Noble Causes Volume 1: In Sickness And In Health

Noble Causes #1

by Jay Faerber, Patrick Gleason (Illustrator), Amanda Conner (Illustrator)

Every girl thinks her boyfriend is a catch, but Georgetown bookseller Liz Donnelly's got bragging rights - she's dating Race Noble, the famous super-hero with the quick smile and quicker legs. Follow Race and Liz's whirlwind romancce, from the moment they meet, to their wedding ... and the tragic honeymoon. Suddenly, Liz is a stranger in a strange land - an everyday person living with a family of celebrity super-heroes Behind the glamour and wonder lie dark secrets, ruthless ambition, and twisted desires.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2003

Reviews

[Jamie Dudley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series. Ended too soon.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

First volume was a bit underwhelming, partly because things happen too fast to characters we really don't know anything about. I think it was a mistake to kill off Race so quickly--better to develop him for a few more issues, develop the Noble family infighting, etc., so that when he does get killed, it carries some weight and we have a better understanding of the implications, etc., that come along with it. The idea isn't bad, though it does read a bit like an inferior version of Astro City, in the way it shows the private lives of superheroes, and such. Plus it has little vignettes that fill out each issue, in a manner similar to that title. The artwork isn't bad, though it's no great shakes, either. Having read this first collection, I don't really feel compelled to read another.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it's the influence of the character Race Noble, but everything in this series seems to happen at super speed. That's a bit of a problem when it gets in the way of telling the story, or of letting the reader absorb it. The idea of having shorter individual chapters, with backup stories by different artists, was interesting, but in this case it felt like the stories were 20+-pagers being squeezed into 15 pages. A better structure might have been to slow down and tell each story over two issues.
That said, the whole idea of a superhero soap opera was very interesting. The initial "public personas" vs. "private lives" conflict was fairly well-handled. Also, I really liked the goblin servant staff. That said, too often I found myself wondering why a character was behaving the way they did, and often the only answers came from the backup stories.
Still, I plan to read a bit more of the series and see where it goes.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original pitch for this book was that as superhero books have so much soap opera, why not focus on the soap stuff and leave the heroics in the background? The Noble family are legends and media stars whose super-fast son Race has just married an ordinary woman, Liz. Then he's murdered on their honeymoon, leaving his widow in the middle of this feuding, conflicted clan.
It's competent and enjoyable but the story's frankly not that different from what I could have found in a volume of X-Men around the same time.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series I always wanted to try out but always had a hard time finding. Finally found a few old trades at the library. It's about a superhero family on top of the world as its biggest celebrities. Behind the scenes they have all kinds of family drama on top of being powerful enough to murder each other. This was a promising start and I had no idea Patrick Gleason was the main artist at the beginning. I love his stuff.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the World Turns
All My Children
General Hospital
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Young and the Restless

Throw in some superpowers and some TMZ, and that's basically what this is. Geoff Johns wrote a sort of forward for it that basically says (paraphrased), "I don't know why we like to follow the trashy lives of celebrities behind the scenes, but we do."

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Dynamo 5 first which led me to this... It much more soap opera here. I can't believe how far Patrick Gleason's art has grown since this. Things happen too fast here which is the real reason for the backup stories.... To fill in the story. Hope Farber relaxes with the next volume.

[Tom Armbruster · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Dynasty" with superheroes. Well written and the art is good, just not really my thing.

[Amber DiTullio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a random find at the library - I was looking for another graphic novel to read, since I have a lot more longer books sitting on my list right now. The title and the cover looked interesting so I figured, "Why not?"

This is the first book in the comic series, Noble Causes, a comic that is a cross between superhero comics and a daytime soap opera. The Noble family is one of superheroes, alien sorceresses, hyper-intelligent men... and marrying into this is a completely ordinary book seller that has fallen in love with the youngest son, Race. This first book tells what happens right after Liz (the ordinary book seller) and Race get married - and how Liz refuses to be bowled over by her famous in-laws.

I really enjoyed the story, as it felt like a wonderful bit of escapist fun. The artwork is wonderfully vivid and the story engaged me. No, it's not a world class piece of literature. It's not the best graphic novel I've ever read. But it IS a great series to pick up if you want to lose yourself for a little while into the problems of those who are supposed to be living the good life.

[Scott Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up recently based on the new series by Jay Faerber, Dynamo Five. I was not disappointed. This book is excellent. The main stories are slightly shorter at 15 pages, but he includes a backup stories that fill in the history of the Noble family. If you like things that explore interpersonal relationships in the context of the superhero, this book is tailor made for you. Cannot recommend it enough.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are soap operas and there are super hero's. What he have here is a super hero soap opera and I love it. It is funny and twisted and shows the horrible parts of the human condition and pulls no punches. There is very little to like in these people apart from Liz who seems to be the only person not wearing her head as a hat.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action-packed superhero soap opera comic! Girl next door type marries into family of superheroes; in-fighting, death rays, infidelity, and evil robots ensue.

[Jasmiina F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok comic, not amazing but not bad either. I really liked the colors and some of the more serious characters. I just hope that Noble Causes will continue getting better and not worse.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is a great series!