Noble Causes #1

History

Jay Faerber came to Noble Causes after years writing work-for-hire at both Marvel (Generation X, New Warriors) and DC (The Titans, Green Lantern), and Noble Causes: First Impressions (September 2001) was his first creator-owned series at Image. Faerber has described his original pitch to Image in a single line — 'The Kennedys with super-powers' — and the plan was to launch directly into an ongoing monthly title after the one-shot; artist Patrick Gleason departing after issue #4 of the 2002 miniseries forced Faerber to restructure the publication strategy into a series of finite miniseries modeled on how Mike Mignola's Hellboy was published, before the title finally became a proper ongoing in 2004. Each issue of the 2002 miniseries featured a dual-story format: a present-day lead story penciled by Gleason and a backup set in the past, with Amanda Conner (inking by Jimmy Palmiotti) contributing to the backup art in issue #1, and editor Chester Cebulski listed on the inaugural issue's credits.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written by Jay Faerber; main story penciled by Patrick Gleason (inks: John Wycough); backup story penciled by Amanda Conner (inks: Jimmy Palmiotti); lettered by Ray Dillon; edited by Chester Cebulski. Published January 2002 by Image Comics.
• First appearance of villain Draconis and of the hero Fireball, both in the lead story of this issue.
• First full appearance of Russell 'Rusty' Noble in the backup story; the backup also provides the first revealed origin of Race Noble.
• Liz Donnelly officially joins the Noble family in this issue, transitioning her from the outsider introduced in the 2001 one-shot First Impressions into a full cast member and the series' primary POV character.
• The issue uses a dual-story format — a present-day lead plus a past-set backup — a structural device maintained throughout the four-issue 2002 miniseries.
• Faerber's original pitch to Image was described by him as 'The Kennedys with super-powers,' framing the book as celebrity-dynasty drama over conventional superhero action.
• The 2002 miniseries (#1–4) was originally intended as the start of an ongoing monthly series; it was restructured into finite miniseries format after penciler Patrick Gleason departed following issue #4.
• The entire 2002 miniseries (#1–4), together with the 2001 First Impressions one-shot, was collected in the trade paperback Noble Causes Vol. 1: In Sickness and in Health, and later reprinted in the 598-page Noble Causes Archives Vol. 1 (April 2008).

Full credits