Just in time for Halloween, I bring you Nimona, the tale of an evil genius and his minion. Ballister Blackheart was going it alone as a supervillain until teenage Nimona showed up on his doorstep with a can-do attitude, penchant for violence, and shapeshifting powers. Blackheart’s villainy isn’t black and white however, as his own strict code of honor from his days working for the Institution for Law Enforcement and Heroics before his terrible betrayal tends to keep him from achieving the heights of villainy. Cheerfully violent Nimona has her own mysterious reasons for wanting to take the Institute down, which she sulkily avoids whenever the subject comes up. Over the course of their villainous schemes they discover the Institute is hiding something truly horrendous, and must use all of their villainous wiles to expose their foes to the unsuspecting populace.

Nimona takes place is a fascinating, Magitech medieval universe. While all the characters wear armor and joust and talk of magic, there are televisions, ray guns, and giant robots to enjoy as well! The art is in full color, with a sketchy and expressive children’s-book style of drawing. What will really astonish you is the incredibly-drawn monsters Nimona can turn into throughout the comic! While mainly a comedy, the comic cleverly holds a mirror, darkly,  up to our notions of good and evil, heroes and villains, and what it means to stand on your own moral platform rather than one given to you.

The author, Noelle Stevenson, both writes and draws this comic. Nimona updates bi-weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and should be published by HarperCollins in 2015. It has been nominated for a Harvey award for Best Online Comics Work and has been awarded the Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Webcomic of 2012 by Slate Magazine and the Center for Cartoon Studies. Stevenson is a full time writer and artist and is also known for the fanart comedic strips, the Broship of the Rings.

He’s so heroic! Just look at that codpiece!