Poppy and Faith are still together, though cracks are beginning to show. Now at a villa that doubles as a orgy palace complete with its own period infused sex show, Faith, who has had plenty of sex to this point so far, tries the second vice of hard -living; drugs. Promised a fantastic high, things for Faith become a little trippy.
Brian Azzarello’s “erotic depiction of sex, drugs and the devil, in the tradition of the divine comedy” continues to push the boundaries, this time around has he gone too far? At this point there are not too many taboos left fur Faith to partake in. Sleeping with Poppy and Poppy’s father, with Poppy as well probably pushed a lot of boundaries for readers. This time though there is morphing. phallic imagery to go along with the menstrual blood letting for kicks. By now, readers will recognise the beats of Azzarello’s storytelling; sex, relationship and dire warnings all before the cliff hanger ending. Whilst the book is still enjoyable, I do feel that it has meandered a little too long and I find myself not that bothered in the outcome for Faith of Poppy, never mind the extra characters that have been introduced this time around.
Whilst Azzarello may seem to by running in the same spot, Maria Llovet continues to deconstruct the art, literally and figuratively. With sex being such an important part of the overall story, Llovet does not shy away from it, letting her imagination and her pencils run away with her. The results can be unsettling at times and is a massive contrast to the normal parts of Faith’s life. There is still an edginess to proceedings, a kind of rough around the edges approach which has never gone away during either runs. Colors are a, thankfully, muted affair, no massive bright elements, it’s pastels all the way around, which helps demonstrate the effects of the drug that Faith takes. AndWorld Design provides the letters which is as scratchy as the pencils are rough.
Both runs of Faithless are advertised as in the 000tradition of the divine comedy. After reading this latest issue, I think that there’s another major influence on display; the TV show Lucifer. True, this book has more sex and eroticism shown with courage and without apology than Lucifer but there is a love interest, there is the devil and a cast of characters up to no good or good depending on your point of view. I do feel that we have lost the way a tad in this run; there used to be touches of magic around Faith which seems to have dried up. Even with interest waning, the book is still one of the most readable from a quality perspective.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Letters – 4 Stars
Overall – 4 Stars
Written by; Brian Azzarello
Art & Colors by; Maria Llovet
Letters by; AndWorld Design
Published by BOOM! Studios
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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