Mike Grell Launches December Kickstarter
By Philip Schweier
December 1, 2020 - 13:10
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Jon Sable, Freelance was one of the earliest successes among independent comics of the 1980s. Published by First Comics from 1983-1987, it featured the adventures of a former African hunter returning to the U.S., working as a bounty hunter/mercenary. Its character-driven narrative helped redefine what the medium could achieve, and often saw higher sales and critical praise than many other mainstream titles.
Grell fans have been clamoring for Jon Sable’s return for many years. IDW released a series of trade paperbacks in the early 2000s, and Comicmix published smaller trade paperbacks in the last decade. Sable’s most recent appearance in Rules of the Hunt, published as part of the Maggie the Cat Kickstarter campaign.
Beginning with issue #44, Grell stopped drawing the series but continued to write the title until its final issue (#56). For the omnibus, According to Grell, some of those issues – at least two, possibly four or more – will be re-drawn for the omnibus edition.
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The forthcoming omnibus editions will also pave the way for new Jon Sable stories from Grell. He says they are discussing spinning off of Rules of the Hunt, and then repackaging the new material for wider distribution in TPB paperback form.
Previous Kickstarter campaigns for Grell’s Maggie the Cat (a spinoff from Jon Sable) and The Pilgrim (a collaboration with Mark Ryan) have proven very successful. “We learned a lot from the Maggie the Cat Kickstarter, with growing pains from the word go,” says Grell. “Once we figured out the process. We were able to smooth things out for The Pilgrim.”
Hours into the Jon Sable campaign, it had generated more than $15,000 of its $55,000 goal. Early bird fans will get the chance to score an exclusive print to be included in the first 100 backers’ packages when the first book is published early next year.
In addition, the names of backers of the project will be listed in the back of the book, thanking them for their frontline support of Grell's work. The Kickstarter page adds, “As we surpass our funding goal, and unlock Stretch Goals, there are even more great surprises in store, from trading cards, a Sable poster, a feature length Mike Grell video interview, trading cards, art portfolio prints, and even a chance to get Volume 2 of the omnibus set at a discounted rate after we pass a certain funding goal.”
Other perks, premiums and add-ons are also available, with more surprises to be announced during the three-week campaign.
Companion books that will be part of the Kickstarter campaigns will include the original Freelance Writing letters columns, with a forward by former Sable editor Mike Gold. It will also include Grell’s Safari Sketchbook, which was published in Jon Sable, Freelance #22-24.
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Based on the success of Grell’s Kickstarter projects, fans can expect to see more of his creator-owned properties – such as Starslayer and Shaman’s Tears – to receive crowd funding campaigns in the future.
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