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%%* CutShort: The ''Maggie the Cat'' mini-series.
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* DeathOfAThousandCuts: In #4, Jon leaves one of the mercenaries who killed his family [[PinnedToTheWall nailed to tree]] with a knife through his hands above a colony of army ants. As the ants start swarming up the man, Sable leaves him and tells him, if he tries hard enough, he can die, before the ants get to him.
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%%* EvilPoacher
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* PinnedToTheWall: In #4, Jon leaves one of the mercenaries who killed his family nailed to tree with a knife through his hands above a colony of army ants, and leaves him to suffer a DeathOfAThousandCuts as the ants start to swarm up his body.
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* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: #33 is about the children's books that Jon writes and tells the story of a group of leprechauns living in Central Park. Aside from a framing sequence, the art is by Sergio Aragones instead of Mike Grell.
%%* SwissArmyGun: the .357 pepperbox.
%%* SwissArmyGun: the .357 pepperbox.
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* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: #33 is about the children's books that Jon writes and tells the story of a group of leprechauns living in Central Park. Aside from a framing sequence, the art is by Sergio Aragones instead of Mike Grell.
%%*Grell.%* SwissArmyGun: the .Sables .357 pepperbox.Magnum pepperbox. The weapon could fire underwater, fire rifle shot, arrow/bolt type projectiles and a multitude of other loads, such as tear gas, explosive, and tranquilizer. This was a RealLife weapon designed for Navy [=SEALs=] that never went beyond prototype.
%%*
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%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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* BountyHunter
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* ClassyCatBurglar: Maggie the Cat.
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* CutShort: The ''Maggie the Cat'' mini-series.
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* EvilPoacher
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* FriendOnTheForce: Captain Josh Winters
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* GreatWhiteHunter: Jon before he became a mercenary.
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* HandCannon: The Magnum pepperbox.
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* OlderSidekick: Sonny Pratt.
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* RatedMForManly
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* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Sable went on one of these after his family was murdered.
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* SwissArmyGun: the .357 pepperbox.
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* WeHelpTheHelpless
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Sable was a bounty hunter and mercenary who previously had been an athlete in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. After witnessing the terrorist outrages at those games, he married a fellow athlete and they relocated to Rhodesia, where Sable became an organiser of safaris for tourists, and later a game warden. It was during this time his family was murdered by poachers. After avenging his slain family, Sable returned to the USA and became a free-lance mercenary.
He also has a double identity as a successful children's book writer under the name of "B.B. Flemm". Unlike many such characters, his literary agent is aware of his other identity's activities, but is most persuasive in enforcing his writing contract obligations as well.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's Literature/JamesBond 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 [[TheEighties 1980s]], Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Literature/MikeHammer."
''Jon Sable Freelance'' lasted 56 issues from 1983 to 1988 before being cancelled. While Grell wrote and did all the covers, he stopped drawing the stories after #44. Late in this run Grell announced in the comic's own text pages that Tony [=DeZuniga=] would soon join him as the new artist. Just what happened to these plans is unclear, but soon the series was suspended, and after a few months, Marv Wolfman was writing and Bill Jaaska was drawing a new series called ''Sable'', with Grell having no part. This lasted 27 issues before cancellation. The feature also spawned a short lived ABC 1987 TV series, called ''Sable''.
The TV series was notable only for its changes to the premise, and for introducing Rene Russo to audiences as one of the leads. In the TV series, instead of Sable being the public face and masquerading as a children's book author, "Nicholas Fleming" was the children's book author and Sable the mysterious masked do-gooder. Sable was wanted for murder in Africa, it was explained, and the vaguely effete Fleming persona was the only way he could live safely in Chicago. A new character for the TV series was "Cheesecake" Tyson, a hacker friend who inevitably supplied exposition.
A third First Comics series, ''Mike Grell's Sable'', reprinted the first ten issues of the original ''Jon Sable Freelance'' series. There was also a tie-in miniseries featuring one of the semi-recurring characters, a thief called Maggie The Cat, at Image Comics in 1996. Only 2 issues were released and the series was never completed.
