''Ace Kilroy'' is a serialized adventure

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be c ...

that launched on October 31, 2011. In its first season, it ran in daily black-and-white installments, culminating every week with an extra-long "Color Sunday" that also served as a teaser to the events of the upcoming week. The co-creation of artists Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor (who met while attending the Joe

Kubert School The Kubert School, formerly the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art and Joe Kubert School, is a private, for-profit technical school focused on cartooning and located in Dover, New Jersey. It teaches the principles of sequential art an ...

of Graphic Art), ''Ace Kilroy'' features the title character — a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran turned soldier of fortune — who has to defeat supernatural monsters in order to stop plans of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s. Inspired by mid-20th century comics and monster movies, the webcomic was well received.

Synopsis

''Ace Kilroy'' takes place in 1937, following President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's landslide victory to a second term, as the United States Government is secretly preparing for a war in Europe. Thanks to some surveillance work involving the upcoming war, they discover mythological monsters are potentially real, and that they are the focus of an effort by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. In the story, President Roosevelt and a small band of advisors realize that if the Nazis manage to turn otherworldly monsters to their side, they will be unbeatable. Roosevelt then puts out a word to World War I veteran Ace Kilroy that his country needs him. In the webcomic's first season, Ace Kilroy goes to

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

and discovers the cabin of a previous agent who died under mysterious circumstances. As he searches for clues about the agent left behind, he is met by a young local girl named Anca, who claims to be lost. Ace agrees to help her home, when he is confronted by Anca's sisters, who quickly reveal themselves to be vampires, turned into such by

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

, whom Ace encounters at a nearby castle. Ace then gets involved in a tug of war between fighting Dracula, the Nazis, and saving Anca. This inaugural storyline concluded on April 15, 2012. After a several-month hiatus, Ace Kilroy returned for Season 2 on August 6, 2012. In this story arc, Ace is on vacation, visiting some old friends, including a former romantic interest named Ellie West, now a Hollywood screenwriter working on "B"-level monster movies. Ace' vacation is cut short by President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who send him to Bavaria to search for Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his creation,

Frankenstein's Monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

Development

Before creating ''Ace Kilroy'', Kelly and O'Connor have produced artwork for companies such as

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

, and The Allentown Times. Launching on October 31, 2011, ''Ace Kilroy'' has been updated on a daily schedule, with larger, colored pages being released every Sunday. In 2011, Kelly and O'Connor started a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise money and be able to work on the webcomic exclusively, as well as to create a print version of ''Ace Kilroy''. CC No 26 Frankenstein 2

Influences

''Ace Kilroy'' draws its inspiration from newspaper adventure strips of the mid-20th century, such as '' Dick Tracy'', '' Steve Canyon'', ''

Buz Sawyer ''Buz Sawyer'' is a comic strip created by Roy Crane.Ron Goulart, ''The Funnies : 100 Years of American Comic Strips''. Holbrook, Mass. : Adams Pub, 1995. (pp. 149-50) Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it had a run from November 1, 1943 to ...

'', and '' Brenda Starr''. The webcomic also incorporates the characters and settings from monster movies of the period, specifically the

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

monster films such as '' Dracula'' and ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

''. One of the hallmarks of the strip is its use of real people and locations. President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull regularly appear, and the webcomic includes numerous mentions of real-world locations of the period, such as the

Hay–Adams Hotel The Hay–Adams is an historic luxury hotel opened in 1928, located at 800 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C. It south-fronts on Lafayette Square across from the White House. It sits on the former site of the connected 19th-century mansions wh ...

and Paramount Pictures.

Critical reception

''Ace Kilroy'' has received favorable reviews from various media outlets. Noel Murray of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' praised Kelly and O'Connor for keeping the legacy of classic comics writer such as

Roy Crane Royston Campbell Crane (November 22, 1901 – July 7, 1977), who signed his work Roy Crane, was an American cartoonist who created the comic strip characters Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer. He pioneered the adventure comic strip, establi ...

alive. Meanwhile, Brigid Alverson likened the webcomic to films starring

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

. Jonathon Hoffman wrote for ''Aroundphilly.com'' in 2011 that he considered ''Ace Kilroy'' "one of the most meticulous, independently produced webcomics I've seen in awhile." In its first year, ''Ace Kilroy'' was nominated for an Eagle Award for the "Favourite Web-Based Comic" category, losing to ''

Freakangels ''FreakAngels'' is a post-apocalyptic webcomic created in 2008 by Eagle Award-winning writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield, and published in book format by Avatar Press. The plot focuses on twelve 23-year-old psychics living in Whitecha ...

''. Kelly and O'Connor were also nominated for the 2012 Philadelphia Geek Awards for "Comic Book Writer of the Year" and "Comic Book Artist of the Year" respectively, with Kelly winning the award.

References

External links

* {{Dracula, state=collapsed American webcomics 2011 webcomic debuts Kilroy, Ace Kilroy, Ace Comics set in the 1930s Comics set in the 1940s Cultural depictions of Franklin D. Roosevelt Hollywood, Los Angeles in fiction Adventure webcomics Kilroy, Ace Kilroy, Ace Comics set in the United States Comics set in Romania Comics about Nazi Germany Comics based on Dracula Comics based on Frankenstein