INTERVIEW: Bendis' New Series Naomi Will Forever Change the DC Universe

The DC Universe is about to get a whole lot bigger. Launching in this year is Wonder Comics, a new line of comics curated by Brian Michael Bendis that will focus on young superheroes. Perhaps the most mystery title of them all is Naomi, a project Bendis is working on with David F. Walker and artist Jamal Campbell.

Unlike the other titles in the line, Naomi is an entirely new character with a lot of potential. Starting out as an ordinary girl in an ordinary town, a chance encounter with Superman pushes her to look into the mysteries surrounding her adoption.

Expect big mysteries, hidden secrets and a hero's journey you won't soon forget. The creative team was kind enough to talk with CBR about the new title and what to expect from its main character.

How Does Naomi fit into Wonder Comics and the DC Universe?

Brian Michael Bendis: Naomi is a brand new, original character. We bring with her an entire world of stuff to the DC Universe. So, instead of reimagining something like Young Justice and reintroducing it, Naomi is coming to the line with an entire toy box of stuff.

Trying to launch a new character is hard, but why did her story need to be its own series instead of part of the new Young Justice, for instance, and what do you think Naomi brings to the table that you believe will connect with readers?

Bendis: Really it comes down to her perspective of the DC Universe, her perception of her own story from her own point of view is literally the only way David and I wanted to tell the story. Like, there wasn't even another idea. The moment that you're seeing the first issue is the moment it became her story, and it can only be effective from her point of view. Which is that she has questions that she needs answered.

And, listen, yeah, sometimes people try to launch books and they don't do so well. Every other week movies come out and they bomb. It doesn't mean we don't try. The biggest successes of my life were launching Jessica Jones and Mile Morales into the world, and sometimes to great struggle, but it's hard to convince me that the fight wasn't worth it.

When I came to DC Comics, not only did they ask me to create new characters, they kind of emptied the lanes, like, 'just do it, man." They created a situation where I can share, so the first thing that I did was call David Walker, and I said, "This is an opportunity here to do something really honest and unique and beautiful." So, I didn't feel like it was that big of a gamble because it was what literally everyone behind the scenes was hoping we would do.

NEXT PAGE: Naomi's First Adventure Demanded She Fly Solo

David F. Walker: A lot of times you'll read a story or watch a movie and there's that character who is really, really interesting, but we don't get their whole story because it's somebody else's story. You're reading Harry Potter or watching Harry Potter, but there's that character where you're like, "I really want to know more about this one."

We didn't want to run into that problem with the character of Naomi. If she made her first appearance in Young Justice or another book like that, we'd never be able to tell this story the way we need to tell it, the way we want to tell it. A lot of what we're trying to do is tell the story of someone whose story normally doesn't get told, or is normally relegated to part of an ensemble cast where they're like the third billed character.

We really thought about this, we talked about it and this was it, this is how we do this thing. It's not done that often, and so there are challenges, and it's daunting, but I believe there are people out there who want that story. They want the story of someone like this character and the characters in her world.

Who is Naomi? Her entire life is about to get turned upside down, but what should readers know about her going in?

David: In a lot of ways she starts out like all of us. She's a seemingly ordinary person in an ordinary world and then something extraordinary happens in her world, which is Superman bounces in for just a moment, and then he's gone. In that moment, it's changed her perspective. She's starting to ask questions, digging a little bit deeper and then what she's going to discover -- which may sound corny -- is all of us are extraordinary people, and this is about her discovering how extraordinary she is.

I do believe that all of us are extraordinary people, but the key is that a lot of times stories about that journey of discovery, of us becoming heroes, is not always tailored for certain groups of people. That's what Brian and I wanted to do.

In the beginning, we were sort of cynical, asking how traditional do we want to be in this sort of hero's journey of this character. You know, we've seen it a million times before and Brian is, like, yeah, but there are young readers out there who really haven't seen it yet, haven't experienced it yet. Let's take them on that journey, but let's just take them on that journey with a character who doesn't look like a traditional hero.

Naomi is an invitation to readers to see that they are extraordinary, and they can go on a journey of discovery of their own greatness.

NEXT PAGE: Jamal Campbell is the Secret Weapon of Naomi

Jamal, a lot of what you have worked on up until now has been previously established characters. What's it like being able to bring a brand new character to life?

Jamal Campbell: Because it's something new, there's no established anything for it, so it's very freeing to have no boundaries really. Like, I can go wherever I want. Looking at everything coming in future issues, I can nail that down from wherever I want. I look at my favorite movies or video games or whatever, and even in my life, I can find a tiny corner of the DC Universe, and that's super exciting.