After the title's cancellation (and First's ceasing operations), the character made some cameo appearances in some of Grell's other titles over the years. He did not receive his own series again until March 2005, when Creator/IDWPublishing released the first of a new six-issue mini-series titled ''Jon Sable Freelance: Bloodtrail'' (originally announced as ''Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy'') written and drawn by Grell. IDW have also been reprinting the entire original run in a series of trade paperbacks.
He also has a double identity as a successful children's book writer under the name of "B.B. Flemm". Unlike many such characters, his literary agent is aware of his other identity's activities, but is most persuasive in enforcing his writing contract obligations as well.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's Literature/JamesBond 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 [[TheEighties 1980s]], Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Literature/MikeHammer."
''Jon Sable Freelance'' lasted 56 issues from 1983 to 1988 before being cancelled. While Grell wrote and did all the covers, he stopped drawing the stories after #44. Late in this run Grell announced in the comic's own text pages that Tony [=DeZuniga=] would soon join him as the new artist. Just what happened to these plans is unclear, but soon the series was suspended, and after a few months, Marv Wolfman was writing and Bill Jaaska was drawing a new series called ''Sable'', with Grell having no part. This lasted 27 issues before cancellation. The feature also spawned a short lived ABC 1987 TV series, called ''Sable''.
The TV series was notable only for its changes to the premise, and for introducing Rene Russo to audiences as one of the leads. In the TV series, instead of Sable being the public face and masquerading as a children's book author, "Nicholas Fleming" was the children's book author and Sable the mysterious masked do-gooder. Sable was wanted for murder in Africa, it was explained, and the vaguely effete Fleming persona was the only way he could live safely in Chicago. A new character for the TV series was "Cheesecake" Tyson, a hacker friend who inevitably supplied exposition.
A third First Comics series, ''Mike Grell's Sable'', reprinted the first ten issues of the original ''Jon Sable Freelance'' series. There was also a tie-in miniseries featuring one of the semi-recurring characters, a thief called Maggie The Cat, at Image Comics in 1996. Only 2 issues were released and the series was never completed.
After the title's cancellation (and First's ceasing operations), the character made some cameo appearances in some of Grell's other titles over the years. He did not receive his own series again until March 2005, when Creator/IDWPublishing released the first of a new six-issue mini-series titled ''Jon Sable Freelance: Bloodtrail'' (originally announced as ''Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy'') written and drawn by Grell. IDW have also been reprinting the entire original run in a series of trade paperbacks.
to:
Sable was a bounty hunter and mercenary who previously had been an athlete in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. After witnessing the terrorist outrages [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre Munich massacre]] at those games, he married a fellow athlete and they relocated moved to Rhodesia, where Sable became an organiser of organized safaris for tourists, tourists and later became a game warden. It was during this time his family was murdered by poachers. After avenging getting revenge for his slain murdered family, Sable returned to the USA America and became a free-lance freelance mercenary.
He alsohas a double had another identity as a successful children's book writer under author, using the name of "B.B. Flemm". Unlike many such characters, his literary agent is aware of his other identity's secret activities, but is most persuasive in enforcing his also managed to keep Sable on track writing contract obligations as well.
books.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's Literature/JamesBond novels as well, as well asdrawing on pulp fiction crime stories. Also, many Many of the stories of Sable's hunting exploits in Africa were influenced by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hathaway_Capstick Peter Hathaway Capstick's Capstick's]] novels. At a convention in the late [[TheEighties 1980s]], Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Literature/MikeHammer."
''Jon Sable Freelance'' lasted 56 issues from 1983 to 1988 before being cancelled. While Grell wrote and did all the covers, he stopped drawing the stories after #44. Late in thisrun run, Grell announced in within the comic's own text pages comic that Tony [=DeZuniga=] would soon join him as become the new artist. Just what happened to these plans is unclear, artist, but that never came to pass. Another artist came on the book, but the book was soon the series was suspended, cancelled, and after a few months, Marv Wolfman was writing and Bill Jaaska was drawing a new series another book just called ''Sable'', ''Sable'' was launched, written by Marv Wolfman, with art by Bill Jaaska, with Grell having no part. This lasted 27 issues before cancellation. cancellation.
Thefeature also spawned comic was adapted into a short lived ABC 1987 TV series, show called ''Sable''.
