Noble, Vol. 1: God Shots

Noble #1

by Brandon Thomas, Roger Robinson (Illustrator), Will Rosado (Illustrator)

Astronaut David Powell was one of the team of five astronauts who took on the suicide mission of destroying the Icarus2 asteroid before it could collide with Earth and annihilate all life on the planet. The team succeeded, but as a result of the explosion, David gained the ability of telekinesis, the means of moving matter with one's mind. David also lost his memories. Now, back on Earth, David is traveling throughout the world, taking on different identities and jobs, helping people while his powers grow. Fighting to stay alive and out of the reach of the Foresight Corporation and its CEO, Lorena Payan. Hoping to one day remember his life, his name, and the mysterious woman and young boy in his memory flashes. His wife and son. David's wife, Astrid Allen-Powell, has been receiving secret messages from an informant within Foresight, confirming David is alive and his movements. Astrid is now on a mission: to get her husband back. To put her family back together. Astrid Allen-Powell is much more than most people realize, and she will use every skill and weapon in her arsenal to get back the man she loves.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Young Adult, Comic Book

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2017

About the author

Brandon Thomas is the writer and co-creator of critically-acclaimed comics series EXCELLENCE (Skybound/Image), HORIZON (Skybound/Image) and THE MANY ADVENTURES OF MIRANDA MERCURY. Previous work includes the comics series NOBLE (Lion Forge), VOLTRON (Dynamite), and FANTASTIC FOUR TALES (Marvel).

NOBLE #1 was awarded the Fist Award for Best International Comic by the 2017 Lagos Comic-Con, in recognition of best usage of characters/stories based on persons of African descent. NOBLE was also nominated for 2019 Glyph Comics Awards in six categories: Story Of The Year; Best Cover (winner); Best Writer; Best Artist (winner); Best Male Character (winner); and Best Female Character.

Since 2003, Brandon has written comics for several publishers, including Marvel, Lion Forge, Arcade, Dynamite, and DC Entertainment, and has published over 300 original columns as part of the Ambidextrous series. His first creator-owned project THE MANY ADVENTURES OF MIRANDA MERCURY shipped from Archaia Entertainment to widespread critical success, leading to his biggest comics projects to date — the sci-fi conspiracy thriller HORIZON (co-created with artist Juan Gedeon), and the action fantasy series EXCELLENCE (co-created with artist Khary Randolph) — both published by Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment.

Brandon also hosts The Two Brandons podcast with Eisner-Nominated writer Brandon Easton (Transformers: War For Cybertron, Star Trek: Year Five, Vampire Hunter D: The Series).

He lives and writes in Southern California with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Shai · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are into science fiction, this first volume of the Noble graphic novel will keep you entertain because of how good the story is. One major flaw of this series is how confusing the chronological order of the story is.



In spite of that, I still enjoyed reading this graphic novel written by Brandon Thomas. The artworks by Roger Robinson, Jamal Igle, and Robin Riggs were also nicely drawn that will amaze comic and graphic novel enthusiasts like me. Hopefully, the storyline for the 2nd volume is more properly arrange so it will be less confusing to follow.




Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC of this.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be a version of the Fantastic Four but only focusing on one of the astronauts (at least so far). With a nefarious corporation behind sending them into space.

This was surprisingly pretty good even with all the confusing time jumps. I liked it well enough to read the next trade. There was a little too much deceit from the various parties, to the point where it was difficult to tell what was truth and what was a lie. Would have worked better had we gotten an established beginning to the story. The art was pretty good. I liked the original costume design with the iron rolltop helmet over the spacesuit David gets at the end. (The one on the cover.)

Received a review copy from Roar and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb for this graphic novel sounded like a mash up of lots of movies I’ve enjoyed and while it’s not an especially original concept, it sounded like it would be fun. We have astronauts on a suicide mission to save Earth from an asteroid (Hi, Armageddon, etc). Somehow while saving the world one of the astronauts learns a new trick. David now has telekinesis (Hello, Carrie and Matilda).

For some reason David can’t remember much of anything at all (Hiya, Dory). There’s a villain (Hey, every action film ever!) and a wife that’s fighting to get her husband back (take your pick!). Astrid, David’s wife, is a real badass and I would’ve liked to have seen her in action some more because she had potential to wreak havoc.

Unfortunately there was so much jumping around that if I hadn’t already read the blurb I would have been completely lost and even with that information I still couldn’t really connect the dots with any consistency until around the halfway mark. There were so many time shifts, back and forth to different time periods both before and after the ‘event’.

