Original Art: Col. Krup

Here's a panel of Dan's original art from a future strip, featuring our newest character, Col. Krup. Who or what is Krup signaling? Stay tuned and find out!

Ace Kilroy vs. The Krampus!

Ace Kilroy thwarts the Krampus' nefarious plot to trap some kids in his basket (as he is wont to do) and make them his dinner. Now the kids are able to head home, where presents from Santa Claus surely await them. Great job Ace!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Commander Xmas

Now it can be told!

This Commander Xmas Sunday strip (click to embiggen) was commissioned from Dan and me by Jay Piscopo, the writer/artist/creator of Commander X, Cap'n Eli, The Sea Ghost, and a plethora of other characters.

Every year Jay puts together a Commander Xmas book featuring different creators' holiday-themed interpretations of his character, and over the summer he asked us to come up with a Commander X "Color Supplement", in the same style we've ween doing every Sunday with Ace Kilroy.

Working with Dan on another set of characters was a fun of change of pace, and we're honored to be part of the 2011 Commander Xmas book, which you can find here. We strongly advise you check it out to see the rest!

Thanks Jay, and Merry Christmas!

Ace n' Ellie vs. The Mummy of Egypt, PA!

This was a little sketch Dan sent me a few weeks ago, of perhaps another mission Ace is on, involving a mummy in Egypt...Pennsylvania! (Click the image to embiggen)

Joining him here is a character known as Ellie West. Ellie hasn't shown up yet in the strip, but she will!

Original Strip Art

Here's a panel of Dan's original art from today's strip. The guy's a genius, I tell you, genius.

Mephisto's Castle on Ace Kilroy!

The horror blog Mephisto's Castle did a wonderful write-up on us today, you should head on over there and check it out! While you're at it, leave a comment and tell 'em Ace sent you!

Sample quote: "I mean, yikes! Does this project not just ooze excitement? Square-jawed heroes facing down creatures of the night in all the bare-knuckled, bloody, Nazi-tastic brutality that any comic loving boy and girl in kid shorts could possibly crave for?"

We love it, thanks to Mephisto's Castle for the kind words!

Original Sunday Art

Here's a panel of Dan's original art from today's Color Sunday. That's gotta hurt!

Original Sunday Art

For certain panels, Dan will work up separate sketches focusing on a specific moment in the strip--in this case, one of the panels from today's Color Sunday where Dorina and Mara get way too friendly with our hero. Don't trust them, Ace, don't trust 'em!

Bonus Kilroy: Ace vs. The Mummy!

Occasionally Dan will send me some fun piece of Ace-related art that has nothing to do with the current storyline, and its always so cool that I immediately plan to turn it into an arc one day.

This piece is no exception--looks like Ace is on the hunt for a runaway mummy!

Ace Kilroy on The Onion A.V. Club!

The Onion A.V. Club's Noel Murray was kind enough to mention Ace Kilroy in his 12/5/2011 Comics Panel column, saying this about the strip:

"And for those looking for an online comic more indebted to Roy Krane[sic] than Chris Ware, Rob Kelly and Dan O’Connor have just launched Ace Kilroy, a daily adventure strip that combines two-fisted action with shadings of horror, noir, romance, and whatever else its creators find cool about classic comics. Kudos to people like Kelly and O’Connor for keeping our pop-culture heritage alive."


We here at Kilroy Central could not be more flattered by Noel's kind words, and we hope that this means many more people will start checking out Ace's adventures!

Original Sunday Art

Here's another panel of Dan's original b/w art from today's Color Sunday supplement!

Ace on Geekadelphia!

Many thanks to David Goodman for his awesome write-up of Ace Kilroy on the site Geekadelphia!

Original Sunday Art

Here's another panel of Dan's original b/w art from yesterday's Color Sunday supplement!

Bonus Kilroy: Ace on the Hunt!

This was an early Ace Kilroy piece Dan whipped up not too long after we first decided to do the strip. Ace is well prepared for his fight against Dracula!

The Ace Kilroy Store on Zazzle!

Black Friday 2011 is here, which means the official start to the holiday gift-giving season!

We didn't want Ace to miss the party, so you can now go to the Ace Kilroy store on Zazzle and pick up all sorts of cool AK merch, like t-shirts, keychains, mugs, mousepads, even iPhone covers!

Character Sketch

Here are some character sketches by Dan of a new character, coming soon to Ace Kilroy!

Ace Kilroy on Tumblr!

Due to popular demand (no, really!) Ace Kilroy is now on Tumblr, where you can follow the strip every day, just like on AceKilroy.com! Spread the word!

