Faithless #1 Review
By Kevin Hoskinson
BOOM! Studios presents a unique and dazzling story about dating in the 21st century, magic and other modern-day problems.
Faith is a young woman who likes to dabble in magic. Her friends think she is a bit crazy, but also find that it’s part of her charm. Everything seems relatively normal in Faith’s life until she runs (literally) into Poppy, a charismatic free spirit. Faith and Poppy hit it off right away. After a game of pool and some drinks, Faith opens up about her belief in magic. Instead of shying away like other people, Poppy finds it fascinating. After witnessing a horrific event together, things take a turn for the best, but little does Faith know what she has gotten herself into.
Written by Brian Azzarello, who most comic fans know from his work on some of DC’s flagship titles. He wrote the dark, gritty and fascinating “Joker,” as well as being a creator of “100 Bullets”. In Faithless, he brings his talent for unique dialogue and characters and puts them on full display. The character interactions are as crucial to Faith’s life as much as they are funny and smart. Like most of us, Faith struggles daily with doing what is right and what is wrong. There are often conflicting ideas of what that means and how it all makes sense. That struggle is real in this book, and you are quickly invested in the struggle along with her.
The artwork by Maria Llovet brings things to a whole new level. The book is beautifully textured and is a postmodern piece of art. You can take any frame of Faithless and put it in an art museum, and it will shine. Everything from the character designs and colors to the backgrounds, it is just beautiful. It adds a whole other layer to Faith’s story, it really brings it to life.
Faithless is self-described as “An erotic depiction of faith, sex and the devil in the tradition of the divine comedy.” I would be hard pressed to find a better description for this story. Of course, this is just the beginning of Faiths journey. It serves as a great set up for a story that I’m sure will surprise and awe for many issues to come.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10