You guys have talked about how you came up with this new series, but what has the collaborative process been like?

David: Brian and I have known each other for years, so this is sort of an evolution of both our friendship and our working relationship. Really it came together with Jamal, and I want to make sure we get him in on this, because once we started seeing Jamal's art, this book took on a whole new life of its own.

Brian and I, we sat down because we live really close to each other, and we were like, "Oh, okay. wait a second." There's a whole other level going on with the storytelling. Here's a guy whose work was really solid, but this is his work going to a whole new level.

It was really like this moment where Brian and I, as part of the creative team, looked at each other, and we're like, okay, now we know we can go some places we weren't even sure we were going to be able to go. Maybe we're putting too much on Jamal's shoulders, but he's a pretty broad-shouldered guy, you know, so he looks like he can bench us a lot.

We're really leaning into what he's capable of doing as a storyteller and the invitation that comes when you write a script, like, okay, here's what we've done, build on it please. For me, it's been great because working with an old friend like Brian is just great and working with this new collaborator, who I just met for the first time in person a few months back, is great. I feel like I'm in capable hands and it's a very reassuring feeling.

Jamal: From my end, it's the same thing. It's been amazing to get the script in and there are areas where they are looking for a very specific emotion that they want me to go for. I want to make sure I nail it. Then there are some pages where they are like, "Hey, do your thing," and that's extremely exciting because it's both freeing and also a challenge.

They ask me to do my thing, I want to really do my thing and just put everything onto that page. So, it's both a collaboration and a challenge to one-up myself.

David: I discovered this with different artists, where you'll say "Okay, angle in on Fred, he's upset," and you get something back and it's like, "This doesn't look like he's upset, this looks like he's got indigestion or something."

The moment we saw Jamal's character designs, Brian and I knew we were working with an artist who knows how to draw more than just two or three emotions, and complex emotions, and maybe even conflicting emotions within the same moment. It's like this light shining down from the sky and angels [singing], and it's so great because we can get a level of complexity and a level of layering in the story that you don't always get.

It's such a refreshing feeling knowing that whatever you get from your artist, it's going to work. You want to get this story at the level of emotional resonance that, for me, is very important, because I feel like not only should a story be entertaining, but it should move us emotionally. It shouldn't just make us laugh, it shouldn't just make us feel excited, it shouldn't just make us feel sad, it should be making us feel all of these things collectively.

That's what life is -- a series of complex emotions, sometimes within the same moment. Sometimes you can be incredibly happy and incredibly sad at the same time, and that's what we're trying to bring through in this book.

Bendis: It's a major work by a new voice and it's an honor to be a part of, to be honest with you.

NEXT PAGE: Naomi Will Forever Change the DC Universe

This book promises new worlds and new ideas, but what about the pre-existing characters and ideas in the DCU? Will we be seeing familiar faces pop up as the series progresses, or will this generally remain a self-contained story?

Bendis: It's a mystery, so I have to be a little vague, but there's a reason this story takes place in the DC Universe. Just like Jessica Jones' story could have been told in a "fictional" Marvel Universe, it really only had that specialness because it was the Marvel Universe. There's a similar thing with Naomi, where it's because it's the DC Universe that this story will be that much more potent for her.

[The events of the first issue] not only start Naomi on a quest to find herself, but by doing so, she starts investigating the town, and by doing so she discovers that -- like every town in America -- it's full of secrets. These secrets are a little more DC connected than I think people would even guess from the first issue.

Yes, you're going to be seeing a lot of things from DC at an angle you've never seen before. It got us all excited that we were just able to look at this stuff from a different angle.

David: To add onto that, we're seeing new stuff and we're seeing established stuff in a new way, and that's when things start really getting exciting, when we bring in elements that are kind of familiar, but you're like "Wait a second, I didn't know that this existed."

It's like the first time they showed the Batcopter. I knew the Batmobile existed, but there's a helicopter, too? There's a lot of "Batcopters" and things like that.

What are your long-term plans for this series? How far out have you planned, where do you see it going and are you building to something?

Bendis: Yes. 1000 percent we're building to something. What Naomi is going to discover is a completely new thing to the DC Universe. It is going to be something that, even if Naomi's book is not around, the playground will be there for people to play with and to use.

I hope people can understand when I say this that I'm not comparing myself to Jack Kirby. I'm not. But many, many years ago, Jack Kirby came to DC and was given a lot of freedom to create. He created the Fourth World and all the stuff that came with it, right? Knowing that we're in a similar situation where they're like, "Go nuts, invent, create," it seems almost an obligation to try and do something of equal value.

The first issue of Naomi by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell will be released by DC Comics on Jan. 23.