By Brandy Dykhuizen. Prone to witty internal monologues and sly banter, Faith is that casual friend who would fly out of her way just to cheer you up, but you could probably count on her calling bullshit when the pity party’s gone on long enough. She’s the type of hero who eases into a newly acquired alter-ego and office job, settling into a low profile just long enough so that she can acquire a good read on the personalities surrounding her. Faith’s sharp but shrewd set-up is a perfect medium for Jody Houser’s refreshingly playful pop-culture commentary.
Having hung up Zephyr’s cape (at least part-time), Faith must now don a journalist-cum-clickbait manufacturer’s hat, to dutifully pen such pieces as “10 More Actors Named Chris Who Should Play Superheroes on the Big Screen.” Houser keeps us giggling throughout, from summing up the plight every office’s peon (“Wyatt is our pop culture intern. He hates pop culture…”) to geek references large and small (we’ve got radioactive spiders early on, and a Lister-esque “smegheads” further down the line). Indeed, Faith would make for a gratifying read even if it didn’t have such gorgeous images.
And oh, the pictures! Francis Portela captures expression to perfection, with an often hilarious attention to even seemingly unnecessary background characters. I found it difficult to drag my eyes away from certain panels, unwilling to miss a goon’s confusion or a schnauzer’s furrowed brow. Portela also plays well with the duality of movement. In turns, we see both the velocity and stillness of an L.A. street scene, or Faith flying, silhouetted against the full moon while a roosting avian audience looks on. As if that wasn’t enough, Marguerite Sauvage escorts us inside Faith’s fantasies. With a 1960’s restrained sexiness, Sauvage shows us how Faith views herself as Zephyr: a hard-hitting journalist by day, and a hunk-rescuing badass by night.
From cover-to-cover, artist-to-artist, we see unbridled joy on Faith/Zephyr’s face whenever she is airborne. How is such a Rubenesque figure soaring to these heights, you may ask? How is gravity defied with such a disregard to physics? Is it “flying and a bit of kinda-sorta-maybe telekinesis?” The answer is, “Who the hell cares?” If flying is what you do, if flying is what you are, and if flying is what you love, disregard the naysayers. Fat, skinny, old, young, male, female, whatever – just have a little faith, put on your cape, and kick some bad guy ass. And keep smiling all the while.
Valiant/$3.99
Written by Jodi Houser.
Art by Francis Portela, Marguerite Sauvage, and Joe Quinones.
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse.
Letters by Dave Sharp.
8 out of 10
