Review: Faith #8
From Hollywood’s darkest shadows, an old enemy rises to extract revenge on Faith! A superhero’s work is never done…and, now, one of Faith’s former adversaries has returned for a fateful rematch that will put the life of Los Angeles’ greatest hero into a tailspin. And when this familiar assailant finally shows their true face, will the high flying psiot have the strength to put them down for good?
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Faith is one of the series that I’m always excited to read every month. Jody Houser is able to tell a compelling story that is easy to read for folks who, much like a friend of mine that I turned onto the series, really haven’t read any Valiant comics before. A large part of that are the shorter stories we’ve been seeing of late since the launch of the ongoing series (I was going to say the first arc, but then I remembered the first arc was only three issues) that give new readers an easily digestible gateway into the world of Valiant‘s high-flying hero, often with a different artist joining the team. Case in point is the two-part story that concludes this issue with art by the talented Joe Eisma.
We also have Marguerite Sauvage providing the fantasy sequences to the comic again, which lends an air of consistency across the different artists to have contributed to the series as we get to explore Faith’s daydreams, dreams or nightmares that occur a couple of times each issue.
Typically, the differing styles between Sauvage and the other artist allow a reader to easily differentiate between what’s actually happening and the fantasy sequences, but that’s not quite been the case over the last two issues; through no fault to his artistic ability, Eisma‘s work blends a little too well with Sauvage‘s sequences. You can still make out the difference between the two artists’ work, but just not as easily as with some of the earlier issues. If that sounds like a nitpick, then I’ll hold my hands up, because it absolutely is.
Although there are moments where the dialogue feels just right, Faith #8 isn’t the strongest of issues in the series. The plot has Faith dealing with her inner demons and doing a little ghost-busting, but the potential hinted at from the first part of this story is never quite realized. A shame, really, but when a comic has been as consistently excellent as Faith has been then the occasional stumble can be overlooked once in a while.
Now, despite me having just spent the better part of the review picking holes in the comic, if you’re already reading the series then you’ll want to read this issue because it does lay some groundwork for the future, and despite my hang-ups it’s not as bad as I’ve probably made it sound – I don’t regret buying the issue at all.
Here’s hoping we’re back on track with the next issue.
Story: Jody Houser Art: Joe Eisma Colourist: Andrew Dalhouse
Fantasy Sequence: Marguerite Sauvage
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.75 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read
“Adulting” is the theme of Giant Days #23 as Esther is between jobs and feeling a bit bored so she invites her entire circle of friends and acquaintances to a kind of fancy dinner party. Writer John Allison continues to juggle a cast of about a half-dozen characters and plotline ably cutting to a new scene just when thing seem to be slightly less exciting. Some of the secondary characters like Ed’s semi-disgusting, programming major flatmate Dean and Daisy’s girlfriend Ingrid have their own shining moments through boldly honest toasts and debates about superhero battles, which end up playing a big role in resolving a long-running subplot. And artists Max Sarin and Liz Fleming with colorist Whitney Cogar mine a tragic vein humor through the crazy gestures and sick state of Susan, who is suffering from a cough as well as struggling to see her ex-boyfriend McGraw with his new, Spanish guitar playing girlfriend Emilia.
that she uses for Ed, McGraw, and Dean’s flat after Dean had an all night coding session. You can definitely smell the sweet aroma of nerd sweat, leftover pizza, and half-drunken energy drinks and beers through that color choice. It’s the complete opposite of Emilia’s well ordered, stocked with pesto and angsty poet’s apartment that Sarin gives us a glimpse of in a neat nine-panel grid. As usual, McGraw is the crux between chaos and order as well as being in the awkward position of being Susan’s ex while still being close to most of her friends’ group. But he doesn’t get stuck playing peacemaker, and Allison and Sarin give him a beautiful romantic moment of kissing Emilia by the Guy Fawkes Day bonfire where she calls him by his real name “Graham”. (Maybe one day he’ll grow up to be the guitarist for Blur or a fun chat show host.) The yellow flames from Cogar makes the scene even more touching.
This Black History Month, a new superheroine lands in both the film and comic book worlds with the release of Rayven Choi.