One of comics' earliest and most spirited creator-owned heroes is aiming to return to comics -- and he needs your help to do it.

The sci-fi swashbuckler Sabre, created in the mid-'70s by legendary Black Panther and Killraven writer Don McGregor, is aiming for a comeback with a new miniseries now seeking funding on Kickstarter. The series, titled Sabre: The Early Future Years, sees McGregor teaming with the revolutionary 1980s artist Trevor Von Eeden to tell the first new Sabre story in 30 years. On the Kickstarter page, McGregor promises everything from swordplay and flintlock lasers to robot stallions and nocturnal trackers.

Debuting in 1978 from McGregor and artist Paul Gulacy, Sabre was one of the most forward-thinking books of its time. The story of a sci-fi swashbuckling hero in a dystopian future, it was one of the first modern graphic novels, and the first sold directly to comic book stores -- beating Will Eisner's A Contract With God by two months.

Funding for Sabre: The Early Future Years, Launched just nine days ago and has already accumulated a quarter of its $17,000 goal. If the campaign is successful, the funds will go toward publishing a 40-page first issue of the new miniseries, with stretch goals in place that could go on to pay for the entire 190-page miniseries in one go.