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Monday, October 31, 2011

Aquaman Meets Ace Kilroy!

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Okay, Aqua-Fans; I'm sure most of you are wondering, who's Ace Kilroy and why is Aquaman saying such nice things about him?

Well, Ace Kilroy is the creation of artist Dan O'Connor and me; he's the titular star of Ace Kilroy, a brand-new online daily comic strip launching today over on AceKilroy.com!

Ace Kilroy is a project Dan and I have been working on for over a year. He and I attended the Joe Kubert School together, and from the beginning I was impressed by the quality of his work: Dan had a crisp, simple style, dynamic but not flashy--perfect for comic books, and I resented the hell out of him for it!

Anyway, over the intervening decades(!), Dan and I lost touch, and then we ran into one another again virtually on Facebook and then in something called Real Life at the 2009 New York Comic Con. Dan was telling me some horror stories (stories I was all too familiar with in my own life as an artist) about doing comic book work, and I was simultaneously angry and bewildered that a guy this talented has had to deal with some at times shady comic book publishers. Little did I realize, but Ace Kilroy was born on the ride home from the con.

Within a couple of months, I had formulated a basic concept of the strip, what it would be, what kind of tone I was aiming for, and I knew Dan would be the perfect artist to bring it to life: he and I are both aficionados of 30s and 40s culture (Americana specifically), and since Ace Kilroy starts off in 1937 and would be steeped in that world, I knew Dan could really sink his artistic teeth into it.

Luckily, he agreed, and within a few weeks we were already working on the strips, having a blast, but with no clear date set when it would officially launch. Since the strip has a prevalent horror theme, I thought October 31--Halloween--would be perfect.

The short of Ace Kilroy is: In 1937, the United States has learned two disturbing facts. One, that supernatural monsters--i.e., vampires, werewolves--are real. Two, the Third Reich, in preparing to start World War II, are trying to take control of these monsters and turn them to the side of the Nazis, making them unstoppable.
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President Franklin Roosevelt commissions soldier of fortune, WW I veteran and all-around adventurer Ace Kilroy to head to Transylvania, where there are rumors of some sort of real-life Dracula, and stop whatever nefarious plot is being hatched!

Ace Kilroy will feature adventure, horror, thrills, comedy, political intrigue, and even romance, in (hopefully) the most fun and engaging way possible!


I normally never use the Shrine to pimp my outside projects, but Ace Kilroy is special: I am enormously proud of what we've created so far, and we're going to give it ol' college try in terms of making it a financially viable, ongoing creative project: its nothing less than a daily comic strip, just like the classic adventure strips of old, except Ace Kilroy will appear on the web, not on the back page of a newspaper sandwiched between Ziggy and Mark Trail.

Ace Kilroy will run a black and white strip six days a week, with an extra-sized Color Supplement on Sundays, again like the classic strips of old. Dan and I want to bring back that sense of pure adventuresome fun with the strip, and transport the reader back to a time when the daily adventures of Steve Canyon, Secret Agent X-9, or Dick Tracy were can't-miss, waiting-with-bated-breath-for-the-next-installment affairs for comics fans.

But since the daily newspapers of old are, essentially, gone (the comics pages especially), we're doing it in a very modern way: on the web, with all past strips available with the click of a mouse, with Ace appearing across a wide variety of social media platforms, which will occasionally feature bonus or special side material. Dan and I essentially want to hire ourselves as the artist and writer (respectively) of an daily comic strip...which of course means you!

Not to sound like I'm taking the Shrine hostage or anything, but if we can get enough people to support Ace Kilroy financially, then I can spend more time at home, leaving me the time and ability to subsidize my other, non-profit-generating efforts, like this one. And isn't that what we all want?

So if you're interested in taking a look at Ace Kilroy, and maybe even supporting it, you can do so at the following places, starting off with the official site, where you can learn more about the characters, the creators, and see the first strip:
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...and finally, if you like what you see enough to financially support Ace Kilroy, you can visit the Ace Kilroy Fundraising Page on Kickstarter, where you can learn more about the strip, find out what kind of donations you can make, and even watch a short video all about Ace Kilroy. We hope to raise enough money to give Ace (and us!) and a good running start!

Thanks for your attention, Aqua-Fans!



(One last thing, since Ace Kilroy takes place in the 1930s and 40s, that's the Golden Age Aquaman posing with him, and as we all know the GA Aquaman is all about busting bad guys' skulls!)

8 comments:

The Irredeemable Shag said...

Ace Kilroy looks great! I recommend everyone check out the promotional video over on Kickstarter! It really gets you jazzed for this comic strip!
http://kck.st/tSK9WQ

Looking forward to more strips!

The Irredeemable Shag
http://firestormfan.com

Earth 2 Chris said...

Sounds (and looks) awesome Rob! Good luck to you and Dan!

Chris

wich2 said...

Salute, Rob! Continued best with the character.

(Coindicentally, I just played FDR in a new wartime story at the last Friends of Old Time Radio con in NJ! And doubled as Archie Andrews in the same piece, as he and Jug took on the Nazis.)

Happy Halloween,
-Craig

Caffeinated Joe said...

Hope Ace has a long, successful run! I have a post set to go up tomorrow in support. And I am following all the links. Love the idea and hope to get to read for awhile. And I was guessing that was our yellow-gloved water hero there. Too cool!

Wings1295 said...

Oh, and added the youtube trailer to my post for tomorrow, too!

rob! said...

THANKS GUYS!!

Orin's dad said...

Sounds fun! I look forawrd to reading these adventures.

Designer Daddy said...

I'm just amazed that you're launching yet another site/blog/venture. Looks awesome!