Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, Faith #1, Francis Portela, Jody Houser, Marguerite Sauvage, valiant

A Relatable Leading Lady: Advance Review Of Faith #1

Published Wed, 20 Jan 2016 17:30:43 -0600

I've seen photos of Faith popping up all over the internet for awhile now, so when the opportunity to read the first issue before it's release came into my hands, I took it. I had never read the series, Harbinger, that Faith was originally a part of, and had little knowledge of what her character's personality was like. I only knew that she was part of a small team of superheroes and this comic would now show her on her own. Written by Jody Houser, with art by Francis Portela and Marguerite Sauvage, Faith #1 takes us threw a day in the life of this intriguing female lead.

But before I get to that, I want to comment on the buzz that's been surrounding the comic over the past few months. Most of what I've seen has focused on Faith being the only plus-sized female in mainstream comics with a series to call her own. The more and more I reflected on that, the more I realized how true it was. Most of our leading ladies are super thin, with a figure that's pretty unrealistic to achieve. One could argue that Faith's appearance is absolutely realistic. However, I'm sorry to say, it wasn't my main focus when I read the issue. Sure, we all pay attention to how our heroes look, but what really interests me as a reader is what's at the heart of that character. What's their motivation? What's their personality like? I was eager to look beyond the outward appearance of the comic and see what it had at its core.

I'm happy to report that Faith is an incredibly relatable character. She's pretty normal to be honest. Well, besides the ability to fly and control a companion field. I found her narrative to be informative and entertaining. The first issue is a great introduction to her daily life, how she functions in the world of journalism, and how she spends her evenings. There's a decent amount of action that fills the pages and shows our sassy lead protecting those in need. Now, I'm going to leave this review spoiler free, but I will say that the end of the issue was really shocking to me. I didn't expect to be left with such a great cliffhanger because the overall tone of the book is pretty steady. With all that said, I'm going to urge you to not miss out on this new series from Valiant. Pick up Faith #1 next Wednesday, January 27^th.