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ellelainey's review against another edition
5.0
Book – Faith: Vol 1: Hollywood and Vine
Author – Jody Houser
Star rating - ★★★★★
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
Finally! A strong, female main character, who isn't all about falling in love, who isn't all about being the supermodel or the famous one, who is actually more concerned with saving the world and being a good person. Yes!! It's such a relief to see a beautiful, strong woman who is plus size, actually being properly represented. Not only does she kick ass, but she has style, class, an ex boyfriend and is a good person. No more hiding in baggy clothes and always being the side-character of the story!
Faith is awesome. Feisty, fun and I love the little bits where she talks to us, the reader. The line “Although a cute mysterious time traveler would also be my kind of story. Just putting that out in the universe.”
And, a modestly dressed female superhero. Who knew, right?
The artwork is just stunning! So evocative and eye catching.
I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the story. I'm itching to know what happens next. And maybe see Faith stealing back Torque from Sidney. ;)
Author – Jody Houser
Star rating - ★★★★★
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
Finally! A strong, female main character, who isn't all about falling in love, who isn't all about being the supermodel or the famous one, who is actually more concerned with saving the world and being a good person. Yes!! It's such a relief to see a beautiful, strong woman who is plus size, actually being properly represented. Not only does she kick ass, but she has style, class, an ex boyfriend and is a good person. No more hiding in baggy clothes and always being the side-character of the story!
Faith is awesome. Feisty, fun and I love the little bits where she talks to us, the reader. The line “Although a cute mysterious time traveler would also be my kind of story. Just putting that out in the universe.”
And, a modestly dressed female superhero. Who knew, right?
The artwork is just stunning! So evocative and eye catching.
I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the story. I'm itching to know what happens next. And maybe see Faith stealing back Torque from Sidney. ;)
zenarae's review against another edition
2.0
This book was just okay. It's the first Valiant title I've read, and I think they did a pretty good job of explaining backstory while still letting this be a stand-alone title. But overall, I just didn't really care that much about the characters or what was going on (possibly because I'm not at all familiar with the Valiant universe). I might consider picking up the next volume, but it won't be at the top of my list of things to read.
ecote525's review against another edition
3.0
meh...I'm not too into superhero comics anyways, but I liked the idea of a female superhero crushing stereotypes...apparently I should have read other comics first though as she was part of The Renegades which I never heard of...meh plot, lots of backstory, couldn't get into it...will still try 2nd one though.
childdeirdre's review against another edition
5.0
We needed a superheroine like this and you know it. <3
spiffysarahruby's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this story so, SO much! Faith is just so... normal for a super hero and so relatable. I love all her daydreaming, and fangirling, and tossed around pop culture references ("Where we're going, we don't need roads!"). I am definitely going to be following Faith's solo adventures, and looking into her previous ones as well in other series' she appears in.
nglofile's review against another edition
4.0
Combination of high expectations and even higher hopes could have set me up for disappointment, but that was not the case at all. Faith, both the character and the first collected volume, is pure delight.
So many, myself included, have attributed primary anticipation to the revolutionary idea of a plus-sized superhero. That choice is absolutely part of the appeal, but it would do Faith a disservice to narrow all conversation to this. She is intelligent, caring, positive, generous, powerful, and self-aware. At the same time, her occasional struggles with feeling lost, doubting choices, and worrying if she's doing enough make her even more relatable. She is self-sufficient but knows the wisdom of assembling good people around her. Her day job is beneath her talents, but still she gives it her best. She is a fangirl who takes pleasure in pop culture and geeky loves. Faith has a quick wit and a playful spirit, and she manages to keep both afloat even when rescuing children from danger, foiling puppy-nappers, or battling a supervillain.
She is inspiration and entertainment, and should be celebrated right alongside Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Bandette, and Ms Marvel. The world would be better were we all to #flylikeFaith.
