As with all reviews on this website, our goal is not to provide a complete overview of the book; rather, it is to examine how the book relates to the meaning of life.
Faithless is a 6-issue erotic comic book series that was created by Brian Azzarello and María Llovet and released in 2019. The series is about Faith (also the name of the main character), sex, the Devil, more sex, magic, and everything in between, including more sex, and death by sex. With that said, Faithless is for mature audiences only.
The series opens with a sex scene ... one that does not lead to Faith's gratification. This is important because the book is just as much about Faith finding herself in a chaotic and random world as it is about erotica. In volume one, we learn that Faith is an artist who dabbles in magic. One of her friends asks her if magic is real, and Faith responds that she hopes so, after all, That would be proof that there's something out there. Faith would also bump into someone new that would change her life—Poppy. Not only would Poppy personally help Faith to realize her bi-sexuality and consequently, sexual gratification, but Poppy would also invite her to an art club where she would meet Poppy's father—Louis Thorn (the Devil). Quite strangely, Faith sleeps with both Poppy and Louis.
In volume two, we find Faith immersed in an art club, a band playing in the background, and thoughts running through her head, like, Do I ... madder. The spelling here is correct; it reads "madder" not "matter." So I was left wondering if that was an intentional play on words that had a deeper meaning that I couldn't figure out.
In volume four, after Faith's friend dies as a result of her taking an unauthorized photo at the art club, she is distraught. So, Louis takes her out to teach her about life, from its infancy, to its end, an end which nips at us from the shadows, from the graves of all those who have passed on before us. Louis poses a question to Faith, Can you imagine being krill, and the whole point of your life is having sex. How tedious. Faith follows-up with a joke; Louis gets to the point that artists try to take life, and try to make something better. Life speeds away too fast, so it is best not to waste it. Live as if there were no tomorrow.
In volume five, after losing another friend, Faith has a heart to heart with her friend Ginny. Here we see Faith questioning if everything happens for a reason, and if she could perhaps be the reason her two friends died (of which, she unknowingly is). Ginny follows up, Okay, so life is just random, senseless, and pointless., before reasoning that becoming pregnant and becoming a mother changed her life.
In this issue, an old homeless lady would also tell Faith in an attempt to get her to change course, It is not fate you tempt, girl, but the void.
So, will Faith find herself, her way in life in volume six? Kind of. She sells out to the Devil to become a great artist, and we're left with the old homeless lady telling Ginny that she prays Faith finds herself. Faith achieves greatness, while Ginny who was equally as talented doesn't. Ginny builds her family, while Faith revels in lust. But has either of them really found any meaning?
Overall, I thought Faithless had a lot of potential, and it definitely was an engaging series. Each issue left me wanting to know what was going to come next. All somewhat cliffhangers, all urging me to buy the next issue. At the same time, the series lacked something, something I cannot quite put my finger on. It was dark, sexy, and, pretty average. Boom! Studios which produced the work will follow-up with a Faithless II series this year, and a Faithless III series in 2021. endev42 will be checking them out as they are released.