Nimona

i fucking love nate stevenson's work, so it was nice to see where it all started. considering both his own gender journey and his later work, i think it was pretty instructive that his first major work was about a gay male couple and an absolute disaster goblin of questionable gender. just saying.

also in keeping with his later work, the character writing in this was just absolutely ON POINT. like, dr. blitzmeyer was barely in this but she nevertheless COMPLETELY stole the show in her brief appearances.

tl;dr nimona is funny, tragic, epic, gay, and just all-around great. i'm glad i finally got around to reading it!

This graphic novel starts out deceptively simple and before you know it, you're neck deep in political intrigue, complex character development, conspiracies, and a giant mystery surrounding the title character.

I started reading this in one night, expecting only to read a little bit and then go to sleep. Oh, poor sweet naive me. I sped through this because I needed to know what happened next. I fell in love hard with the characters. And the ending damn near broke my heart before it gave me hope again.

Nimona started off as a free fantasy webcomic and has since been published in graphic novel form (only the first three chapters of the webcomic are still available for free). I read it back when it was a webcomic and remembered enjoying it. I was excited when I heard about the audiobook, but also wary. I mean, it's a graphic novel. How do you turn a graphic novel into an even halfway decent audiobook?

In the case of Nimona, it was turned into something like a radio play, complete with sound effects, a full cast, and a narrator filling in whatever the sound effects and dialogue couldn't get across. For the most part, I thought it was reasonably successful, although I still missed the artwork.

Let me back up a bit. Nimona stars Lord show more Ballister Blackheart, a villain who wants to cause trouble for the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics but who doesn't actually want to hurt anyone, and Nimona, his new sidekick. Nimona is a shapeshifter who thinks being a villain sounds cool, and she's overenthusiastic about her new job. She has a tendency to kill people if Ballister doesn't watch her and rein her in. Ballister's nemesis is Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, the man who blew off his right arm.

When Ballister learns that the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics is involved in a project that may be poisoning the country's crops, he decides to intervene. The situation is complicated by Nimona's secrets and Ballister and Goldenloin's painful history (they used to be friends, and it's strongly hinted that they were once lovers).

If the names didn't make it clear, there's a good bit of humor in this. I enjoyed Ballister's enthusiasm for the Science Fair, Dr. Blitzmeyer's complete obliviousness to anything that wasn't her area of research, and anything that poked fun at Goldenloin. The story did take a turn for the serious, though, when the full story of Nimona's past was revealed.

For the most part, the voice acting was pretty good. I was iffy about the casting decision for Goldenloin, but I loved the rest of the main cast. The attempt to have sound effects and narration fill in for the original story's artwork mostly worked, although I'm guessing that my past familiarity with the webcomic probably helped. That said, there were a few times when even I had a little trouble following what was going on, usually when Nimona was doing some of her more rapid-fire transformations.

Story-wise, the pacing was a bit weird. As much as I loved Ballister's reaction to the Science Fair, for example, that part came at an odd time in the story. Also, the ending was extremely unsatisfying. I can't remember if I had the same issue with the webcomic, but I recall a few extra illustrations that at least gave the illusion of more closure. And did the webcomic let readers at least know more about Goldenloin's ultimate fate? Unless I missed it, the audiobook didn't - the last thing that was said about him was that he might not ever wake up again.

All in all, this was better than I expected, but I'd probably still advise newbies to the story to start with the graphic novel and listen to the audiobook only if they love the original work and want more.

Rating Note:

This is my 3-star "I don't even know" rating. I'd probably have rated it higher if it hadn't been for the ending.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

The story of a youthful but powerful agent of chaos caught between her trauma and the friendship of her well-intentioned but scorned villainous boss whose compassion she is ill-equipped to accept, Nimona's breezily explosive early adventures belie the comic's ambition. Its characters are never quite who you expect them to be, and it grows darker and thicker with each chapter as the stakes rise and its silly background blend of medieval knighthood and mad science tropes somehow mutates into solid worldbuilding.

I don't know how something that seems like it was conceived as a work of genre parody ended up becoming so original, but Nimona really works—and it's surprisingly affecting in the end. There's a clear throughline from here to the show more author's popular Princesses of Power series, which spends a lot of its runtime examining the heavily guarded vulnerability of a similarly destructive, closed-off character. I am far, far older than the intended audience for this stuff, but it really hits for me. Nimona is easy to recommend, and I'm looking forward to checking out its film adaptation. show less

Lord Blackheart wasn’t exactly looking for a sidekick, but when Nimona shows up and turns into a shark, he hires her. The duo begin to wreak havoc to both fight and expose that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and the Institution are up to something and aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.

Right, I knew I was going to love this graphic novel. I’ve known for years, but just hadn’t gotten around to it for whatever reason. But, when I needed one more novel to complete my 2023 challenge, I knew I wanted a graphic novel I would devour in one setting. Nimona did not disappoint.

Nimona is wonderful and snarky and I just loved her from the very first page. The banter between Lord Blackheart and her never ceased to make me either smile or show more laugh out loud. I’m actually so sad I hadn’t read it as a webcomic back in the day - which, I was on Tumblr at that time, how did I miss this?! Guess I could go down that rabbit hole one day when I’ve got the time. The adorable-ness overload of this found family will probably give me a toothache.

Overall, this is going on my highly recommended list. Those who love fantasy? Check. Those who love found family? Check. Those who love friends to archenemies? Check. And who doesn’t love a snarky, sarcastic shapeshifting “evil” kid? show less

When Nimona convinces Ballister Blackheart to take her on as his sidekick in his villainous exploits, Ballister is less than enthusiastic about the partnership. However, when he learns of Nimona's shapeshifting abilities, he realizes that Nimona may be the best ally to have on his quest to expose the Institution for its less than upstanding exploits. Not to mention how handy it is to have someone who can turn into a dragon while fighting against Sir Goldenloin and his fellow Institution soldiers. But as Ballister and Nimona execute Ballister's plans, the truths of Nimona's past threaten their success and the safety of the entire city.

Thank you to everyone who told me I should read this book - I absolutely adored it. Funny, sweet, dark, show more and thought-provoking this is graphic fiction at its best. Despite some giggle-inducing names, the three central characters of Nimona, Ballister Blackheart, and Goldenloin are all fascinating to watch develop over the course of the novel. Filled with heists, intrigues, and fight sequences, the book isn't all fluff as it implodes the heroes vs. villains dichotomy and instead explores how villains can be heroic too. I also loved the mash-up of a medieval-esque setting and culture with modern or even space-age technology. A delight to read that I'm going to recommend to everyone I know. show less

This graphic novel is set in a fantasy world with a medieval look, but modern (or even slightly futuristic) levels of technology. It features Lord Ballister Blackheart, mad scientist supervillian; his archnemesis Ambrosius Goldenloin; and his brand new sidekick, Nimona. Nimona is young, spunky, enthusiastic, possessed of some useful and interesting powers... and considerably more cheerfully bloodthirsty than Blackheart is at all comfortable with.

This is actually the second time I've read this story, as it was originally published as a webcomic and I first encountered it online. But I think I enjoyed it even more the second time. And I enjoyed it a lot. The setting may be a bit silly, but the characters of Nimona and Blackheart are show more great, and instantly believable. The story is pretty great, too. It's full of laugh-out-loud humor and lots of fun, but also has some genuinely touching moments, and it gets nail-bitingly exciting by the end. I also enjoy the way it plays around with and subverts a lot of the usual hero and villain tropes, plus I'm a total sucker for the "adversaries who once used to be close" dynamic, which is executed rather nicely here. My only complaint is that the ending leaves me longing for a sequel. show less