'Nimona' by Noelle Stevenson

From the BLURB:

In this debut graphic novel from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her web comic that won the Slate Cartoonist Studio Prize and that had over 100,000 online followers before Noelle graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art, a spunky young shapeshifter joins forces with a medieval supervillain to wreak havoc on a kingdom where the good guys are hardly as good as they seem. For teens and a crossover audience.

The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

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.

‘Nimona’ is the debut graphic novel, written and illustrated by Noelle Stevenson … it was actually a free online web comic that Stevenson started in 2012, and doubled as her senior thesis at the Maryland Institute College of Art. But Stevenson has risen to fame in the comic-book world, for illustrating the insanely popular (and fantastic) series ‘Lumberjanes’, and her affiliation with Rainbow Rowell’s ‘Fangirl’ cover-art and subsequent fan-art.

I came to my Noelle Stevenson appreciation very late in the game, as I had to eagerly await the much buzzed-about Volume 1 of ‘Lumberjanes’ earlier this year. But as soon as I knew I had to make my way to ‘Lumberjanes’, I started following Stevenson on Twitter and was instantly in love with her sense of humour and subversive, feminist commentary – particularly in relation to the wonderful world of comics. Case in point, was this hilarious post about a drawing of Spiderman’s MJ with gravity-defying boobs that Stevenson fixed.

So when it was announced that a web comic which helped garner Noelle Stevenson her now considerable fan-base was going to be published as a graphic novel, you better believe I jumped for joy! And it’s not hard to see how ‘Nimona’ helped launch Stevenson’s career – as a funny “deadpan epic” that feels a little bit like ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ with more heart, symbolism and gadgetry.

The book opens with “villain” Lord Ballister Blackheart meeting his new self-imposed sidekick, a young shapeshifter girl named Nimona. In the beginning the comic has a lot of fun with turning old tropes on their head – wherein the “villain” has ethics, the female sidekick is more blood-thirsty and conniving than her mastermind boss and though it’s set in a medieval-looking era, there’s a great blend of science and technology alongside jousting bouts and knights in shining armour.

But then Stevenson starts to really expand the world-building, and challenge readers with her subversive storytelling. We learn that Lord Ballister Blackheart has a more complicated back-story with shades of grey, while the local hero – Ambrosius Goldenloin (best name, ever!) – has more darkness to him than first meets the eye and a far more complex and tender relationship to Ballister.

Nimona, meanwhile, is more than the tough, smart-aleck sidekick … she leaves breadcrumbs to her true story, and it’s far more heartbreaking than anyone – especially Ballister – ever presumes.

‘Nimona’ is brilliant and unique – there’s really nothing else quite like it, and now that I’ve had the pleasure of reading it I can see what a gift Noelle Stevenson is to the wonderful world of comics … particularly for this female-friendly, smart graphic novel that has a lot of appeal for younger audiences.

The universe of ‘Nimona’ is particularly clever, as a contemporary-medieval setting where fantasy and science-fiction sit side-by-side and can each be seen as magical in certain circumstances. This medieval mash-up also means that Stevenson explores political tyranny playing out on the serfdom populace, which opens the story up for a lot of big concept ideas – particularly in the battle of good and evil.

You need only be following Stevenson for a few days on Twitter to know that she’s big on feminism, equality and diversity – and all three are in abundance in this book. In particular, Ballister and Goldenloin have hints of a romantic back-story, which is teased out beautifully (these two have so many fans – check out Tumblr to get an idea of how beloved they are!). Ballister and Goldenloin also feel like a nod to realised slash-fiction … like Stevenson took two story archetypes (the villain and the hero) and actually gave them the complicated attraction that fans often clamour for and explore in fanfiction (hello, Draco & Harry!).

‘Nimona’ is such a treat, and I encourage anyone who was once like me – totally in the dark about Stevenson’s sheer awesomeness – to make this book a ‘must-buy’! It’s funny, smart, subversive and challenges just about every adventure trope you can think of – a truly great book for monster girls and boys alike.

