www.the-agencies.com presents The Agencies #16

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #16 is available now!

To see prior issues of The Agencies, along with dozens of other tickle torture comics, go to www.the-agencies.com

My, what a ride it's been!

The tickling community's longest running comic, The Agencies, is about to hit another milestone. We are set to release The Agencies #16 this month, when I realized something a week ago.

After July, The Agencies will be 10 years old!

Issue #1 was released July 2002 and it's been a fun ride ever since. A lot (and oh boy, do I mean a LOT) of ups and downs in that time, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. As celebration of where the series has been, I am going to post images and thoughts on each issue in this thread until #16 is ready to launch.

First I wanted to thank each and every one of you who have purchased, supported, and communicated with us privately and publicly on our publications. Believe me, it helps quite a bit to hear what both excites and disappoints you.

Attached to this first post is the cover of The Agencies #16. It features Cat being dragged off to Karma's infamous dungeons. Cat is Tiffany's best friend; she was captured alongside Julie and interrogated by Karma's forces to the whereabouts of Tiffany. She's shown being dragged off here by Lucy, one of Karma's henchman.

In summary, this issue has:

• 13 interior color pages
• Includes a cover and pinup
• Pencils/Inks by Javier
• Colors by Sicalo
• Written/Directed by Oblesklk and Jonathan Essex
• F/F and FF/F tickling
• Features all upper body tickling
• Shows extra long belly button tickling scene
• Depicts breast tickling
• Brief exchange between Agent Starlight and Karma, former best friends and now heated enemies
• Costs just $12.95 !

<a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=0CB46863-F279-4C99-BDC7-BE328A0B6D50&pid=97c32aa409464b80811fcb89ff61ce78"><img src="http://www.mcssl.com/netcart/images/cart_buttons/cart_button_10.gif"></a>

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #1http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-one.html

Issue released July 2002.

Cover


This was the second issue we ever released, the first being The Cyriaan Chronicles #1. It is also the only issue penned by someone other than Oblesklk. The community's very own Tee Hee Lawrence wrote the script for this issue, and it isn't hard to see why it's the most clever and humorous installment of the series. Tee Hee just has a way with words, and the characters really spring to life in this issue.

We meet Agent Succubus for the first time in this issue. She unfortunately came to an untimely end is The Agencies #13, but more on that later. We are also introduced to Agent Peepers, a non-recurring character in The Agencies universe. I had considered releasing this as a two-part series, since there is a natural break in the issue on page 14. But ultimately I wanted to keep the story together so it all fell into Issue #1.

Like The Cyriaan Chronicles at the time, I had no intention of making The Agencies an ongoing series with one storyline. I had ideas of what I wanted to do with the issues, but they didn't necessarily have a common thread or anything to do with each other. Instead, I just wanted to show a series of mini ticklish adventures set in the same comic universe, but interpreted differently by various artists. So the first 6 issues of the series are all standalone stories. They're kind of fun because they all showcase main characters that play a major part in the series later on, but in these early issues they're just kind of there.

Page 7

The attached page is where all the magic happens! Our hapless heroines are captured when Agent Succubus lets loose about her (not so) secret weakness.

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #2http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-two.html

Issue released November 2002.

Cover


Issue #2 was released soon after #1. This was the first issue I wrote, and I wanted to introduce the comic universe in which the stories take place. Quickly in this issue, we learn that the area's youth are being trained at an Academy to destroy 'enemies of the corporations.' Plural insinuates the Academy is neutral in the struggle, that the young adults inside could be employed at different times among warring corps. It happens. We also learn that Earth's population was annihilated through some undisclosed cataclysm: in this story there are only 1.2 billion humans left on the planet. It is not disclosed whether that number is shrinking or growing. And this cataclysm happened roughly 50 years before the beginning of the story (two generations ago).

Here we meet Summer and Lisa, two students at the Academy. All students at the Academy are Agents in training. The top students are recruited for a variety of tasks in the world, but the best go to the best agencies in the country. The academy houses students typically 16-20 years of age. Summer and Lisa are presumably near graduation, and given a mission to find a missing person in the Frontier. The Frontier is a cesspool of lawlessness, where anything goes outside the boundaries of civilization. More to the point, to extends beyond corporate control. Fortunately for these two, nothing too nasty lurks in the Frontier for them.