The TV series was''Sable'', notable only for its changes to the premise, and for introducing Rene Russo to audiences as one of the leads. In As well, there were a few changes to the TV series, instead of Sable being the public face and masquerading as a premise, with children's book author, author "Nicholas Fleming" was being the children's book author public face and Sable the mysterious masked do-gooder. Sable was wanted for murder in Africa, it was explained, and the vaguely effete Fleming persona was the only way he could live safely in Chicago. A new character for the TV series was "Cheesecake" Tyson, a hacker friend who inevitably supplied exposition.
friend.
A third First Comics series, ''Mike Grell's Sable'', reprinted the first ten issues of the original ''Jon Sable Freelance'' series. There was also a tie-in miniseries featuring one of the semi-recurring characters, athief ClassyCatBurglar called Maggie The Cat, at Image Comics in 1996. Only 2 two issues were released and the series was never completed.
After the title's cancellation (and First's ceasing operations), the character made some cameo appearances in some of Grell's other titles over the years. He did not receive his own series again until March 2005, when Creator/IDWPublishing released the first of a new six-issue mini-series titled ''JonSable Sable, Freelance: Bloodtrail'' (originally announced as ''Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy'') written and drawn by Grell. IDW have also been reprinting the entire original run in a series of trade paperbacks.
He also
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's Literature/JamesBond novels as well, as well as
''Jon Sable Freelance'' lasted 56 issues from 1983 to 1988 before being cancelled. While Grell wrote and did all the covers, he stopped drawing the stories after #44. Late in this
The
The TV series was
A third First Comics series, ''Mike Grell's Sable'', reprinted the first ten issues of the original ''Jon Sable Freelance'' series. There was also a tie-in miniseries featuring one of the semi-recurring characters, a
After the title's cancellation (and First's ceasing operations), the character made some cameo appearances in some of Grell's other titles over the years. He did not receive his own series again until March 2005, when Creator/IDWPublishing released the first of a new six-issue mini-series titled ''Jon
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* GunsFiringUnderwater: Jon's .357 Magnum pepperbox--a SwissArmyWeapon--can fire underwater; usually firing stell spikes like a miniature spear gun. Justified as this a gun specifically designed to fire underwater, being based on a prototype weapon designed for the Navy [=SEALs=
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* GunsFiringUnderwater: Jon's .357 Magnum pepperbox--a SwissArmyWeapon--can fire underwater; usually firing stell spikes like a miniature spear gun. Justified as this a gun specifically designed to fire underwater, being based on a prototype weapon designed for the Navy [=SEALs=[=SEALs=].
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* GunsFiringUnderwater: Jon's .357 Magnum pepperbox--a SwissArmyWeapon--can fire underwater; usually firing stell spikes like a miniature spear gun. Justified as this a gun specifically designed to fire underwater, being based on a prototype weapon designed for the Navy [=SEALs=
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fixed some typos
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* ArtShift: #33 deals largely with the plot of one of Sable's children's books. A framing sequence was drawn by Mike Grell in his usual style, while the majority of the issue is drawn by Sergio Aragaones in a much more cartoony style, representing the illustrations in the book.
to:
* ArtShift: #33 deals largely with the plot of one of Sable's children's books. A framing sequence was drawn by Mike Grell in his usual style, while the majority of the issue is drawn by Sergio Aragaones Aragones in a much more cartoony style, representing the illustrations in the book.
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* CoolGuns: Sable uses a customized C96 Mauser: specifically, the Chinese Shanxi Type 17 (firing .45 ACP rounds) as a base, with the box-magazine loading mechanisim of the 'Schnellfeuer' model instead of the stripper clip-loaded internal magazine. This is his primary firearm for much of the comic.
to:
* CoolGuns: Sable uses a customized C96 Mauser: specifically, the Chinese Shanxi Type 17 (firing .45 ACP rounds) as a base, with the box-magazine loading mechanisim mechanism of the 'Schnellfeuer' model instead of the stripper clip-loaded internal magazine. This is his primary firearm for much of the comic.
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* FollowThatCar: Jon says this to a cab driver in the first issue. The cabbie is so amused by being asked to do this for the first time in his career that he doesn't even charge for the ride.
