Ace Kilroy Is Back!

Just a quick note to let you all know that my favorite webcomic, Ace Kilroy, by friends Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor, has come back for a pre-third season adventure. "Wish You Were Here" began last week, and features part 5 today.

You can see it at the main Ace Kilroy website, Follow on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. Check it out!

The Explosive Generation

This film was brought back to my attention when I saw on the Facebook that my friend Rob Kelly was planning on watching it. A day later I saw that The Works was showing it. Curiosity piqued, I set the DVR and got ready to be dazzled.

As the title might imply, this 1961 black and white 'classic' is all about wild kids growing up too fast. Think more Eddie Haskell, or the Jets and Sharks without knives, as opposed to say Clockwork Orange or Class of 1984. The real selling points of this one however are the pre-Star Trek William Shatner and the post-Bad Seed Patty McCormack. Also look for Edward Platt, The Chief from "Get Smart," as the principal.

Shatner is the 'cool' teacher, and in trying to get the kids to talk about their problems, he invites an open discussion of sex in the classroom. Yeah, reality check, it's 1961. This was brave territory for the time. McCormack, who was a much more believable actress as an evil little girl, is a student with a problem.

All hell breaks loose when the parents get wind of what's been going on in the classroom. They lose their minds and try to put a stop to it. The whole business gets Shatner suspended and the students fight back with a good old-fashioned protest, of course in the days before such things were in vogue.

I dug the jazzy timely score by Hal Borne, who's also done such varied soundtracks for classics like Promises Promises and The Big Store, and later 1989's Family Business. And why yes, that is a baby-faced Beau Bridges as Mark, and the accent-less Stafford Repp, a few years before his Chief O'Hara from "Batman," as a police officer.

And yes, I'd seen this one a few times before, but forgotten. Heck, I had even forgotten I'd given it a quickie review back in 2009. Hopefully this is a bigger better review. Well worth a look.

Hey Kids, Comics!

In the planning stages for years, my friend Rob Kelly, who you might know better as the writer and co-creator of the fabulous webcomic Ace Kilroy and the founder of The Aquaman Shrine, has finally released Hey Kids, Comics! True-Life Tales from the Spinner Rack.

Hey Kids, Comics! is a collection of essays, compiled by Rob Kelly, about the love and nostalgia of comics. These stories, by media and industry professionals like Alan Brennert, Glen Weldon, Evan Narcisse, Steve Englehart, J.M. DeMattieis, Paul Kupperberg, Elisabeth Rappe, Sholly Fisch, Doug Slack, and Roxanna Meta, among many others, are experiences and remembrances of the joy of comics.

I love this book, and I'm so proud of my friend for putting this together. I can't recommend Hey Kids, Comics! enough. You can check out Ray Cornwall's and my interview with Rob Kelly on The GAR! Podcast here, and you can buy the book here. Check it out.

Ace Kilroy Kickstarter

Ace Kilroy is one of the coolest webcomics out there, let's keep it coming, folks! Get more details here. And don't forget to check out writer Rob Kelly's interview on Episode 11 of The GAR! Podcast.

Ace Kilroy Returns!

Ace Kilroy by Rob Kelly and Dan O'Connor returns today with a new strip daily.

What is Ace Kilroy?

"THE YEAR IS 1937. Another World War is brewing in Europe, and the United States Government, headed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is doing all it can to prepare. However, recent intelligence from that part of the world has uncovered an even more disturbing, almost unbelievable, set of facts: that the world's worst supernatural monsters, thought only to be the stuff of nightmares, are real! Even worse, that Adolf Hitler's Third Reich has unleashed a multi-pronged effort to turn those monsters to the side of the axis powers!

"President Roosevelt, backed by a small band of his most trusted advisers, has decided to commission decorated World War One veteran and soldier of fortune Ace Kilroy to go undercover in Transylvania and see if the threat is real--and if it is, to stop it...at all costs.

"ACE KILROY harkens back to the classic American newspaper comic strips of the mid-20th Century like Dick Tracy, Steve Canyon, and Buz Sawyer. We feature a new black and white daily installment every day, with an extra-large "color supplement" on Sundays!"

Check it out now, right here!

Vote for Ace Kilroy!

A message from the creators of Ace Kilroy:

Dear Friends of Ace -

Dan and I are proud as punch to announce Ace Kilroy has been nominated for an Eagle Award, the comics industry longest-running award. Out of the dozens of entries that were in the initial round earlier in the year, it was announced today we made it to the final five contestants and are now officially nominated.

Voting is now open, so we implore you to head over to the Eagle Awards official ballot: http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/nominations/ ...and vote for Ace Kilroy in category #19, Favourite Web-Based Comic.

