bedsitter23

Naomi (2019-) #1 by Brian Michael Bendis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I only write reviews of first issues so I don’t really get to go back and re-look at things.

So now that Brian Michael Bendis has been with DC, what do I think?

Well, I think things are kind of right where I expected them. Without spending too much time on it, I will just say he can still tell stories.

The next step for Bendis is curating Wonder Comics, ostensibly a Young Adult imprint that starts with Naomi.

I don’t know if DC will succeed with Wonder or even what success looks like (Was Vertigo a success? I think you would say Yes, but I was there and it was still a pretty slim crowd who probably would have found other niche comics anyway).

Wonder is exciting in that it seems to me the best line up that DC has had for an endeavor like this in ages (Bendis, Mark Russell, Sam Humphries, David Walker and some great artists).

So how is Naomi. Well, the answer is “None More Bendis”. Though of course the conventional wisdom is that Co-writer David Walker wrote the Bendis-y parts on this.

Anyway, this feels like “Superman in a Bendis universe” as opposed to “Bendis writing Superman”, I guess. Indeed, Supes is in the background.

It is hard not to think of Miles Morales and Riri Williams from a critical point of view, but I think that is ok. Naomi does have the depth of his other creations, and though they are given attention for being nontraditional, they are otherwise just great stories.

It is a testament to Bendis and Walker that this is a fairly unremarkable story and yet it feels super important. Surely, Busiek or Millar have captured something exactly like this on the way. Still, it’s note perfect.

Jamal Campbell’s Art is the exact right choice for this. This does remotely feel like a YA title, but not enough that it is distracting.

Good work out of this team to really make the most out of this one. As another reviewer said, a pleasant surprise.

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