Page 27  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Last issue, Ace confronted the ruthless and deadly Faro Kid. A dream (in which Ace's hat told him the story of how Ace murdered Faro Kid in cold blood) caused Ace to believe that Faro Kid may have had some clues to Ace's past. It was a dead end. After besting Faro Kid in a shoot out, Ace found some comfort in the fact that he may not have learned about his past, but he had done some good. Meanwhile, Strongarm, Ace's sidekick, shared a secret with the mysterious Athena. A secret meant to be kept from Ace . . .




COMMENTS:

I've said it before, gentle reader, I love the splash page that sets up the story at the beginning of old comics. It's like a second cover, in many ways. If I could get away with it in my own stories, I'd try it. Sadly, like thought balloons, it's a trope of the past.

I love thought balloons as well, I have to say, and wish they were used more often in modern comics. They've been entirely replaced by the first person caption box, which is useful and makes for dramatic storytelling.

But sometimes, the old ways are good.

The art in this Black Diamond Western story is by William Overgard. With no writer listed, it is possible he wrote the thing as well, although I'm not convinced of that. I love his line work, and wish I were an artist because I believe there is much that could be learned from his artwork here. Some later issues of Black Diamond Western are pretty terrible.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

1 comments »

"Six Shooters and Six Strings" Cover  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Last issue, Ace confronted the ruthless and deadly Faro Kid. A dream (in which Ace's hat told him the story of how Ace murdered Faro Kid in cold blood) caused Ace to believe that Faro Kid may have had some clues to Ace's past. It was a dead end. After besting Faro Kid in a shoot out, Ace found some comfort in the fact that he may not have learned about his past, but he had done some good. Meanwhile, Strongarm, Ace's sidekick, shared a secret with the mysterious Athena. A secret meant to be kept from Ace . . .




COMMENTS:

Lev Gleason proudly announced on the cover of this issue of Black Diamond Western "In this issue: THE BEST STORY WE EVER PUBLISHED IN ANY MAGAZINE!" I'm not going to make the same proclamation, gentle reader, although I am excited about this story.

The artwork for this story comics from Black Diamond Western #16. You can see the cover here. Technically, the seventh issue of the series (Black Diamond Western started with issue #9; before that it was called Desperado), by now they had hit their stride. Also, in this issue they had two Black Diamond stories and fewer unrelated stories. (By the end of the series, they had three Black Diamond stories in each issue.)

This is issue #2 for me, though. I will be using almost all of the artwork from BDW #16, although I may dip into another issue for Ace's dream. Actually, the structure of this story allows for a couple dream sequences.

I hope you enjoy "Six Shooters and Six Strings", gentle reader.

~ Ben

PS -- I'm sorry, I couldn't resist using the "No animals were harmed . . ." line. It's my answer, in a way, to Lev's assurance that this was the best story they had ever published. Let's face it, this story features a man with a "gun-tar", but it also centers around a horse fight! It's fairly brutal!

PPS -- The sidebar with the poem like wording comes from a "theme song" I've written about Ace. I haven't set it to music. It just sort of accidentally happened as I was trying to come up with a quick way to set up his story, and the wording started to rhyme. When I did it, I was reminded of Joss Whedon, and how he wrote the theme song to Firefly and when he suddenly understood what he was creating. Something similar happened to me. It didn't change much of what I was already planning, but it just kind of hung a sign on it. Made it more clear. It was almost like a "Hollywood logline", where you distill the essence of your story into a single sentence.

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 26  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Ace has won his final struggle with Faro Kid, and in the process learned that his dream may have mislead him in more than one way . . .




COMMENTS:

Well, gentle reader, the first issue is complete! Starting next Wednesday we'll be presenting Ace of Diamonds Issue 2: "Six Shooters and Six Strings"! (I like it when chapter titles have a common theme. I think the "Noun and Related-but-different-noun" is going to be the theme here in ace.)