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* FollowThatCar: Jon says this to a cab driver in the first issue. The cabbie is so amused by at being asked to do this for the first time in his career that he doesn't even charge for the ride.
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* GayBestFriend: Jon's girlfriend Myke shares her apartment with gay choreographer named Grey who is her best friend. To his surprise, Jon also becomes friends with him.
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* GayBestFriend: Jon's girlfriend Myke shares her apartment with a gay choreographer named Grey who is her best friend. To his surprise, Jon also becomes friends with him.
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* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: #33 is about the children's books that Jon writes and tells the story of a group of leprechauns living in Central Park. Aside from a framing sequence, the art is by Sergio Aragaones instead of Mike Grell.
to:
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: #33 is about the children's books that Jon writes and tells the story of a group of leprechauns living in Central Park. Aside from a framing sequence, the art is by Sergio Aragaones Aragones instead of Mike Grell.
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* SwordAndFist: While teaching Grey the basics of fencing to allow him to choreograph a swordfight/dance scene, Jon explains that a real swordfight would have been nothing like you see in the movies, but involve all sorts of tactics such as grappling your opponent or [[GroinAttack kicking him in the groin]]. Any time Jon gets in an actual life and death swordfight in the series, he is shown employing these sort of tactics.
to:
* SwordAndFist: While teaching Grey the basics of fencing to allow him to choreograph a swordfight/dance scene, Jon explains that a real swordfight would have been nothing like you see in the movies, but involve all sorts of tactics such as grappling your opponent or [[GroinAttack kicking him in the groin]]. Any time Jon gets in an actual life and death swordfight in the series, he is shown employing these sort sorts of tactics.
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* SwordAndFist: While teaching Grey the basics of fencing to allow him to choreograph a swordfight/dance scene, Jon explains that a real swordfight would have been nothing like you see in the movies, but involve all sorts of tactics such as grappling your opponent or [[GroinAttack kicking him in the groin]]. Any time Jon gets in an actual life and death swordfight in the series, he is shown employing these sort of tactics.
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* CameoProp: The Maltese Falcon (the actual prop used in [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon the 1941 film]]) is a literal example, and the MacGuffin in one story.
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* CameoProp: The Maltese Falcon (the actual prop used in [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon1941 the 1941 film]]) is a literal example, and the MacGuffin in one story.
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* GayBestFriend: Jon's girlfriend Myke shares her apartment with gay choreographer named Grey who is her best friend. To his surprise, Jon also becomes friends with him.
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* ComicBookTime: Originally the characters aged in real time. However, after the revival in 2009, the book no longer makes any reference to specific historic events like the Vietnam War, and the 1972 Olympic Games that were seminal events in Jon's history.
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* HighDiveEscape: Sable does it in ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49, in a story that was an homage to ''{{The Prisoner of Zenda}}''. Jon claims the opportunity to make this kind of exit is irresistible, and chooses to leap from a tower window into the moat rather than stick around and explain to the authorities what was going on.
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* HighDiveEscape: Sable does it in ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49, in a story that was an homage to ''{{The ''Literature/{{The Prisoner of Zenda}}''. Jon claims the opportunity to make this kind of exit is irresistible, and chooses to leap from a tower window into the moat rather than stick around and explain to the authorities what was going on.
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* EmergencyImpersonation: ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49 is an {{Homage}} / WholePlotReference to ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'' with Jon standing in for a kidnapped European monarch.
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* EmergencyImpersonation: ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49 is an {{Homage}} / WholePlotReference to ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'' ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' with Jon standing in for a kidnapped European monarch.
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** In #17, he picks up a comically oversized trick revolver that's chambered in .375. It can also fire what are basically powder-launched crossbow bolts.
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* BalletEpisode: In "The Wall", Jon is hired to extract a defecting ballerina from East Berlin. Mike Grell uses the opportunity to draw a gorgeous ballet sequence that goes on for several pages without dialogue.
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Useful Notes/ pages are not tropes
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* SoldiersAtTheRear: Jon's tour of duty in TheVietnamWar was spent as a clerk/typist in an intelligence unit.
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* SoldiersAtTheRear: Jon's tour of duty in TheVietnamWar UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar was spent as a clerk/typist in an intelligence unit.
