene un preciso sentido del humor y el romance... porque lo hay, es uno que quizá no esperabas y es precioso. Mi corazón dolía cada vez que algo malo podría pasar. Es tan bonito.



Nimona es un libro que voy a releer millones de veces, no sólo porque es rápido de leer, sino porque su historia me ha dejado totalmente fascinada, además tiene un final que es de infarto. Por ahí vi que la harían película, me da miedo eso porque la única manera en la que funcione bien, sería si la hacen en animación 2D, y si lo hacen así, automáticamente lo harán para niños, y por hacerlo “correcto para niños” es probable que le quiten cosas que hicieron a Nimona la experiencia maravillosa que para mi fue. Ojalá que no.

Si buscas algo diferente y espectacular, Nimona es la respuesta

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Love love loved this! Nimona is such an awesome character, I love the way she was written, and the relationship between Blackheart and Nimona is perfect. There are lots of giggleworthy/smirkworthy moments. The story progresses well, and kept my attention throughout. A satisfying ending too (not necessarily the one I wanted), which is always a winner.

The illustration is brill and I have to say that I love the way Nimona is drawn.

Recommended!

An excellent tale of petty heroes, heroic villains and the best darn sidekick one could ask for. The titular Nimona is a shapeshifter who wants to apprentice to the town's arch villain, a Megamind-esque mix of brains and failure.

Nimona's shapeshifting and utter lack of conscience bode well for his future prospects, but he reins her in with kindness just as much as she pulls him out of futility.

It's a slightly sad book, in that we must learn (as we always do) that you can't save everyone. But we can be comforted in that the best never fail to try.

I did not expect the ending to make me cry. But - spoiler alert - it totally did.

SO CUTE!!!! One volume is not enough~~~~ I need more. So great, so funny ugh what else can I say?? This book is so incredible. I keep telling people about certain scenes and laughing all over again.

Definitely worth a read and maybe a second. ^_^

“I'm a shark!”

Nimona is a young shapeshifter who more or less bullies (not very villainous) town villain Blackheart into accepting her as a sidekick in his battles against hero Goldenloin.

Nimona is a great character, adorable without being cloying, lovable but with violent tendencies. The history of Blackheart and Goldenloin is explored in an entertaining way here, but especially charming is the connection that develops between Blackheart and Nimona herself. There is a father-daughter aspect to their bond that is endearing.

The art is simple but beautiful and fitting for the story, which includes tropes of medieval fantasy and also science fiction. This combination works well and adds a bit of visual surprise and humor.

The story itself is sweet but not syrupy, and a bit wistful. Perfect.

First re-read: Literally re-read this in one sitting last night and remembered why I loved it so much! The characters are funny and engaging with a compelling and intriguing storyline. It definitely still deserves a place on my favourites shelf.

This was my first graphic novel and I loved it so much! The art, the story and the characters were just amazing!!

And while characters are named Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and Ballister Blackheart there's more to them than that. Nothing is what it seems and there's a shifting of lines throughout. It's manages a balance between fantasy and science fiction with jousting matches leading to bionic arms. Even the humor is cut through with feels ...and shark boobs ftw

Heard about this one in the New York Times Book Review section and as I was about to head off on a vacation I decided I had to have it right away and actually did the right thing by buying it from a real live bookstore in my home town. I was glad I did. I also thought my kids might enjoy it too and, in fact, I let my 10-year-old daughter read it first. She took it in her greedy little hands and dashed off to a quiet corner. She gave it back about 90 minutes later. “How was it?” I asked. “Awesome,” she said. So then I read it and discovered why I occasionally heard my daughter snickering to herself. And if you like graphic novels about spunky shape-shifting teenage girls who want to apprentice themselves to the local supervillain, you might like it too.

I really enjoyed this, like I enjoyed Lumberjanes. I thought the characters were fun. Clearly, it stands the idea of good and evil on it's ear. Nimona is hard to label, which is a good thing. I think it will find many fans. Good read. My copy was beautifully produced- gorgeous pages, great colors. I will begin the wait for more. There will be more, right?

One of my favorite comics of all time–sublimely crafted, wonderfully simple structure, yet deceivingly emotionally intricate. Deep truths about identity, trauma, connection with others, punctuated by anachronistic humor. Just a great read.

There are only a couple of other webcomics that could rival Nimona for my all time favorites, and that top spot is honestly mood-dependent, so let's just say Nimona is one of the finest gifts the internet has every given me. It has pretty much everything I could want in a series: snarky, chaotic evil lady in the lead, brooding UST between the heroic villain and villainous hero, shark jokes. Everything I love all in one beautifully bound volume to I don't have to wear my eyes out reading the screen.

Noelle Stevenson one of my favorite comic artists out there. This story and Lumberjanes showcase her many talents and unique sense of humor along with her distinct art style. That style has a way of being deceptively simple. I look at it and think, “I could draw that.” Then I try and realize that maybe I could draw it, but I could never wield it to convey the amount of emotion and depth of character. They are my favorite noodle-limbed characters. Suck it, Adventure time.

She also does a brilliant job of producing diverse, complex characters without making it feel like a statement piece. The story of Nimona, a shape-shifting henchling to the seemingly villainous Ballister Blackheart, stands on its own, dealing with heavy themes of humanity, loyalty, and the ambiguity of “evil.” The characters are multiple colors, species, and sexual orientations, aspects which serve and deepen them without taking over the story. It's a trick I admire every time I see it done well.

You should read Nimona. It's all online for free. Once you've read it and loved it, you should add this edition to to your shelf to save your eyes and appreciate the glossy, full-color glory.

I read this comic online after John Siraccusa recommended it on a podcast.