"Heroism is it's own reward, tiger."
It's not often that I can find a comic in which the main protagonist is like me. Though I could easily say I identified with Bruce Banner, the Vision, Barbara Gordon, or even Harley Quinn, I had never found someone who really represented me both physically and mentally. This comic written by Jody Houser and designed by Francis Portela and Marguerite Sauvage had really struck me with it's compelling and likable main character. Faith shows a beautiful example of how plus size women could still be not only beautiful, but powerful and that geeks like me could achieve great things.
First off, I would like to talk about the narration devices and the overall plot quality of this comic. Faith takes place in modern times and it follows the life of Faith Herbert through her day job as a pop-culture article writer and her excursions as a crime fighting hero named Zephyr. Additionally, the comic starts with a mysterious scene of what appears to be escaped inmates running away in the woods. The plot overall is not as action-packed as many other comics, as it seems to be setting up for the future of the comic series. Despite this, the comic does very well in keeping the reader entertained. Faith Herbert has such a magnetic personality that you cannot turn away from. Her intense passion for pop-culture, her unstoppable optimism, and sarcastic narration throughout the comic provided for an interesting story in of itself.
Drawing from Faith Herbert's personality, another notable aspect of this comic is her character in itself. I would like to start off with the way she is drawn. Faith Herbert is clearly a plus-sized woman and I love the fact that the artists don't shy away from that. They show her like a real life, average plus-sized woman. She has her double chin, her rolls, her chubby, stocky legs, her chubby fingers. It's all things that as a plus-sized girl myself, we face in real life. However, I love her unyielding confidence and the fact that the comic never puts her down or makes fun of her size in the same respect that the comic isn't about her weight. It puts emphasis on who she is as a person (the amazing butt-kicking, crime-fighting, pop-culture guru) rather than what she looks like. Finally, I enjoy the ode to girl power as she shows how independent she is especially after being faced with watching her ex-boyfriend Torque on TV. She never is bitter towards him and knows that she's still beautiful. I personally, would have to say that my favorite scenes would be those in which she is demonstrating her girl power by saving men and flipping the usual male-female relationship in the comic world, destroying the stigma of the need for a female damsel in distress.
Overall, this comic is a wonderful ode to the plus-sized girls of the geek community. It's beautiful art, and compelling writing draw in the reader (Speaking of, I'm definitely purchasing issue #2!). Faith's magnetic personality really make this comic so spectacular. I would recommend this comic to many others and definitely re-read it again (although I already have read it about three times!). 5/5 Stars for Faith Issue #1.