5/5

 

'Lumberjanes' Vol. 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke Allen

From the BLURB:

Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp... defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons... what’s not to love?! Friendship to the max! Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together...and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! Not only is it the second title launching in our new BOOM! Box imprint but LUMBERJANES is one of those punk rock, love-everything-about-it stories that appeals to fans of basically all excellent things. It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gravity Falls and features five butt-kicking, rad teenage girls wailing on monsters and solving a mystery with the whole world at stake. And with the talent of acclaimed cartoonist Noelle Stevenson, talented newcomer Grace Ellis writing, and Brooke Allen on art, this is going to be a spectacular series that you won’t want to miss.

This is ‘Lumberjanes’ Volume One, collecting issues #1-#4 of this popular and amazing comic book series released by Boom! Studios and created by Ross Richie and Shannon Watters. The idea for ‘Lumberjanes’ came from Boom! Studios editor Shannon Watters approaching writer Grace Ellis with an idea to create a girl-centric comic series, from there Brooke A. Allen was bought in for initial character designs and Noelle Stevenson as a co-writer (the eagle-eyed amongst you will recognise Stevenson's artwork from Rainbow Rowell's 'Fangirl'). 

A single eight-issue story arc was originally planned, but the series received such critical acclaim and fan-response was so huge that it’s now an ongoing series (hallelujah!).

Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five besties enjoying their summer at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniguigul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types – Miss Quinzella girls are known as ‘Lumberjanes’. But as the summer starts unfolding, the Lumberjanes of Roanoke cabin (love this reference, btw!) get the sense that something fishy is afoot – there’s a weird Bearwoman, talking foxes that warn them of “the kitten holy”, sea monsters in the lake and yetis in the woods. The Lumberjanes intend to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding their summer camp – and all while upholding the Lumberjanes Field Manual!

This series is the best. THE. BEST! I can’t even put into words the awesomeness that is ‘Lumberjanes’ – it’s like ‘Goonies’ with an extra dose of fantasy in the adventure, there’s a Buffy’s Scooby-gang sensibility, and doses of magical realism that at times reminded me of Karen Russell’s short stories (like ‘Haunting Olivia’ – because I could totally see these Lumberjanes going crab sledding!).

Let me see if I can breakdown the awesomeness of this series, shall we? There’s Jo, the cool-headed one of the group who uses math, science and logic to help get the gang out of sticky situations (she rocks the Fibonacci sequence in one ‘Goonies’-esque escape scene that totally rocks!).

April loves taking notes, making lists and puzzle-solving. She has a flair for the dramatic, adores a good pun and while she’s physically the smallest of the group, she dominates at arm-wrestling.

Molly is a skilled archer, but sometimes worries that she doesn’t contribute enough to the group – she wears the hell out of a Davy Crockett hat, and is a great cheerleader for her friends.

Mal looks like a punk-rocker, but she’s a Discovery Channel-aholic and is the very cautious member of the group, who will do anything to save her friends if they’re in trouble.

Ripley is the most energetic of the group – she’s got a mean karate-chop and does a great ‘fastball special’. She’s like a can of fizzy drink that someone’s just shook up and is completely hilarious.

These protagonists are so darn brilliant and diverse, I adored each and every one of them. And then there are the secondary characters who also kick-butt: Rosie the camp director whose like a tattooed rockabilly mama-bear, and Jen the Roanoke cabin's scout-leader who takes her job and protection of the girls very seriously.

I also loved that two of the main characters have a budding romance that’s beginning to unfold in Volume One – Molly and Mal have some completely adorable scenes of timid attraction, and I can’t wait to see where they lead because I’m already shipping them so hard!

This comic series is funny as all get out – there’s a testosterone-fuelled male camp director who’s like a caricature of misogyny, proclaiming he’s going to “catch a fish by wrestling it away from a bear!”. And the way these girls take every challenge (be it lake-monster, wrestling statues or crazed scouting lads) in stride is both admirable and brilliant.

‘Lumberjanes’ has set a new benchmark for comic books with me – I can see myself becoming an annoying spruiker of the series to anyone and everyone who’ll take reading my reading advice! I’m so in love with this series, and totally kicking myself that I wasn’t aware of its existence sooner so I could have bought each issue as it came out. As it stands I’ve now got to wait until October, when Boom! Studios will be releasing Volume. 2 …

5/5