Blog

Thomas centers this issue squarely on David as more of his abilities and power levels are revealed during the crisis. Since the past several issues showed off the determination and abilities of his wife, Astrid, this shift to our title character was a welcome move. The roundtable is a great display of character moments here as the survivors tell their stories juxtaposed against David’s acts of heroism and his time with his family. The build up and tension during both sequences moves the story well and leads to David beginning to be more proactive so certain events don’t repeat themselves. Thomas’ subplot begins to reveal itself and reminds us that things will be getting bloody and serious real soon.

The art is now being handled by Manuel Garcia, Le Beau Underwood, and Chris Sotomayor who deliver a solid looking return of Noble. That splash page with him in the storm is a wonderful opening as it shows just how small he is even with his abilities. Then you turn the page and BAM! He’s in your face struggling to save the day and everything about that page says “hero”! In the beginning each of his feats are these large one page shots but as the hours extend we see the visual team use smaller panels as a great way of showing that stress and time wearing him down. When not showing off super powers we see touching family moments especially between David and his son, Elijah. Now, I do have one gripe with the visuals and it’s some of the backgrounds. It’s evident that the Powell’s live in a nice home so there’s no way you can convince me that with as much sexual chemistry Thomas has hinted at between this couple that they are sleeping in a twin bed in their modestly lavish ranch style home. It might seem like a small thing but it’s little things like that that help keep readers immersed in the story.

Now if you’re new to the series just know that this is the first issue in the third volume. However, it’s not difficult to get into though a nice recap in the beginning wouldn’t have hurt either to help acclimate any first time readers. Overall, this return to Noble was a good one and it’s nice to see the Catalyst Prime flagship title back on the shelves. Hopefully at some point Thomas will also reveal how Astrid can make it anywhere in Houston in only 29 minutes. That right there is a superpower in itself.

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net