The lion's share of the artwork from issue 2 will actually come from Black Diamond Western's issue 16. Lev Gleason, who published the original series, said of BDW #16, "The best story we ever published in any magazine!" We'll see!

So my search for western related webcomics came up pretty empty, with just a couple worth mentioning (and I did mention them here -- you should check them both out, they're great!), but I did find another comic that is related to Ace of Diamonds in a different way: the use of public domain comics!

Mike Parkinson's Out of Print is like a "Mini-Marvels" for the public domain set! I've seen people do new serious stories using public domain superheroes and I've seen people play it for laughs, but I've never seen anyone do it quite like Mike is. The basic concept is that it's the present-day, and all those old superheroes are attending a support group for characters who have lapsed into the public domain. What makes this fun and unique is that they are drawn in a very cartoony, stylish way. "We look like we're straight outta Peanuts," one character complains. The characters are self-aware, knowing they are comic characters and even speaking with the artist on occasion.

I told Mike yesterday, "We're two sides of the public domain coin." He's using characters and concepts, I'm using artwork, and we're both creating something new! Out of Print is very fun and well worth your time. It's also relatively new, meaning it won't take you long to get up to date reading through the archives (a good thing) but that also means you'll get through the archives quickly and have to wait for new comics (bad thing). Check it out!

~ Ben

PS -- If you haven't already, check out the line work from yesterday's page of art! William Overgard was the artist, and the movement of the lines and the way your eye follows the curves is something I find remarkable. (Something else I find remarkable: Overgard wasn't just an artist, he was a writer and scripted episodes of Silver Hawks and Thundercats!)

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 25  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: To read from the beginning, click here. Ace has just learned that while his dream suggested Faro Kid may have a link to Ace's unknown past, in reality the criminal seems to know nothing. They have a shootout, which Ace wins, and he then decides to make things fair by engaging in hand to hand with his enemy.




COMMENTS:

One more page in this first issue. Next Wednesday, Issue 2 will begin!

It's been an interesting week for me, regarding Ace of Diamonds. I got some really encouraging feedback (some from friends, some from people I don't know) and some really discouraging feedback (some from people I don't know at all and some from people I kinda know, online, sorta by reputation). I expected some people to just not like what I'm doing, but I was slightly taken aback by the intensity of the negative responses.

Of course, this feedback has caused me to think about why I'm doing this. And the main reason is, frankly, to sharpen my skills as a writer. The constraints I put on myself in this project make things difficult, and that's on purpose. Already it has paid off, as I had to rewrite a script for an artist on my newest project (this artist, coincidentally, is the artist of a western comic . . . but our project together is about ancient Israel). The rewrite made me go in and really dissect things. And as I've said in some of my blog postings on my Myth-Understanding blog (in the section called The Way of the Writer), you have to use your muscles or you'll lose them!

Now, of course, as soon as I post this for public consumption, it becomes something beyond just a personal experiment. Like ANYONE who publishes ANYTHING, I do so in the hopes that some people will read it and enjoy it. People who put up their writings or art online and say they don't care what people think are lying: if they didn't care what people thought, they wouldn't put it in a place where people can see it! They may not be bothered by reactions, but reactions are why they put it in a public forum: whether they seek positive or negative reactions, they are seeking a reaction. Most people are seeking for positive reactions, whether to make people happy or interested in thinking about something, or to get their ego stroked. Some people are seeking negative reactions, in that they really want to make people upset. I'm no different. I started this as a webcomic because I hoped that maybe some people would enjoy seeing what I'm doing. And some people really have. Mission accomplished!

Other people haven't. I hesitate to use exact words, because the person who sent me one reaction didn't send it to me to share with the world and we've talked since then and I can actually understand his problem with what I'm doing. I don't agree with his opinion, but it's his opinion and opinions, unlike facts, aren't right or wrong . . . they just are. But he had a problem with me using someone else's artwork, even though it was in the public domain, for something it was never intended to be used for. And that's a fact: I am using Black Diamond Western's artwork for something that never intended it to be used for. However, here's where we differ: I believe that's the exact reason that we have the public domain.

