IDW ANNOUNCES JON SABLE PLANS

[MattBrady]

Press Release

Mike Grell’s extremely popular mercenary comic book hero, Jon Sable, Freelance, has accepted a new assignment. Jon Sable will return in a new six-part miniseries written and drawn by Grell as well as in quarterly collections of his 1980s adventures.

Jon Sable is a professional soldier-for-hire who lives a double life,
writing children’s books under an assumed name by day and serving as a deadly freelance merc by night. The series, originally published by First Comics, ran 56 issues before being relaunched by different creators and even saw brief life as an ABC-TV series co-starring Rene Russo.

The albums will collect all 56 issues of First’s Jon Sable, Freelance series written and drawn by Grell. These issues contained Sable’s origin and introduced fan-favorite cat burglar, Maggie the Cat, among many other ripped-from-the-headlines adventures. The first trade paperback will include new art, introductions and behind-the-scenes material.

Jon Sable, Freelance follows on the heels of a similar announcement by IDW regarding the return of another popular First Comics character, GrimJack. The release schedule of these books will be similar to GrimJack. In March, IDW will release the first collection of Jon Sable’s ‘80s adventures in trade paperback and limited edition hardcover volumes. Subsequent volumes will be released quarterly. March will also see the release of the first all-new Jon Sable adventure written and drawn by Mike Grell in well over a decade. Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy! will be released monthly and run for six issues.

“I'm very excited to be working on this new miniseries with my old pal Mike Gold and with my new buddies at IDW. Not only is Jon Sable my favorite among all the characters I've ever created, he's also the right kind of hero for today's world -- less than perfect but doing his best, willing to face any danger for what's right, and absolutely relentless when he's on the hunt,” Grell said. “This new story has been building for almost a decade, and is as vital as tomorrow’s headlines.”

“It’s really great to be teaming up with Mike Grell once again,” said Mike Gold, his long-time editor on Jon Sable, Freelance, The Warlord, Green Arrow, and Shaman’s Tears. “We’ve been kicking around plots for a long time – in some ways, we’ve never really stopped working on Jon Sable. He was created as a character for our times today, and we’ve got a story that truly kicks butt. And working with Ted, Beau and Chris at IDW on GrimJack has been my ultimate publishing experience – I’m extremely happy that ArrogantMGMS and I are working with these folks on Jon Sable. It’s really a perfect match.”

“Like many of the great First Comics properties, Jon Sable’s been away from comics for far too long,” added IDW’s editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall. “There is an entire generation of comics fans that haven’t had the chance to see just how good this character is, and I’m happy to be working with the two Mikes on changing that.”

Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy #1 is a full-color, 32-page comic book on sale in March 2005, with a retail price of $3.99. Mike Grell’s Jon Sable Freelance, Volume #1 will be on sale in March 2005 as a $19.99 trade paperback and $39.99 limited-edition hardcover.

Jon Sable, Freelance is copyright and trademark 2004 Nightsky Sable LLC, All Rights Reserved.

[Fazhoul]

More great news for some of my favorite characters from First Comics. $3.99 is a bit steep but I will have to make room for the title on my reading list.

[SpyGuy]

Trade collections of JON SABLE, FREELANCE and a new JON SABLE limited series by Mike Grell? Wow, who do I have to name my first born after for making this one happen?

JON SABLE was definitely a series far ahead of its time, so it'll be great to see how far (or little) we've come since the Reagan era. Grell is a masterful storyteller, capable of combining action, tragedy and humor into an incredible creative work.

I agree, the $3.99 price tag is going to be a big deterrent for some, but as a fan of the original series, it's still a hell of a bargain in my eyes. If you've never read any of JON SABLE before, I heartily recommend indulging yourself on the first trade and/or the new series. You'll be glad you did.

Welcome back, Jon!

[stlfan79]

Sounds cool and I love Grell but I can't part with 3.99 an issue anymore---IDW has just outpriced themselves.

[JK Parkin]

Sweet! Now maybe they'll resurrect the TV show!

[Darth Presley]

Deja vu all over again!

[Chesscub]

Originally posted by Fazhoul
More great news for some of my favorite characters from First Comics. $3.99 is a bit steep but I will have to make room for the title on my reading list.

Trust me, IDW's production values are well worth the $3.99. Generally, the stock IDW uses is heavier than your regular comic book. I get CSI and 30 Days of Night from them and they both look excellent on better quality paper.

I'm very much looking forward to this. My only exposure to Jon Sable and Maggie the Cat are from Shaman's Tears (bring that back soon, Mike!) and the Maggie the Cat mini-series (where's the last issue?) but both were excellent concepts.

Jeff

[saulres]

Originally posted by Chesscub
Trust me, IDW's production values are well worth the $3.99. Generally, the stock IDW uses is heavier than your regular comic book. I get CSI and 30 Days of Night from them and they both look excellent on better quality paper.

If the whole reason for higher comic prices is the paper they're printed on, then I vote for a return to the days of cheaper paper that equals cheaper prices. As a primarily reader of comics, I'm bummed by how many stories I can't afford because the pictures are shinier and the covers sturdier.

[dr.no]

Posted by Saulres[/b]
If the whole reason for higher comic prices is the paper they're printed on, then I vote for a return to the days of cheaper paper that equals cheaper prices. As a primarily reader of comics, I'm bummed by how many stories I can't afford because the pictures are shinier and the covers sturdier.

(sigh...)

What do you want to do next? Reintroduce the old fashioned way of coloring??

[MicroZone]

Originally posted by dr.no
(sigh...)

What do you want to do next? Reintroduce the old fashioned way of coloring??

If it means a return to $1.50-2.00 comics from the big publishers, then yes. Kids are buying black & white comics, so they clearly don't give a rat's butt about the pretty colors, so the only reason it's being done is for the 150K or so comic fans left buying their comics on the direct market.

[Posco]

Trust me, IDW's production values are well worth the $3.99. Generally, the stock IDW uses is heavier than your regular comic book.

I don´t buy comics for their production values. I buy it for the story and art. As long as the paperstock is servicable it´s all right to me. And 4 Dollar for a short read is in my eyes just to much. As much as I would have liked to read new issues of Jon Sable I will not buy it at that price point. In my eyes a black and white mini for 3 Dollars would have been preferable. Esp. since Sable is a story which would work in b&w.

Christian

PS: I love comics and spent over 150 Dollars a month. But if comics are going over the 3 Dollars mark on a regular basis in the near future I will drastically reduce my spending. The "enjoyment per dollar ratio" of comics has to be able to compare to other forms of entertainment I´m interested in.

[Darth Presley]

Originally posted by saulres
If the whole reason for higher comic prices is the paper they're printed on, then I vote for a return to the days of cheaper paper that equals cheaper prices. As a primarily reader of comics, I'm bummed by how many stories I can't afford because the pictures are shinier and the covers sturdier.

quote:Originally posted by dr.no
(sigh...)

What do you want to do next? Reintroduce the old fashioned way of coloring??

If it means a return to $1.50-2.00 comics from the big publishers, then yes. Kids are buying black & white comics, so they clearly don't give a rat's butt about the pretty colors, so the only reason it's being done is for the 150K or so comic fans left buying their comics on the direct market.

I second that emotion.

$2.25 to $3.99 is too damn much to pay for 22 pages of story and art - especially when the expectation is you'll pay that every month.

Beautiful production values are wonderful and have a place, but comics are slowly strangling themselves with these prices. Compare monthly book sales now to 15-17 years ago. Loss of mass distribution is one reason but I really think the larger reason is price point. Comic collectors who value these things should be the secondary, not primary focus of the industry.