REVIEW: ‘Naomi,’ Issue #1

Naomi #1 is published by DC Comics and written by David F. Walker (Luke Cage, Cyborg) and Brian Michael Bendis (Spider-Man, Action Comics, Jessica Jones) with art Jamal Campbell, and letters by Josh Reed. The book introduces Naomi, a character co-created by Bendis and Campbell, who is brand new to the DC Universe.

Despite living in a tiny Northwestern town, Naomi finds her small town being saved by Superman, from there Naomi longs to see the Man of Steel again and after speaking with her therapist realizes her obsession with Superman is because the two are so similar. Superman is also adopted and just as every kid in the world who feels like an outsider wants to be, Superman is special. When investigating Superman and Mongul’s crash into a small town Naomi uncovers that Superman was not the first superhero to touch down in her hometown and all of it may involve her own origins and adoption.

When Naomi was announced I was very excited. Prior to working on Superman and Action Comics with DC, Bendis played a huge part in shaping comics as we know it at Marvel. He co-created Miles Morales, Spider-Man, and RiRi Williams, Ironheart. With RiRi being created by him so recently, my biggest concern with Naomi was that it would feel too similar to Ironheart since he left the project so early in the character’s creation.

However, I am happy to report that is not the case.

Naomi is a spunky young girl who is immensely relatable for a lot of reasons that differ from RiRi. The overall message of the comic shows why people to this day still love Superman and why his message resonates so much even after all these years. As Naomi’s therapist describes it, a Superman complex isn’t wanting to be Superman as much as wanting to be special like him.

Bendis and Walker’s writing and constant ability to create such relatable and real characters is astounding. Naomi feels like a teenage girl who is just a tad rough around the edges since so much about her adoption is unknown. Similarly, Campbell’s art helps further this fact. Naomi is drawn like a Black teenage girl. Campbell’s use of shadows and bright colors created a visually stunning comic. Additionally, Campbell worked to create such unique panel designs. Multiple times Campbell utilized the entire two-page spread for one scene. The art in this book is some of the best art in comics right now and I do not say that lightly.

Naomi #1 is such an important comic that is so relatable. Naomi’s journey in starting to find herself and what makes her special will be exciting for readers discovering comics and readers who have been enjoying comics for years. Everyone wants to see themselves in a superhero, it’s why we love superheroes. I am so excited for everyone, including myself, who gets to see themselves in Naomi.

Naomi #1 is available in comic stores now.