The public domain exists so that we can take works of art, statements from the past, and use them to create new works of art, statements from the present. Now, I do not believe that copyright law is bad. That protects recent works and allows artists to benefit from their creations. But, let's be honest, part of my career is built on the public domain! The public domain allowed me to take cultural touchstones and reference them directly, making my own artistic statement about them.

This is another reason why I'm doing what I'm doing. By using an obscure, public domain comic book that represented pulp comic fiction in all its glory, and rewriting it into a story that, honestly, represents my conception of modern "pulp" fiction storytelling, I'm making an artistic statement.

And while I didn't expect it, I welcome the dialogue it has created. Because, at the end of the day, isn't that what art is really all about? Dialogue, first and foremost between the artist and the viewer with the art itself as the conduit; between different viewers; and, sometimes, between the artist and viewer as they actuall communicate about the art.

Regardless, gentle readers, I'm in this for the long haul! I have the issues I will be using to present Ace's origin, and the issue that will be his last adventure! Unlike network television, I will not leave you hanging with no answers by canceling this puppy mid-season! I welcome your comments (if you use the comments below, though, please don't be obscene -- I would delete that because as much as it could add to the conversation, it would take more away).

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

1 comments »

Page 24  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: On his way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid, Ace tells his partner Strongarm about a dream in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. Meanwhile, in town, the Faro Kid is waiting for the inevitable showdown. To read from the beginning, click here.




COMMENTS:

I've seen gunfighters so good they shoot guns out of people's hands.

I've seen gunfighters do fast they shoot before the other guy even draws . . . even when it's the other guy who calls the draw.

But I've never seen a gunfighters so good and fast that he's able to both outdraw his opponent AND win the gunfight by shooting the HAMMERS OFF THE OTHER GUY'S GUNS!!!

That's pretty impressive. That's what I love about old Westerns. Yes, the gunfights may not be realistic. But when they do that unrealistic gunfight, it's all about control. They have the power to put a bullet in the other guy's heart. Or even the other guy's eye! But instead, they restrain themselves. They only do what's necessary.

Unfortunately, it also creates a situation where your protagonist is unstoppable and there's no tension when he goes into a fight.

Just a couple more pages in this first issue!

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

0 comments »

Page 23  

Posted by Ben in , ,

Previously: On his way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid, Ace tells his partner Strongarm about a dream in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. Meanwhile, in town, the Faro Kid is waiting for the inevitable showdown. To read from the beginning, click here.

Previous Page | Next Page


COMMENTS:

Wow. So my quest for Western Webcomics, while not quite finished, is turning up very few results!

Here's what I have thus far:

PURE: A sci-fi/western/fantasy type of story. The creator said it was inspired by "missing Bravestar" (a sci-fi western Saturday morning cartoon from the '80's). It's fun, though. And part of an interesting trend.

HIGH MOON: A horror/western, High Moon has all the trappings of a good Western: hero with a mysterious past, gunfights, bounty hunting, awesome scenery. Add werewolves into the mix, and you've got an interesting read. (This falls into my "I-had-a-similar-idea-but-they-did-it-first-and-did-it-better-than-I-could" category; a category that is, sadly, quite large.)

Another webcomic -- a sci-fi/western mashup -- I found accidentally, through an ad on a completely unrelated webcomic site . . . and didn't bookmark it and can't find it now! But it was pretty good!

I did find a couple more, but after looking at them I really just decided that they weren't really the kind of thing I wanted to promote. One contained graphic this, another contained graphic that, and another just didn't appeal to me at all.

But here's the one constant: no Western themed webcomic has been JUST a Western! Sci-fi Western, yes. Horror Western, yes. But Western Western? No. I find this curious. It also makes me want to try to develop a Western series that's just a good Western series. Even Ace of Diamonds isn't JUST a Western . . . it's a gimmick wrapped in Western wear! Although, the gimmick itself forces it to be a Western Western.

