Noble Causes

Noble Causes

Cover of Noble Causes vol. 2, 3 (Sept, 2004). Art by Tyler Kirkham.
Publication information
Publisher Image Comics
Format Miniseries and one-shots.
Now an ongoing title.
Genre
Publication date January 2002 - April 2009
No. of issues 40
Main character(s) "See characters"
Creative team
Created by Jay Faerber
Written by Jay Faerber
J. Torres, Brian K. Vaughan, John Layman, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Gail Simone
Artist(s) (covers) Fran Bueno, Todd Nauck, Tyler Kirkman, Rodolfo Migliari, Andres Ponce, Ron Riley, Gabe Bridwell, Jack Lawrence, Yıldıray Çınar
Penciller(s) Fran Bueno, Ron Riley, Jon Bosco, Yıldıray Çınar
Inker(s) Fran Bueno
Collected editions
In Sickness and In Health ISBN 1-58240-293-0
Family Secrets ISBN 1582403481
Distant Relatives ISBN 158240481X
Blood and Water ISBN 1582405360

Noble Causes is an American comic book series created and written by Jay Faerber, illustrated by a variety of artists and published by Image Comics.

The series follows the lives of the Nobles, a wealthy superhero family in the Image Universe. The stories focus less on the Nobles fighting supervillains and more on their personal lives. Originally intended to be an ongoing title, it was downgraded into a series of miniseries and one-shots. It finally became an ongoing title in 2004.

Beginning with issue #32, the series jumped five years after the previous storyline. At this point, the characters Gaia, Race and Liz are no longer active part in the family, while Doc's new wife, Olympia, and her two children joined the Noble family.

The series concluded in 2008 with the publication of issue #40.[1][2]

Cast of characters

The Nobles

The Blackthornes

Supporting cast

Collected editions

The various releases are being collected into a number of trade paperbacks.

Vol. 1: In Sickness and In Health

Race introduces Liz to the family for dinner. After a huge skirmish, Liz retreats to the bathroom, shaken by what she witnessed. Some time later, Race and Liz' wedding comes. Soon after, while on their honeymoon, Race is killed by a laser beam from the sky. Meanwhile, Zephyr discovers she's pregnant and Rusty discovers Celeste and Frost's affair when he catches them together in the shower. It is revealed that Icarus, the family’s loyal robot servant, had murdered Race and severely injured Rusty, in order to reshape the family into what he thought Doc wanted it to be.

Volume collects Noble Causes 4-issue mini-series and Noble Causes: First Impressions.

Vol. 2: Family Secrets

Picking up the pieces after their ordeal at the hands of Icarus, the Nobles are again rocked by scandal when Zephyr's pregnancy becomes public. Meanwhile, Rusty throws Celeste out of their home for sleeping with Frost. Frost uses information he has concerning Zephyr's baby as leverage for Gaia to reveal who his father is. Rusty goes through a number of superheroes he believes to be the father of Zephyr's baby. The father is revealed to be Draconis, whom Doc kills at the end of the story. Celeste serves Rusty with divorce papers and Gaia finally tells Frost who his father is.

Volume collects Noble Causes: Family Secrets 4-issue mini-series.

Vol. 3: Distant Relatives

Frost goes off on a search for his true father, who turns out to be an alternate-reality version of Doc. In that reality, the Nobles are fugitives from the law. Meanwhile, Rusty, hurting after his divorce, finds love again when he meets Cosmic Rae. Liz has followed Frost on his search, looking for an alternate version of Race, who turns out to be rather amoral. After the death of his father, Krennick has become ruler of the Underworld, quite reluctantly. When Zephyr discovers that Krennick hires prostitutes to impersonate her, she becomes disgusted and tells Krennick to stay away from her. When Frost meets up with Liz, he decides to send her to another alternate reality — one where Race is alive but her own counterpart is dead.

Volume collects Noble Causes: Distant Relatives 4-issue mini-series.

Vol. 4: Blood & Water

A prostitute named Gretchen Lewis is discovered lying dead in an alley, dressed as Zephyr. Det. Omega is heading the investigation and Krennick is the prime suspect. Meanwhile, Rusty and Cosmic Rae embark on a government-sponsored mission to rescue a team of scientists from another planet. Unfortunately, Celeste and Frost are part of the mission as well. Gretchen's killer turns out to be Diakun, Krennick's advisor. Doc goes to visit Steven Dockerty, a man so obsessed with Gaia that he once tried to assassinate the president of the United States in order to impress her. He returns a different man.

Volume collects issues #1-6.

Vol. 5: Betrayals

Rusty, Celeste, Frost, Rae and the other heroes are still stranded on the alien world, which is later revealed to be the dimension Gaia hails from. Steven Dockerty escapes from the mental institution where he was being kept and heads straight for Noble Manor. But things are not as they appear. As it turns out, Dockerty switched bodies with Doc with the cooperation of a warlock. When the entire family arrives in Gaia's home dimension, the spell is reversed and the heroes return home. As a consolation, Gaia's father, the ruler of the dimension, is given Dockerty as a prisoner. Zephyr finally gives birth to her baby. Unfortunately, what should be a time of great joy becomes a tragedy when the baby is stillborn...or so the Nobles are led to believe.

Volume collects issues #7-12, plus The Pact #2.

Vol. 6: Hidden Agendas

Hunter Blackthorne has just made parole, much to the chagrin of the Nobles, particularly Doc and Race. Once he is home, he and the family set an insidious revenge plot in motion. Their target: Liz Noble. Zephyr attempts to live a normal life, following the apparent death of her baby. Meanwhile, Celeste is involved in a secret affair with Dawn Blackthorne.

Volume collects issues #13-18 plus Frost short story "Snow Job" from Image Holiday Special 2005".

Vol. 7: Powerless

Volume collects issues #19-25.

Vol. 8: Star Crossed

The lives of the Nobles and the Blackthornes continue to intertwine as Zephyr Noble and Slate Blackthorne enter into a secret affair, and the terminally ill Kitty Blackthorne makes an unthinkable request of Celeste.

Volume 8 collects issues #26-31.

Vol. 9: Five Years Later

Jumping five years after the events of the previous story, Doc Noble has rededicated the Noble family to be the world's preeminent superheroes, but even as they take a more pro-active approach to fighting crime on a global scale, they still harbor dark secrets and hidden agendas.

Volume 9 collects issues #32-36.

Noble Causes: Extended Family

Two-issue series.

Noble Causes Archives Vol.1

Collects volumes 1 to 5 (black & white)

Noble Causes Archives Vol.2

Collects volumes 6 to 9 and Noble Causes: Extended Family (black & white)

Read order

Other appearances

Notes

References

Interviews

Reviews

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