Naomi: Season Two #1 – Brian Michael Bendis/David F. Walker, Writers; Jamal Campbell, Artist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: It’s been a long time since we caught up with Naomi McDuffie in her own title—long enough for her to join the Justice League, get a live-action series, and have her artist do a year-long Eisner-nominated sci-fi series. So given all that, it’s a little surprising that her series doesn’t come back with more urgency. In some ways, that’s the point—this isn’t really a superhero story, it’s a story about what being a superhero or alien refugee would do to an ordinary person’s life. It’s a few months past the events of the first mini, and Naomi is trying to piece things together. She’s a celebrity—whether she wants to be or not, is seeing a therapist to share as much as she can, and has an increasingly tense relationship with her parents. Specifically, her alien-refugee father, who is trying to train her in the use of her powers but is oddly aggressive about it and seems to regret that she found out her origins.
One of the interesting things about this series is the way it treats everyone as the star of their own story. That can make it feel a little cluttered at points, but it also gives supporting players like mechanic Dee their own story. He’s probably the best character in the book, a haunted warrior who devoted his life to protecting this girl only to find out that he may not be needed anymore. His few scenes are packed with pathos, and Jamal Campbell’s art for him is one of the few cases where it really gets to jump off the page of this somewhat restrained issue. Overall, this issue ends almost as soon as it began with a dramatic cliffhanger, but what it lacks in serious plot development it makes up for in a compelling lead character. Following Naomi only six issues at a time may be blunting this story’s momentum a little bit, but it’s good to have the one survivor of the Wonder Comics line back.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