Meanwhile . . . I received my first ever fan art for Ace of Diamonds! It was drawn by Jamie Cosley of Crashland Studio. Here it is:



Just thought I'd share the awesomeness. :)

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

1 comments »

Page 22  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.



COMMENTS:

Watching and listening to some old Westerns recently has caused me to decide I really need to use the word "die" and variations thereof more. There's ALWAYS some sort of dialogue like this:

"You gonna draw fast?"
"Yeah, and you're gonna die fast."
Or

"You'll be sorry!"
"And you'll be dead!"
It's part of what makes Westerns great!

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

0 comments »

Page 21  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.




COMMENTS:

This is the end of the dream. With the next page, we enter into "real time" again.

There are more dreams to come, though!

On Monday, my schedule and my local comic creator group's schedule finally got into sync again, so I was able to work on Ace of Diamonds there, which meant I had two or three hours of concentrated Ace time along with some pretty serious geek time, talking pretty seriously about important things like Fringe, comic conventions, and awful movies.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

0 comments »

Page 20  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.




COMMENTS:

I love how Nick Pharaoh pulls the classic "ran out of ammo, so must throw the gun" move.

Reminds me of someone (can't remember who) who once said that he never understood why criminals, after unloading their guns at Superman and having the BULLETS bounce off him, would throw their gun at him, like it's going to actually do better. Then again, he continued, he also never understood why Superman, after having the bullets bounce off him, would duck when they threw their guns! Sorry, that has nothing to do with Westerns. Just where my train of thought went.

There's now two bonus stories on the site, gentle reader.

Wednesday, I posted a link to the 24-Hour Comic I did a few years ago, called The Ballad of the Freak. Many of the pages have commentary about my experience writing and drawing the story.

Today, I'm proud to show you a story that, if I tried to do anything with it now, would be called a rip off of Zuda's High Moon webcomic. I assure you, it does pre-date High Moon, although High Moon's prominence has caused me to hold off doing anything else with the concept.

It's called Gideon's Army. It's an old story, and if I had it to do over again I'd do a LOT of things differently, but I have a special place for it in my heart.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

0 comments »

Page 19  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.




I'm really having a hard time "holdin' my horses", gentle reader. I really want to post the next few pages. The last page of the dream surprised me.

Meanwhile, if you notice I've added a section over to the right labeled "Extras". These extras are going to be some other Western comics I've written. The first one is called "The Ballad of the Freak", a 24-Hour Comic I wrote and drew a few years ago. It's what I call a "Jimmy Stewart Western" (as opposed to a "John Wayne Western" or a "Clint Eastwood Western"). It's a project I am very proud of, and one of the few stories I've written that I enjoy going back to over and over again. Like many writers, when I end a story it can be hard to want to go back and read it (unless I have to, for continuity purposes). This 24-Hour Comic is not like that. I still enjoy going back and reading it. I think part of it comes from the enjoyment of reliving the project process.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

1 comments »

Page 18  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.




I'm noticing a distinct lack of Western webcomics out there.

Obviously, the big one out there is High Moon, a werewolf western, on Zuda.com. To be honest, I haven't been reading it. I'm a bit jealous that they got out there first. My own supernatural western comic, Gideon's Army, was going to use classic western titles with "horror" twists as chapter titles. The one story I DID complete was called "The Quick and the Undead" which I've since found out is ALSO not completely original. Ah well.

If anyone does know of any Western webcomics, let me know. I'd like to link to them.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

0 comments »

Page 17  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.


Sorry I missed a week. Between three days visiting my family and two days where I was alone with two of my daughters (the youngest two) and a major project deadline looming overhead (which I made, barely -- you can get details here if you like), Ace of Diamonds kind of took a backseat last week. That's the bad news.

The good news is that even though it didn't get uploaded, pages still got finished! The whole dream sequence is done, so I've actually got a backlog of material. I wasn't sure if it'd be best to actually post pages for the days I missed, or if I should just resume posting today like nothing happened. In the end, I decided to just resume today and go from there.