Dan and I have been doing Ace Kilroy entirely on our own, and just receiving this nomination is a thrill. If we were lucky enough to win, it would be a huge PR push for us, and would help get the word out about the strip to literally thousands of potential new fans.

Voting is open NOW, and ends April 2nd. Please show your support for us and Ace Kilroy, and spread the word about the nomination far and wide.

Thank you for your continued support, and wish us luck!

Rob & Dan
Creators, Ace Kilroy
http://www.acekilroy.com
http://acekilroy.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ace-Kilroy/161251120624209
https://twitter.com/#!/AceKilroy
http://acekilroy.tumblr.com

It's Mera's Turn!

Continuing a two day tradition of promoting other folks' blogs, but guaranteed cool folks and their cool blogs, I have an announcement about The Aquaman Shrine.

February on The Shrine will be Mera Month. For those of you who read the comics, watch the animated series, or just have to live with those of us who do, I don't have to introduce one of the sexiest redheads in comics. For those of you not in the know, Mera is Aquaman's wife, the queen of an otherdimensional water world who gave up her crown to rule beside Aquaman in Atlantis.

Mera has been around since the early 1960s, has appeared in numerous animated versions, and in the new DC Comics reboot has even been a member of the Justice League. Check out The Aquaman Shrine throughout February to learn more about the sea queen.

Ace Kilroy Wants You!

Rob Kelly is a guy who understands passion, and the concept of the phrase "labor of love." Not only is he the man behind The Aquaman Shrine, he is also the writer of the smashing new webcomic Ace Kilroy, along with artist Dan O'Connor. This is his newest labor of love, and with just a few clicks of the mouse, you can help make this adventure last a good long time. It's worth it!

Ace Kilroy is a loving tribute to the high adventure comic strips of yesteryear. My first glance at the work, which started on Halloween this year, conjured memories of Steve Canyon, and sure enough, that's one of the strip's inspirations. I have fond memories of the newspaper strips as a kid, reading their adventures in the black and white dailies and then in full color on Sunday - and this is the method of webcomic Ace Kilroy.

The man, Ace Kilroy, is the spitting image of Clark Gable, and a classic soldier of fortune in the late 1930s. Summoned by President Roosevelt to combat the monsters of our childhood like Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man, who might now be working with Hitler's sinister Third Reich. It's clean cut but gritty action with a square-jawed hero facing off against the solid evils of monsters and Nazis. Really, Ace Kilroy is everything you want in an old-fashioned (and that's a good thing) adventure comic. It's good versus evil, where the good guys wear white and the bad guys wear black. You know who to root for and you know who to boo and hiss. Like I said, it's a good thing.

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.

And Rob and Dan are doing this great old-fashioned comic strip with a twist of contemporary internet promotion, and also using Kickstarter to fund it. So if you dig Ace Kilroy, become a backer! Find Ace Kilroy at the following links:

The Actual Webcomic is here.

A quick who's who background file on the characters can be found here.

The Blog, behind the scenes at Ace Kilroy is here.

Ace is on Facebook here.

You can even follow Ace Kilroy on Twitter here.

You can find the official Kickstarter page here.

And to join Ace's Allies, click here and become an official backer!



Join the adventure!


* This article appeared in slightly different form over at The All Things Fun! Blogs, check it out here!

Happy Birthday, Aquaman!

This week will be a historic week for fans of DC Comics' reigning Sea King - Aquaman! Not only is it the launch of his new ongoing series by the all-star creative team of Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, but Aquaman #1 also just happens to coincide with the King of the Seven Seas' 70th anniversary of his first appearance in More Fun Comics #73!

The Aquaman Shrine will be marking this special event in a unique way on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25th by throwing a birthday party for Aquaman exactly 70 years to-the-day after More Fun Comics #73 hit the stands for sale on September 25, 1941!

Who will be attending this party? Dan Abnett, Tony Bedard, Kurt Busiek, Nick Cardy, J.M. DeMatteis, Ramona Fradon, Pat Gleason, Dan Jurgens, Paul Levitz, and Joe Prado are just a few of the many creators who will be visiting the Shrine on Sunday to wish Aquaman a Happy 70th and to share their unique perspective with fans, friends, and family of Arthur Curry. Special surprises will be in store and this event will be fun for comic book fans of all ages!

And that’s not all! In addition, the Shrine will be following up the big 70th birthday party with EXCLUSIVE CONTENT from Aquaman artist Ivan Reis every day leading up to the release of Aquaman #1 on September 28!

Check it all out here at The Aquaman Shrine!

The Fire and Water Podcast

I'm a big fan of my friend Rob Kelly's Aquaman Shrine (as well as both Rob and Aquaman separately too), and recently he, along with the Irredeemable Shag of the Firestorm Fan site got together to do a podcast about their mutual loves of the characters Aquaman and Firestorm - The Fire and Water Podcast.

