
Valiant Entertainment 2016
Written by Jody Houser
Illustrated by Francis Portela
Fantasy Sequence Ar by Marguerite Sauvage
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
Well I have to admit I was extremely curious about this book. Faith has always been a perennial favourite amongst fans but she’s a more complex character than we realize and how her optimism and naivete would capture the audience. Her personality, who she is at her core is one of the reasons we love her so much, that and let’s face it her plump personage along with her infectious attitude doesn’t hurt. So Jody has a huge job ahead of her with this story in making her more of a superhero without really changing who she is. Can that be done?
I love Francis’ work and seeing the opening pages brought joy to me. So with whatever the characters have on them looks like some form of alien technology or something far more advanced that what even Harada has leading to what should be quite the test for our erstwhile heroine. Oh and thanks for keeping Faith looking so good she’s a lovely girl even with the extra pounds and it’s nice to see that handled without overdoing it or making it seem shameful. Plus his use of pages, panels and backgrounds keep me constantly entertained in trying to see more of her personality.
Is it wrong that through seeing her in her apartment and talking to her neighbor remind me of Melissa McCarthy when she did Spy? That she is such a huge comics geek and fan of the sci-fi genre keeps her imagination vivid and so familiar to many of us. I loved seeing her daydream about a job to keep her cover as a superhero. Including sweeping a man off his feet which ya I’m sure we’ve all done in our lives with a crush or what we picture as our ideal date.
That her reality doesn’t live up to her fantasy is a slice of real life that is all too familiar to many of us. So what I’m really impressed about here is how Jody is setting Faith up to have a life in Los Angeles and a job complete with a supporting cast. Okay so it’s a little reminiscent of Supergirl on television right now but i’m okay with that, there are enough differences and yet it fits completely with her geeky nature. That we also see her talking to Archer Jody does something a little more subtle with the characterization. Is she crushing on him or is this just her wanting friends and people to hang out and dealing with a kind of brush that isn’t. It’s a great look at her and personality though.
Gotta say the first big bust of this story was so right up what I’d consider her alley. Though it’s not something she’s happy about seeing as how she wants to play on a bigger stage, whether she’s ready for that or not. Reaching out to her former teammate was a nice touch and getting something bigger to look into was nicely done. I could almost sense the trepidation through the texting and i’m impressed by that level of writing here.
Loved the ending! Okay so even with something big unexpectedly being stumbled upon and something of a cliffhanger ending Jody has assuaged my own weariness about Faith getting her own book. With Francis, Marguerite and Andrew she’s making long time Valiant/Faith fans proud of the work done here.