Omni Vol 1: The Doctor Is In—Comic Book Review

Omni is a well-paced story about Dr. Cecelia Cobbina, a brilliant and selfless doctor who, through a high-stakes event, develops the ability to read and analyze the people and things in her surroundings.

After being ‘ignited’ with this power, she begins to learn of others with similar stories of igniting in times of duress and decides to investigate the origins and ultimate purpose of these developments.

The storytelling and image formatting in this comic is seamless-the images and text are well placed, allowing the reader to clearly follow the events. The transitions and movement in the supernatural scenes are clear as well, so the reader is able to easily immerse themselves in the action without feeling lost. Each character introduced felt realistic and had depth. I cared about their feelings and motives in the story, from Dr. Cecilia’s growing curiosity and concern on the growing cases of ignition events, to Mae’s genuine affection for her friend and desire to help her through the story’s events. Mae as the protagonist’s side-kick offered a lightness and comedic relief that helps to balance out Cecelia’s serious -and at times, intense -disposition. I love that the comic clearly subverts common hero-sidekick tropes, and they accomplished it well without making it feel like a point. This comic also didn’t shy away from current and relevant world events: in fact, the world issues brought up in the plot serve as the comic’s vehicle. 

Omni explores the concept of how we as humans are interconnected with the world, and incorporating this concept in the plot makes the world-building much richer for it. Everyone’s dialogue was warm and natural, and you feel as if you are on this journey with Dr. Cecelia. While Dr. Cecelia’s intellect is a driving point in this story, her speech is realistic and helps the reader interpret the events -you never feel as if the comic is beating you over the head with this. In fact, I was curious to see how she viewed each case, as to how she processed every ‘ignition’ determined how the story proceeded. You feel as if you are uncovering the puzzle pieces with Dr. Cecelia. The ignition events in Omni are intriguing, and I eagerly turned each page-there was never a dull moment to be had.

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I look forward to reading the next installment of Omni. As I was reading, my mind was brimming with theories on how the abilities being revealed connected with that world. I love that in 2020, we have a comic featuring a fully realized black woman, that presents her reality naturally. Her blackness isn’t the point of the story, and there is no trauma-porn to force yourself through. You don’t know how starved I- and I’m sure others- are for Black fantasy of this form. I have high hopes for this series and I cannot wait to see what events unfold.

If you are interested in this comic, you can purchase the first volume on Amazon right now.