Book review: The Faithless, by Jody Houser, illustrated by Joe Eisma, Kate Niemczyk, and Marguerite Sauvage

Houser, Jody. Faith (Vol. 4). The Faithless. Illustrated by Joe Eisma, Kate Niemczyk, and Marguerite Sauvage. Valiant Entertainment, 2017. Unpaged. $14.99. ISBN 9781682152195. Ages 12+. P8Q7.

I haven’t read the first three Faith books, but I found it easy to get into the story. Zephyr is a superhero who, in her day job, is known as Faith Herbert. Her boss and a coworker know her real identity, and help her to keep that private. A group of supervillains, which includes Murder Mouse (actually a guy named Jeff) and Dark Star (who is currently in the body of a cat), are wonderfully evil in an old style comic book way. I like Faith- she’s not the stereotypical superhero- she’s generously built, and is very upbeat. The artwork is bright, humorous, and easy to follow.

VERDICT: Coming into the series part way through, I felt like the storyline was a bit thin, but I think teens will like the characters and it may be worth getting the earlier books for my YA collection.

June 2018 review by Carol Schramm.

Book review: The Fall of the House of West, by Paul Pope and J.T. Petty, illustrated by David Rubin

Pope, Paul and J.T. Petty. The Fall of the House of West. (Battling Boy series, #2)Il. David Rubin. First Second, 2015. $9.99. 160p. ISBN 9781626720107. Ages 10-14. P8Q8

In this prequel to the first Battling Boy book, 15-year-old Aurora West, daughter of hero Haggard West, continues her hero-in-training adventures among the monsters of Arcopolis as she searches for the one who killed her mother 11 years earlier. She suspects a childhood companion, Coil, as Aurora’s father tries to protect her. The suspense builds as both of them end up in great danger because of Haggard’s blind rage and Aurora’s arrogance. The violence of the fast-moving black and white graphic novel is peppered with grotesque monsters and humor in the action-filled drawings for readers who want to move on from Cleopatra in Space and Zita. Sequel to The Rise of Aurora West!

Fall 2016 review by Nel Ward.