Series: Faith
Written by: Jody Houser
Art by: Pere Pérez, Marguerite Sauvage, Colleen Doran, with colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Publisher: Valiant
Summary from Comixology:
AN ALL-NEW ONGOING SERIES! Because you demanded it?the high-flying hero that captured the imagination of the world is back with a colossal new comics milestone! In a city under siege by robots, aliens, monsters and even worse? celebrities, there is only one woman the people of Los Angeles can count on: the stratospheric superhero called Faith! Aspiring reporter by day and dedicated crime-fighter by night, Faith has tackled every obstacle in her path with confidence – like those crushing deadlines at work, the long-distance boyfriend half a world away, and the missing back issues that plague her comics collection! But, unbeknownst to her, Faith is about to collide with the one force she never saw coming: an up-and-coming super-villain bent on snuffing her out once and for all! But who is lurking behind the mask of her new foe?and could they just be the one person capable of rendering Faith powerless? Jump on board now to find out why Valiant’s one-of-a-kind hero is inspiring a whole new generation! Be here as FAITH moves from her sold-out mini-series?and into the history-making debut of her first-ever ongoing series!
Faith has become somewhat of a phenomenon in comics. She’s a fangirl turned superhero that first appeared in HARBINGER, then got her own soldout 4-issue miniseries helmed by Jody Houser. It was so popular that, during it’s run, Valiant announced that Ms. Houser would return for a FAITH ongoing series. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t completely sold when the first issue of the miniseries came out, but Jody Houser’s fantastic ability to tell an intriguing story and infuse it with so many nerd references made me a believer. Needless to say, I have been pretty excited for FAITH #1.
Let me start by saying that Houser knocked it out of the park on this issue. She just seems to get what it means to be obsessed with nerd culture. Throughout the book we see references to Star Wars, Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons (called Mythos and Mayhem), comic cliche’s, how many superhero movie actors are named Chris, and so much more. It’s just endearing, which is rare in comics. Her love of comic books is what helped her through losing her parents, and she wants to use her powers for good because she enjoyed reading stories about people granted amazing abilities and using them selflessly. She struggles with self-doubt, and is constantly struggling to figure out how to juggle everyday life with her extraordinary powers.
Her inner-monologue almost breaks the fourth wall in a great way. She is still learning what it means to be a hero, and her love of nerd pop culture is the lens she views heroism through. It makes the character relatable no matter what gender, shape, or color human you are.
The art team does a good job mashing up several different styles, and the colors really, really pop. I like how the main story, the flashback sequence, and the dream sequence were all done in a different style. It made the story much easier to follow, and provided some variety in the 40+ issue debut.
This is a killer first issue that not only sees Faith meet her first true arch-nemesis, but also does a great job filling in readers that maybe haven’t read HARBINGER or FAITH the Miniseries. Jody Houser is a fantastic writer who injects a lot of humanity into her books, which not only makes the book fun to read, but relatable to what I imagine is a larger part of the population (excepting maybe the dude-bros and/or cynics). FAITH #1 hits the stands on Wednesday, make sure to pick up your copy as soon as possible. The Future of Valiant has begun, and it started off on the right foot for sure.
