Review by Ian Keogh
An all-action opening chapter introduces the hero we’ll come to know as Noble in South America. He calls himself Julian Brass, obviously has super powers, and is believed to be David Powell by heavily armed troopers unconcerned at how healthy he is when they return him to the USA.
Brandon Thomas provides a slow release plot as we follow the man in the mask to other places, helping people and coming to terms with his powers and limitations. Also introduced are a sinister corporation, David’s wife, and several hints of a bigger picture, but the tease is prolonged until the fourth chapter, and even then not everything is revealed.
Noticeable from the start is the strong definition of who people are. Yes, David is having identity problems, but his inner character is apparent from what he does. It’s also pleasing that not only is he a married man, but his wife Astrid is also extremely capable, her skills combined with a determination to reunite with the husband she’d been told was dead, and restore his memories.
Roger Robinson draws the first four chapters very clearly, a skill that’s needed because Thomas jumps his plot back and forward through time, and it’s not always apparent at the beginning what is past and what is present. It’s the only real flaw with an otherwise competent and intriguing starting point from which a whole new line of superheroes spring.
The questions readers have are answered in the final chapter, written by Christopher Priest, credited only as ‘Priest’ and Joseph Philip Illidge. Again, it’s not linear in telling the story of astronauts sent into space as an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. The result is a shower of meteors landing on cities, and Lorena Payan and her Foresight Corporation hailed as saving Earth. That’s not exactly the case, and the results of the meteor landings, referred to as “The Event” is assorted people developing super powers.
There’s more than enough to enjoy about Noble, and as very little is actually resolved most readers will probably want to head for Vol. 2, Never Events.
