Curated by Lifeline Comics, the team behind Transphoria and Bi Visibility, Ace & Aros is a 100-page anthology that brings together 21 stories centered around the living experiences of asexual and aromatic individuals. Spanning genres from spying to everyday moments, the collection is shaped by the voices of over 20 creators, including names familiar to the comic worlds like Kelly Fitzpatrick and Bailey Rosenland.
But Ace and Arros do more than entertain them. Through its diverse stories, the anthology confirms that Ace and Aro’s identities are both fringe and connected, complex and not deep.
With a funding goal of $30,000 (which has been cleared at the time of writing), and a variety of supporters, from digital editions to deluxe hardcover, the project will help readers take these stories into the world. The Kickstarter campaign will run until June 26th, 2025. Backing Ace & Arros is not a book support gesture. This is a stand of belonging, voice and quiet power to be seen.
Here we talk to Beat about Ace & Arros being one of Jeremy Whitley, one of the creators. Read on, real believers!
Eb Hutchins: Would you like to introduce me to the process of how you came up with this anthology? What made you pursued this topic?
Jeremy Whitley: Well, I really can’t take credit for that. The original idea came from my co-editors of the book, Kat Calamia and Phil Falco, widely known as “lifeline comics.” A few years ago, they decided to do an anthology on topics I know. In Bi’s Visibility, in Bi’s Visibility, we opened up a submission of stories about bisexual people. The book was a hit so they not only did a sequel to it, but also an anthology similar to the story by trans people and people with complicated relationships with hair.
What I was involved in this book is that a few years ago I was published online, published as demisexual. After coming out, I had the incredible opportunity to write a story for Marvel (with All-ace Creative Team) about Gwenpool agreeing with her own asexuality. The story was a hit with many people, but beyond that, it was an incredible experience for me. It was my first time working on a story with an entire team of ace creators, and I kept having the moment when I sent out a draft of the script and immediately replied with an email from a team member saying things like, “Oh, God, this is me!” And then, “I didn’t think this was about Ace!” And, “I’m in this photo, and I don’t like it!” It was an experience I’d never experienced before, echoing me as a common experience that had placed what was in my brain on paper and never realised what others were going through. I talked a lot online when it came out.
I was already friends with Kat online, so when they finished a very successful transfolia anthology and started to focus on the idea of doing something similar to Ace Stories and creators, they asked if I wanted to dive in and help with editing. I was very excited not only to edit this book, but also to give other creators and readers the opportunity to experience the same as me.
With works like Hutchins: Princesses and Unstoppable Hornets, you have consistently defended comprehensive storytelling. How did your past work prepare you to tell a story with ARO & ACES?
Whitley: Well, that’s a pretty engaging question. Honestly, these two books have specifically led me to where I am in some respects. When I first started writing Princes, I didn’t realize that I was the main character, Adrian, and I was writing asexual stories. The series quickly featured many fans who are strange women, and some people asked me about Adrian’s sexuality. I felt like the question of something like Adrian’s sexuality undercut the book’s message. It was “I didn’t want the prince to save her because she was gay, it was making a completely different statement. It wasn’t what I wanted. But I liked the idea of writing a story in the princess world with a female lead of a princess, which led to the creation of Princeless’s sister book, “Raven: The Pirate Princess.”
From her creations I knew Raven would become a lesbian, but I wanted to create a crew of pirate women around her and embody the various sexualities, body types, and experiences. So I started working on that crew, and one day I was something that one of my favorite crew members, Quinn, wanted to illustrate. I spent hours trying to figure it out and kept coming to the same friction point – isn’t it everyone?
That wasn’t the case. But that was how I began to understand what was going on in my head for years and while writing about it through another character.
Then came the unstoppable wasps and spent a lot of time and effort writing different types of characters. My first real foray into the Marvel Universe was writing yet another White Avenger, leading to my resolve to do something different from the characters and supporting cast. At one point, I was meant to be strange, but I couldn’t find a relationship I thought had a romantic meaning for her. No one looked like someone she wanted to date. In the end, something like that became our answer. Nadia was asexual. We couldn’t say that at that point, but we talked about it. After that, after Gwenpur came out as an ace, several months later, Nadia came out explicitly in a short story.
