Nemi #1

Overview

This review is a part of the Official Nemi Appreciation, please feel free to participate if you so desire. So one day I was researching how other countries view comic books and the attitudes they have, their local comic characters, strips, so on, and stumbled upon Nemi, a Norwegian comic strip character. She seemed fairly interesting in the limited comic strips I could find online, but to my surprise my local library had collections of her comic strips in books such as the one I am reviewing. It was a great way to really learn and find out about the character. Mind you Nemi is a newspaper comic strip character, there is no overarching plot or story, no major conflict that must be resolved, no major nemesis, very few supporting characters, no powers or capes either for that matter. Well thats not strictly true, Nemi enjoys dress up and has the power to eat quite a lot of food for someone so skinny, anyway, as such a collection of her newspaper comic strips basically means an emphasis on character personality, quirks and idiosyncrasies. If you like slightly weird, offbeat, lazy, hyper, strange, artistic, creative, drunk, promiscuous, loud, obnoxious, caring, loyal, imaginative characters - you might like Nemi. Not everyone will though is my disclaimer.

Nemi's Character

Since this collection of strips is a bit different than normal comic formats for stories, my review will be a bit unconventional too, I am going to mention a few comic strips and what I liked about them. There is one strip where Nemi judges some teenagers for liking Jessica Simpson and being shallow, Cyan Nemi's friend accused Nemi of being shallow to which Nemi acknowledges but points out that she has enough depth to be self aware about her shallowness. I like how Nemi is somewhat of a hypocrite but also likes to judge others, sometimes her judgments are spot on as well. Might seem like strange qualities to like in a character but so many fictional characters are perfect paragons of morality, its nice having a loud, slightly hypocritical character who says whats on their mind but does actually have enough depth and intelligence to be right more than wrong. Another strip has Nemi shouting at a bunch of acquaintances who are acting a bit too nicely, Nemi talks about their apathy as being why they don't interact often calling them out on their excess niceties. They all go silent. I liked it because Nemi is basically annoyed by small talk and can't even pretend to just go along with it, she would rather just be blunt even if it means alienating herself to some.

Another strip has a parent angry that Nemi told her son Santa doesn't exist among other adult secrets, with a despondent Nemi later thinking she wishes someone told her such things when she was a kid. I like it because Nemi basically treats young people, elderly people, and everyone in-between the same, with a sort of blunt honesty and directness that comes from sense of equality and respect. She might not always be nice but she'll be honest. Another has Nemi making snow angels… except she also puts her hands to her head with a horned gesture and her dress has parts that are loose that creates more of a devil wing than angel wing, Nemi is a goth, she likes devils, dragons, heavy metal, so on a bit more. I like that. Another strip has Nemi spout random and obscure knowledge of spiders, but when she is asked what the capital of Ireland is… she has no idea. I like when people have a deep and obscure of of things but may not necessarily know more "important" things.

Another strip has Nemi altering the upside down cross on a guys jacket to resemble a boat with a happy sailor. I like that too, because despite what I said about Nemi liking evil things and being a goth, its not something she takes ultra seriously, its more of a light hearted thing, she is a happy goth, one who likes to have fun and mess around and not take life too seriously. Another strip however does have someone ask Nemi if she is okay. She replies "yes" then after a few quiet moments by herself she begins to tear up. I like that one, less so about Nemi, more so about how people often ask each other if they are okay without really thinking about it and often people respond with yes so quickly like an automatic response without really thinking about it… sometimes its a good idea to slow down a bit and think about it when you ask someone or when they ask you.

Other Notes

There is actually a large mini story with a cohesive plot in this collection, it involves Nemi assisting a young child who is being bullied, and also struggling through some of her own issues. It cameos Alice Cooper as Nemi's imaginary best friend. Its a pretty fun story, substantially longer than the rest of the strips. I don't want to ruin it but its awesome. There are also a lot of Nemi comic strips I really don't care for and just think are boring/uninspired but thats going to happen when you have hundreds of self contained comic strips, not everyone one is going to be the quality of others and personal preference may decide which is which. I actually think the weakest comic strip is the one that they put on the back cover of the book a place that should have strong content, but oh well. I should probably mention that Nemi is created, drawn and written by Lise Myhre, I only know her from Nemi. Oh and the art, its fantastic, simple but very expressive. I am amazed at all the expressions Nemi's character runs through.

I gave this book four stars, but find Nemi a five star character. Whether anyone that reads this review should try and buy the book, well I think it depends entirely if you think you would like Nemi. I know a lot of people could find her irritating or annoying, and that the nature of a collection of newspaper comic strips can't compete with a story with an overreaching plot, multiple characters and more typical Marvel and DC graphic novel/comic stories. If you do like Nemi though, her character, then such a collection will make you smile a lot, and a good genuine smile now and then is one of the most underrated things ever.