Anyway, the dream turned out differently than I expected. It ended up being a lot less esoteric than I had planned. It fits much neater into things that I thought it would. This project is sort of happening in a free form fashion. I've looked ahead at the comic story I'm using, but I do four pages at a time. So you'll notice a guy calling Nick Pharaoh "boss" in the beginning of the dream sequence . . . but that guy is actually Brody, head of Brody's gang, and Brody's the boss! (At least, in my version of the story.) I'm justifying it because that panel is a representation of the rest of the dream. But in truth, I did that page as part of a one chunk of pages and when I decided to make Brody head of the gang on the page where he appeared, it was a separate chunk of pages!

Anyway, I'm happy with how the dream turned out. Although, Ace's dream hat is a jerk. I'm not sure if there's a way I can bring HIM back.

But the big question we're wrestling with is this: is the dream real?

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 16  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previously: Ace and his partner Strongarm are on their way to rescue a town from the deadly Faro Kid. As they travel, Ace tells his companions about a dream he had, in which his hat told him how the Faro Kid may be a key to Ace's past. To read from the beginning, click here.



I must apologize, dear reader, that this page was a bit late (although it was still Friday when I posted it).

As you can tell, in the original story they just gloss over the whole "massacre of everyone in the wagon train" and you can barely tell that the main character was hit by the shovel. In the final panel of the original, I should add, that the bandits then talk about taking scalps to make it look like Indians killed everyone. It's pretty morbid.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 15  

Posted by Ben in ,



And so it begins. The dream!

And yes, in the Black Diamond Western comic there was actually a small run of stories that were narrated by hats! One of the others that I will be using soon was narrated by a sombrero! Granted, the hat was actually an avatar for the true narrator. But still, it feels like the hat is talking . . .

So where, dear reader, is the line drawn between clever and ridiculous?

Of course, maybe I've crossed that line, since instead of using the hat as an avatar I'm using the hat as an actual character! At least it's a dream character . . .

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 14  

Posted by Ben in ,




More History

Continuing with Maurice Horn's Comics of the American West, I found this interesting little tidbit:

The masked Western hero . . . derives from literary precedent (in this instance the Zorro novels). In the comics The Lone Ranger was undoubtedly the first protagonist to wear a mask, a convention not conspicuously picked up by other newspaper strips. It is an altogether different matter in the comic books where the trend towards masked and, when at all possible, costumed Western heroes has been overwhelming from the start. There have been Durango Kid, the Outlaw Kid, the Masked Raider, Nighthawk, the Ghost Rider, and countless other who have donned mask or disguise for the most arbitrary (and often the most laughable) of reasons. The real motivation, of course, has always been crassly commercial: to try and relate the Western tradition to the vastly more popular (to the comic book audience) concept of the superhero. Only in Red Wolf was an intelligent attempt made at organically incorporating elements of the super-hero ethos into the Western mythos; because of its very sophisticate and intricate weaving together of two distinct traditions, the experiment unfortunately failed, and it is not likely yo be tried again in the foreseeable future. (203, 205)
I find this interesting mainly because of what Black Diamond Western was in its time: a crass attempt at creating yet another masked cowboy. But that becomes the challenge for Ace of Diamonds: to rise above the cliche. I don't know if I will actually rise above the cliche . . . but I have every intention of trying. The mask and why Ace wears it will be a mystery for much of the time I spend with this project. Indeed, for the time being, it is Ace's driving force. He does not know why he wears it, but he knows that he DOES wear it. And that's all he needs to know.

So, how much of the story his hat is about to tell him (and us, gentle readers) is true? Time will tell . . .

Speaking of masked cowboys . . . on Tuesday, my local comic shop put on a party for Marvel's 70th anniversary and had local comic creators draw sketches on the special "sketch variant" cover of The Marvels Project #1. I'm a local creator, so I was able to join in on the fun. Since Marvel's Two Gun Kid was featured in The Marvels Project #1, I did a little funny drawing that pokes fun at the whole "masked cowboy" concept. Here's my blog post about the event -- the Two Gun Kid cover can be found beneath the pictures of the cake! Now you can see why I'll never be referred to as a "writer/artist" . . .

