My Faith in Frankie

Another collaboration between Carey, Liew and Hempel - and just as fun. Where Re-Gifters existed firmly in reality, My Faith In Frankie is all about the impossible. The story revolves around Frankie, her best friend Kay, and her personal god Jeriven. Yes, god. (His official name is Jeriven, God of the Heart's Fires.) While generally benevolent and sweet, Jeriven doesn't like the boys Frankie tries to date and tries to thwart them in bizarre ways - and things snowball from there. Very quirky, and I really enjoyed the back-and-forth pacing. Again, I am in love with Liew's style and Carey's irreverent sense of humor: I really recommend this one.
I've said this elsewhere, but it bears repeating: One thing I like about Liew/Hempel/Carey's show more work is that, for stories written and illustrated by men, they're filled with engaging, kickass, interesting women and girls. Everyone regardless of gender is three-dimensional, complicated and silly and unique and imperfect and depicted with realistic body shapes (well, stylized, sure, but nobody looks like Barbie or Ken, or Pamela Anderson or the men from 300 - the movie version). In the comics industry, that is something that can be hard to find - humor and caricature without being derogatory, respect without it being some kind of statement. These are good storytellers, good artists. show less

I bought, and read, the individual issues so long ago (2004) and I remember finding it very interesting. Still true though its also immensely condensed feeling. I liked how Kay told the narrative but I also feel like everything happened so very quickly that it didn't have time to breath.

For a Friend Who...loves old school indie comics and likes their urban fantasy light hearted.

So, What's the Story?
In a materialistic, non-believing world, a young god, Jeriven desperate for followers, becomes the personal deity for a new born baby, Frankie. It’s great for tween Frankie, getting all her prayers answered, but not so good when Jeriven decides to protect teenage Frankie from the sexual advances of boys (very much wanted advances). And it all comes to a head when a boy shows up with his one spiritual backer.

It's a Great Read Because... It’s cute and funny and the art style is that sketchy-expressive black and white American indie style.

Something Extra This is back in the days when the heroine could have short hair.

A cute story with an unique twist to the "happily ever after" part. The triad of main characters are all as honestly likable and complex as they are adorable.

Frankie is adorable. Not adorable like a young Audrey Hepburn, because that's, like, a weirdly-condescending quote to have on the front cover, but: Adorable.

Cute story and art. Very enjoyable!

Who knew that having your own personal deity isn't all it's cracked up to be--particularly when you're trying to get a boyfriend and your god turns out to be jealous! But as Frankie moves into adulthood and her god, Jeriven, tries to win her back, sinister forces are at work that could spell disaster far beyond a broken heart. The ending has a clever twist.
REVIEW FROM BOOKLIST:
Gr. 9-12. In this delightfully offbeat, graphic novel riff on the theme of good versus evil, 17-year-old Frankie is the lone (but far from lonely) young woman who worships the god Jeriven. Fast-paced chapters recollect Jeriven's evolution as a divinity and introduce bad boy Dean, who proves to be not just a sexpot but also a dead and deadly demon. The show more black-and-gray images bounce with energy as they reflect the many moods of the piece. There is plenty of pure silliness, as well as scary passes through hell, childlike scribblings, and pretty settings. In addition, Frankie's story asks some provocative questions--among them, How responsible are we for our own spiritual devotion?--and its ending has a clever twist that makes the droll tale not only feminist friendly but gay friendly, as well. In Carey and Liew's hands, faith has a lot of potential and potency! show less