Faith - Hollywood and Vine

So I've seen some pretty good press and buzz about Faith, and I had been meaning to pick up a couple of the books for a while; well something reminded me while I had Amazon open, so that problem was alleviated pretty quickly thanks to Prime.

I received the Volume 1 trade paperback earlier today, and zoomed through this playful upbeat superhero story. With a character as honest and endearing as Faith, I quickly understood how this book is creating such a buzz.

I purchased this comic blindly, without reading any sort of description or backstory. I quickly picked up on that this is a spin-off story. This in now way hindered my ability to follow along or understand who certain characters were. After finishing Volume 1, I did do a quick Wikipedia check to see how much background I was unaware of. Faith Herbert, also known as Zephyr has appeared in 136 issues to date, including her current self-titled book. Knowing this now, I'm curious to learn more about the Harbinger Universe, so be on the lookout for more blog reviews.

Onto this story...

This first brief arc included the titular superheroine coming to terms with being solo (in several senses of the word), establishing an alter-ego, as well as discovering and dissolving an evil alien cult; not to mention kicking ass and taking names. I would definitely classify this as an all-ages comic, although there is fighting and combat, nothing is gory or over the top. There are day-dream sequences that are great, further establishing the that Faith is a person, with dreams and goals and that being a superhero doesn't necessarily guarantee success across the board. Faith is a hero that anyone could look up to. The background art and banter is littered with nostalgic and nerd culture Easter eggs, Faith is a rock star, clearly comfortable in her own skin, while at the same time breaking the 4th wall with concerns of her ability to succeed as a "solo title" as well as personal victories of "leveling up".

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for something lighthearted and upbeat, while still getting a superhero story out of a comic. Right now you can get it on Amazon for under $8, so what are you waiting for? Go read this now.