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* TheVietnamWar: Flashbacks to Jon's service in Vietnam, and a storyline that involved him returning to Vietnam in search of P.O.W.s.
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* {{Badass}}
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/completejonsablevol01tpbcvr_large_1.jpg
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* RoleCalled: 'Freelance' is an archaic term for a mercenary.
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* POWCamp: In "M.I.A", Jon goes back to Vietnam in search of missing P.O.W.s and breaks into a camp still holding American servicemen.
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* TheCommissionerGordon: Captain Josh Winters fills this role. While he doesn't always approve of Sable's activities, he recognises that the fact that Sable isn't hampered by the same rules as the NYPD is sometimes useful, and generally smooths things over between Sable and the force.
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* CuttingTheKnot: In one issue, Sable and an archaeologist are looking for treasure in a Central American pyramid. It's one of those designed so that a beam of sunlight shining through a hole in the wall will reveal the lock - but it only works on one day of the year that's months away. Sable points out that the ancient builders hadn't anticipated modern electricity and duplicates the effect with his flashlight.
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* FollowThatCar: Subverted in the first issue. The cabbie is so amused by doing this for the first time in his career he doesn't even charge for the ride.
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* FollowThatCar: Subverted Jon says this to a cab driver in the first issue. The cabbie is so amused by doing being asked to do this for the first time in his career that he doesn't even charge for the ride.
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* CrusadingWidower: Jon's transformation to soldier-of-fortune happens when his wife and children are murdered by {{Evil Poacher}}s. His first act is go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the poachers, although he does not catch up to their real boss until years later.
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* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: #33 is about the children's books that Jon writes and tells the story of a group of leprechauns living in Central Park. Aside from a framing sequence, the art is by Sergio Aragaones instead of Mike Grell.
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* CoolGuns: Sable uses a customized C96 Mauser: specifically, the Chinese Shanxi Type 17 (firing .45 ACP rounds) as a base, with the box-magazine loading mechanisim of the 'Schnellfeuer' model instead of the stripper clip-loaded internal magazine. This is his primary firearm for much of the comic.
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* PrivateMilitaryContractors; Right there in the title. 'Freelance' is an archaic word for a mercenary.
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* PrivateMilitaryContractors; PrivateMilitaryContractors: Right there in the title. 'Freelance' is an archaic word for a mercenary.
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* PrivateMilitaryContractors
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* PrivateMilitaryContractorsPrivateMilitaryContractors; Right there in the title. 'Freelance' is an archaic word for a mercenary.
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* ArtShift: #33 deals largely with the plot of one of Sable's children's books. A framing sequence was drawn by Mike Grell in his usual style, while the majority of the issue is drawn by Sergio Aragaones in a much more cartoony style, representing the illustrations in the book.
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* RealMenWearPink: Sable has a secret second career as the author of a best-selling series of children's books about a clan of leprechauns living in Central Park.
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* SoldiersAtTheRear: Jon's tour of duty in TheVietnamWar was spent as a clerk/typist in an intelligence unit.
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moving to correct namespace
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/completejonsablevol01tpbcvr_large_1.jpg
''Jon Sable Freelance'' was an American comic book, one of the first series created for the fledging publisher First Comics in 1983. It was written and drawn by Mike Grell and was a fully creator-owned title, as were all of First Comics' titles.
Sable was a bounty hunter and mercenary who previously had been an athlete in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. After witnessing the terrorist outrages at those games, he married a fellow athlete and they relocated to Rhodesia, where Sable became an organiser of safaris for tourists, and later a game warden. It was during this time his family was murdered by poachers. After avenging his slain family, Sable returned to the USA and became a free-lance mercenary.
He also has a double identity as a successful children's book writer under the name of "B.B. Flemm". Unlike many such characters, his literary agent is aware of his other identity's activities, but is most persuasive in enforcing his writing contract obligations as well.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's Literature/JamesBond 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 [[TheEighties 1980s]], Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Literature/MikeHammer."
