Sabre (Eclipse Comics)
| Sabre | |
|---|---|
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| Character information | |
| First appearance | Sabre (August 1978) |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Eclipse Comics |
| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a set of ongoing series and graphic novels. |
| Genre | |
| Publication date |
Graphic novel August 1978 Series August 1982 – August 1985 |
| Number of issues |
Graphic novel: 1 Series: 14 |
| Main character(s) | Sabre Melissa Siren Blackstar Blood |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Don McGregor |
| Artist(s) |
Graphic novel Paul Gulacy |
| Penciller(s) |
Series Billy Graham (#2–9) Jose Ortiz (#10–14) |
| Letterer(s) | Annette Kawecki |
| Editor(s) | Dean Mullaney |
Sabre (subtitled Slow Fade of an Endangered Species), published in August 1978, is one of the first modern graphic novels and the first to be distributed in comic book shops. Created by writer Don McGregor and artist Paul Gulacy, it was published by Eclipse Enterprises, whose eventual division Eclipse Comics would publish a spin-off comic-book series.
The initial project of Eclipse Enterprises, the graphic novel Sabre is a 38-page, black-and-white, science fiction swashbuckler in which the self-consciously romantic rebel Sabre and his companion Melissa Siren fight the mercenary Blackstar Blood and others to achieve freedom and strike a blow for individuality, all amid a futuristic Disneyland-turned-torture-chamber. It was published in August 1978 with no ISBN number.
As McGregor described the project's genesis in the afterword of the original edition, writer-editor Jim Salicrup, who in 1976 was toying with the idea of producing a weekly newspaper tabloid, asked McGregor to write a weekly adventure comic strip. McGregor had unsuccessfully pitched a feature called "Dagger" to Marvel Comics, for which he wrote features including "The Black Panther" and "Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds":
'Dagger' became 'Sabre'.... I took the character and the idea and began to flesh it out to Jim. I wrote three weeks of continuity for the strip, and added a prospectus for the general direction of the series. I approached [Marvel artist] Paul Gulacy with the 'Sabre' idea by telephone. ... Paul decided that his style would not comfortably in a weekly comic format, and I had already realized that it was difficult creating a new world [and a] new time period, as well as character that would have only one page a week to introduce all of those ingredients as well as plot developments and thematic qualities. How could we move an audience emotionally? Apologetically, I told Jim I would work on another project for him in the future.... [Later, friend and comics fan] Dean Mullaney saw the presentation piece for 'Sabre' [and] read the detail prospectus. [I said,] 'I'll take a percentage of the book. I'll gamble the year [it would take to do].' ... Dean contacted his rock musician brother, Jan, and not long after that they created their own company, Eclipse Enterprises. Sabre was their first enterprise.
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