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.


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Page 13  

Posted by Ben in ,



History Lesson

In the book Comics of the American West by Maurice Horn, Black Diamond Western (the original comic book Ace of Diamonds is based on) is featured in the subsection "The golden age of the Western (1948-1954)".

The section gives some background and details on Western comics after WWII, and how Western comics boomed while superhero comics "slumped" (84). It talks about Kid Colt ("one of the more entertaining of the cowboy features", 85) and many of the other Atlas comics of the '40's and '50's (many written by Stan Lee). It gets into National Periodicals' forays into the Western, including Nighthawk ("most interesting of all . . . about yet another hooded figure of justice, by the name of Hannibal Hawkes, whose emblem, a hawk emlbazoned on his shirtfront, spread terror in the hearts of prairie evildoers, much as National's Batman was already doing with Gotham City criminals", 87).

"In that prolific year 1948 Western comic books just seemed to tumble over one antoher as far as the wide horizon," Horn says (88). The following year "proved hardly less productive" (89). The chapter gives examples of these comics, but it's what he says about Black Diamond Western that I found most interesting. I had hoped to find some information about the title and the artists, but here's what I got instead:

And still they came . . . Lev Gleason, notorious for his crime comics, put out Black Diamond Western (formerly Desperado), about yet another masked rider who faught outlaws, maurading Apache bands, claim jumpers, and a mysterious criminal mastermind known as the Scorpion. The comic book was on the whole undistinguished, with only the wildly parodic Bing Bang Buster by Basil Wolverton as its redeeming grace; it lasted from 1949 to 1956. (90)
Well, there you have it. At least Black Diamond Western warranted a whole paragraph in the book! I'm going to continue my search for information about Black Diamond Western and the people who made it happen!

By the way, Basil Wolverton's pages will be featured in either issue 2 or 3 of Ace of Diamonds, while the Scorpion will be mentioned in the near future but not featured until much later. He's the closest thing to an arch-enemy that Black Diamond had, and will join Faro Kid in Ace's rogues gallery.

A sidenote: Nighthawk gets a hawk on his shirt, ala Batman. What does Black Diamond/Ace get? A black diamond shape. Good grief. That'll strike terror in the hearts of men, right? "Yikes! Look out! It's a girl's best friend!"

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 12  

Posted by Ben in ,




In the original comic (Black Diamond Western) that little kid in panel five is running to his mother to ask if he can go out to play! Of course, his mother says no. I've always wanted to use that "SOB!" line since a friend of mine brought my attention to it.

More about that dream of Ace's today. The dream motif is going to be revisited a number of times, because it allows me to use some of the more strange and oddballish back up features that appeared in Black Diamond Western. However, I'm realizing now that the dream motif, which started as just an idea to use those items, actually helped push forward the story that I will be developing. It's not just a gimmick, it's vital to the story.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 11  

Posted by Ben in ,




So, Ace had a dream. About his hat. What's that all about?

Tune in to find out!

The upcoming dream sequence is interesting to me, because it really fits into the direction I want to send this series into, even though it will come from a different story that didn't feature Ace at all! It still comes from the same issue of "Black Diamond Western" that this Black Diamond story came from, but originally Black Diamond Western, the comic book, had one upfront story featuring Black Diamond and two or more back stories featuring other cowboy adventures (some by Basil Wolverton!). For Ace of Diamonds -- the remix -- the idea is to use as many pages as possible, but for the same story! Sometimes, that may mean a flashback to Ace's past, sometimes it may mean a dream sequence (as is coming up -- I mean, how else to you use a story narrated by a hat? Tune in to find out more!) and sometimes it may mean backstory for a minor character.

Meanwhile, that woman has shown up again . . .

