What do you think?
Rate this book
The Complete Jon Sable, Freelance
The Complete Jon Sable, Freelance, Vol. 6
Continuing the re-presentation of the entire saga of Mike Grell's classic character, Jon Sable, Freelance. The seventh collection delves deeper in creator Mike Grell's classic Frist Comic run.
172 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
21 people want to read
About the author
Mike Grell
713 books82 followersMike Grell (born 1947) is a comic book writer and artist.
Grell studied at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Chicago Academy of Fine Art, and took the Famous Artists School correspondence course in cartooning. His entry into the comics industry was in 1972, as an assistant to Dale Messick on the Brenda Starr comic strip.
In 1973 Grell moved to New York, and began his long relationship with DC Comics. His first assignment at DC was on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, a high-profile assignment for an artist with no prior experience illustrating a monthly comic book. Grell says he got that job because he was walking in the editor's door to ask for work, literally, as the previous artist was walking out the door, having just quit. These stories were written by Cary Bates and Jim Shooter. The Bates/Grell/Shooter run on the title is very well-regarded today by Superboy/Legion fans, who consider it one of the high-water marks in the character/team's history. Grell's work on SATLOSH is widely thought to be some of the best beefcake/cheesecake ever committed to comic book pages, and is affectionately referred to as the 'disco Legion' in retrospect by fans of the title.
A writer as well as artist, Grell cemented his status as a fan-favorite with his best-known creation, The Warlord, one of the first sword and sorcery comics, and reportedly the best-selling title published by DC Comics in the late-1970s.
The character first appeared in 1st Issue Special #8 (Nov 1975) and was soon given his own ongoing title (The Warlord #1, Jan/Feb 1976). In this book, Air Force pilot Travis Morgan crash-lands in the prehistoric "hidden world" of Skartaris (a setting highly influenced by Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar). For years thereafter, Morgan engages in adventures dressed only in a winged helmet, wristbands, boots, and breechclout, and armed with a sword and (years before Dirty Harry handled one) a .44 Auto Mag.
At DC, Grell also worked on titles such as Aquaman, Batman, and the Phantom Stranger, and with writer Dennis O'Neil on the re-launch of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series in 1976.
[edit] Tarzan
Grell wrote and drew the Tarzan comic strip from July 19, 1981 to February 27, 1983 (except for one strip, February 13, 1983, by Thomas Yeates). These strips were rerun in newspapers in 2004 - 2005.
[edit] First Comics: Jon Sable Freelance and Starslayer
Cover to Jon Sable Freelance #7. Art by Mike Grell.Through the 1980s Grell developed creator-owned titles such Jon Sable Freelance and Starslayer. Jon Sable Freelance was published by the now-defunct First Comics. Starslayer, a space-born science fiction series, started at Pacific Comics, but shifted to First.
The titular character of Jon Sable Freelance was a former Olympic athlete, later a African big-game hunter, who became a mercenary. First appearing with a cover date of June 1983, Jon Sable Freelance was a successful non-super-hero comic book in an era when successful non-super-hero comic books were almost unheard of, and a graphically violent comic sold in mainstream comic book stores in an era when such was as rare. Jon Sable was a precursor to what would eventually be called, by some, "the Dark Age of Comics," when even long-established super-heroes would become increasingly grim and violent.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's James Bond novels as well as drawing on pulp fiction crime stories. Also, many of the stories of Sable's hunting exploits in Africa were influenced by Peter Hathaway Capstick's novels. At a convention in the late 1980s, Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer."
Sable was adapted into a short-lived television series and the character's origin tale, "A Storm Over Eden," from the comic book, was expanded and novelized by Grell under the title Sable, which was publ
Grell studied at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Chicago Academy of Fine Art, and took the Famous Artists School correspondence course in cartooning. His entry into the comics industry was in 1972, as an assistant to Dale Messick on the Brenda Starr comic strip.
In 1973 Grell moved to New York, and began his long relationship with DC Comics. His first assignment at DC was on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, a high-profile assignment for an artist with no prior experience illustrating a monthly comic book. Grell says he got that job because he was walking in the editor's door to ask for work, literally, as the previous artist was walking out the door, having just quit. These stories were written by Cary Bates and Jim Shooter. The Bates/Grell/Shooter run on the title is very well-regarded today by Superboy/Legion fans, who consider it one of the high-water marks in the character/team's history. Grell's work on SATLOSH is widely thought to be some of the best beefcake/cheesecake ever committed to comic book pages, and is affectionately referred to as the 'disco Legion' in retrospect by fans of the title.
A writer as well as artist, Grell cemented his status as a fan-favorite with his best-known creation, The Warlord, one of the first sword and sorcery comics, and reportedly the best-selling title published by DC Comics in the late-1970s.
The character first appeared in 1st Issue Special #8 (Nov 1975) and was soon given his own ongoing title (The Warlord #1, Jan/Feb 1976). In this book, Air Force pilot Travis Morgan crash-lands in the prehistoric "hidden world" of Skartaris (a setting highly influenced by Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar). For years thereafter, Morgan engages in adventures dressed only in a winged helmet, wristbands, boots, and breechclout, and armed with a sword and (years before Dirty Harry handled one) a .44 Auto Mag.
At DC, Grell also worked on titles such as Aquaman, Batman, and the Phantom Stranger, and with writer Dennis O'Neil on the re-launch of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series in 1976.
[edit] Tarzan
Grell wrote and drew the Tarzan comic strip from July 19, 1981 to February 27, 1983 (except for one strip, February 13, 1983, by Thomas Yeates). These strips were rerun in newspapers in 2004 - 2005.
