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Hey Ace Kilroy fans! Here's your chance to pick up an EXCLUSIVE PIECE of AK merch while also supporting our troops serving in Afghanistan!
A mutual friend of Dan and mine, Terry Mahoney, is a veteran. A little while ago we mentioned we were working on Ace Kilroy magnets, and he told us that he would be interested in buying several hundred of them, to send overseas to his friends serving in Afghanistan, since fridge magnets are desperately needed there. Really--fridge magnets? Yes, fridge magnets! We'll let Terry explain:
"Much like Ace Kilroy's government service after the Great War, most of my Marine friends in the Afghan war zone are engaged in secret activities. When I deployed to the theater in Desert Shield/Storm we were given specific instructions. If we were asked by a reporter (or anyone, really) what our unit's mission was, we were to reply with 'Locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver.'
These Marines do what they do both in the field, and in secure facilities. In the field, I would guess they either have what they need, or an online fundraiser won't plug the gap. However, there are no Staples or Office Depots in Afghanistan, and so there are a few gaps in the secure facilities.
When I heard one of my oldest Marine friends was redeploying, I asked him what I could get him. He, of course, demurred several times. When pressed, he asked me for fridge magnets. Apparently, in these secure facilities, they need to put up a bunch of papers on the walls (metal walls) but all they have is duct tape. Voila, a new raison d'etre presents itself.
I think this is a mission that Ace's Allies can accomplish with relative ease. The volume of magnets required for these special units is not great, but the need is acute.
Semper Fi,Terry"
So here's your chance to help the troops by providing them the magnets they need. By clicking the Paypal button below, for the low low cost of $1.00 each, you can order an Ace Kilroy magnet (2.5" in diameter) and it will be sent to a base in Afghanistan.
BONUS! If you order FIVE magnets for the troops, for a total of $5.00, YOU will be sent a sixth magnet ABSOLUTELY FREE!
This magnet was made exclusively for this effort and they will NOT be made available at any other time! So if you're an Ace Kilroy fan (and who isn't?) this is your only chance to get this item--and you'll be helping our men and women in uniform in the process!
This offer ends MONDAY, JULY 30th! So what are you waiting for?
The other pin-up we got at the Wizard World Philly Con was this atmospheric, butt-kicking shot of Ace in action by artist Neil Vokes!
I've gotten Aquaman-centric pin-ups from Neil every year at the All Things Fun Christmas Sale, and I love every one of them, so it occurred to Dan and I why not ask Neil to do one of Ace Kilroy, since monsters are right up his alley? Neil agreed, and the next day handed us this awesome shot of Ace in danger!
Well, the first con that Dan and I both attended, the 2012 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con, has come and gone!
We had our Ace Kilroy table set-up, all ready for business by the opening bell of 500pm on Thursday. We had an exclusive print (more on that in a moment), a portfolio featuring the entire first arc, trading cards, coasters, buttons, stickers, bookmarks, t-shirts, mugs, 11x17" broadsheets, lots of cool original art, all flanked by two swell giant-size banners provided by Dan and Kayla O'Connor:
Dan and I found ourselves placed next to artist Neil R. King, across from Archie artist Dan Parent, and backed up the Philly Comix Jam, which counts my pal Doug Slack as one of its members! It seemed like we couldn't have asked for a better spot!
Thursday night was pretty slow, with just a trickle of people walking by. Everyone around us (who were more experienced at attending this particular con) said that was to be expected, and it would of course increase the next day and really kick off on the weekend. Having been to many, many cons, that seemed to make sense to us.
While there was a definite uptick in attendance on Friday, the amount of people walking down our aisle was still fairly paltry, and only a tiny fraction of those people stopped by our table. Dan and I filled the time talking over various ideas concerning Ace Kilroy, both in and outside the strip. We had a great time doing that, while admittedly fretting a bit about what seemed like slow going, business-wise.
Dan had periodic visits from his wife and his cute-as-a-button daughter Ava (who wanted her picture taken with every person in costume, good guy or bad), so I filled some of the downtime taking pics of some of the more dynamic and impressive cosplayers:
Dr. Strange!
Batman!
Supergirl!
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and The Dude!
Batman Beyond!
Scarlet Witch!
OG Catwoman and Super Friends-style Toyman!
Liberty Belle!
Two Indiana Joneses!
Robin!
Captain/Miss America!
Two Wonder Womans!
Power Girl and Wonder Woman!
Two Supermans!
Black Canary!
The Wonder Twins!
Dr. Doom!
Killer Moth and Deathstroke The Terminator!
Green Arrow and a different Black Canary!
The Wasp, Cyclops, and Storm!
Catwoman (Meow!)
One of many, many Boba Fetts!And these were just the ones I could get! A bunch more ambled by, but circumstances prevented me getting a pic of them. Sadly, no cosplay Ace Kilroys (yet)...
Some friends of mine stopped by, friends from various portions of my life (in fact, virtually every significant part of my life was represented by someone stopping by, kind of amazing really!), and we made some sales. The free stuff went the most of course, but we eventually sold out of our mugs, tempting me to write SOLD OUT over the mug entry on the price list in big red letters.
Despite the sales, though, it became clear that this show--and pretty much all the Wizard World cons--primarily focused on big time autograph stars, with the comics portion being something of an afterthought. I talked to several awesomely talented artist friends, who expressed the same frustration as I over the lack of interest from the crowd when it came to comics. Clearly, most of them were here to see--and spend their money on--big name guests like William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Bruce Campbell, with the Artists Alley being something to stroll through just before they left.