Character Sketch: Cordell Hull

This is Dan's original character sketch of Cordell Hull, FDR's Secretary of State from 1933 to 1944, who is appearing in this week's installments of Ace Kilroy. We don't yet know why he's so cranky when it comes to dealing with Ace!

Ace Kilroy on Kickstarter!

Last week Ace Kilroy broke $1K on our Kickstarter fundraising page! A great start but we still have a way to go! Spread the word and help support the fight against evil!

Original Sunday Art

Here's a panel from Dan's original b/w art for today's Color Sunday supplement!

Praise for Ace Kilroy

"Rob Kelly has an extensive background studying both comics and film, giving his sequential storytelling flow and cinematic flair. Dan O'Connor has an artistic style that perfectly matches the era and feeling needed for the strip. Together, they make the noir adventure breathe and jump off the page. Their Ace Kilroy really is a 1940s adventure movie and/or comic (take your pick, it's both) come to life. Less than two weeks in, I am hooked."
--Glenn Walker, All Things Fun

Coming Soon on Ace Kilroy!

Here's a panel of Dan's original b/w art to an upcoming Ace Kilroy installment!

Kickstarter's New & Noteworthy

Ace Kilroy is featured on Kickstarter's "New & Noteworthy" page in the Comics section of the site. We're proud to be among some really cool other projects--a veritable fountain of creativity.

As of this writing, we have 23 backers--thanks to every one of you! Keep 'em flying!

Original Sunday Art

Here's a panel from Dan's original b/w art for today's Color Sunday supplement, the first of many for Ace Kilroy!

Cup O' Kona

Yesterday my pal Joe Mello posted a nice plug of Ace Kilroy over on his blog, Caffeinated Joe.

Dan was kind enough to whip up (or is that brew?) a custom-made graphic just for Joe's blog, which is this handsome piece of Ace pausing mid-adventure for a bracing up o'joe.

This is Dan's original art, I then futzed with it (as I do) and sent it off to Joe, which he included in the post. Someday, I look forward to all of Dan's original and promo art being in the inevitable Ace Kilroy: The First 10 Years coffee table book.

"Get Me Ace Kilroy!"

Today is the debut of Ace Kilroy! Head on over to AceKilroy.com to see where the adventure begins!

Also, please go visit the Ace Kilroy Kickstarter Fundraising Page, and help us get the strip off on the right start!

Early Praise for Ace Kilroy

"If Indiana Jones stumbled into an old Universal monster flick by way of the first season of TV’s WONDER WOMAN (you know, the awesome one), the result would be something like ACE KILROY. I love this strip! It harkens back to a time of decoder rings and Saturday morning serials without getting bogged down in nostalgia. The storytelling is brisk and clean, the jokes work, and Rob and Dan have a clever knack for revisionist history. Very good stuff."
--April Snellings, "Rue Morgue"

Early Praise for Ace Kilroy

"ACE KILROY is smart, evocative fun that hits the right spot! Full of fast-paced action and wistful nostalgia, this online daily serial -- courtesy of Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor -- is intelligent, fresh comic-making in its own right. Think Alex Raymond's SECRET AGENT X-9 meets Dashiell Hammett's SAM SPADE meets Lucas/Spielberg's INDIANA JONES. Toss in Bram Stoker's bloodsucking vampire DRACULA and a dash of Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD for good measure, and you'll have an idea of what ACE KILROY has to offer. C'mon. With a mix like THAT, how could they possibly go wrong?

(Oh, and did we mention Nazis feature in it, too?)."
--The Terror Trap

Last Known Recording from Ace Kilroy!

This recording was transmitted to the United States government in late February. It is the last known message from Special Agent Ace Kilroy:

...more details as they become available.

Early Praise for Ace Kilroy

"Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor's ACE KILROY reads like the aftermath of a tornado in a comics shop, an insane shuffling of STEVE CANYON and THE TOMB OF DRACULA. Nazis, spies, femme fatales, traitors, tentacles, adventure, horror! Chronicling the adventures of the eponymous US op (who looks intriguingly like Warren William, in the role he never got to play), the daily black-and-white online just-like-in-the-olden-days strip will be capped each week with a color Sunday supplement. You don't need a decoder ring to know that this is going to be GOOD."
--Richard Harland Smith, Movie Morlocks.com

Bonus Kilroy: Ace vs. The Spider!

Here's a great piece of "bonus" art by Dan, a shot of Ace in the middle of some horrible cave where a ridiculously-large spider awaits its prey. Spiders of the non-Peter Parker variety kinda creep me out, so seeing one this size gives me the willies.

Dan will send me these pieces sometimes, which are not connected to any storylines we have planned. They always end up inspiring a plot in my head, and this one is no exception...



Only one week away until the debut of Ace Kilroy! Tell your friends!

