Jon St. Ables, born Jon Stables, (December 23, 1912 – 1999) was a Canadian cartoonist.

Life and career

St. Ables was born in

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and emigrated to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

in Canada when he was 13, preceded by his father and older brother. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he worked as a painter and sign writer for the shipbuilding industry in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

. Shortly after his marriage in 1942 he was hired by Maple Leaf Publishing, where worked as the artist for the Piltdown Pete,

Brok Windsor Brok Windsor is a Canadian comic book character, debuting in Maple Leaf Comics' ''Better Comics'' Vol. 3 #3 April/May 1944. Publication history The character was created, written, and illustrated by John Stables John is a common English ...

, and Bill Speed cartoon strips, which he signed with the pen name "St. Ables". He eventually took over as art editor from Vernon Miller and became one of the company's top cover artists. When Maple Leaf folded in 1946, he opened a studio and for a while produced a line of colouring books. In 1950, St. Ables, his wife Esther, and their two sons moved to California. After unsuccessful approaches to

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

, the family moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, where St. Ables worked in the art department at

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

. He retired from Boeing in 1975. Jon St. Ables died in 1999 at age 87. His wife Esther died ten years later at age 94.'' Issaquah Press'' (February 16, 2009)
"Obituary: Esther Anne Stables"
In 2006 was St. Ables was inducted into the

Joe Shuster Award The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (or Joe Shuster Awards) are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadians. The awards, ...

s Hall of Fame for his contributions to

Canadian comics Canadian comics refers to comics and cartooning by citizens of Canada or Permanent residency in Canada, permanent residents of Canada regardless of residence. Canada has Official bilingualism in Canada, two official languages, and distinct comic ...

.Pincombe, Robert
St. Ables, Jon (1912–1999)
joeshusterawards.com

References

External links

on Lambiek's Comiclopedia 1912 births 1999 deaths British emigrants to Canada Canadian comics artists People from Ulverston {{Canadian-comics-creator-stub