We meet Mirth here for the first time, as well! We are introduced to her as she spars with another agent. Mirth is taken out in hand to hand combat, so decides to cheat by using her vibration powers to tickle her opponent into helplessness. After this show, she is summoned by Mister Nathan to make the test for Lisa and Summer more challenging. Mirth gladly accepts and we get to see a little sneak peak of her badassery with her sword.

Later in the script we learn one of the interrogators is from the British Columbia Decendency Agency, which lends to the belief there are many agencies spread across the country. This comic book series follows really just the main agency serving the greater Seattle area.

This was my first script with The Agencies and I was still struggling to find a good pacing with the stories at this point. I wanted a lot of tickling along with a good exposition, but I was still putting in too much story at this point. Thankfully, with some great feedback over the years we've struck a balance I think readers enjoy. But it was a challenge in those early years!


Page 16

Let the interrogation begin! While Lisa gets off easy with a light public humiliation tickling, Summer is actually interrogated by a rival agency because they think the two agents-in-training have the missing person. Summer, of course, does not, and laughter ensues.

 

[MTJpub]

The tickling community's longest running comic, The Agencies, is about to hit another milestone. We are set to release The Agencies #16 this month, when I realized something a week ago.

After July, The Agencies will be 10 years old!

Closing in on 10 years for The Agencies? It's hard to believe so much time has passed! Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary and your soon to be released 16th issue!

Jim
MTJpub.com

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #3http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-three.html

Issue released February 2003.

Cover

Here we are introduced to many main characters of The Agencies universe in Issue #3. Mirth makes another appearance and we are introduced to Agent Starlight and Agent Deadline. This time around the girls are assigned to infiltrate a group of cheerleaders and confront the double agent among them. Sounds fun.

It's also kind of interesting because we see Agent Deadline before she officially became an agent, the only book that shows this! Both Deadline and Mirth are non-agents at this point, with Agent Starlight leading the 3-woman strike team. Deadline was fresh out of the Academy at this point in the story, and Mirth had been a mercenary doing jobs with these agents for a few years; the agency was trying to recruit her heavily. Before she accepted a position at the agency, her sister Karma swooped in and...well...that's another issue

This issue was penciled and inked by Soojin, the first female artist we'd worked with on a full comic issue. Soojin had at that time an incredible knack of drawing the female form. I can safely say before Issue #7, Soojin's interpretations of our main characters was my favorite. Her versions of Deadline and Mirth were just amazing.


Page 11

Here, Ann (the double agent that the girls are looking for) wants to show Mirth a new outfit. After Mirth gets her alone, she knocks out Ann and delivers the double agent to Agent Starlight for interrogation. Mirth and Deadline got separated in the house, and Mirth goes back in to find her friend.

 

[Oblesklk]

Closing in on 10 years for The Agencies? It's hard to believe so much time has passed! Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary and your soon to be released 16th issue!

Jim
MTJpub.com

Thanks Jim, I really appreciate it! The comics have certainly evolved in that time. It's fun looking back at these older issues but they were certainly a world apart.

 

[love feet]

very good work

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #4http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-four.html

Issue released July 2003.

Cover

The girls are back! In Issue #4 we see the return of Agent Deadline, Agent Starlight, and Mirth. I wanted to show a mission gone wrong. The girls are hired for hi-jinx against a local corp, and are caught in the act. Needless to say, the corp doesn't appreciate their intrusions, and ticklishness follows.

This is the first time we meet Kedrick, aka Agent Spectre. He becomes Agent Starlight's boyfriend shortly after this issue (which becomes the focus of Issue #6). His powers aren't exactly detailed, but it is widely believed he is able to harness the power of invisibility, added to limited teleportation abilities. He simply appears wherever he wishes. Agent Spectre is introduced to the series by responding to Agent Starlight's distress call, then proceeding to tickle her outstretched foot, which causes her to pull her gun on him.

