I heard Noelle Stevenson on NPR’s All Things Considered a few months back talking about this book and about being a woman who loves comics and that made me interested in tracking down Nimona. It did not disappoint.
I enjoyed this tale of a supervillian, Lord Ballister Blackheart, who has his world thrown upside down by the arrival of a young woman, Nimona, who wants to be his sidekick and help him improve his image. Nimona is a shape shifter but she also has lots of ideas for how Ballister can wreak vengeance on Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin (my favorite name ever!) and the Institute of Law Enforcement and Heroics. I was only a few pages in when this graphic novel made me want to re-watch Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (which I did). Like in Dr. Horrible, it soon becomes clear that who is good and who is evil is a lot more complicated.
Blackheart and Goldenloin were once good friends until a fateful jousting accident and they still seem to have feelings for each other. However, the best relationship is between Nimona and Blackheart. Their developing friendship and shared suspicion of the Institute is a joy to watch. There’s a moment involving ordering pizza that made my heart sing. As is typical in a story like this, Nimona is more than she seems—both more powerful and dangerous—and with a murky back-story.
I won’t go into any more plot summary here because part of the fun of this graphic novel, besides the quirky artwork, is seeing how the story plays out. Buy it or check it out of the library (like I did) and enjoy!
