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NOBLE CAUSES #2
(Best of the Week!)
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Image Comics
"In Sickness & In Health Part Two"
Pencils: Patrick Gleason
Inks: John Wycough
Colors: Chris Sotomayor & Jeremy Roberts
"Life Support"
Pencils: Jamal Igle
Inks: Damon Hacker
Colors: J. Brown
Writer: Jay Faerber
Letters: Ray Dillon
Price: $2.95 US/$4.60 CAN |
It's clear, after reading just three issues of Noble Causes, that Faerber is not going to let up on the readers, putting his characters into stressful situation after stressful situation. Which is as it should be, and Faerber has definitely captured the breakneck, melodramatic pacing of a soap opera with Noble Causes, albeit with a super-heroic
twist in the problems at hand. He has also mastered the art of the cliffhanger,
as the ending of this issue leaves me as breathless as the ending to the last
one. Now if only the stories were a bit longer, I'd be ecstatic.
Noble Causes is a soap opera, which means that the main
mode of interaction is conflict, often spurred by relatively petty emotions.
Instead of verbal sparring and the occasional slap, the heated feuds often
develop into slugfests of power, and this makes for visually exciting (and more
deadly) confrontations between various family members. The funeral features some
very interesting dialogue between the family, but it features even more start
and stop fights, with a particularly effective entrance from Rusty.
Gleason's work is really
growing on me, as his work on the characters' faces and expressions, often in
close-up, is quite impressive this issue. He hits the important details of the
soap opera genre, including a sneer, a wistful or mysterious look or a smug,
arrogant smile, but he also nails the super-heroic elements, such as the
cigarette shattering out of Frost's mouth as he's punched or the violent
outbursts of power from the two eldest Nobles.
It was really good, however, to see Faerber and Igle reunited for the first time since New Warriors, telling the story of how Rusty became a
robotic form. The flashback, like the other flashbacks so far, ties right into
the main story, exploring the complex emotions that drive the Celeste/Rusty
relationship and showing a softer side of Celeste than I would have dreamed
possible. The fact that it leads nicely into the confrontation presaged by the
"Next Issue" blurb and cover is icing on the cake.
If I have any complaints,
it's that the stories are too brief, and it feels like we're just barely
scratching the surface of the characters. Much as I love the backup stories, I'd
just as soon see full-length lead stories, so that the personal dynamics can get
more drawn out. As is, it sometimes feels as if we're jumping from cliffhanger
to cliffhanger. Mind you, each cliffhanger draws me further into the book, so
maybe that pacing isn't such a bad idea after all.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
