Writer Brian Michael Bendis has co-created several key characters since making the unexpected jump to DC Comics in 2018, but none have made a bigger impact than Naomi McDuffie. Bendis and his collaborators, co-writer David F. Walker and artist Jamal Campbell, first introduced her in the pages of Naomi: Season 1 in 2019. Since then, Naomi has branched out to other DC titles like Young Justice and Justice League, and she's even getting her own Ava DuVernay-produced series on The CW. But what about her solo comic?
The wait for Naomi: Season 2 is nearly over. IGN can exclusively reveal that the second volume will launch in March 2022, and all three creators are returning for this sequel. Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at issue #1, and then read on to see what Bendis, Walker and Campbell had to say about returning to Naomi's corner of the DC Universe:
Revisiting Naomi McDuffie
It may have been two years since the original Naomi series wrapped, but the character has hardly been on mothballs during that time. We've seen the character quickly start to play a role in the larger DCU, both in the futuristic setting of DC's Future State event and in the pages of Bendis' Justice League.
"For the sequel, we get to not treat it as a sequel, but in a new definitive chapter in her life," Bendis tells IGN. "We saw her origin and now we come in here, a lot has changed. She has seen things, she has experienced things, her perspective has been altered just by her experience, and we get to dive right into that."
Since Season 1 wrapped, Campbell has been busy in a different corner of the DCU, introducing rookie Green Lantern Sojourner Mullein in the pages of Far Sector (a series which earned him IGN's Best Comic Book Artist of 2020 award). But as Campbell explains, he had little difficulty in making the transition back to Naomi's small town setting.
"That's perfectly what Naomi is," Campbell says. "It's more down to earth, it's this one character and her troubles as a teenager, just getting her powers versus this big epic scope that Far Sector was. So having the two contrasting things back to back was actually pretty easy for me just to switch back and forth because it was something new that my brain was refreshed on versus what I've been doing again and again for the last a year and a half with Far Sector."
Bendis adds, "My favorite parts of Naomi are the big moments that we step back and let you go nuts in the juxtaposition of the two. One of the other elements you brought to the story is Naomi has been getting day visions, her experiences are so intense that she literally almost blacks out while she's walking on the street and sees things. We opened with this vision and Jamal's representation of it was so great that we made it part of the plot. It was, oh, let's do more of that."
In fact, the collaboration on Season 2 has grown to the point that Campbell is now receiving a story credit in addition to an artist credit.
"Our first story meeting with Jamal, just talking about where we were so far and his contributions to it made it very clear that this was going to be a shared story credit between the three of us," Bendis says. "Right away he threw an idea right in the middle of it, that was better than all the little ones we had dancing around him. So, it is from the three of our perspectives."
How Season 2 Moves Naomi Forward
Season 1 was largely focused on establishing an origin story for Naomi. Over the course of the book, readers learn Naomi is a refugee from another Earth in the DC multiverse, with her parents having sent her away to save her from a tyrant named Zumbado. As if that weren't enough, Naomi's adoptive father also turns out to be a deep cover agent of the alien world Rann. Having established that origin, the creators are now more focused on what's next for Naomi and how she grapples with these newfound revelations about her existence.
"The second arc isn't so much about who is she and where did she get these powers and the mystery?" says Walker. "Now, it's like, well, what are you going to do when you have this stuff? What do you do with what you have? So, she's on a completely separate journey. There's definitely discovery, but there's also defining yourself. She's already fought alongside Batman and Superman and other members of the DC Universe and now - what do you do with that? What do you do with that when you go back home, when you hang out with your best friends, when your dad is trying to train you how to be the best warrior possible, when you just want him to be your dad?"
She's already fought alongside Batman and Superman and other members of the DC Universe and now - what do you do with that?
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That's not to say Season 2 won't continue to explore Naomi's past or connection to Zumbado. But as Bendis explains, she has a lot of learning to do before she's truly ready to come to terms with that past.
"She's young and a lot has been shown to her and told to her and she feels this overwhelming almost need for revenge or avenging her birth world and everything that happened to her and her parents," Bendis says. "That door is not closed. She's literally been told, 'There's something you need to do, and you're not ready to do it yet.' She has something to train for. Whether or not she takes Superman's advice or Batman's advice or Black Adam's advice on what she should do about what's happened to her, there's many paths in front of her or some mixture of the group that will define her as the series ends."
Arguably Naomi's most unique characteristic is the fact that she seems unconcerned about maintaining a secret identity. Unlike many teen heroes, she doesn't try to hide her powers from her parents or her friends. Season 2 will deal very heavily with this fact, even as it shows Naomi trying to find a balance between living an ordinary life and grappling with her unique role in the DCU.
"Naomi being so open about just who she is and what she's going through - I think part of the reason that resonates with readers, especially a younger generation, is because we're seeing people so much emphasis on just being yourself and not like being categorized and being pushed into a box," Walker says. "I think that in the superhero world, in the superhero genre, that's manifesting itself in characters who are just free and open about who they are.
Walker continues, "Brian did this with Superman [referencing Superman's decision to reveal his secret identity to the world]. That's a big secret to carry around the fact that you are somebody else. That you're trying to do right by it, but you're also do right by society, do right by the world, but yet at the core, you're hiding who you are. It's difficult to carry that balance."
Naomi and the Justice League
As much as Season 2 remains focused on Naomi and her family and supporting cast, the new series will also feature more familiar DC faces than its predecessor. Bendis teases a significant role for Hawkgirl in particular, while also revealing that Cyborg has a big part to play in Naomi's new quest. Walker previously penned DC's 2015 Cyborg comic, making this series a chance to revisit an old favorite.
"I personally am excited to announce that this is the return of David Walker writing Cyborg, because in this world, David Walker shouldn't be writing Cyborg 24 hours a day," Bendis says. "There's many, many guest stars. Cyborg is included in them. We also thought, regardless of David's history with the character, we were excited that Cyborg is the perfect person for Naomi to meet right now for many different reasons. That and many other surprises to come."
Campbell, for his part, is eager to tackle the current Justice League roster and lend his take to heroes like Batman and Black Adam.
"That's why I want to draw comics," says Campbell. "It's getting to play with all these characters and see how they interact and seeing what my Superman looks like, what my Batman looks like, what my Adam looks like. We're in this very unique position with Naomi where Naomi is our character, so how does our original character interact with these people? What does she look like next to these people?"
Walker adds, "Seeing Batman and seeing Jamal draw Batman next to Naomi, it almost felt like you were seeing Batman for the first time. It felt like, for me anyway, there's this energy being captured that feels like it's being filtered through this character. You're seeing her and it's, like, suddenly the teenager in me, I'm able to relate to that."
Naomi: Season 2 #1 will be released on March 8, 2022. Be sure to check back with IGN soon for the second part of our conversation with the Naomi creative team, as they reflect on the character's journey from the page to the screen.
If you haven't already, be sure to check out IGN's nominations for the best comic book series or original graphic novel of 2021.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
