Naomi: Season Two

Naomi

by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker, Jamal Campbell (Illustrator)

Naomi is back to uncover the truth behind the new mysteries around herself and her powers!

Naomi's life has fallen into complete chaos over the mysteries that surround her and her origin.

Her friend and mentor, Dee, is missing and Naomi deeply feels it has to do with her, so she teams up with Justice League legend Cyborg to work the clues left behind in the wake of his disappearance. Meanwhile, Hawkgirl harbors the secrets of Dee's dark Thanagarian past that could threaten Naomi's place in the JL!

From the original creators of Naomi comes this DC epic starring the CW's newest sensation! This collection includes Naomi: Season Two #1-6!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Superheroes

144 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, in conjunction with his Superman work, is the series that changed my mind about Bendis' writing. I truly enjoyed this series, despite what some might consider some significant flaws, and it difficult to know how much credit co-writer Walker (the writer/creator of Bitter Root deserves (and he might deserve a lot of the credit.)

The pluses remain. Naomi herself as a character is very engaging, and the same applies to her supporting cast (her alien parents and Dee her trainer). The flaws, as to how powerful Naomi is remains, and the whole cleanup of the Zumbardo affair is about as messy as the end of Babylon 5's fourth season (that's not a compliment folks).

I recommend this for the engaging characters, and the plus side of the growth and relationship between Naomi, her parents, and Dee. Unfortunately, for reasons never fully explained the series will not be continuing (read as digital floppies).

[Adam Klatka · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fight scenes were kind of hard to keep up with and the switch between panels running down a single page and across the whole spread wasn’t clear every time but it was an enjoyable read.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember Season One of Diversity Superman? No, me neither. And that’s because it was so original: Naomi and the Justice League went to another planet to punch a generic bad guy called Zumbado. Well, hold onto your hats because you’ll never guess what happens in Season Two: Zumbado and his version of the Justice League come to Earth to punch Naomi!

The imagination contained within this title is staggering.

In its absence.

Unusually for a superhero series (and because I thought Bendis had left DC), the same creative team have returned for a second book and, as you may have guessed from my summation above, I didn’t find Naomi Season Two interesting.

Like most Bendis books, in place of an attempt at a compelling narrative there’s a whole lotta waffle that doesn’t go anywhere. That other memorable character “Dee” goes missing and then reappears, Naomi’s ma and pa fight and then make up, Naomi punches a monster, Naomi meets more Justice League characters, oh god I’m putting myself to sleep just thinking about it all again…

Each chapter starts with a 12 panel grid where random characters are talking to someone. Who are they talking to and why?! It reads like a high school play.

Jamal Campbell’s art is great and remains the best part of the series, so it’s a shame that it’s in service to Bendis/David F. Walker’s dull script. No idea though why his Superman looks like Fred Gwynne (the actor who played Herman Munster).

Naomi: Season Two is an underwhelming sequel to a middle-of-the-road first book - if you thought the first one was decent, don’t get your hopes up with the second.

Can’t wait for Naomi: Season Three where I expect Naomi will punch Zumbado on another different planet. Woohoo…

[Zian B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I left individual reviews to each of the comic issues after having read them, and decided to do a review for Season Two.
Just like with Season One, I feel like things could’ve been extended another comic issue or 2, just to see Naomi actually get a breather and a chance to truly relax after everything that’s happened to her. While I liked seeing more of Naomi and getting appearances from HawkGirl, others from the Justice League, there were some issues I had with this comic series.
I don’t like how the issue between Naomi and her father wasn’t really talked about. The man’s emotions were a bit all over the place and while I see that it can be difficult for a parent to let go of their child, especially a child with superpowers, I feel like Naomi’s father had other issues that just weren’t addressed. I also didn’t like how they never had a solo conversation to truly talk things out and the issue somewhat got swept under the rug, in the midst of everything that was happening.
Another issue I had was the specific involvement of HawkGirl and other Justice League members. While it was great seeing her and Cyborg, briefly at some points, they weren’t able to help Naomi when she truly needed it during the big battle at the bed of this comic series. Also, the including of other members of the Justice League was mainly through mention and flashbacks when Naomi was remembering her time with the League; and again, they weren’t able to help Naomi when she truly needed it during the big battle at the bed of this comic series. Despite ultimately winning that battle, Naomi really could’ve used the help of at least one super-powered adult that she had a good dynamic with.

[Heather - Just Geeking By · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this a four-star rating if it wasn't for the horribly toxic father that Bendis just glossed over with a "but I'm your dad, and I'm worried, so I get to be an aggressive wanker and not apologise or explain myself properly" brush. As usual Bendis misses nuances that as a white male writer do not even occur to him.

