In Nimona, Chapters 3-5, we start to see the world coalesce around the characters and things begin to take on a degree of perspective. We see vagrants asleep under statues of the Knight-savior Sir Goldenloin, implying some level of civil unrest in the world. We encounter the threads of corruption in the Institute of Heroism, of course unbeknownst to the golden knight himself. We start to piece together the places where the world's technology is feudal and where it is futuristic. As the world builds up around us it becomes easier to lie back and allow the story to progress without asking too many questions. Of course, we need some familiar ground. Zombie movies, jousts, government agencies, identifiable concepts all. But Nimona goes beyond simply recognizable constructs and extends very often into the realm of the meta to drive the story.
Now, "meta" has become something of a dirty word to those in the know about genre fiction, a format which Nimona leads us to believe it is following. So, to be clear, it is no criticism to say that the comic relies on a certain level of meta-narrative understanding in its fans. Indeed, that may be part of its charm. The fact that Nimona can allude to "the backstory thing" is a nod to the reader that their understanding of such tropes is correct. As well, it allows Nimona a degree of freedom in her explanation, as we need only the details of the story to understand the standard progression of events she is describing. Such difficult questions as Ballister's "Really, she turned a six-year-old into a dragon?" or "Why were you able to become other animals?" would allude to an appropriate level of ridiculousness if the reader could not fill in the gaps in the framework themselves. His role in the exposition is to allow the author and the reader the conceit of a handwave for specific details which would drag the story down if we lingered on them. Why is she a shapeshifter? She just is, okay? By opening with "the backstory thing," Nimona frees the reader of any burden to read too much into what will be said, as if to say 'You get this kind of thing, so let's hear it out and then move on.'
The entire story of chapter 3 leans even more closely on a meta-understanding of the characters' own roles in the story they are telling, all without any sense of them personally breaking the fourth wall. Ballister and Goldenloin are prepared to banter, and suddenly Nimona turns into a wolf and starts killing people. "This isn't how things are supposed to go," says Goldenloin, recognizing along with Ballister just how didactic a scene like this could be. Villain duels hero, they quip and acknowledge their shared past. Villain announces allegiance to evil, hero to good, and we see the tension that they shall never reconcile. But Nimona seems to understand these tropes while simultaneously possessing the drive to break them, taking on a practical wisdom while parading arms-raised through their dramatic confrontation. Of course you kill the guards, they'll raise the alarm! Why else be excited at the arrival of goons? Who else would recognize that they're goons at all? This outlook is directly ingrained into her character in every aspect, from voice to mindset to appearance and even to some degree in her abilities.
One look at Nimona's character and we expect to explore a new perspective on Ballister's plans, both by looking at what they have been and what they could have been with Nimona's input. The story does not merely evoke tropes for the sake of understanding, but seems to promise that we will unpack them for meaning as we learn more about the characters. Why do they know so much about the parts they are supposed to be playing? How will our understanding of those roles evolve as the characters grow? The story's progression is central to these two questions, and asking the one only begs the answer to the other. And in the end, we read because we want to see the characters' arcs.
Here's hoping we eventually get some explanation as to where Nimona manifested such bloodlust.
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ReplyDeleteI think your point about Nimona exhibiting bloodlust is a good one -- wanting to undermine the trappings of a secretly evil society is a obviously a subversive goal, but it's still a far way away from Nimona killing nameless security guards at the drop of a hat. I hope we get more insight into what motivates her in that way, as I don't think "my parents were killed by raiders" is really enough (or really enough of an excuse for general supervillainy, but that's much easier to let slide). When she was killing those people in Chapter 3 I felt kind of antsy since I was worried that Nimona the webcomic wasn't giving the concepts of death and murder the weight they deserve -- if we're supposed to be invested in the struggles and emotions of Nimona and Blackheart, shouldn't the other parts of this universe have the same weight attached to them? Also, doesn't that pose a problem if the comic wants us to specifically see Nimona as a sympathetic, fighting-for-the-good-side protagonist and not, say, a somewhat ambiguous one? Blackheart DOES lecture her about death being messy, but I still feel like there's something missing with her character. Maybe we'll find out more, especially since it seems like we have a bit more to learn about her backstory (maybe involving being experimented on?).
ReplyDeleteI also like your point about Nimona (the comic and the character) lampshading the fact that they're resorting to familiar tropes and also that the story of how Nimona got her powers is sort of sloppily developed. I hope it doesn't go to that self-referential well TOO often, since I think plot sloppiness can be forgiven if characterization and emotional conflicts are well-developed.