Faith Volume 1: Hollywood and Vine

by Jody Houser

[Quirky Cat]

I’m going to be upfront with this, I haven’t read Harbinger, so I don’t know all of Faith’s backstory or anything like that. Despite that though, I was able to follow what was going on in Faith, and I really enjoyed both the plot and the character herself. I’m going to continue reading this series, and am probably going to look into Harbinger too, if for no other reason than to sate my curiousity.



I think the thing I loved the most about Faith is that she isn’t like most comic book heroes; specifically many of the female ones. In other comics, even the ones written for women, we’re constantly seeing the heroine in some super sexy but not that comfortable or realistic pose. Faith doesn’t do that. She’s also, for lack of a better description, so very human. It’s hard not to get attached to her. We get to see her struggling to balance her work life, social/home life, and superhero life all at once, which I realize isn’t all that out of the norm for a superhero comic, but it’s still nice to see. On top of that she’s a hardcore fangirl, and even managed to land her current job because of all the fanfiction she’s written over the years. Just like that, there’s an instant connection between her and her readers (or at least for me there was!). Suddenly all her struggles were that much more relatable, that much more human. It was all very engaging and effortlessly done.
Again, I haven’t read Harbinger, so I don’t know much about ex other than that he used to be part of it, and he’s Faith’s ex. Also, he apparently gave up being a superhero in exchange for being a reality TV star? As odd as it sounds though, I actually liked the inclusion of his character; he was a fantastic foil for Faith. While she’s working so hard to resolve the events going on, and trying to save people, he’s walking around being a tool on TV. And has no regrets about it. It really highlights why people with abilities have to step up and take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
As for the plot itself, an organization was kidnapping people of all ages, the only things they had in common were that they were all psiots, and they were all on the same list (I’m assuming if I read Harbinger this would make more sense to me). The kidnappings succeeded in tipping Faith off to something big happening at least, and she was able, with some help, to track them down and do something about it. I can’t help but feel like it isn’t over yet, but I’m ok with that. I feel like things are just getting started for Faith.


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