Faith #4 is the conclusion to the series and with the help of Archer and Hadley has her confronting the Vine. This issue opens up with the 3 of them preparing to storm the Vine’s compound in order to free those still being held captive there. When they reach the mission Hadley has second thoughts about letting the Vine know she was involved in revealing their plans. She fears being cut off from the greater hive-mind but Faith reminds her of an episode of Night Shifters. In the episode Hadley’s character remembered that she was part human and ultimately turned against the robots. This reinforces Hadley but what the 3 of them don’t know is that the Vine was successful in its process to convert Torque. When they arrive all the prisoners are gone and they realize that the Vine was waiting for them to arrive. Does Faith have what it takes to fight Torque or has the Vine found the perfect weapon to slow her down?

I liked the way the opening sequence set up what was at stake, and the question raised with Hadley’s situation. Most of this would be pushed aside with the Vine already being aware of their plan to free the prisoners. And instead of Hadley being faced with a difficult choice later this issue answered it in the form of Faith using a reference to a TV show. In Faith’s world this made sense, and just like the previous issues this one is littered with pop culture and nerd references. And none of them felt forced because it’s all a part of Faith’s character as much as her powers. I did wish Archer’s initial infiltration sequence was shown just to see him in action a bit more. But I understood that it was about the main confrontation with the Vine and the inevitable battle with Torque.

I mentioned in a previous review how I had a slight issue with Torque being used so prominently due to the changes made to Faith’s life and the current engrossing story line. So I was slightly worried about how this confrontation would unfold and if it would ruin the interesting progress being made. Thankfully it didn’t devolve into a spat about being exes, and it was an entertainingly quick battle. I was hoping this would create more space for the battle with the Vine yet it veered more towards the humorous and was different from the tone  conveyed previously with the Vine blowing up its own operatives.  I didn’t expect the action to get too dark and betray Faith’s overall character but I would’ve enjoyed seeing her use her powers in a more strenuous way. However, it was still entertaining overall due to the writing.

SUMMARY

Faith #4 is a solid conclusion to he series and sets up an intriguing situation for her ongoing series. Whether it’s her work or personal life I really like how it’s all supportive of her role as a superhero avoiding cliché pitfalls.The confrontation with the Vine is entertaining although the tone of the last battle is somewhat surprising in terms of the humor in light of all those killed by the Vine’s operations. However, this issue is indicative of who Faith is and that’s something that I’m interested in keeping up with and I’m looking forward to her next series.

Release Date: 4/27/15
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Francis Portela, Marguerite Sauvage