Noble Causes

Jay Faerber's homage to Superhero comic books and soap operas. The series revolves around the Noble family, a wealthy, famous family of superheroes. In addition to fighting supervillains, the heroes face such challenges as infidelity, unplanned pregancies, and the tabloids.

The main family members are:
 * Dudley "Doc" Noble: A Gadgeteer Genius who is more interested in working on inventions in his lab than spending any time with his family.
 * Gaia: The matriarch of the family, who does everything she can to make herself and her family look good in the public eye. Currently divorced from Doc and serving a prison term.
 * Rusty: The oldest son, a Super-Strong hero with a bad temper who had his consciousness transferred into a robotic body after nearly being beaten to death. In years since, he's struggled with his humanity, and, evidently, given in. He now speaks in a harsh monotone, doesn't use contractions, and rarely indicates emotion.
 * Frost: Gaia's son from an extra-marital affair with . Has ice-based powers and a huge chip on his shoulder.
 * Race: The middle child. He has Super Speed and seems to be the nicest and most well-adjusted member of the family. No wonder they killed him off at the end of the first issue...
 * Zephyr: The youngest child. A teenage girl who sleeps around. This results in her getting knocked up by.
 * Liz Donnely-Noble: A normal girl who runs a bookstore. Her good looks and unpretentious nature caused Race to fall in love with her and marry her. She continues to live in the Noble Family mansion after Race's death.
 * Krennick: Race's best friend, and the son of Draconis, Doc Noble's Arch Enemy. A demon who holds unrequited feelings for Zephyr.
 * Celeste: A publicity-hungry heroine with stellar energy powers who was married to Rusty, but had a long-standing affair with Frost.
 * Olympia: Doc's second wife, a superstrong beauty queen with two children from a previous marriage.
 * Surge: Olympia's son, and the youngest of the Nobles. In need of a serious attitude adjustment; gets on poorly with just about everyone due to his explosive temper.
 * Minutae: Olympia's daughter. Extremely introverted and removed from social interactions, she strikes a quick friendship with Doc due to her love of science.
 * Amy: Surge's girlfriend, who accused Frost of raping her after he resisted her advances..
 * Slate Blackthorne: The youngest of the villainous Blackthorne family, who can turn into a gigantic rock-man and eventually abandoned his family to marry Zephyr.


 * A Day in The Life
 * A.I. Is a Crapshoot: (.)
 * Author's Saving Throw: (.)
 * Cliff Hanger (one of the series' biggest strengths)
 * Convenient Miscarriage: (.)
 * Family Feud (the Nobles and the Blackthorne family)
 * Flash Back (usually used to cast character's actions in a more sympathetic light)
 * Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke (the source of Celeste's powers)
 * Home Porn Movie (The source of a scandal around Zephyr; )
 * Grand Theft Me: Gaia's Loony Fan switches bodies with Doc
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Surge's entire character revolves around this.
 * If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him (subverted when )
 * Love Redeems: Celeste once she starts dating Dawn.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Meaningful Name (nearly everyone)
 * Mirror Universe
 * The Real Heroes (Frost gets an award for saving a bunch of firefighters and says they're the real heroes.)
 * Ridiculously Human Robot
 * Shared Universe: Invincible and Savage Dragon have made appearances in the comic)
 * Soaperizing: To the point it's more like a Soap Opera with occasional superpowers.
 * Sympathy for the Devil: (at times, Draconis seems more sympathetic than Doc Noble)
 * Canon Welding: The "Faerberverse" consists of this comic, Dynamo 5, Venture & Firebirds.
 * Time Skip: Issue #32 takes place 5 years after the previous issue.
 * Uncanceled