So, these two books have connected very directly to where I am here, but I don’t think that will answer your question perfectly. I think the answer is that I was always open to searching for different kinds of experiences and telling the stories of different kinds of characters. It led me to inadvertently learn more about myself, tell a clear story about my experiences, and have cool and unique opportunities to emphasize the identity I have come to accept.
Hutchins: What are the common misconceptions about the aromatic and asexual people that the Aro people and Ace want to challenge?
Whitley: Well, I think the standard and most obvious answer is “We’re not robots.” Just because someone’s sex drive is different from what is considered the norm doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings, or they don’t have sex, or frankly, for many people under Ace or Aro’s umbrella, they don’t experience sexual attraction. It simply means the conditions in which they feel that sexual attraction is not the same as those in alsexual, and perhaps how much they are.
For example, I’m finished mise. In other words, I generally don’t experience any vision-based sexual attraction immediately. Love at first sight isn’t for me. It is also not generally a seeming desire. However, when I know someone and experience emotional or spiritual connections, their level of attraction and desire is as deep as others. Heck, I argue that it’s probably deeper.
I think what this anthology explicitly pushes back is what kind of story it can tell with the protagonist of Aspec. Of course, there are stories of life here, but there are stories about kinks, fantasy stories, sci-fi stories, and – yes – romance stories.
Hutchins: Given the socio-political atmosphere we currently have, did you have any news that has influenced every aspect of the creation of this anthology?
Whitley: Perhaps, perhaps fortunately, we were already on track before the start of 2025. When so many horrifying stories unfold in front of our eyes, I think it becomes difficult to think of other kinds of stories.
However, it would be a lie to say that the event will not affect it. In fact, the anthology of Neela Elkins and Ferriowind, known as “Monsters and Unicorns,” has a story about this moment, the story you want to tell and the story you need to tell. I think we all feel a lot of pressure to find ways that this stupid job we have chosen (writing, drawing, editing) can really affect the world around us. I think I can still do that, and I think this anthology is our answer to that difficult question. We can tell stories and show people who we are and who we are and who are experiencing the same thing as us.
Hutchins: Did the anthology have a particular story or character that you felt was particularly personal or meaningful? why?
Whitley: Well, I literally wrote myself and my artists in my stories. Obviously those characters make quite a sense to me, as this serves as an introduction to anthology and as an introduction to a kind of blanket of some concepts.
What really resonated with me when I read the script is a story written by lore and written by Indo Beck, known as “Ace Cupid.” It is the story of a young asexual woman trying to find a relationship through one of this cupid-themed dating app, one of the many dating apps out there. When the process proves too intense and she gives up, a literal cupid from the app visits and helps her to better understand what she is looking for.
I think that’s a really common problem for a lot of weird people, but especially for the Ace people. Just because you may not be interested in sex or romance, you don’t want to date, someone wants to talk, or even snuggle you as you contemplate the impending heat death of the universe, you won’t even snuggle you.
Hutchins: What’s next creative for you? Which new stories and genres are you excited to explore after this anthology?
Whitley: I think what I’ve learned a lot lately is that there are more works in my life and who I am and where I came from, that could be part of a good story. Navigating with you, which I wrote for Mad Cave last year, is set in my hometown of Durham, and it was a lot of fun bringing parts of my own real world into the story. I want to tell more stories set in the mountains of Appalachian where I grew up. I have some scripts, pitches and some prose projects set up around this and I want to find a home. Also between the navigation between this anthology and yours, it really set me on fire and told the story of romance with ASPEC’s lead. I think the world is ready for many of them.
As for what I’m doing next, I currently have sequels to the works of the Dog Knights, the School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and other books that have not yet been published. My friend Ben Khan and I have a book that will be featured next year. I’m working on a new Marvel mini that hasn’t been announced yet. There are more, but I can’t really talk about them. But I’m always looking for exciting new challenges, and this anthology has proven to be one! I’d like to do all of this one day!
Please see the preview page below.
Art Matt Salisbury Art by Mauricio Mora Art by Jonson Carbolulu Art Bay Caxiatal Art Bailey Rosenland, Kelly Fitzpatrick
You can back up your ACES & AROS campaigns with Kickstarter until June 26th, 2025!
Like this:
Like loading…
