Graphic Novelty²

Faith is a kick ass heroine! Not your typical scantily clad model type superhero chick, she transcends that stereotype and it becomes a non-issue.

Faith Herbert aka Zephyr has actually been around in comics as part of the Harbinger Renegades through Valiant Comics since 1992. I was unaware of this series, as I have read almost nothing from Valiant. But a year ago, Faith was given her own stand alone series, and I took notice. Faith is a psiot,  a sub-species of humans that have evolved psychic/mind-based powers, and she also can fly as she is light as a feather. As such, I love the front cover, that juxtaposes the imagery of a large person being able to sit on phone wires, to showcase one of her powers.

This first volume tries to catch you up a bit on Faith and why she left the Harbinger team. It seems as if a romantic break up with one of the members and the fallout from an especially difficult mission has her wanting to spread her wings. She takes on a secret identity of Summer Smith to safeguard her Zephyr persona, and goes to work at a gossip magazine as a journalist. Sporting a red wig, she tries to balance being a working woman with deadlines and bills with making new friends, and just possibly starting a new romance.

She is more than willing to remain a super hero, and takes on a ring of dog nappers, along with aliens bent on world domination. All of this is done with a practicality, showing Faith as a real woman with issues and fantasy crushes. In fact, I love when she fantasies, for the art shifts to show the difference between her reality and her fantasy. Artist Francis Portela draws Faith in her real world, while Marguerite Sauvage takes over for the fantasy segments. I love this, for it shows while Faith may be fantasizing, and the art changes to a pastel hue with a more cutesy rendition of her, Faith doesn’t alter her appearance drastically (aka- her weight) even in her dreams. She is who she is, and is proud of her look. In fact, the artists make sure she is drawn wearing trendy clothes, no trying to camouflage who she is. I love that!

This is a solid start to a new series, and I’m glad that Valiant choose Faith to showcase. She is a worthy adversary of any super villain, with promising future story lines. She is positive role model to girls, on top of all that. You go girl!

-Nancy