Graphic Novel Review – Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Pages – 272

Published – May 12th 2015 by HarperTeen

Awards – Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominee for Best Digital/Web Comic (2015)

My Star Rating – 5 Stars!

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit. (Via Goodreads)

I went in to this book blind. I didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself in for and personally I think that was a great thing! Reading this for the first time it was always a surprise when Nimona did something unexpected and a little crazy. For such a short book she did manage to get into a lot of trouble and as a result she got the people around her in a lot of trouble too.

Nimona is such a unique character, she is a little malicious, lazy, witty and of course mysterious. She is such a good friend to Blackheart though and they go through quite a lot together.

From the get go it is obvious that this book doesn’t take itself too seriously, the humour permeating this book is very amusing and more than once I found myself grinning from ear to ear. I’d recommend this book to people who like watching Gravity Falls as it has very similar humour. As we get closer to the end of the book however it gets a lot more intense and the story really picks up. That isn’t to say that I was bored with the rest of the book, quite the opposite but the ending was probably my favourite part of the book. I wish there was more!

From the beginning you can tell that this was published originally online as a web-comic as the chapters are quite short and choppy but towards the end of the book the chapters get longer and less choppy making it a lot easier to read.

The illustrations are beautiful and quite unlike any art style I’ve seen before. It is quite cartoonish but not too much that it reads like a cartoon (if that makes sense?). The colour in this book is so vibrant I found myself flipping the pages to see the colours as they flashed past.

This book is full of beautiful illustrations, colour, humour, wit, friendship, fantasy, science, magic … the list is endless. I loved this book and I plan to pick up other works by Noelle Stevenson when I get the chance. So far as I know she has been illustrating a comic series called Lumberjanes. I also just followed her on Twitter and Tumblr so I can see more of her illustrations.

Needless to say Noelle Stevenson has a new fan 🙂

Until next time,

Tori x