The first episode is an entertaining voyage into the hows and whys of doing blogs devoted to Aquaman and Firestorm, the new DC 52 and what it has in store for their favorite characters and just some really fun chemistry that doesn't often happen in many podcasts. Rob and Shag are a good team and provide a really good listen. And it's not just Aquaman and Firestorm talk here, there's a bit of comics history as well and even some love for the classic Mark Evanier/Dan Spiegle Blackhawk, always a plus for me. Recommended, check it out here or on iTunes.

The Live Midnight Justice League Release Party

In case you missed it earlier tonight, here's the live vidcast from the All Things Fun! Midnight Release Party and Sale, featuring the many origins of the Justice League of America, Flashpoint #5, Justice League #1, and Rob Kelly from The Aquaman Shrine.

Watch live streaming video from allthingsfun at livestream.com

Aquaman Returns

My friend Rob Kelly is a guy with a lot of passion. Whether it’s his work or his hobbies, he puts everything he has into it. Case in point – his brainchild the Aquaman Shrine. His love and respect for the Aquaman character knows no bounds and his passion to see Aquaman get the props he deserves is phenomenal.

When the sea king, in his most classic and recognizable form, was set to return in the pages of The Brave and the Bold, Rob set up a campaign to make sure as many folks as possible were both aware of and ordered the issue. Even here at Welcome to Hell I supported the effort.

Yesterday Brave and the Bold #32 came out, featuring the classic Aquaman and Jack Kirby’s The Demon, and here’s my review...

Writer J. Michael Straczynski has been rolling throughout time and space in the DC Universe with his tales in Brave and the Bold, and this issue marks the subtitle on the cover ”Lost Stories of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” to further ensure he wouldn’t be hindered by continuity. Sometimes the complicated soap opera mythology of comics gets in the way of telling stories. If you want to read good stories and worry about that tangled mess – JMS’ Brave and the Bold is for you.

This issue, illustrated by frequent collaborator Jesus Saiz, is no different. This done-in-one story brings the classic Aquaman together with The Demon to stop a decidedly Lovecraftian elder entity from entering our dimension. An excellent short story, “Night Gods” tells the tale of Whitford Crane who is trying to find out if he’s insane or not by digging up his friend’s grave. When captured he relates the story from his point of view. The first two pages have the feel of the old 1970s DC horror comics. I could almost see the Phantom Stranger appearing next, but instead it’s the rather odd pairing of Aquaman and the Demon.

The unlikely duo get together once a year to stop this invasion of an elder god into our world, and poor Whitford is stuck in the middle. While Lovecraft is more in the Demon’s field, the focus is actually more on Aquaman. As a man of the sea himself, Crane has a healthy respect for Aquaman, and his narration lovingly paints him as the dynamic hero he is. The sea king’s underwater fighting prowess and especially his telepathic powers are displayed breathtakingly.

I agree with Rob wholeheartedly that this is the Aquaman we want, and hopefully sales on this issue should tell DC Comics how much we feel this. And even if you’re not an Aquaman fan, or even a comics fan, Brave and the Bold demonstrates what good storytelling is all about. Definitely check it out. Highly recommended.

All Things Fun! Podcast: Back at the Franklin

The newest All Things Fun! Podcast is now online - Season 2: Episode #5 Back at the Franklin!

Join Ed Evans, Wes Hitchins and Jess Williams as they return to The Franklin Institute in downtown Philadelphia PA for the launch of the Body World 2 and The Brain Exhibition in this game-centric episode. Wes previews Z-Man's Dungeon Lords and reviews AEG's Adventurers. Ed reviews Mayfair Games' Station Master and tries to convince Wes to donate his body to science. We also hear an interview with Mr. Anatomy and we meet All Things Fun!'s youngest fan!

You can send feedback to feedback@allthingsfun.net or online at www.allthingsfun.net/bbs. You can also call our new feedback voicemail number 1(856)448-GAME(4263).

To see Jess's Show Notes visit: www.allthingsfun.net/jess_notes.

Show Map:
00:00: Intro
00:22: Opening
03:57: Body Worlds 2 & The Brain
08:28: People in the crowd (Paul from Camden)
09:18: Jess talks to Mr. Anatomy
10:03: Wes previews Dungeon Lords & reviews Adventurers
18:25: Ed talks Wes into donating his body to science
24:08: Ed reviews Station Master
29:36: People in the crowd (Mike from Clinton)
30:28: End Credits
32:07: End

Check it out here or direct download: ATFPodcast_S2_Ep05_01_18_10.mp3

Enjoy!

And don't forget to visit All Things Fun! - South Jersey's premiere toy, game and comics store here.

