The Complete Jon Sable: Freelance Volume 1 Review

A 25-year old comic that's still relevant today? Is it possible??

Review by: Mike "blackmore" Maillaro






Written by: Mike Grell
Art by: Mike Grell
Colored by: Janice Cohen and Bruce Patterson
Lettered by: Peter Iro
Editor: Mike Gold
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $24.99

Note: This trade reproduces issues 1-6 of Jon Sable: Freelance, originally produced by First Comics way back in the early '80s. And it's about time someone got around to trading it!!

I bet most comic readers have no idea who Jon Sable is. Even sadder, quite a few readers probably don't know much about Mike Grell. This is a shame, as Grell is one of the best in the business. Whether it was his incredible art on Legion of Super-Heroes, his writing on Iron Man and Green Arrow, or doing both on The Longbow Hunters and Warlord, Grell has never failed to impress me.

A few years ago, because of our shared love of the Warlord and Mike Grell in general, a friend loaned me the First Comics' series Jon Sable: Freelance. I instantly fell in love with the character and the series.

The back story is simple, and slightly cliche: Jon Sable started out as a former Olympic Penthalon. Sable falls in love with a South African gymnast and moves back with her to the South African jungles. They get married and have two children.

Sable ends up setting up shop as a professional hunter, who finds himself tangling with poachers. While Sable is out hunting, the poachers arrive at his home and kill his wife and children. Sable spends the next several years trying to get revenge. But don't worry, this isn't the Punisher. Sable ends up becoming a mercenary who seems to have an extreme death wish.

Eventually, Sable sets up shop as a Freelance for hire. If you need a bodyguard or need a hostage situation resolved, Sable will help you out...for a price.

Sable's stories are set up against real life political events, like attempts on Reagan's life and the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympics. It's an impressive feat of storytelling. Especially since even 20 years after these stories first came out, they still are terrific reads.

I've always been amused by Sable's secret identity. In order to make some money, Sable tried to sell memoirs of his life in the African bush. Unfortunately, his publisher tells him that their action-adventure market is glutted. She convinces Sable that he should write down the stories he used to make up for his children.

But, the hardcore Jon Sable doesn't feel comfortable about people finding out that he's writing these silly little Leprechaun stories. So he creates B.B. Flemm, an obnoxious curly haired jerk of an alter-ego. Instead of most characters, Sable's heroic identity is his everyday persona and Flemm is the disguise. Something about this little switch-up always makes me smile.

Also, these stories are incredibly creative. In the first issue, Ronald Reagan hires Sable to prevent an assassination attempt. In the second issue, a killer uses barcodes coded into bullets to send secret messages. And the rest of the trade is devoted to telling Sable's origin. Grell uses his knowledge about Africa, modern weaponry, and military tactics to create deep and memorable stories.

Another thing is that I've always loved Grell's warped sense of humor. In one scene, in an attempt to prevent a cop from charging him with being a vigilante, Sable charges a local shop owner fifty cents to work as a security guard. In another scene, Sable puts a bullet in the head of a poster of B.B. Flemm.

Along with his amazing writing, I've always loved Grell's art. He has a gritty realistic style that fits these stories. Sable isn't an overly muscled superhero, he's a guy who gets shot a lot and hunts poachers in the African bush. And Grell's unique style reflects his unique storytelling.

The only negative about the content is that it took four issues to tell Sable's origin story. This is a story that really should have been told in two issues tops. Granted, the story doesn't feel padded, but I still think it drags on a bit too long. Especially since Sable's current adventures are so much more fun to read about.

And while not the fault of Mike Grell, I was disturbed by how much this trade costs. But more on that in the next section of this review.

IDW is the movie theater of comic companies. They seem to have no sense of how much the rest of the industry is charging for comics. I was fortunate enough to get this trade for half price on mailordercomics.com, but it's hard for me to suggest that you should pay 25 bucks for 6 comics. While I love these stories, these books are way too overpriced.

Honestly, I doubt you can find the original issues much cheaper, and there are some terrific stories here. So, this is pretty much the only way of finding these comics. "Thank You, IDW" for releasing this book, but "Screw You, IDW" for ripping us all off.

By the way, last year, IDW is ran a new Jon Sable mini-series by Mike Grell. As you can imagine, the issues are overpriced, but it's a terrific read. The man has still got it! There are supposed to be more Jon Sable minis in the future by IDW...so I guess I will need to mortgage my apartment.

By the way, anyone who calls themselves a Green Arrow fan is required to read Grell's 80-issue run on the character. It is truly the seminal Green Arrow run!

Story: 8/10 (mostly because the origin story takes too long)
Art: 9/10
Characters: 10/10 (Sable is awesome, and his circle of associates are one of the best supporting casts in comics)
Jumping-in factor: 10/10. (Perfect first issues introduce you to the characters, the stories, and the backstory perfectly)

Overall: 8.5/10