''Jon Sable Freelance'' lasted 56 issues from 1983 to 1988 before being cancelled. While Grell wrote and did all the covers, he stopped drawing the stories after #44. Late in this run Grell announced in the comic's own text pages that Tony [=DeZuniga=] would soon join him as the new artist. Just what happened to these plans is unclear, but soon the series was suspended, and after a few months, Marv Wolfman was writing and Bill Jaaska was drawing a new series called ''Sable'', with Grell having no part. This lasted 27 issues before cancellation. The feature also spawned a short lived ABC 1987 TV series, called ''Sable''.
The TV series was notable only for its changes to the premise, and for introducing Rene Russo to audiences as one of the leads. In the TV series, instead of Sable being the public face and masquerading as a children's book author, "Nicholas Fleming" was the children's book author and Sable the mysterious masked do-gooder. Sable was wanted for murder in Africa, it was explained, and the vaguely effete Fleming persona was the only way he could live safely in Chicago. A new character for the TV series was "Cheesecake" Tyson, a hacker friend who inevitably supplied exposition.
A third First Comics series, ''Mike Grell's Sable'', reprinted the first ten issues of the original ''Jon Sable Freelance'' series. There was also a tie-in miniseries featuring one of the semi-recurring characters, a thief called Maggie The Cat, at Image Comics in 1996. Only 2 issues were released and the series was never completed.
After the title's cancellation (and First's ceasing operations), the character made some cameo appearances in some of Grell's other titles over the years. He did not receive his own series again until March 2005, when Creator/IDWPublishing released the first of a new six-issue mini-series titled ''Jon Sable Freelance: Bloodtrail'' (originally announced as ''Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy'') written and drawn by Grell. IDW have also been reprinting the entire original run in a series of trade paperbacks.
A new series, ''Jon Sable: Ashes of Eden'', was serialized on-line beginning in December, 2007. It was published as a five-issue miniseries by IDW in 2009-2010.
Grell wrote a prose novel featuring the character, simply titled ''Sable'', which was published in hardcover in 2000 and in paperback in 2001. The book was partly adapted from early issues of the comic series, with some changes in chronology.
!!The series includes examples of:
* {{Badass}}
* {{BFG}}: When Jon felt the need for for some serious firepower, he would haul out an elephant gun.
* BountyHunter
* CameoProp: The Maltese Falcon (the actual prop used in [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon the 1941 film]]) is a literal example, and the MacGuffin in one story.
* CanonDisContinuity: Grell's later uses of Jon Sable disregard everything that happened in the 27 issues of ''Sable'' written by Marv Wolfman.
* ClassyCatBurglar: Maggie the Cat.
* CrossOver: Grell reintroduced the character of Jon Sable after a prolonged absence as a guest character in his ''ComicBook/ShamansTears'' comic.
* CutShort: The ''Maggie the Cat'' mini-series.
* EmergencyImpersonation: ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49 is an {{Homage}} / WholePlotReference to ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'' with Jon standing in for a kidnapped European monarch.
* EvilPoacher
* FollowThatCar: Subverted in the first issue. The cabbie is so amused by doing this for the first time in his career he doesn't even charge for the ride.
* FriendOnTheForce: Captain Josh Winters
* GreatWhiteHunter: Jon before he became a mercenary.
* HandCannon: The Magnum pepperbox.
* HighDiveEscape: Sable does it in ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49, in a story that was an homage to ''{{The Prisoner of Zenda}}''. Jon claims the opportunity to make this kind of exit is irresistible, and chooses to leap from a tower window into the moat rather than stick around and explain to the authorities what was going on.
* LittleUselessGun: In one story, a woman threatens Sable with a small .22 caliber pistol. He's more disdainful of the weapon than afraid.
* LockAndLoadMontage: Jon gearing up for a mission was a standard scene.
* MacGuffin: Formula '7X', which turns out to be [[spoiler:the secret formula for Coca Cola]].
** In Ashes of Eden the trope is Lampshaded most obviously with the [[ShapedLikeItself MacGuffin Diamond]].
* MaskPower: Sable wears a black makeup design on his face because "it scares the hell out of the bad guys".
* OlderSidekick: Sonny Pratt.
