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By Mike Grell (IDW Publishing)
ISBN 10: 1-9323-8277-1
ISBN 13: 978-1-932382-77-8
The mid-1980s were a good time for comics creators. A new market was opening up, new companies were experimenting with format and content, and punters had a bit of spare cash to play with.
As well as new talent, established stars found a forum for different tales. Mike Grell’s extended saga of mercenary bounty hunter Jon Sable might seem like just another semi-realistic crime/caper series today, but in 1983 it was ground-breaking.
A very human hero, Sable is an aging man of action, an ex-Olympic Pentathlete who has the perfect family life in Africa until poachers and terrorists take it all away from him during the war that resulted in Apartheid Rhodesia becoming Zimbabwe.
The weaving of real world history into the narrative, such as the horror of the Munich Olympics, the African conflicts and even the ‘guest-stars’ (President Ronald Reagan hires Sable ‘off the books’ in the very first tale) made this a very contemporary series at the time and only adds verisimilitude now. There’s the same aura of authenticity to these tales now as you’d find in a period movie thriller like Day of the Jackal or I Was Monty’s Double.
Also captivating is the brutal honesty of Grell’s creation. He risks his life for money, for personal advantage and for vengeance, but never denies that he’s addicted to the rush of surviving another day, even if he might subconsciously be trying to get himself killed.
All that aside, this is a superb thriller series, fast-paced, beautifully and uniquely drawn with plenty of humour to leaven the murder and mayhem. New readers will also be treated to the best rationale for a “secret identity†in comics history.
If you like bullets, broads and b*st*rds, Jon Sable is the thrill-ride for you.
© 1983, 2005 Mike Grell. All Rights Reserved.