The main character has no idea who they are so they’re no help to the reader but they do get flashbacks, oftentimes in the middle of a fight scene. There’s a lot of action, with people fighting all over the place as David’s powers continue to grow stronger for some reason.

Had there been smoother transitions and some more information early on to help readers get into the story and get to know the characters this could have been a winner. As it stands I really struggled to make it to the point where the story was starting to make sense and I never really connected to the characters.

While the story will be continuing I won’t be following along, which is a shame because the illustrations were really well done and the story itself had a lot of potential. There are some explanations given along the way but not enough to balance out the frustration I felt at the frenetic time shifts.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Lion Forge and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

[Kay]

I received this as a freebie from Diamond Book Distributors

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t you love it when you are reading something and nothing is explained to you, the timeline jumps all over the place, the hero has amnesia and only remembers things during fight scenes, the ONLY person who could have stopped the big bad did a stupidly planned confrontation scene and ends up dead and by the end you STILL don’t know anything other than have confirmation that the big bad is REALLY big and REALLY bad?

Two, the artwork was pretty but the story sucked, stars.

Disclaimer: this was a freebie from the publisher for signing up for their email newsletter.

[Yasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ouff, I am so confused right now. Honestly, the during the entire reading session I had barely any clue on what was going on. There seemed to be a story line, but honestly I couldn't keep track of all the different timelines and characters. Generally, I had no idea what was going on and who I should be focusing on. Seeing as the main character also seemed to be very confused (he didn't know who he was and what his powers could do) I at least wasn't alone.

I really hoped I'd enjoyed this better, because the artwork was gorgeously done! So at least I had stunning pages to look at in confusion. David Powell is an astronaut, but I'm not sure if he died, or is about to die or everybody just assumed he died in The Event, which I'm thinking refers to an asteroid colliding with other astronauts in order to not collide with Earth. But honestly, I do not know what the event is and I'm quite upset about it! But anyways, the story seems to focus on him and some woman called Lorena who tries to control him, because I think she's on some kind of power trip. But that is all that I could gather from this graphic novel. Oh and David Powell's wife also tries to rescue him, but at some point I think the author forgets about her? Because she doesn't turn up again...

Oh well. I tried to understand this, I really did. But I just didn't get the drift. Can anybody explain this graphic novel to me please?

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few bookkeeping and full disclosures to get out of the way as I catch up on some reviews of Lion Forge's new line Catalyst Prime.

I read these as floppies, and now that I have listings for the TPBs I'll add my thoughts. The exact day I finished these will be a little off. Sorry, I'm bit anal retentive about being accurate. The publisher seems intent on doing these collections as four months of floppies, as each series is going on hiatus after its fourth issue. For me I think readers are getting way too little plot and character development to insure that they keep coming back (at this time I am because my desire is to support this line's goals).

Finally, if they are trying to emulate Milestone I don't think they're succeeding. Milestone not only provided possibly the most diverse universe that I can recall, yes I'm ancient, Milestone's stories were often socially relevant. I'm not finding that, yet, with Catalyst.

The basic premise of this universe is that something, no full details yet, happened to the crew of a space craft that went to stop an extinction event. Many of the astronauts are presumed dead, including David Powell.

David's not dead, his memory is pretty much gone, but he's alive and kicking (telekineitically powered speaking). And, now his wife, who apparently has secrets of her own, has found out he is alive and do not get in her way as she comes after him.

IN many ways pretty standard stuff, including the evil multi-national corporation.

But, I like the married couple's relationship. Not a lot of married couples in comics, and I'm believing in these two, so far.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 36%

I wanted to this one but it was just so confusing. The artwork was gorgeous but the story itself made it really difficult for me to figure out what was going on. That made me not want to continue and honestly I'm not going to bother trying to read each panel 15 times just to get through this one.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Noble Vol. 1: God Shots' written by Brandon Thomas with art by Roger Robinson, Jamal Igle and Robin Riggs seemed like a promising start to a new series, so I decided to give it a shot.

Astronaut David Powell was on a space mission when everything went wrong. His wife thinks he died, which is what she is led to believe. Instead, David has become something more than human. He is also under the control of forces he can't fight. He lives in Mexico under an assumed name, and tries to stay unknown. With global media and his powers that may be harder than he thinks.

The story jumps around a bit and it's not always clear where in the timeline things are happening. The art has moments where I really liked it, and moments where I was really underwhelmed. I like the concept, and I also like this person as a hero. I hope in future issues, the writing can be clearer and the art direction moves in a positive direction.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Robert Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly shocked at the 2.91 review of this comic book series as I regard it as one of the best of all time. From the writing to the art to the coloring to the lettering, this comic book series, which ended way too soon, was one of the greatest comic book reading experiences I ever had. I highly recommend it.

