Noble Causes #1
Image Comics
Writer: Jay Faerber
Art: Fran Bueno
Colors: Ron Riley
Price: $3.50

Rating: 3 ? stars

Noble Causes is back, Baby, and it?s in color! I for one am ready to celebrate because I absolutely love the universe Jay Faerber has created here, complete with family feuds and drama unparalleled. It is the book that anyone who has wacky families lives daily, but with a super hero twist, making it larger then life.

Issue one opens with the death of an all too familiar figure. While all fingers point to Krennick, Race?s good friend, it seems like a witch hunt rather then a reasonable cause. Race and his wife Liz, the ?normal? character must try to get to the bottom of things before the police and press get hold of a story too good to be true.

The Noble Family is a complex one, with a diva mother and a scientific father. Their children have been raised with great wealth but extreme heartache, as their powers have been a blessing and a curse. Oldest son Rusty almost lost his life, if not for his Father Doc replacing most of his parts with machinery. In the last year he has divorced his drama queen wife Celeste, who is now cavorting with his half brother Frost. Younger sister Zephyr is pregnant with Krennick?s father?s child, and is seen as the family wild child. Race and Liz are perhaps the most normal, because Liz has no powers and is relatively level-headed. Just scratching the surface, see what a great drama Faerber has created?

Faerber and new artist Fran Bueno have done a wonderful job setting up this next story line. Bueno?s simplistic style works well with colorist Ron Riley?s understated hues to give a sense of realism to the tale. From a morning breakfast with the family, to the underworld kingdom Krennick now helms, there is a sense of familiarity and doom all in one. The characterization is well done, with coy glances and sheer shock showing all over the faces of these family members.

If you haven?t picked up any Noble Causes books yet, give it a shot. I would especially recommend handing one of the trades to a girlfriend or wife who doesn?t understand your obsession. She will probably enjoy the soap opera quality and great characterization, and might even cut you some slack. I have given the title to some friends to read and they ask me when the next series is coming out. Noble Causes is a great book, with excellent characters and an emotional undercurrent that makes it relevant to both sexes.

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