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 10  

Posted by Ben in ,




This page works best if read together with the last page, since first panel on this page and the last panel on the previous page go together. Faro Kid's dialogue on this page (and his gun shots) interrupt the Sheriff's dialogue from before.

SHERIFF: Bah! Faro Kid, you're under --

FARO KID: Under contract with Mr. Charles, Jack!
This is one of those interesting situations when webcomics show a weakness. Sequential storytelling over periods of time, if you're reading the story in real time (one or two pages a week), make it difficult to follow sometimes. This is also a good argument for doing narrative comics scene by scene or chapter by chapter instead of page by page. Of course, then you run the risk of not having a regular schedule . . . since a 10 page scene would take longer to put out than a 5 page scene.

For now, though, Ace of Diamonds will be updated every Wednesday and Friday, though, Gentle Reader.

Also, you may not be as surprised as I was at Faro Kid's matter of fact murder of the Sheriff. When I read the original Black Diamond Western, I was so surprised at the way he just killed the Sheriff! Such a callous character! I hope that comes out in MY version . . .

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 9  

Posted by Ben in ,



Well, gentle reader, the Sheriff seems to mean business . . .

As does the Faro Kid . . .

I guess the question is, which one of them is top gun . . . and which one of them has a mouth that's writing checks their body can't cash?

Tune in on Friday!

Also, gentle reader, soon we will get a glimpse into what just may be Ace's origin!

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 8  

Posted by Ben in ,




Ever think about the whole concept of the masked man wearing a badge? Even with superheroes, it seems that if you don a mask, you have something to hide, doesn't it?

Now that something may just be your Aunt May . . . but the general public doesn't know that. And if you take this idea to its logical extreme . . .

But don't worry, "Ace of Diamonds" is NOT about turning "Black Diamond Western" into a western Watchmen! Although the mask DOES figure heavily into the hows and whys of my version of this story and the whole "masked man fighting for the law" concept is also going to be an important element.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 7  

Posted by Ben in ,




Yeah, Faro Kid is a bad dude. You can tell by the way he shoots that cigarette . . . not just the TIP, he shot it into THREE PIECES!

I'm liking him more and more every day I write dialogue for him.

Of course, this being a western comic with a supernaturally fast gunslinger in the lead, there's almost no tension in the original story. You KNOW what's going to happen. Black Diamond (as he was called in the original story) and Kid Faro (as he was called in the original story) are on a collision course. Which means Ace of Diamonds (as he is called in my version) and Faro Kid (as he is called in my version) are also on a collision course! The climax of this story is pretty much already set in stone. However, I'd like to think that getting there will be half the fun.

Also, I'm having such fun writing Faro Kid . . . I promise you this, no matter what happens, this will NOT be the last you see of him!

See you Friday, gentle reader! New page! The plot thickens!

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 6  

Posted by Ben in ,



Yessir, Gentle Readers! Strongarm got on his horse backwards because he was kissed! Once again, the goal here is to take something ridiculous and make it part of the plot. So, the question is, was Strongarm really taken THAT adled by the lady’s diversionary technique? Or is he just continuing the charade?

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 5  

Posted by Ben in ,



So here is where I want to start planting the seeds for the long term storytelling. Because each short story from Black Diamond Western’s original stories were self-contained, I have to find little places to drop hints and clues to the overarching plotline. In BDW, like most comics from before the “Marvel Age”, there WAS no large storyarc. Stories were self-contained and episodic and there was no development. With Ace of Diamonds, though, I want to have some character development and discovery.

I know who Ace is, and his background. And there’s a couple different villains who will be crossing his path, but it wasn’t until I realized that Ace’s closest friend should know more than he lets on that the storytelling really started to gel. Once that factor became a part of things, some of the other elements started sliding into place. By making Ace’s partner a little more sinister, or at least not completely trustworthy, I found the engine needed to reveal plot elements to you, Gentle Readers.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 4  

Posted by Ben in ,



“My game? Ha! My game’s faro! As in ‘Kid Faro’!”

