It wasn’t that long ago (barely a couple of weeks, actually) that I wrote about the superhero Faith. Though that was a one-shot holiday special, the ongoing series is a great read as well (and I’ll write about that eventually… promise!). Valiant recently used the character to bring together all of their big heroes in the miniseries Faith and the Future Force. 

This four-part series (released as a trade in December) involves evil robots, time travel (with plenty of Doctor Who references, of course), heroics and virtually every major Valiant character past and present. We’re talking Bloodshot, Ninjak, Quantum, Woody and so many more. The might of all of these heroes is needed to help defeat a robot from the future that is dismantling reality. A passing familiarity with Valiant characters is helpful, but not entirely necessary to enjoy the story.

Writer Jody Houser (Star Wars: Rogue One), artist Stephen Segovia (Ninjak) and the legendary Barry Kitson (Fantastic Four) have created an enjoyable adventure where “getting the band together” makes sense. There is a touch of Groundhog Day to how the story is told, but it adds an interesting, slight twist element to it that makes the reader think about what’s really going on and how everything is going to be resolved. And once you get past the twisty-ness of the first issue, the approach to time travel is actually pretty straightforward (not “timey whimey” at all). Plus, at only four issues, it’s a quick read, but one with a bit of substance.