Brandon Thomas, Roger Robinson and team were absolutely SUPERB.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough to keep on reading, I just hope it is not too long.

THANKS TO DIAMOND BOOKS FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t read many comics/graphic novels, but reading through Book Riot’s 2018 Reading Challenge has prompted me to read a few, and this is one I chose. I have to agree with many of the other reviewers – this is a bit convoluted. I liked the graphics, and perhaps because the story was told in a confusing series of flashbacks I spent more time noticing the art as I started pages over. The story showed some promise for future episodes, leaving many, many threads unresolved.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. Lots of action, mysteries galore and an interesting setting.
I would have liked a few less guns and a little more story, but as it was, I enjoyed it.
3.5 actually, but considering all the love out into this book, I gave it a 4.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. That was confusing. I mean, I know stuff happened, but I have only the vaguest sense of when it happened. And while this volume ended on an enticing revelation, that same revelation significantly undermines the stakes of Noble's looming internal conflict. ...I think. Assuming my reconstruction of the story's jumbled timeline is correct. Sigh.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5

It is difficult to stand out in a market that has seen an explosion of titles. The graphic novel market has really grown in the past few years and I've seen a lot of titles, authors, and publishers trying to male their way here. I've also discovered that I tend to enjoy some of the lesser-known (to me, at least) graphic novel creators. And so I had hopes for Noble: God Shots.

David Powell was an astronaut on a suicide mission to destroy an asteroid that was on a collision course with the earth. Though he unexpectedly survived the mission, he came away with telekinetic powers but also amnesia. Now on Earth, Powell is trying to avoid capture by Foresight Corporation - a company that recognizes his powers, potential, and danger. But Powell just wants to help a few people and try to remember who he was. When a team tries to apprehend him at the start of the book - a team with an agent rained to deal with someone with powers - David only has to call upon his telekinetic ability to handily defeat the force in front of him. But this only solves an immediate problem.

Meanwhile, aside from Foresight Corporation and its leader Lorena Payan, David's wife, Astrid Allen-Powell and son are getting some insider information from Foresight and trying to get David first.

The story has the potential to be a really interesting sci-fi adventure/mystery, but it doesn't quite rise above mediocre.

First, we have a little problem with the story-telling angles. We jump around. A lot. I'm used to reading comics and graphic novels that change view points with some regularity, but this one bounced around a little too much, so I never got really into a point of view.

Second, this clearly seems to be written with the long-running comic format in mind, rather than with eyes on a periodic graphic novel. We get a little rise in the action, and then explanation, and then a little rise in the action, and then more explanation, and then ... and we don't get any sort of clear resolution that would make for a natural break to put together a graphic novel. Instead it would seem that an arbitrary point was selected because it filled a certain number of pages.

And while there is some interest here, it so far doesn't rise above a crowded field. I feel like I've read this story and these characters feel a lot like so many others.

The artwork has a nice, crisp quality to it. I am reminded of the days of the Buscemas and Romitas - days when I really appreciated the art in comics.

I had high hopes, but this didn't quite make it.

Looking for a good book? Noble, Vol. 1 is a graphic novel that has potential but manages only to be very average.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb on the back of the book sets things up for those, like me, who weren’t familiar with this story. Astronaut David Powell returns to earth with enhanced abilities and no memory. Now he’s on the run from The Foresight Corporation and its CEO Lorena Payan as he tries to regain those memories and find his family. At the same time his wife Astrid Allen-Powell, a former high tech agent, will use every means necessary to reunite with her husband as well.

As the book opens a group of mercenaries working for the Foresight Corporation has tracked down David and is attempting to take him down. It won’t be near as easy as they think and David retaliates. By the end of chapter one Astrid is heading out the door to track him down.

In flashbacks throughout the rest of the books we get a glimpse of what happened to David when he returned. Appearing to be dead he came back with his enhanced powers. It provides the reason why The Foresight Corporation has in interest in him, an ability to harness his powers. By books end you’re still not quite sure who to trust or not but will have a pretty good idea.

The book is well drawn and well written, never providing all answers right away but slowly unspooling them to hold your interest and to keep you guessing. It’s a tale in a high tech level of society where you can get away with nearly anything while the rest of the world keeps turning. Heroes may fall into the regular world but just long enough to interact and save or damage those who live there. The rest of the time it’s what goes on behind the scenes that drives this story forward.

