Series creator Lise Myhre is ahead of one of the biggest foreign launches a Norwegian cartoon has ever received.

The first edition sold out

On Friday, Nemi was taken out of its box and placed on the shelves of London’s biggest comics shop, Forbidden Planet for the first time. Managing Director Louisa Ryrie said Nemi could already be called a success.

– Ten minutes later, half the shelves had been emptied, but luckily we had more in the back room, Ryrie said.

The entire first edition of 15,000 books has been sold out by the publisher. All three of the UK’s biggest bookstore chains will be promoting the book heavily during the Christmas shopping season.

Readers are split down the middle

Expectations are high of editor Jo Boylett at Titan Books, which published Nemi in the UK. And with good reason. More than two million Britons have encountered Nemi on their way to work. For several years, the cartoon has been a regular feature in the free newspaper Metro, which is one of the largest newspapers in the country.

Features editor Kieran Meeke said Nemi had divided readers.

– Readers either love or hate Nemi. “Previously we thought the majority of readers hated Nemi, but gradually we conducted reader surveys that showed that Nemi was well liked,” Meeke said.

– Universal humor

Jo Boylett believes that it is not clear that only women in their 20s can enjoy and recognize themselves in Nemi.

– She is a goth girl in her twenties, but we found that all kinds of people like her humor. I noticed that many adult men were enthusiastic. The humor is universal, Boylett said.

Big request

He is supported by Kieran Meeke at Metro. Readers don’t even realize he’s Norwegian.

– I don’t think any of the readers realized that he was Norwegian. We’ve received inquiries from boys who wanted to buy a Nemi book for their girlfriend for Christmas, and they were surprised when we told them it was only available in Norwegian.

Lise Myhre noticed that too.

– In England, the series has become quite popular. Demand for the book has been around for a while, so it’s great to finally have it published, he said.

Only Jason is bigger

The comic writer himself has to stay at home amidst his success because he will soon add to his family. Her fictional daughter has to fend for herself in the world.

– It is interesting to see how he is received in countries other than Norway, says Myhre.

Over the winter, Nemi will be published in book form in America, Australia, Spain and Italy. Books have been published in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Germany. Thus, Nemi is just fighting with Jason to be the biggest Norwegian cartoon abroad.