So what IS the game? Well, in my research, I found a guy who had created faro Flah Game.

CLICK HERE FOR WICHITA FARO: http://www.gleeson.us/faro/

It’s actually an enjoyable game.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 3  

Posted by Ben in ,



“Glub” is the original dialogue for that page. I just couldn’t find a better replacement.

When “I’m the dad-blamed Kid Faro” was written, I absolutely had Frank Miller’s dialogue from All Star Batman and Robin ringing in the back of my head.

I’m struck by how brutal this prison break got. This was my first Black Diamond Western comic, and the first one I read, and I was taken aback by the violence. Although, that’s nothing compared to current comics. All Star Batman and Robin is just one case in point.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 2  

Posted by Ben in ,



And so we jump right into the story. This get a bit confusing, as over the course of the next few pages we jump from one scene to another with very little regard for the panel layout. I tried to get around this, by name dropping Faro Kid in that third panel on this page so we knew we had changed location and characters, but it is still abrupt and slightly confusing. It happens a lot in this story, so it became a challenge to make it less confusing.

In the original, the villain was called Faro Kid. You’ll notice that Slow Eddy (poor guy) never gets his name right. I almost changed the name to Pharaoh, but in my comics about the Old Testament, I’ve NEVER typed the word Pharaoh correctly the first time. And in researching what “faro” actually was, I found it to be a very interesting card game.

Kid Faro’s speech pattern came out of writing his words for the cover. Suddenly, his character just came into focus. Part of it came from me thinking about how in some westerns, they go out of their way not to let the characters cuss. But instead of just having them NOT cuss, they also are saying some of the most ridiculous substitutions. My intent is not to parody the substitutions, but to have a character who genuinely speaks that way. I mean, why would a hardened criminal care?

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Page 1  

Posted by Ben in ,


I love old comics. That first splash page is usually a second cover image, and it’s no different for Black Diamond Western. The first page is usually a teaser, and in many of these old comics it’s taken from the climax of the story. I love that storytelling device. (Maybe it’s not a storytelling device, but more a story presenting device.) I plan to use it in the new TimeFlyz stories.

So there you have it, Gentle Readers. You now know what this story is leading to! (As if there was any doubt, considering this IS a ’50’s era comic book about the mythic Old West featuring a gunslinging hero.)

Oh, and the title of this first story, “Hot Lead, Cold Tin” was something that just made me smile when I wrote it.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.

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Issue 1 Cover  

Posted by Ben in ,

Previous Page | Next Page
Previous Page | Next Page

The first issue of “Ace” of Diamonds is actually not the first issue of Black Diamond Western. Instead, it’s the first issue of BDW that I purchased, so to me it’s the first Black Diamond story . . . and therefore the first “Ace” story. We’ll be going into the actual first issue of BDW in a little while, to explore the origin of the character. But since “Ace” himself doesn’t know who he is or where he came from, I figured this would work nicely.

So issue 1 of “Ace” is actually issue 14 of BDW. You can see the original cover here: @ MyComicShop.com. The cover is by Charles Brio, who did most of the covers for the series.

I struggled with how to redesign this cover. Basically, I wanted to replace only the cover’s text. I’m no Photoshop wiz, and not an artist, so developing the new logo and figuring out how to keep the aged look with the new blocks of color I was using got frustrating. If I ever print this (yeah, right!) I’ll have the cover redone.

Kid Faro, btw, was fun to write the dialogue for. His dialogue on this cover ended up causing his whole character to develop. Although, there’s more going on beneath the surface than you might expect. I’ve already started figuring out how to make Kid Faro a recurring character, even though he wasn’t in the original BDW series.

~ Ben

“Ace” of Diamonds, Remix Comix, Whisperingloon Studios, and the other stuff I made up for this webcomic are TM and (C) Ben Avery, 2009. While the original Black Diamond Western is in public domain, “Ace” of Diamonds (the story and the artwork) and the contents of this page are NOT public domain.


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