But not all was lost! Over the course of the show, Sunday especially, Dan and I made some new friends and got to hang with old ones, which was GREAT! We got a visit from fellow Kubert School alumni Matt Luxich, the first time I think the three of us had been in the same room since around 1990.
I'm generally not a celebrity/autograph gatherer, but when I learned that Kevin Brown, aka Dot.com on 30 Rock was at the show, I made a beeline for his booth and got a pic of the two of us:
Doug was manning the camera, and I literally jumped for joy after I was out of Kevin's eyeline, lest I embarrass myself (further). I absolutely love 30 Rock, and getting to tell one of the cast that directly felt really good. Kevin could not have been nicer, and I'm proud to say that night we became friends on Facebook!
One of the cooler parts of watching people come by our table and check out the Ace Kilroy stuff was seeing the reaction of kids. A lot of kids took the free pins and bookmarks, with one parent asking me how appropriate Ace Kilroy is for kids. I said if they let them watch Raiders of the Lost Ark, they can probably handle Ace. The Mom in question said they'd check the strip out when they got home, with one of her kids already in Nagging Mode about wanting not to be deprived of the strip (reminds me of my own childhood, just swap out cable TV for the internet). One of our generous Kickstarter contributors and Ace's Allies members, Dan Fraga, brought his delightful kids Simon and Beatrice, who were all-too-happy to brand themselves Ace Kilroy fans via the free pins:
One final thing: we did leave the con with a lot of unsold copies of our exclusive print, a 10x14" signed color poster of Ace battling a heretofore-unseen monster:
You can order them one of two ways: if you are already a member of Ace's Allies, you can get a signed print mailed to you for just $5.00 ppd:
Alternately, if you'd like to take the opportunity to join Ace's Allies now, you can do so for the regular low, low rate of $1.60 a month for one year. You will receive all the regular benefits (exclusive AA membership button, being permanently listed on the AA page, and more) PLUS A COPY OF THE SIGNED PRINT, FREE! This offer is only good for the month of June, SO DON'T DELAY!
At 2012's Wizard World Philly Con, we were fortunate enough to be placed across the aisle from Archie artist extraordinaire Dan Parent, who Dan and I are both fans of.
So we thought, wouldn't it be fun to see ol' Ace as if he lived in the Archie universe? I gave Dan some reference on Thursday night and the next morning he handed us this dandy piece of Ace as if he lived in Riverdale! We loved it!
Come to think of it, Archie has met The Punisher, so could an actual team-up with Ace Kilroy be on the horizon? Stay tuned!
Here's a sneak peek at the all-new 10x14" print that will be available EXCLUSIVELY at the 2012 WIZARD WORLD PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON! Signed and numbered, only $10!
Please make sure to stop by the Ace Kilroy table in Artists Alley--#2356--during the con, which runs May 31-June 3, and say hello!
Seen in a parking lot in Marlton, NJ! SPREAD THE WORD!
Here is a sneak preview of the one-of-a-kind sketch cards that will be included in random packs of the Ace Kilroy Trading Cards!
We will debuting the cards at the 2012 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con, and then if they're a hit will make them available online shortly thereafter. Each pack will feature ten cards...and if you're lucky, one of these one-of-a-kind beauties, courtesy Dan O'Connor!
As you can see from the Kickstarter widget at right, our Kickstarter fundraising campaign was a wild success!
Our original goal was 2K, but we wrapped up at midnight May 16 with a total of $4,011, from 63 different backers. The outpouring of support--both financial and emotional--from everyone was truly wonderful and very much appreciated. Many of you plugged our KS page relentlessly, via Facebook and Twitter, helping us get more wider known than we would have been able to do on our own. That, too, was very much appreciated.
Since we took in a lot more than we planned, this will enable us to kickstart some other Ace Kilroy-related projects that we've been wanting to do. And we wouldn't have been able to do it without all of you. Stay tuned!
We are now in the final 24 hours of our Kickstarter fundraising campaign. And while we passed our target goal of 2K a few weeks back, we are of course still taking in donations right up until the very last minute!
For the last few days, we have been right at the precipice of crossing the 4K mark, which would mean we have achieved a full 200% funding! With so many different Ace Kilroy-related projects in various stages of development, we're extremely thrilled that many of them will now be funded thanks to all the money we raised past 2K.
As of this writing, we are just $189 away from hitting 4K. So to help inspire a few last-minute donations and get us past the 4K mark, we're sweetening the pot a bit!
In addition to all the various rewards already listed on the Kickstarter page, we are now offering a full set of brand-new Ace Kilroy trading cards to anyone who donates at the $40 (or more) level! This includes all 30 cards, wrapper, AND a one-of-a-kind "sketch card" drawn co-creator Dan O'Connor!
So if you were thinking of supporting Ace Kilroy, now's the perfect time to do it! Head on over to our Kickstarter page and JOIN THE FIGHT!
One of the things we're working on is a series of Ace Kilroy t-shirts. This preview of one possible design is courtesy our pal Misty Layne--stay tuned for further details!
This funky Ace Kilroy pin-up is by artist Steve Spatucci, part of a whole series Steve was experimenting with that he calls Vect-o-Grunge Illustrations.
Seeing this pin-up, it sort of inspires an Ace Kilroy story in my head. I imagine some group of baddies, maybe in the jungle, searching for Ace. They have one photo of him which they show around, asking people if they've seen this man. Person after person don't recognize him, then we get to the last panel of the strip, when someone points at this picture and exclaims, "Ace Kilroy!" We'll see, I guess...
Thanks Steve!