[edit] First Comics: Jon Sable Freelance and Starslayer
Cover to Jon Sable Freelance #7. Art by Mike Grell.Through the 1980s Grell developed creator-owned titles such Jon Sable Freelance and Starslayer. Jon Sable Freelance was published by the now-defunct First Comics. Starslayer, a space-born science fiction series, started at Pacific Comics, but shifted to First.
The titular character of Jon Sable Freelance was a former Olympic athlete, later a African big-game hunter, who became a mercenary. First appearing with a cover date of June 1983, Jon Sable Freelance was a successful non-super-hero comic book in an era when successful non-super-hero comic books were almost unheard of, and a graphically violent comic sold in mainstream comic book stores in an era when such was as rare. Jon Sable was a precursor to what would eventually be called, by some, "the Dark Age of Comics," when even long-established super-heroes would become increasingly grim and violent.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's James Bond novels as well as drawing on pulp fiction crime stories. Also, many of the stories of Sable's hunting exploits in Africa were influenced by Peter Hathaway Capstick's novels. At a convention in the late 1980s, Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer."
Sable was adapted into a short-lived television series and the character's origin tale, "A Storm Over Eden," from the comic book, was expanded and novelized by Grell under the title Sable, which was publ
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 18, 2020
For those who need a refresher, originally published by First Comics, Jon Sable is a freelance operative with a tortured past. A Vietnam Vet and former Olympic athlete, he was in Munich during the 1973 Olympic massacre. He met his wife, a former gymnast, and went to live in what was then called Rhodesia in Africa. They had two children and lived happily, until the family, except Jon was murdered in standard hero vigilante style, leaving him a bitter mercenary shell.
Sable is on the shelf about the direction of his life. What’s bothering him is his evolving relationship with Myke, the good girl character, for whom he has strong feelings, but the shadow of his dead wife and children hang heavily over him. After a mild breakdown when Sable forgets his wife’s birthday, something he’s celebrated since her death, and the knowledge that the Russian assassin, the Sparrow, will someday show up for revenge - Well, let’s just say their relationship has a lot of baggage. So much, that Jon’s not sure it’s right for him to impose it on Myke.
While that is the overarching metaplot, the actual issue stories vary from poor, to explosive, to weird. The first story, which takes up three issues for some reason, deals with Sable and friends attending an auction of movie memorabilia where the original prop falcon for the Maltese Falcon is stolen. Sable is hired by several people to find it, just like in the original. Blah blah blah. It follows the film pretty exactly, with much less charm however.
The story taking up issues 31 and 32 are is “The Gauntlet”. Sable hooks up with an old mercenary pal who is putting together a deniable team to enter Nicaragua and check up on the contents of worrisome containers being offloaded from a hostile power. Sable’s team is to check on the cargo and either radio a no-go call or allow the bombing to occur. What they find makes everyone pause. Grell’s artwork and the use of shade and color often underline his hero’s inner sadness to brilliant effect. He expertly moves between scenes, panels flying up before us, knowing when to talk and when to show. He is a true master of the craft. The best tale of the lot.
The last and oddest story of this bunch is in issue 33. Jon Sable’s alter ego is a successful children’s writer under the name of B.B. Flemm. His books deal with a group of Leprechauns who live in Central Park. He meets Sergio Aragones in the book - the actual illustrator, creator of Groo the Wanderer and drawer of Mad Marginals - who is illustrating one of his books. Most of the issue is Sergio Aragones drawing of a children’s book about how the Leprechauns arrived in New York. Fun, silly, definitely different for the series.
Sable is on the shelf about the direction of his life. What’s bothering him is his evolving relationship with Myke, the good girl character, for whom he has strong feelings, but the shadow of his dead wife and children hang heavily over him. After a mild breakdown when Sable forgets his wife’s birthday, something he’s celebrated since her death, and the knowledge that the Russian assassin, the Sparrow, will someday show up for revenge - Well, let’s just say their relationship has a lot of baggage. So much, that Jon’s not sure it’s right for him to impose it on Myke.
While that is the overarching metaplot, the actual issue stories vary from poor, to explosive, to weird. The first story, which takes up three issues for some reason, deals with Sable and friends attending an auction of movie memorabilia where the original prop falcon for the Maltese Falcon is stolen. Sable is hired by several people to find it, just like in the original. Blah blah blah. It follows the film pretty exactly, with much less charm however.
The story taking up issues 31 and 32 are is “The Gauntlet”. Sable hooks up with an old mercenary pal who is putting together a deniable team to enter Nicaragua and check up on the contents of worrisome containers being offloaded from a hostile power. Sable’s team is to check on the cargo and either radio a no-go call or allow the bombing to occur. What they find makes everyone pause. Grell’s artwork and the use of shade and color often underline his hero’s inner sadness to brilliant effect. He expertly moves between scenes, panels flying up before us, knowing when to talk and when to show. He is a true master of the craft. The best tale of the lot.
The last and oddest story of this bunch is in issue 33. Jon Sable’s alter ego is a successful children’s writer under the name of B.B. Flemm. His books deal with a group of Leprechauns who live in Central Park. He meets Sergio Aragones in the book - the actual illustrator, creator of Groo the Wanderer and drawer of Mad Marginals - who is illustrating one of his books. Most of the issue is Sergio Aragones drawing of a children’s book about how the Leprechauns arrived in New York. Fun, silly, definitely different for the series.
December 30, 2015
Jon Sable is an ex merc, a bodyguard for hire, an adventurer, and a children's book writer. Mike Grell writes and draws a complex, very entertaining and realistic character. This hero has the human flaws we all experience as we travel through life. Excellent series by a fantastic writer. Highly recommended
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews