Faith Herbert is one of the Valiant Universe's most prominent and powerful superheroes. Her latent psiot abilities were activated when she was a teenager, granting her the ability to fly. The character first appeared in 1992 and was created by Jim Shooter and David Lapham. Now, her origin story has been revealed in a young adult prose novel by best-selling author, Julie Murphy.
In Faith Taking Flight, the eponymous hero attempts to control her newfound powers while she navigates her senior year of high school. In addition to spending time with her best friends and her Grandma Lou, she also runs a wildly popular blog about her favorite TV show, The Grove, and volunteers at the local animal shelter. When The Grove moves production to Faith's small town in Minnesota, her life gets more complicated as she explores her sexuality -- and uncovers a deadly conspiracy. CBR spoke with Murphy via e-mail about Faith Taking Flight, the power of writing a fat superhero's origin, the importance of fully realized fat characters in fiction and her burning desire to write comics, as well as prose.
CBR: How amazing did it feel to write the origin story for a fat superhero?
Julie Murphy: This was deeply exciting for me! As a fat person, I don't often feel welcome in many spaces, including superhero comics. For women in comics, there's always been a very specific body type deemed worthy of saving the world. Faith is the antithesis of that. She's a celebration of the truth that all people are capable of greatness.
Before being approached by Valiant, had you heard of Faith Herbert?
Murphy: I had! Back when Faith re-launched and around the time Valiant was getting some movie announcement buzz, I discovered Faith and immediately fell in love.
How did you approach creating an origin story for a character with history dating back to the early '90s?
Murphy: This was the most difficult part of this project for me. I wanted to create something longtime fans would appreciate, but also something that someone who hadn't and might never read the comics could enjoy and understand. As a writer, there's no point in me taking on a project if I can't create and evolve the material. One notable difference is that Faith is questioning her sexual identity in this book.
Did you consult or work with the creators who've worked on the Faith comics as you were planning and writing?
Murphy: I worked primarily with a team of editors at Valiant who have all worked on Faith at various times, so they were hugely helpful. One really wonderful tool that Valiant shared with me was a timeline of Faith's life so far. It was really great to have this document to always refer to and to also know what things were non-negotiable as far as cannon goes.
Do you have a favorite moment in the book? Why does that one stand out?
Murphy: I really loved writing any kind of playful moment when Faith was using her superpowers to just do ridiculous teenage things. In one scene in particular, Faith and her friends (who do not yet know she can fly) are all playing Light as a Feather Stiff as a Board, and it's just not working at all, so Faith decides to levitate a little to liven things up and also give her witchy BFF a boost of confidence. Another favorite of mine is a Halloween corn maze scene that turned out to be very fun and very spooky.
What were some of the things you wanted to explore through Faith's POV? Why did those elements feel important?
Murphy: Faith is bubbly and book-smart and a little naïve. And she’s fat! Not just slightly curvy, but actually plus-size. She’s a mega fangirl and incredibly optimistic. Faith and I are plus-size and that’s pretty much where our similarities begin and end. I think seeing her so well established in the Valiant Universe really helped me tap into her voice, but it’s always a challenge for me to lean into optimism when I’m writing, so that was definitely a challenge.
Faith doesn’t present as queer in the comics, but it didn’t feel like a leap for me to write her as queer/questioning as a young adult. First off, she’s in high school -- who in high school isn’t questioning absolutely every thing? And second -- queer people shouldn’t be defined by the people they are in relationships with. Our sexual identities can exist outside of our relationships. My spouse is a cishet man. That doesn’t make me any less bisexual. So that was an aspect of Faith I was really excited to write and something I was glad to know that the team at Valiant was also open to.
What do you think is the impact of a YA book about a fat superhero?
Murphy: I think and hope it's a step toward books with fat characters where the primary focus isn't their bodies. Books where characters are saving the world or going on expeditions or just experiencing very human experiences. And I also hope it creates a bridge for book readers to dig into comics and one for comic readers to dig into books. But more than anything, I hope it creates a door for more types of stories told by fat voices of all kinds.
What do you hope readers take away from Faith Taking Flight?
Murphy: I hope Faith leaves readers feeling invigorated and excited about possibilities. I know it's a hard time to feel hopeful, but I hope Faith can be a small light during a dark time.
Now that you've written one superhero, do you think you'll write more?
Murphy: I would love to, of course, but I do have quite a bit on my plate at the moment.
Would you ever be interested in writing comics, in addition to prose?
Murphy: YES! I can't type that anymore emphatically without destroying my keyboard.
Can we expect more Faith from you in the future?
Murphy: Yes! We have a second Faith book releasing next year!
If you can say, what are you working on currently?
Murphy: I'm so happy to say I've finished the third and final book in the Dumplin' series. It's titled Pumpkin and will be out early next summer -- I think!
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Murphy: No, but thank you so much for having me and for sharing Faith with your readership!
Faith Taking Flight is available everywhere books are sold.