The Brave and the Bold #32 Event

In February DC Comics' Brave and the Bold features a tale of the classic and very-much-alive Aquaman by writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Jesus Saiz. Friend Rob Kelly of The Aquaman Shrine is putting together an effort to let the powers that be that we want more of this, in other words – Bring Back Aquaman, the real Aquaman!

Catch Rob’s efforts here, here and especially here, with an interview with J. Michael Straczynski. And if you are in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and would like to pre-order your copy of Brave and the Bold #32, check out All Things Fun! page here.

All Things Fun! Podcast - Live at the Franklin Institute

The All Things Fun! Podcast is back: "Season 2: Episode #3 LIVE at The Franklin Institute!”

Join Ed Evans, Wes Hitchins Jess Williams and the rest of the All Things Fun! Podcast gang as they broadcast LIVE from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA.

Ed and Wes talk a bit about the Franklin Institute, talk to excited patrons, preview the new game Arcane Legions from Wells Expeditions and review the game Space Alert from Rio Grande Games. Special thanks to the Franklin Institute for hosting the podcast and to our new producer, Jess Williams.

We'll be back next month with our regular show, including the return of comic news with Glenn Walker and Allison Eckel.

All Things Fun! Podcast logo by Rob Kelly.

You can send feedback online at www.allthingsfun.net/bbs or via our feedback voicemail hotline 1 (206) 888-6097.

Show Map:

0:00 Intro
4:49 Why the Franklin?
14:52 Folks at the Franklin (Part 1, Rick from Boston)
15:51 Interview with Troy Collins, Senior VP, The Franklin Institute
22:59 Folks at the Franklin (Part 2, Rob and Beryl usssovereign.com)
26:59 Game Preview, Arcane Legions, Wells Expeditions
36:46 Folks at the Franklin (Part 3, Zack and Rob from Pennsauken NJ)
38:06 Folks at the Franklin (Part 4, Jennifer and Fred from Philadelphia)
39:20 Game Review, Space Alert, Rio Grande Games
47:24 Thanks!
49:16 End Credits
50:43 End

Check it out here!

And visit All Things Fun! here!

M*A*S*H The Blog

The newest of Rob Kelly's Family of Blogs is all about the classic 1970s television sitcom "M*A*S*H." He'll be taking a look at the series, episode by episode right from the beginning.

As a fan of Rob's blogging work, and a latecomer to the series myself (my mom was a nurse who felt offended by the portrayal of nurses on the show, so we never saw it at home), I'm looking forward to this. Check it out here.

Who Is the Phantom Stranger?

Another darn fine blog from Rob Kelly, this one about The Phantom Stranger, is coming your way on October 31st. Check it out here.

Wizard World Philly - Friday

I arrived late, for reasons I’d rather not get into, and was at first surprised at how empty it was considering the massive lines waiting to get in three hours after they opened. Same security folks it looks like. I guess the Wizard folks like these blackshirts. Early on I ran into my friend Rob of the Aquaman Shrine who was hunting down sketches. He was having a ball.

After walking the floor a bit I went to the Counting Down panel. While waiting for it to start I over heard a guy in his twenties talk about how he hated Flash and Justice League because of all the history involved. Man, was I in the wrong room.

The panel consisted of a few rather silent folks like editors Jim Califore, Eddie Bergenza, Mike Carlin and others and was moderated by Director of Sales Bob Wayne. And Countdown pins were offered as a bribe to sit through the whole panel. Talk about desperate, man.

There was a phone call made to Dan DiDio in Charlotte at the Heroes Con. That struck me as interesting. Heroes was more important that WW Philly? Wizard has taken a few steps down since the NY Con, eh? DiDio joked about Flash being cancelled with issue 13 and there being an All-Flash #1 coming shortly thereafter. There was much kidding about this, and it wasn’t until I got home and read them intranets that I found this was actually true, with Mark Waid returning as writer for the new series. You know it would be nice if these guys took their jobs seriously.

They discussed a few new things like Countdown to Mystery featuring Doctor Fate by Steve Gerber with Eclipso back-ups, a new Suicide Squad by John Ostrander, and a new Infinity Inc. with Steel and his niece. They also promoted the heck out of Countdown Presents, a six-issue series concentrating on the search for Ray Palmer. In the mini, Donna Troy, Kyle Raynor and Jason Todd explore the multiverse, including the Wildstorm universe, the Crime Syndicate’s Earth-Three and the vampire world from “Blood Rain.”

From there I snuck over to the Bendis panel just in time to hear him explain his theories on the return of thought balloons and to watch Mike Oeming and David Mack arm wrestle. No, I’m not kidding. Bendis really explained his use of thought balloons. And my first impression of Bendis in the flesh? A short Curly Howard, but a lot smarter, and almost as entertaining.

More tomorrow.