Some background stories fill out the last part of the book as well as various covers from the comics. All in all a solid story that should hold the interests of fans of comic book heroes and science fiction fans.

[Pop Bop · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Noble Effort

I know that time shifting and flashbacking and chapter shuffling can make a story feel kinetic and edgy, but when you're starting a new series with a lot of moving pieces, a lot of characters, and a fair number of figures with similar looks, maybe a bit more linear storytelling is warranted.

With that off my chest, this series certainly struck me as having potential. It's got action, conspiracies, more fight scenes that it needs, a touch of humor, a conflicted hero, a smooth villain, a huge corporate villain, as yet unbridled superpowers, and a badass wife who wants to know what the bad guys are doing with her husband. There are a few big plot holes, but none that take the fun out of the story. ("Yes, yes, let's assume a man can fly!").

The drawing is pretty old school, with lots of ink, and chiseled cheek and jaw bones. Panel arrangement is interesting, though, and backgrounds have a fair amount of detail and character, which jazzes up evil-lab scenes and the like.

My bottom line was that there were enough interesting characters and enough amusing or unexpected twists that this series seems very much like one to keep watching.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. This is a bog-standard superhero story which is sliced up into pieces and presented out of order in an attempt to disguise its reliance on standard tropes. It fails at that.

Some sort of Magic Asteroid grants abilities to astronauts working for a private corporation, whose CEO is a murderous Mexican woman who is manipulating everyone in order to... we don’t know. It’s never explained, despite 130 pages of story. Maybe he’s going to go with the superhero version of Alan Dean Foster’s The Man Who Used the Universe (1983) but it’s hard to tell.

Basically Thomas has taken the plot of J. Michael Straczynski’s superb Rising Stars (1999) with a bit of the Fantastic Four (1963) and added characters from the TV series Heroes (2006) and attempted to emulate that “unravel the mystery” feeling both of them have. Which in theory I am totally down with. I *want* another cool superhero story along those lines. This just isn’t that.

Throw in some of the tropes that I despise (he woke up without a memory!) and make it a jumbled mess and you’ve lost me. As you can tell from my references to previous works, much of this story feels derivative, just not in a cool “if you liked that then you’ll also like this” sort of way.

The art is decent, so there’s that.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book without a purpose, trying to pass on empty technique. The question becomes "what was the purpose of this book?" Was it to entertain? Then if so, how? How was this book entertaining? How is a jumbled mess, with no narrative thru road, with dull, extremely clichéd 2 dimensional characters entertaining?

Because that's what this book is.

There was no reason for this property to be as boring as it is, all it would have taken is a single person with a real idea, an idea they really wanted to pursue, a story they really wanted to tell to make this interesting.

An before anyone feels the need to bring the race card in to it, this has nothing to do with the characters race, which is why I have the Milestone trade collection in my library & often pull them out to re-read them.

Milestone is the exact opposite of Noble & frankly the rest of the Lion Forge IP's. Milestone was characters first, interesting concepts second, super heroics third, the fact most of the characters are black is not as important as them being interesting, fully developed characters in their own right.... The exact opposite of Noble unfortunately.

There is nothing in the fist trade of Noble that would convince one to read any further & that's a real shame.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a compelling read, if muddled at times. I agree with other critics that the fractured time-line of the narration really helps nobody, and some of the action scenes are really poorly presented, but on the whole - with the quieter, more intriguing scenes at least - we get something well worth exploring. So I disagree with the other reviews that say there needed to be more to this to make us happy. This clearly is designed to be a long-haul project, so all the open questions are there for much writing in the future. Having said that, the bonus issue here is incredibly unreadable, until, at least the vital bit at the end. So execution needs to be a lot improved to meet the potential, but I'm still on the side of reading more of this adventure.

[anie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love superheroes, especially origin stories. I really liked reading about Noble.

Asteroid was about to collide with Earth, so group of astronauts went to destroy it. They weren't suppose to survive. David gained super powers from the explosion, but lost all memories. He is helping people all around the world and running from people who helped to create him. His wife is determined o save him, but it might be too late.

The artwork is amazing, and the story like is good too, maybe too confusing at times. It jumps back and forth so much I was lost at times.

