A kid, sent to Earth on a spaceship by their birth parents who’re left behind on a doomed planet, is raised by surrogate parents in a small American town and discovers they gots superpowers. Wow - how DOES Brian Bendis come up with such original ideas? Bendis - the dude also writing both Superman titles! But yeah this kid is Naomi, not Superpants - although he is all over that first issue to let you know this be a DC book and, y’know, parallels and junk.
I know I sound dismissive but actually Naomi, Season One wasn’t bad. There’s nothing about it that’s especially unique, particularly if you’re familiar with Bendis’ work, but it’s well done - the usual “Lil ol me’s a superhero waaaa?!” but slick and surprisingly compelling. Though I wouldn’t say Naomi is up there among them, read the first Miles Morales or Riri Williams books and you’ll know Bendis can write some absolutely cracking opening volumes in this vein.
Like a lot of Bendis books, Season One is a slow burn, though it’s enjoyable enough to see the mystery of who Naomi really is unfold. Where it kinda lost me was the third act when the fifth issue turned into one long artless info dump, all of which revealed Naomi’s secret origin to be, unfortunately, unremarkably bland by superhero standards. And the usual Bendis line of supporting characters - the ditzy bestie, the loving (but of course tough) parents, the troubled mentor - did nothing to show me any of this was fresh new territory for the Bendyman.
I really hate when the villain turns out to be this giant monster who wants to take over the world because it’s such a tedious cliche at this point but that’s precisely who the big bad in this story is. So of course things end with an uninspired and rote punch up - guess who wins? Exactly - we’re only on “Season One” member. Also, does Naomi have any weaknesses? She doesn’t seem to have a kryptonite. I hope she’s not some dull flawless protagonist because that will lead to some very boring stories very quickly.
Jamal Campbell’s art is a revelation. It’s very pretty and extremely polished whether he’s drawing close-ups, distance shots, splash pages, action or talky scenes - it’s never less than impressive. Some of the characters have that appealing Disney-esque look to their faces - very expressive, big eyes, dramatic body language - and the book has an appropriately cinematic look to it (“Season One” - it certainly looks like a big budget TV series). If you’re a fan of David Marquez’s art (he drew Bendis’ Invincible Iron Man and Civil War II), you’ll dig Jamal Campbell’s style.
It’s nothing that most superhero comics fans won’t have seen before but Naomi Season One is a decent read and another interesting addition to Bendis’ new Wonder Comics line. I’ll come back for Season Two but I hope Bendis and co. dare to stray a bit from the superhero formula they seem to be content chugging for the umpteenth time in Season One.
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