* PocketProtector: One of the poachers who killed Jon's family is saved from Jon's RoaringRampageOfRevenge by the AK-47 he was carrying at chest height. Jon's bullet hits the rifle and the impact is enough to knock the poacher out, leading Jon to assume he is dead.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors
* RareGuns: Sable's favourite weapon is a broomhandle Mauser chambered for .45 ACP. He also carried a large bore, multipurpose stainless steel revolver, that had a resemblance to an antique pepperbox revolver. The weapon could fire underwater, fire rifle shot, arrow/bolt type projectiles and a multitude of other loads, such as tear gas, explosive, and tranquilizer. This was an actual weapon designed for Navy [=SEALs=] that never went beyond prototype.
* RatedMForManly
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Sable went on one of these after his family was murdered.
* SecretIdentity: Inverted, as Jon Sable is publicly known as a mercenary and gun-for-hire. What he keeps secret is his role as children's author 'B.B. Flemm' and he dons an elaborate disguise whenever he has to make a public appearance as Flemm.
* ShootingGallery: Sable has 'Hogan's Alley' in his basement. Unsurprisingly, he ends up having a running gun battle through it in one issue.
* SwissArmyGun: the .357 pepperbox.
* ThisMeansWarpaint: Jon applying his face paint was a standard part of his LockAndLoadMontage, and showed that he meant business. The first time he ever did this was just before he went on his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the poachers who murdered his family, using the ashes from his burnt home as the paint.
* TheVietnamWar: Flashbacks to Jon's service in Vietnam, and a storyline that involved him returning to Vietnam in search of P.O.W.s.
* WeHelpTheHelpless
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''Jon Sable Freelance'' was an American comic book, one of the first series created for the fledging publisher First Comics in 1983. It was written and drawn by Mike Grell and was a fully creator-owned title, as were all of First Comics' titles.
Sable was a bounty hunter and mercenary who previously had been an athlete in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. After witnessing the terrorist outrages at those games, he married a fellow athlete and they relocated to Rhodesia, where Sable became an organiser of safaris for tourists, and later a game warden. It was during this time his family was murdered by poachers. After avenging his slain family, Sable returned to the USA and became a free-lance mercenary.
He also has a double identity as a successful children's book writer under the name of "B.B. Flemm". Unlike many such characters, his literary agent is aware of his other identity's activities, but is most persuasive in enforcing his writing contract obligations as well.
The character was heavily influenced by Ian Fleming's Literature/JamesBond 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 [[TheEighties 1980s]], Grell stated that his idea for Sable was "something like a cross between James Bond and Mickey Spillane's Literature/MikeHammer."
''Jon Sable Freelance'' lasted 56 issues from 1983 to 1988 before being cancelled. While Grell wrote and did all the covers, he stopped drawing the stories after #44. Late in this run Grell announced in the comic's own text pages that Tony [=DeZuniga=] would soon join him as the new artist. Just what happened to these plans is unclear, but soon the series was suspended, and after a few months, Marv Wolfman was writing and Bill Jaaska was drawing a new series called ''Sable'', with Grell having no part. This lasted 27 issues before cancellation. The feature also spawned a short lived ABC 1987 TV series, called ''Sable''.
The TV series was notable only for its changes to the premise, and for introducing Rene Russo to audiences as one of the leads. In the TV series, instead of Sable being the public face and masquerading as a children's book author, "Nicholas Fleming" was the children's book author and Sable the mysterious masked do-gooder. Sable was wanted for murder in Africa, it was explained, and the vaguely effete Fleming persona was the only way he could live safely in Chicago. A new character for the TV series was "Cheesecake" Tyson, a hacker friend who inevitably supplied exposition.
A third First Comics series, ''Mike Grell's Sable'', reprinted the first ten issues of the original ''Jon Sable Freelance'' series. There was also a tie-in miniseries featuring one of the semi-recurring characters, a thief called Maggie The Cat, at Image Comics in 1996. Only 2 issues were released and the series was never completed.
After the title's cancellation (and First's ceasing operations), the character made some cameo appearances in some of Grell's other titles over the years. He did not receive his own series again until March 2005, when Creator/IDWPublishing released the first of a new six-issue mini-series titled ''Jon Sable Freelance: Bloodtrail'' (originally announced as ''Jon Sable, Freelance: Conspiracy'') written and drawn by Grell. IDW have also been reprinting the entire original run in a series of trade paperbacks.