Nonetheless I enjoyed it. :)

[Scott Waldie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a book in the Catalyst Prime universe, and I can't say I was impressed. Cosmic accidents and experimentation are a bit cliche for superhero origins, and while this one is a little cryptic about the events that led to Powell/Noble gaining his powers and amnesia, it's not too hard to take a guess. The artwork was passable, but the character designs a little bland, especially the Noble suit and helm. There was a good, kinetic pulse of action running through it which was its forte, but it's nothing you haven't seen before. I'll have to check out a few other titles before I can judge the quality of the line, but this is really below average.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man who everyone calls David has been turned into a mutant by a secret government agency that creates weapons of destruction. Can he help people and be a hero or is he a destroyer? Read on and find out for yourself.


This was a pretty good graphic novel that I got as a free ebook from the diamond bookshelf e-newsletter that is volume 1. If you enjoy superhero type stories with evil government scientists and more, then definitely check this out. It is available wherever graphic novels are sold.

[Jamal Ahamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t come into this story with high expectations— I was simply looking for a new Black superhero. The story of Noble is kinda by the numbers in that the main character engages in some kind of science, is thought to be dead, but is resurrected with powers without his memory. It’s a fun comic story with good action and I LOVED seeing a number of brilliant BIPOC characters, but I wasn’t blown away by what it his volume had to offer. I’m intrigued enough to read the next arc, but I want more next time around.

[Liam Berge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this free in return for the review

Noble is an enjoyable graphic novel following a potential superhero with powers to save many.
It's nice to see a broad spectrum of characters within the story and the dialog and art are great to match.
Having read the blurb though I actually learnt much more there than from the story itself so it is a little more subtle in a lot of the story arc.
Overall I enjoyed the story and would look forward to reading the second volume.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diverse, but otherwise underwhelming start to a new series. Noble is a derivative mess that attempts to set too many events in motion. What's left is a confusing plot with an underdeveloped cast of characters. I appreciate what Lion Forge is trying to do with their universal event; they just need to slow it down and let the characters breathe.

[Adriana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thomas tried to create a complex and twisted thriller full of conspiracies and secrets and went a bit too far. It's a mess of little vignettes that have potential but don't really live up to it. I can totally see what he was going for and there are little nuggets in there that I appreciate, but the finished product is a mess.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noble is the first of the new characters from Lion Forge Comic’s new lines, Catalyst Prime. The goal for Catalyst Prime is to have a new series launch every month for seven months, starting with Noble. I’m sure the goal is to establish a universe that can compete with Marvel and DC, and I wish them the best of luck (I truly believe that more comic companies is a good thing for everyone).



Noble volume one is only four issues, resulting in a limited amount of time to establish our main character, the surrounding cast, and the plot. Not an easy job by any means. I wish they had been granted more time to play with the story here, as I think Noble has a lot of potential; but the rushing speed took something away from it.
Being a new superhero, naturally we’re given some of his origin story; David Powell was an astronaut, willing to sacrifice his life for the greater good (literally – the comic starts off with him being presumed dead). Thanks to a mysterious and yet unexplained turn of events, the explosion he and his crew experiences gives him telekinesis (it’s less clear for the rest of the crew – but I have a feeling they’ve all been presumed dead too, but are just as alive and powerful as David is). This obviously sounds like it’s too good to be true – David survives the explosion and got superpowers! What are the odds? Of course that means there’s a downside, and in my opinion that downside is pretty massive (while also succeeding in making Noble feel more human again, kudos); he has no memory of who he was before the explosion.
Now, that may mean that David Powell is effectively dead, or it may mean he has some form of amnesia. Only time will reveal that, and I’ll admit I’m more than a bit curious about which way they’re going to go with that. That’s partially because having his wife looking for him really helped me get invested in his well-being.
I’ll admit there was some jumping around in the last issue that got me really confused; it seemed like they were introducing us to a handful of characters (friends, family, potential future heroes?), which is a brilliant idea. The problem is we were given only about 2 pages per character, and with the rapid changing between all the characters it got a little overwhelming. I think a more gradual built up for these characters would have been more beneficial. Rushing doesn’t help anything, especially not when it comes to establishing a new universe.
I think both Noble and Prime Catalyst have a lot of potential. I’m planning on following both to see what happens. I’ll admit I’m more than a bit curious about the rest of David Powell’s crew; will they pull a Fantastic Four sort of stunt and have them all get powers from the same events? Or are they actually dead? Either way, I can’t wait to see what happens.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick graphic novel/comics collection. I liked the general concept and the art, and lord knows a ton of badass people of color is exciting to read. I found the storytelling a too disjointed for my tastes. I kept having to go back to see if I missed something or sort things out.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe that this might have potential, but I'm not entirely sure what to think about it. This first volume was chronologically all over the place which did make it hard to follow and figure out what exactly was going on.