At no cost, can the con be ruined!
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Pere Pérez
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Fantasy Sequence line & color art: Marguerite Sauvage
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
Mild-mannered blogger by day. L.A.’s leading superhero by night. Faith Herbert – aka the high-flying hero called Zephyr – has come a long way since she first set foot in the City of Angels. But nothing can prepare her for the pinnacle of all her experiences to date: California’s biggest comic book convention! But even amidst a sea of fellow fans, cosplayers, and collectibles, crime waits for no man! With thousands watching and even more at stake, can Faith prevent all-pandemonium – and preserve her secret identity – when the fun turns to frenzy?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Faith and Archer’s next date is going to comic convention in cosplay. Archer isn’t so sure about the whole experience and does what every con newbie does and that plans everything down the minute. Faith, the experienced con goer, is a bit more free spirited and trashes Archer’s plan literally in the garbage.
Faith is like everyone else, taking pictures of cosplayers and enjoying herself, until she overhears the police have been called the convention. She can’t help it and does a little investigating to find out that some of the vendors have been robbed with the possibility of the convention possibly being shut down. She takes immediate action with Archer ready to do battle at any moment.
Once they track down who the thief is, it should be an easy situation to diffuse, but nothing is ever that easy. The culprit seems to have his powers of his own and makes an escape. What’s worse is that somehow there are now two Faiths. Just who is who and how did it happen leaves the issue and a very interesting cliffhanger.
In Summary:
Faith keeps getting better and better. This issue made me laugh, reminisce and feel completely connected to the story. Maybe I feel connected, because I’ve “been there and done that” when it comes to attending cons, but honestly it’s because Faith sees how important cons are to everyone. It might have been a little corny when she said, “But, one thing’s for sure: crime ruining the con for everyone is unforgivable.”
I agree. It is unforgivable. Conventions are a space people can be themselves. For a lot of us, we need that space at lease once, or if we’re lucky, a few times a year. Conventions are definitely not a perfect place, because nowhere is. But, it’s the closest thing that geeks like us can call our promise land. And that space needs to be protected.
Another aspect of this story I identify with is Faith’s memory of going to conventions with her family. While I was never brought up going to conventions, my parents were huge Star Trek and sci-fi fans. We even had a dog named Spock. When I became a parent, I was bound and determined to make my daughters feel comfortable in anything they loved. So, at the age of 6 and 8 they went to their first Anime Expo and have been going for the past eleven years. They don’t hide their love for all things nerdy and that’s given them the opportunity to meet people that share the same interests they do.
Getting back to the comic, I really enjoyed a few of the unique panels. One of the first extras was that the artists signing at the con in the comic were actually the creators of the comics. The credits were then on this page, which were a few pages in. Another little thing was how there were some random posters of Faith in the background of the comic. I also like the social media snapshots with very familiar series highlighted, like Attack on Titan. However, my favorite panel was when the two frames of the comic were featured on prints being sold in the foreground of the scene from another person’s booth. All these little small details added greatly to the comic and did not go unnoticed.
And…I really like Faith and Archer’s relationship. Faith was a little bossy in this issue, but I really want to see more of their relationship develop. Yes, I like a little lovey dovey action once in awhile.
Seriously, if you have not read this comic, what are you waiting for? Buy it and read it now!
Grade: A+
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: September 14, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