A new series, ''Jon Sable: Ashes of Eden'', was serialized on-line beginning in December, 2007. It was published as a five-issue miniseries by IDW in 2009-2010.
Grell wrote a prose novel featuring the character, simply titled ''Sable'', which was published in hardcover in 2000 and in paperback in 2001. The book was partly adapted from early issues of the comic series, with some changes in chronology.
!!The series includes examples of:
* {{Badass}}
* {{BFG}}: When Jon felt the need for for some serious firepower, he would haul out an elephant gun.
* BountyHunter
* CameoProp: The Maltese Falcon (the actual prop used in [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon the 1941 film]]) is a literal example, and the MacGuffin in one story.
* CanonDisContinuity: Grell's later uses of Jon Sable disregard everything that happened in the 27 issues of ''Sable'' written by Marv Wolfman.
* ClassyCatBurglar: Maggie the Cat.
* CrossOver: Grell reintroduced the character of Jon Sable after a prolonged absence as a guest character in his ''ComicBook/ShamansTears'' comic.
* CutShort: The ''Maggie the Cat'' mini-series.
* EmergencyImpersonation: ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49 is an {{Homage}} / WholePlotReference to ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'' with Jon standing in for a kidnapped European monarch.
* EvilPoacher
* FollowThatCar: Subverted in the first issue. The cabbie is so amused by doing this for the first time in his career he doesn't even charge for the ride.
* FriendOnTheForce: Captain Josh Winters
* GreatWhiteHunter: Jon before he became a mercenary.
* HandCannon: The Magnum pepperbox.
* HighDiveEscape: Sable does it in ''Jon Sable, Freelance'' #49, in a story that was an homage to ''{{The Prisoner of Zenda}}''. Jon claims the opportunity to make this kind of exit is irresistible, and chooses to leap from a tower window into the moat rather than stick around and explain to the authorities what was going on.
* LittleUselessGun: In one story, a woman threatens Sable with a small .22 caliber pistol. He's more disdainful of the weapon than afraid.
* LockAndLoadMontage: Jon gearing up for a mission was a standard scene.
* MacGuffin: Formula '7X', which turns out to be [[spoiler:the secret formula for Coca Cola]].
** In Ashes of Eden the trope is Lampshaded most obviously with the [[ShapedLikeItself MacGuffin Diamond]].
* MaskPower: Sable wears a black makeup design on his face because "it scares the hell out of the bad guys".
* OlderSidekick: Sonny Pratt.
* PocketProtector: One of the poachers who killed Jon's family is saved from Jon's RoaringRampageOfRevenge by the AK-47 he was carrying at chest height. Jon's bullet hits the rifle and the impact is enough to knock the poacher out, leading Jon to assume he is dead.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors
* RareGuns: Sable's favourite weapon is a broomhandle Mauser chambered for .45 ACP. He also carried a large bore, multipurpose stainless steel revolver, that had a resemblance to an antique pepperbox revolver. The weapon could fire underwater, fire rifle shot, arrow/bolt type projectiles and a multitude of other loads, such as tear gas, explosive, and tranquilizer. This was an actual weapon designed for Navy [=SEALs=] that never went beyond prototype.
* RatedMForManly
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Sable went on one of these after his family was murdered.
* SecretIdentity: Inverted, as Jon Sable is publicly known as a mercenary and gun-for-hire. What he keeps secret is his role as children's author 'B.B. Flemm' and he dons an elaborate disguise whenever he has to make a public appearance as Flemm.
* ShootingGallery: Sable has 'Hogan's Alley' in his basement. Unsurprisingly, he ends up having a running gun battle through it in one issue.
* SwissArmyGun: the .357 pepperbox.
* ThisMeansWarpaint: Jon applying his face paint was a standard part of his LockAndLoadMontage, and showed that he meant business. The first time he ever did this was just before he went on his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the poachers who murdered his family, using the ashes from his burnt home as the paint.
* TheVietnamWar: Flashbacks to Jon's service in Vietnam, and a storyline that involved him returning to Vietnam in search of P.O.W.s.
* WeHelpTheHelpless
----
