Even before Faith Herbert, AKA Zephyr, gained the power of flight, joined the Harbinger Renegades, and soared through the skies of the Valiant Universe, deep down she was always a hero at heart. But what’s a hero to do in the face of a foe that exists only in nightmares? Face them head-on, of course! To protect the dreams of her teammate, Animalia, Faith must venture into a fantastical new realm the likes of which we’ve never seen…and she’ll need some help from the world’s premiere parapsychologist, Dr. Mirage, to make it back with her subconscious mind still intact!

One of my favourite things about Faith, and specifically how Jody Houser writes her, is that there is a genuine sense of happiness that she is a superhero. Which gives this comic a really uplifting vibe as Faith’s positivity and optimism is still very much present and a part of her character despite the dark times she’s going through (y’know, being framed for murder and all isn’t overly fun).

Faith was one of the series that I was most excited to read when it was being published, and Houser has been able to effortlessly recapture everything I loved about that series in one issue. For those of you who, like me, missed Faith’s solo series (and the Future Force spin off) then you’re going to be super happy with this comic’s direction. You’ll also be happy with MJ Kim‘s artwork. Kim’s style is suite perfectly toward the highflying superhero, and easily veers from a wide eyed innocence to panels that convey more emotional weight than you would expect given the text around them.

And this is all in the first half of the book (it gets better, too, but you’ll need to read that for yourself).

Faith: Dreamside #1 took me by surprise when I read it (so much so that it took me a week to finally sort my thoughts out on it). I always try to go into each comic without any expectations, but I’m only human – Dreamside exceeded the expectations I had for it. This book was a genuine pleasure to read from cover to cover, and reminded me once again why I love reading comics.

Story: Jody Houser Art: MJ Kim
Colours: Jordie Bellaire Letters: Dave Sharpe
Story: 8.9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.8 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review