Early Praise for Ace Kilroy

"What a great idea! A daily online comic strip (with a Sunday color installment!), 'Ace Kilroy' is about a hard-boiled special agent who battles the supernatural in a noir landscape of the 30s and 40s. Think of the daily adventure strips that we used to cut out of the newspapers and paste into scrapbooks when we were kids… now put in your favorite monsters!

It’s not just the novelty of the daily strip that makes 'Ace Kilroy' special; Dan O’Connor’s artwork is fluid and pleasing, always setting the right tone while Rob Kelly’s story moves briskly in unexpected ways. The two obviously share a great deal of knowledge and love for the genres in which they’re working!

If this one were being printed in the papers back when I was a kid, I would definitely have a scrapbook filled with yellowed clippings of Ace Kilroy’s exploits. This could be the ultimate adventure serial for the Monster Lover."
--Mike Howlett, author of "The Weird World of Eerie Publications"

What is Ace Kilroy?

Ace Kilroy is a daily online comic strip by Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor, who met while attending the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art.


In 1937, the U.S. Government learns that the Third Reich is using the supernatural to gain an edge in their quest for world domination. Even more disturbing is the realization that creatures like Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man--beings thought only to be figments of imagination--are real, and just might become part of the Third Reich!

To investigate and combat this threat, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt drafts soldier of fortune Ace Kilroy. Kilroy's first mission is to head to Transylvania to see if this "Dracula" is real. And if he is, to stop him, by any means necessary!


Ace Kilroy harkens back to the classic adventure comic strips of the mid-20th Century, like Steve Canyon, Buz Sawyer, and Dick Tracy. It will appear every day over on AceKilroy.com with a black and white installment, with an extra-large color supplement on Sundays.

The adventure begins on October 31!

Alas, Poor Yorick...

Here's a great piece of promo art by Dan, a shot of Ace contemplating someone (maybe an old friend?) who is has been reduced to just being a brain (and a set of eyes) in a jar. Alas...

Ace's Blog will be the place to see all kinds of behind-the-scenes bonus material for Ace Kilroy, so make sure you stop by here every day (after seeing the day's new strip over on AceKilroy.com, of course!).

Ace Kilroy starts his mission against evil on October 31!

News Reports

"I really like Ace Kilroy. It truly takes me back to some of the Sunday comics I used to read when I went to my grandparents' house. The illustration style, the presentation, the retro charm - I liked the hell out of it."
--Erika Peterman, Girls Gone Geek



"Just when I thought there wasn't any comics for me to read, 'Ace Kilroy' shows up! Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor have created something that we all want most from our comics; fun!

By going back to the golden age of comic and movie serial adventure, they are not creating a pastiche, but a new hero, with classic sensibilities interpreted for an age sorely in need of him. If you like Indiana Jones and high adventure, crisp illustration and inspired storytelling, 'Ace Kilroy' is a must. Kilroy is here!!!!"
--Jay Piscopo, "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'N Eli"



"'Ace Kilroy' is a good old fashioned adventure strip- that may not seem like much of a compliment in this day and age, but for old fogies like me it's a breath of fresh air--Dan and Rob have done a lovely job of evoking the kind of comic strip I used to read in the newspapers as a kid--you know,back when kids read the newspapers...you know...'newspapers'?

Anyway, I was quite enjoying the style of the story when it added a classic horror twist that made me even more excited to see what happens next (if you're at all familiar with the books I've been doing in the last seven years than you'll understand why).

All in all, Rob and Dan are doing a wonderful job with Ace and the fun they seem to be having with it is infectious. I hope they get to share even more adventures with us."

--Neil D. Vokes

"I've been aching for an adventure daily like 'Ace Kilroy' since Indiana Jones found the grail. And what a score, landing Clark Gable in the lead role!"

--Chris Wisnia, "Doris Danger"

Join Ace's Allies!

Do you love Ace Kilroy want to follow his adventures as he travels the world, stopping the forces of evil?

You can help ensure Ace's mission continues by subscribing to "Ace Kilroy" for the low, low price of $1.60 a month! Why $1.60 a month? Because 5 cents was the cost of a daily newspaper in 1937, when our story begins!

But $1.60 a month doesn't just guarantee Ace Kilroy stays on his mission: it also makes you a member of ACE'S ALLIES, our special membership club!

As a member of ACE'S ALLIES, your name will be permanently placed here and on AceKilroy.com so everyone will know you support independently-created comics (oh, and want to thwart evil!). In addition, you will receive a special limited edition ACE'S ALLIES pinback button, which is available only to members!

Click the button on the sidebar to subscribe via Paypal for only $1.60 a month for one year. You'll be glad you did!