by SeekerWhen Brian Bendis and DC announces Wonder Comics many wondered how this youth driven line would do. They made sure that the reboot of Young Justice was front and center of it all however the first salvo of Wonder Comics was the only original IP, Naomi.
The result of a collaboration between Bendis and David F. Walker who’s work for the most part been excellent if unappreciated by fans, Naomi tells the story of the namesake character’s search for her origins in the aftermath of a Superman battle in her hometown in Oregon. This event triggers her because of them both being adopted but even moreso that there was no record of Superman ever being there. In this age of cell phones and social media that would seem impossible and pushes her to investigate it further, even to ask if there had been any superhero appearances before in the town. For the most part no one in town thinks there had been one….except one guy. The quiet mechanic Dee who is a hulking brute of a human. When Naomi confronts him he mentions there was one….on the day she was adopted. From there things begin to unravel. I don’t want to give anymore away but that is the moment the series picks up…in exposing things. This does not translate into an action packed book and that’s while that’s usually an issue for a comic in the big 2 this doesn’t hinder Naomi.
This book is a quintessential Bendis book with a focus on the characters and setting up a world around the protagonist. You can see this in Young Justice but here it’s more focused. The sharpness of the dialogue however shows Walker’s influence to a great extent. The pairing of these two is pretty well balanced and they both are naturally comfortable in the setting with both being from Oregon themselves. In the first six issues move along decently well and set up the potential of Naomi playing a much larger role in the DCU with natural ties (when you read to story) to Superman and what’s happening currently in Young Justice. In fact her next appearance seems to be in Superman.
The real star of this book is the art though. Jamal Campbell’s work here is breakout superstar stuff. What really sticks out to me are the variety of facial expressions and body types he uses in the book. Nobody looks the same. The townspeople look like…..regular people. He’s no slouch at all in action department when the book finally calls for it either. It’s slightly reminiscent of Copiel but for the most part unique. He’s only getting better every issue but seeing as how I suspect the series has ended its “season one” run we may not see this work again. That would suck immensely.
In any case Naomi is a great read that I would recommend everyone give a chance to. This will be collected in graphic novel form sooner than later and like most series now, it may be the best was to be digested. Don’t miss it.
