No one's more pleased than me that Noble Causes has managed a long life. It's been running for almost two years now, and Jay Faerber's soap opera book offers something just a little different in a wide field of super-hero titles available today. The property's creator has opted to releases his book as a series of limited series and one-shots, and while that makes for more first issues, more attention and easily collected stories, I find the approach is also interfering with the story as well. Still, the deeply flawed characters and the wonder of the super-hero genre make for fun reading.
Life just keeps getting more and more tumultuous for the Noble family and their friends. Rusty and Celeste are embroiled in a bitter divorce process, and the former reflects back on the hard work he put into his marriage proposal years ago. Meanwhile, Krennick reluctantly faces the prospect that he must soon assume the hellish throne once occupied by his late father, Draconis, and Frost sneaks his way into Doc Noble's lab in order to make use of a unique piece of technology.
There are a number of shifts in this issue when it comes to the art. The most obvious is the shift from full-color artwork to black-and-white. Fortunately, the greyscale work here maintains depth, and I honestly didn't miss the color all that much. The other shift is the change in artists two-thirds of the way through the opening story. It really wasn't that jarring a move, and the storytelling throughout the book is clear.
The problem with Noble Causes is that it's progressing forward with the smallest of baby steps. With ever #1 issue or one-shot, it feels as though the writer is starting all over again. He does an excellent job of providing an accessible read every time, but it seems like the entire property is revolving around Liz's inability to get over Race's death. That's just not the case, but since the property started with Liz and Race, every issue seems to start there as well.
The Rusty/Celeste subplot brings drama but a down-to-earth quality as well to the story. The same can be said for the scene with Liz and her friend. Its primary purpose is to provide exposition, but it also brings a more grounded tone to the super-hero tale. On the other side of the equation is Frost's activities, which bring suspense to the book and celebrate the sci-fi side of the genre.
