I recently got a chance to speak with a few members of the Ace Hoyle staff about the comic. You can see the review here ( the comic itself). Phil is the writer for the comic and Tom and Edgar are artists. I would like to note here that on another part of the site they also talk about gambling which is somewhat connected to the comic itself.

Apollo: Did you come up with the idea for the comic first, or did you create the site and then come up with the comic?

Phill: I’d pretty much come up with the idea of an Ace-like character and the full storyline in my free time while working for Wizard Entertainment–just sans the gambling element. And, you know, I wanted to do a Web comic. When you think about the death of print, all the problems Marvel, DC and the like are having and how the papers are going extinct, the Internet’s really the only future comics have. But there’s a problem with that: How do you make them and still make money? When I started working for our company, I realized gambling sites have a great revenue model, but very little original content, so it was a natural synthesis. Web comics need a way to make money. Gambling sites need something cool to publish. It was pretty obvious from there.

Tom: That’s really Phill’s department, so I’ve got nothing to add here myself.

Edgar: I’ve got nothing to add either. I came on only this year, so I wasn’t there when Phill and Tomas were first dreaming up Ace. But Phill and I have been talking about working together on another series for a print-only publisher in our free time. Things are just a little too hectic right now with designing merchandise for Dick’s Dastardly Den, new Daily Planner backgrounds and updating the character profiles.

Apollo: Is Ace Hoyle supposed to be based on anyone?

Phill: Me, of course… [laughter].  But, seriously, my intention as the writer was to reverse the classic sex roles of Noir fiction in a way that reflects typical Gen-Y men and women. So, no, Ace isn’t based on any specific individual, but I think we all know at least one dopey, outgoing, wannabe-tough who’s only good at one thing–and at least one on-the-ball chick who’s looking out for him.

Tom: Image-wise, I’d say Ace reflects my understanding and imagination of a cool card shark, and he was created purely in my head. I mean, there isn’t any existing person behind it that I know of. I kind of see a few of my own facial features in there in retrospect, but as a visual artist that’s almost unavoidable.

Edgar: For me it was really hard trying to recreate the image Tomas had created for Ace. It’s always hard to mimic another artist’s style, and my work on Ace has been no exception. I just try to preserve what I think is Ace’s core personality in my depictions. I can’t draw exactly like Tomas, just as he can’t draw exactly like me. But what’s important is that, whatever the style, the soul of the character remains unchanged.

Apollo: Do you play poker often?

Tomas: Actually, It might surprise you, but I have never played poker in my life. I think I just don t have the right “player`s heart” for it….

Edgar: Me too… I mean, I’ve never played poker before either, but it is on my list of things to do. Maybe someday the three of us will play. Imagine it: A Paraguayan (me), a Czech (Tomas) and an American (Phill). That’ll be the quietest poker game ever! [Laughter]

Phill: Yeah, we probably should play together at some point for research purposes. But for now, it’s been basically them learning script-by-script. I know a thing or two because, as a journalist for MediaTier’s previous projects, I got used to reporting on the games, and I have had some luck in amateur games–one time taking a night’s worth of drinking money from some fraternity friends in college. But amateur and home games are one thing and the pro circuit something else entirely. I know I’m not good enough for the latter—which, I guess, is why I write about it instead of playing it.

Apollo: How far out have you planned the comic?

Phill: I have the writing planned to somewhere between episodes 250 and 300. But I don’t want to give the impression that everything is set in stone.  I’m not one of those writers who fills up notebooks with plot points.  I know what I want to happen, but getting from Point A to Point B is part of the fun.  After all, if I’m not excited by a story how can I expect my readers to get excited? Also, I want to leave some leeway because of the site’s interactive aspect.  I think the ability to let readers decide, for instance, whether Ace’s kidnappers should take him to Berlin or Prague is one of Web comics’ greatest strengths as a medium.

Tomas: Again, this is mainly Phill`s business, but as long as he keeps the scripts coming I`m ready to draw the comic, and I hope it will last for a long time.

Edgar: Same here. Phill just sends me the scripts, and I draw them. I hope when Tomas comes back from sick leave MediaTier will let me continue helping with the strips or maybe put me in charge of the print annual they have planned, but that’s still several months in the future.

Apollo: Why did you choose to do the comic in mostly black and white?

Phill: The decision to do the comic in black and white with pop-colors was partially an aesthetic one and partially based on storyline. But I’ll let Tomas and Edgar explain.  I don’t want to spoil any of our plans myself.

Tomas: We decided to do the comic in black and white because our intention was to achieve a “film noir” feeling. The illuminated parts always mark some crucial or symbolical elements or facts. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t turn it into a fully colored series sometime in the future. Phill and I have talked about that since last year, and while we’re still up in the air about it, it’s a very distinct possibility….

Edgar: For my part I don’t know all the things Tom and Phill have planned, but my personal opinion is I like the comic’s B&W style because it reminds me of “Scarface” a lot. I’d personally like to stick with it throughout the series, so I’ve been arguing pretty heavily for that. I feel it really gives it a unique personality and atmosphere – a gritty sort of lens I think is appropriate when depicting poker players.