[spoiler]I also find it very odd that the Justice League were super helpful and then suddenly no one was watching Naomi for the inevitable moment when the metas from her planet came back for round two. You're telling me that Batman wasn't expecting that and didn't think, hmm, maybe we should have someone on standby or watching her back? Yeah... completely implausible writing just to fit in with Bendis' storyline, so his hero can get their "moment".

Don't get me wrong; I like Naomi. I think she's fantastic and Naomi's storyline was great. It just feels like Bendis puts so much effort into the superpowers that he forgets everything else (or doesn't care about it).

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

It reads well...but something is missing

You get a chance to really see her wonder 'What the F' she's doing as she explores having powers and her relationships. No timejumps needed. The story itself seems kind of empty. I keep saying its missing something, but I couldn't tell you what it is. It's just really hard to CONNECT to. Characters don't seem fully fleshed out. Adult superheroes seem written differently.
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The one major knock to this story is that it feels like they're putting this character 'back in the box'. Bendis made her. He got to show her off. Now that he's finished writing Justice League and her series, he's done playing with his toys and she's effectively written OUT of the DC universe. Two miniseries and a new member role on the Justice League....and then 'off you go'?

She deserves better.

Bonus: The stepfather is all over the place, emotionally. Suddenly he's supportive?
Bonus Bonus: How does the Justice League go from super helpful to just ...gone? Not helpful at all.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Season Two is kind of an unnecessary series in which Naomi continues to question her role as a superhero, her Rann father struggles to deal with her new powers, and her Thanagarian neighbor incites an interstellar war on her behalf. The last part leads to an exciting battle, at least, though the coloring of Jamal Campbell's generally great artwork often makes it heard to tell who was fighting who.

The rest of the "season" is mostly Naomi bopping into Justice League headquarters to say "what's up, what do I do now" or chatting with her friends. While I liked the down-to-earth aspect of the first season, it felt forced here. Typical Bendis dialogue is largely okay. There's just a feeling of "do we really need to do this?" I would argue probably not.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really don't understand what people don't like about this book/character. Walker and Bendis return to see Naomi searching for different answers and then dealing with finding them. Bendis and Walker do a great job with Naomi's voice and her interactions with everyone are great. The plot is uncomplicated but not simple. The antagonists are interesting with a decent swerve. I didn't realize Naomi had adventures outside of this title so I do feel like I missed some of the story (with the Justice League) and the antagonists speech was too American to be believed. Jamal Campbell's art is phenomenal and I can't believe this guy isn't a superstar. He should be. Overall, an incredibly fun read.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read with lots of entertaining Bendis dialogue, this collection starts out impressive, following a teenager just after discovering incredible powers and joining the Justice League as she adjusts to her new status among her loved ones in town. Unfortunately, the last two chapters drop into art that’s really hard to follow as she takes on a team of fairly generic scifi baddies, but the first four parts were terrific and accessible.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd forgotten how much of a Mary Sue this is, but seriously, girl gets super-power, pals around with the Justice League, who is impressed by her super powers. It's borderline embarrassing. As for the plot: it's utterly unsurprising. Slice of life stuff happens, leading to super villains who destroyed her world attacking Earth. It feels like nothing new from the previous volume.

Really, a disappointment for Bendis, but I haven't *loved* his work in quite some time.

[marcus ghee · Rating 2 out of 5]

writing even worse and more rushed than the first one, Annabelle was actually annoying as fuck, drawn in a way that made me think they didn’t care if you could actually see what’s going, and mostly comprised of cliches and easy emotions - enjoyed every second of it. I think there was so much to do with Naomi, but you can tell she was only ever created to be just a quick story, which is a shame because the power set and lore seem limitless. But whatever, it was a decent read.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemed to rush to a conclusion perhaps before they were ready. Will be interesting to see where the character goes from here. She's a good character but with that level of power, might be challenging to find things to do with her.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shiny.

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to remember what happened in this volume...

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second instalment in this series has similar strengths and weaknesses to its predecessor. Once again, the beginning part is good, showing Naomi coming to terms with her new superpowers and how the world is reacting to her. On the other hand, the supporting characters get less to do than they might, with the focus on all her new friends in the Justice League. Her foster father is also quite an arse, but that may be intentional and overall it's a decent examination of how such experiences might change someone.

But then we get to the second part and there's an excessively long fight that at times it's quite difficult to follow. Naomi gets to learn new tricks with her powers that make her overly potent; it's not that she doesn't have any vulnerabilities, and she's still an engaging character but it's going to be hard to find plausible foes going forward without at least including some equivalent of kryptonite. This may well be why we get the ending we do, leaving the possibility open for a sequel if DC wants one, but not having her involved with the mainstream activities of the Justice League et al.