Valiant Entertainment 2016
Written by Jody Houser
Illustrated by Pere Perez
Flashback Artist: Marguerite Sauvage
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
Having befriended Jay and his girlfriend Klara, Faith can finally settle into normal geek life (and getting to play tabletop RPG’s for the first time in forever, too)! However, not all is well in her newly-blossoming social life. Someone has leaked Faith’s secret identity to her newfound friends! But it’s not the end of the world--THE Chris Chriswell has reached out to Faith for a
secret photoshoot! But not all is what it seems when Faith finally meets her hero…
Faith isn’t your normal superhero and that’s a huge part of her appeal. She’s got that whole Felicia Day vibe about her in a more insecure body. She’s quite happy with who she is but worries incessantly and that’s not terrible it’s just an aspect of a normal person leading a double life wanting to be happy. That Jody has this incredible grasp of who she is is really nice to see. This is one great example of the right writer with the right characterization making the heroine more accessible to the reader in a perfect way.
This issue faith has to deal with Chris Chriswell who has targeted her as his not archnemesis but as his final test at becoming a supervillain. I have got to say the whole villain diatribe monologuing was so well done here. Along with Faith’s inner monologue we get to see as she thinks about what he’s saying, what’s happening and has to remind herself not to tell him what he’s doing wrong. It’s really kind of classic great stuff. There’s a reason it’s classic great stuff too.
There’s something else Chris shares in common with Faith. A love of comic books and how they’ve influenced his life. Just like Faith who learned about a hero from the comics her parent’s left her Chris grew up admiring and wanting to be like his heroes. Only those he idolised were the villains. They were the ones that created things, made the action happen, had the plans and the wherewithal to do what what they wanted. That’s what he admired and it’s what set him on his path. There’s a lot more of his story here I’ve just glossed over the good parts but it’s extremely well done, revealing and worth reading.
We see Faith and Klara get together this issue as well to deal with what happened last issue. I love the way it’s explained how Klara knew and it’s not entirely off base either. Someone who does what she does and is as well versed in what she does well it’s a great moment and another superb supporting cast member for her.
If there’s one thing I wish Pere did more was use backgrounds. There are times he does and they are wonderfully used to convey so much but there too many opportunities missed by just head shots. Though the way the book flows through his use of panels is nicely done and the colouring here has that soft pastel quality that fits Faith. Also the attention to detail in the characters themselves is great to see.
It’s a wonderfully written series that captures the spirit and essence of it’s lead character incredibly well.