Naomi #2 Review

Writers: Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker

Artist: Jamal Campbell

Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual

Published by: DC

After two issues of Naomi, I think it safe to say that Bendis and Walker have a potential hit on their hands and that this may be the breakout star of the Wonder Comics line. Add to the great story some excellent visual storytelling from Jamal Campbell, and you have yourself a comic that you just can’t wait to read the next issue of.

The issue this month sees Naomi confront her life on multiple fronts. First, as we left off in issue one, she confronts the town’s mechanic Dee, questioning him as to his knowledge of her adoption day (a fact he reveals he knows about her), but receives a not so polite response. Second, she confronts her parents about whether or not Dee is her biological father and if he isn’t, why would he know when she was adopted. And finally, she uses her friend Anabelle as a sounding board to try and make heads from tails of this situation.

What I like the most about this new series is that we, the reader, get to go on this journey with Naomi. We are as in the dark about her situation and Bendis and Walker reveal to the reader and the same time that they do to Naomi. There are no flashbacks, fast forwards or even secondary plotlines that reveal the whole truth. Who she is and why she is important to the DC Universe is a mystery, and that’s great!

The only tiny negative that I have with this issue is the same one I have with most Bendis led comics: it is too decompressed. It’s two issues in, and knowing Bendis, we won’t get a complete story until the sixth issue usually, so you have to know this going in.

But what completely negates that negative in my mind is the wonderful work that Jamal Campbell has been doing on art. Every panel seems to have a purpose and this leads to some excellent visual storytelling throughout. You can feel Naomi’s pain and anguish at the confusion that is her life right now through the art alone. Couple that with some incredible splash pages that offer hints to her life makes this a pleasing to the eyes read.