So many, myself included, have attributed primary anticipation to the revolutionary idea of a plus-sized superhero. That choice is absolutely part of the appeal, but it would do Faith a disservice to narrow all conversation to this. She is intelligent, caring, positive, generous, powerful, and self-aware. At the same time, her occasional struggles with feeling lost, doubting choices, and worrying if she's doing enough make her even more relatable. She is self-sufficient but knows the wisdom of assembling good people around her. Her day job is beneath her talents, but still she gives it her best. She is a fangirl who takes pleasure in pop culture and geeky loves. Faith has a quick wit and a playful spirit, and she manages to keep both afloat even when rescuing children from danger, foiling puppy-nappers, or battling a supervillain.
She is inspiration and entertainment, and should be celebrated right alongside Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Bandette, and Ms Marvel. The world would be better were we all to #flylikeFaith.
quetzelish's review
4.0
Faith is another title from Valiant that I just sort of walked into without any prior knowledge of the character or her story and seeing as this is her first solo title, it does many things right to draw in new readers like me but it also falls prey to a couple really common problems. As an introduciton, Faith is a really good introduction to our hero, Faith (or Zephyr? I'm not quite clear which is her actual superhero name). The story is solid, if not a little done to death and I really like how most of the story feels super grounded in a slightly different version of reality from our own. Psiots (Valiant's main version of super powered individuals) provide the biggest difference between our world and Valiant's one but everything else feels all too familiar (as opposed to DC, Image and Marvel who all have universes that feel a few steps more removed) and this is reflected in the art style that is basically the house style for Valiant now.
Photo-realism is everywhere and while it does aid Faith, the art feels off. Most of the time this shows up in the faces. They don't feel real at times or if they do, the artists picked the moment of the face to draw, making it dissonant with the dialogue or its surroundings. However, this realism allows for Sauvage's art to really shine as the dream/daydream sequences (my favorite art of the series by far) so I can't begrude the choice in art style. However, faces are some of the most important parts of a comic. They convey subtle emotions, contrast and compliment dialogue as well as visually clue the reader into the thoughts and feelings of the character so when a face doesn't gel, that's a problem. That being said most of the time the faces work well, but its the times that they don't work where major problems crop up and the stiffness sucks me out of the realism of the world and the emotions of the character.
Now, back to my main issue with Faith, the story. Or to be more accurate, the backstory. This volume is a terrible, terrible entry point into Faith's story because her story was being told in Harbinger (something I was very unaware of until halfway through) and, although there is a small recap at the beginning of the volume, there are so many events referenced that I was more lost than anything else.. Nothing was explained properly in terms of what had happened. The why these events were important was done well and the interconnectedness of the Valiant universe is every present in an immersive way but the what had happened was missing and therefore the why's don't matter so much because I couldn't understand them. I had to just brush it off, accept it and move on in the plot. Hell, even the main villain's backstory is from some other event or book (it's never really said, just referenced).
None of this would be so bad if it were either A) billed as a continuation of other adventures and a small recap of each important bit was given or we were directed to those relevant books or B) it was volume 6 of harbinger/faith (were she to have had a solo book earlier). And, as I said before, the plot isn't anything too new or engaging but the character of Faith makes this book. She is so likeable and heroic and amazing. I wanted to keep reading just to see what she'd do and how she'd continue being a hero. I want to see more heroics from her instead of her fighting with.Also some of the dialogue could use a bit of streamlining, it feels clunky and at times forced full of references, but then other times it feels genuinely in love with a show/book/comic and the sentiment and dialogue feels natural.
Side note: Valiant needs to get better at connecting their books in a way that readers who want to start on new titles can get into it without being super confused. Bloodshot Reborn did this well, it gave just enough background information about stuff that happened in other books that even if I didn't know the details of it, I could follow along and learn about the characters/events. Book of Death (and to a much lesser extent Faith) did this super poorly, just throwing so much information from other books with little to no explanation or editorial references that I felt lost many times.
