Nimona

If you somehow missed the original webcomic run or that award-winning hardcover, take heart! There's a new way to experience Nimona coming soon. Today, creator Noelle Stevenson announced that a full-cast audiobook version of her story is available for pre-order at Audible.

LGBTQ representation in comic books is important, and it’s something we’ve talked about --- and will continue to talk about --- at ComicsAlliance at length. But what doesn’t get said enough is that LGBTQ representation is especially important in all-ages and young adult comic books. Representation at such a young age can be legitimately life-changing for children, and while certain publishers are making tremendous strides in the right direction, others are missing the boat completely.

The 28th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards took place this Friday at San Diego Comic-Con, where the creators, editors and publishers of your favorite comics were honored for their accomplishments. While many will be nominated, only a select few will take home the top honors in one of comic's most respected awards. It was a particularly good night for publishers Drawn and Quaterly and Fantagraphics, with fan and critical favorites like Over the Garden Wall, Cliff Chiang and Bandette being recognized as well. Check out the complete list of winners and nominees below.

The heroes of fiction tend to conform to a certain type — straight, cisgender, male — and the quests that they go on tend to share common elements. 'Boy meets girl' is a familiar phrase because we expect a male protagonist to meet, seduce, and try to save a female love interest as part of his 'quest'. And because finding a mate is so often part of the hero's journey, villains often get to represent a counterpoint; they challenge the narrative, subvert the norm, and... queer things up. With so much fiction being heteronormative, villains often get to play with gender and sexuality in ways that heroes don't. The queer or queer-themed villain is a trope that has led to some frustrating and upsetting stereotypes, but it's also led to some rich, compelling, and magnetic characters — characters that sometimes have a lot to offer to audiences hungry for representation and uncomfortable with the expectation of 'boy meets girl'. A villain's methods may be questionable, but their desire to overturn the accepted order can hold some appeal. To celebrate Villain Month on ComicsAlliance, and to mark that intersection of villainy and queerness in fiction, we've asked our writers, 'Who is your favorite queer comics villain'?

Noelle Stevenson's Nimona is not your typical fantasy comic heroine. I say that not because of her style, which includes a partially shaved head, with dyed hair and piercings; and not because of the way she dresses, which is in practical chain mail and leather adventuring gear; and not because of her build, which is short and stocky, in sharp contrast to the tall willowy male characters. No, Nimona is not your typical fantasy comic heroine because Nimona is not a hero period. She's a villain. At least, that's what she keeps telling the reader, and herself, and anyone who will listen in Stevenson's Nimona, the Lumberjanes co-creator's webcomic, which has recently been collected and published as an extremely charming, remarkably cerebral graphic novel.

Noelle Stevenson is the future. Nimona, her celebrated and fantastical webcomic about a villain's shapeshifting sidekick, will be published as a graphic novel by HarperCollins in 2015; Lumberjanes, the Boom Studios series about a group of girl adventurers that she co-writes with Grace Ellis, has been promoted from miniseries to ongoing; Marvel has just announced that she's writing a story for the upcoming Thor Annual #1; and she's a writer on Disney’s Wander Over Yonder cartoon. You're going to see a lot of Noelle Stevenson in the coming year. She's an outspoken, accomplished, and driven talent, and it's no surprise that everyone is suddenly taking notice. To better understand one of the industry’s most promising talents, ComicsAlliance sat down with Stevenson to talk about the indie scene, going legit, and the trials of a changing industry.