The Shape- Shifter

With Nimona and Lumberjanes, Noelle Stevenson has slain the graphic-novel world. Her next conquest? Rebooting a She-Ra animated series for Netflix.

- Dana Schwartz

A FEW MONTHS AGO, Noelle Stevenson visited Blue Sky, the animation studio helming the film adaptation of her bestselling graphic novel Nimona, to see gorgeously painted concept art depicting a shark with boobs. 

“I couldn’t believe it: This comic panel I drew when I was 19 years old and sleep deprived, with the dumbest joke I could think of because it made me laugh at 4 a.m.,” Stevenson says with a chuckle. “Suddenly, sitting in this theater, looking at it with this beautiful, larger-than-life production art.”

Stevenson began drawing and posting Nimona, the adventures of a shape-shifting supervillain sidekick (who sometimes transforms into a shark with boobs) online while still in college. In 2015, HarperTeen published Nimona as a graphic novel, which earned Stevenson a nod from the National Book Foundation. That year, she also took home a pair of Eisner awards for the comic-book series Lumberjanes, which she helped develop and eventually co-write. (Lumberjanes is also currently in development for a film adaptation.)