So why did I give this a 4 if I just spent a good portion of this review pointing out the flaws of Faith? Well because I love Faith's character. She owns the book and truly made me want more. The problems with the book stem mainly from its inability to explain events that could be read in other books, which while making it much more difficult to read, didn't detract from where the book was going. Were this a massive crossover event, I would be much harsher because the whole purpose of that is to explain all these disparate plot threads and motivations while Faith just has to provide a character I want to follow through more adventures. The dialogue can improve, the art can improve and the explanations can improve and they weren't that bad here. Distracting definitely but not bad. It also gives us a hopeful superhero that can be an inspiration to many going forwards. So here's hoping the next series learns from the mistakes of this one, tightens its plot up and continues to give us a character that is heroic and real.
Spoiler
as it's all about a cult in LA kidnapping and brainwashing people, granted they're actually aliens (which I'll touch upon later why this bothers me)Photo-realism is everywhere and while it does aid Faith, the art feels off. Most of the time this shows up in the faces. They don't feel real at times or if they do, the artists picked the moment of the face to draw, making it dissonant with the dialogue or its surroundings. However, this realism allows for Sauvage's art to really shine as the dream/daydream sequences (my favorite art of the series by far) so I can't begrude the choice in art style. However, faces are some of the most important parts of a comic. They convey subtle emotions, contrast and compliment dialogue as well as visually clue the reader into the thoughts and feelings of the character so when a face doesn't gel, that's a problem. That being said most of the time the faces work well, but its the times that they don't work where major problems crop up and the stiffness sucks me out of the realism of the world and the emotions of the character.
Now, back to my main issue with Faith, the story. Or to be more accurate, the backstory. This volume is a terrible, terrible entry point into Faith's story because her story was being told in Harbinger (something I was very unaware of until halfway through) and, although there is a small recap at the beginning of the volume, there are so many events referenced that I was more lost than anything else.
Spoiler
Everything that had to do with Harada (I wish I had a small explanation for what he'd done), who the vine were (you know, the main antagonists), her ex-boyfriend (although that was handled very well and explained quickly enough that no additional explanation was necessary) and her relationship with @x and ArcherNone of this would be so bad if it were either A) billed as a continuation of other adventures and a small recap of each important bit was given or we were directed to those relevant books or B) it was volume 6 of harbinger/faith (were she to have had a solo book earlier). And, as I said before, the plot isn't anything too new or engaging but the character of Faith makes this book. She is so likeable and heroic and amazing. I wanted to keep reading just to see what she'd do and how she'd continue being a hero. I want to see more heroics from her instead of her fighting with
Spoiler
an alien tree cult and a slightly creepy blog bossSide note: Valiant needs to get better at connecting their books in a way that readers who want to start on new titles can get into it without being super confused. Bloodshot Reborn did this well, it gave just enough background information about stuff that happened in other books that even if I didn't know the details of it, I could follow along and learn about the characters/events. Book of Death (and to a much lesser extent Faith) did this super poorly, just throwing so much information from other books with little to no explanation or editorial references that I felt lost many times.
So why did I give this a 4 if I just spent a good portion of this review pointing out the flaws of Faith? Well because I love Faith's character. She owns the book and truly made me want more. The problems with the book stem mainly from its inability to explain events that could be read in other books, which while making it much more difficult to read, didn't detract from where the book was going. Were this a massive crossover event, I would be much harsher because the whole purpose of that is to explain all these disparate plot threads and motivations while Faith just has to provide a character I want to follow through more adventures. The dialogue can improve, the art can improve and the explanations can improve and they weren't that bad here. Distracting definitely but not bad. It also gives us a hopeful superhero that can be an inspiration to many going forwards. So here's hoping the next series learns from the mistakes of this one, tightens its plot up and continues to give us a character that is heroic and real.
sarabaggins's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
I really liked Faith as a character and superhero, but both the plot and the villain fell flat.
I really liked Faith as a character and superhero, but both the plot and the villain fell flat.
shereadsshedrinks's review against another edition
4.0
Really liked this, especially for those of us who are larger than size 6 who, you know, actually have lives and abilities and skills even though we're not tiny. Love seeing a super hero who looks like a real person, especially one written where weight isn't a "thing" and there's no need to call out her size. Because she's...a person! Wow!
meromenesko's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0