This was a fun issue. There was a large amount of foreshadowing in the first page of this issue. Agent Starlight has dreams. They're often disturbing and difficult to interpret...but in the end, they're always right. In the first page she has a dream about Mirth. Mirth approaches her smiling, asking her if there are any problems. Through her smiles, Mirth brandishes a knife behind her back. So obviously a foreshadowing of the events that will take place in Issue #7 and beyond, when her good friend Mirth is turned to the dark side by Karma. Once good friends will see each other on the opposite end of a rather large power struggle.

Other than the dream, no real storyline, just a sense of the camaraderie among our agents and good chemistry between Agent Starlight and Kedrick. It has a cute scene of desperation in which Mirth must hold onto a bar while being tickled, else Agent Deadline suffers a terrible fate for a blonde cheerleader with ticklish feet.

There is also a little side story at the end of the issue that doesn't really have a bearing on anything. Karma is hired to destroy some documents illegally. He storms a local law office and tickle tortures the receptionist into revealing where the documents are hidden. None of this is explained in the issue, but Karma is gearing up for her war, and is taking lucrative jobs from wherever she can to help fund the war effort.

The artwork here is highly stylized, and I really appreciated the artist's ability to cleanly ink his own artwork. Although this is the only issue of The Agencies he did, I also hired him to do the artwork for The Cyriaan Chronicles #4.



Page 7

At the start of the page we see Agent Starlight calling in for help. She is in the building, acting as hacker and watchdog for Mirth and Agent Deadline as those two infiltrate the corp. The scene switches to Mirth, whose shirt is removed and is hanging onto a bar for reasons soon to be explained.

 

[Oblesklk]

Pinup for The Agencies #16

To see prior issues of The Agencies, along with dozens of other tickle torture comics, go to www.the-agencies.com

Here are two versions of one of the pinups for this issue. It just shows Agent Deadline on her bed with shoes in hand. I wanted something rather simple, sexy, and elegant here for her.



The first pinup is the official pinup for the book with the issue's colorist. It has the 'Agent Deadline' watermark on it. The second file is fan art of sorts by the colorist that did The Agencies #15. He wanted to see what our current studio's inks would look like with his colors and did an excellent job!

 

[The Bandito]

The Agencies #4http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-four.html

Issue released July 2003.

Cover
View attachment 292237
The girls are back! In Issue #4 we see the return of Agent Deadline, Agent Starlight, and Mirth. I wanted to show a mission gone wrong. The girls are hired for hi-jinx against a local corp, and are caught in the act. Needless to say, the corp doesn't appreciate their intrusions, and ticklishness follows.

This is the first time we meet Kedrick, aka Agent Spectre. He becomes Agent Starlight's boyfriend shortly after this issue (which becomes the focus of Issue #6). His powers aren't exactly detailed, but it is widely believed he is able to harness the power of invisibility, added to limited teleportation abilities. He simply appears wherever he wishes. Agent Spectre is introduced to the series by responding to Agent Starlight's distress call, then proceeding to tickle her outstretched foot, which causes her to pull her gun on him.

This was a fun issue. There was a large amount of foreshadowing in the first page of this issue. Agent Starlight has dreams. They're often disturbing and difficult to interpret...but in the end, they're always right. In the first page she has a dream about Mirth. Mirth approaches her smiling, asking her if there are any problems. Through her smiles, Mirth brandishes a knife behind her back. So obviously a foreshadowing of the events that will take place in Issue #7 and beyond, when her good friend Mirth is turned to the dark side by Karma. Once good friends will see each other on the opposite end of a rather large power struggle.

Other than the dream, no real storyline, just a sense of the camaraderie among our agents and good chemistry between Agent Starlight and Kedrick. It has a cute scene of desperation in which Mirth must hold onto a bar while being tickled, else Agent Deadline suffers a terrible fate for a blonde cheerleader with ticklish feet.

There is also a little side story at the end of the issue that doesn't really have a bearing on anything. Karma is hired to destroy some documents illegally. He storms a local law office and tickle tortures the receptionist into revealing where the documents are hidden. None of this is explained in the issue, but Karma is gearing up for her war, and is taking lucrative jobs from wherever she can to help fund the war effort.

The artwork here is highly stylized, and I really appreciated the artist's ability to cleanly ink his own artwork. Although this is the only issue of The Agencies he did, I also hired him to do the artwork for The Cyriaan Chronicles #4.



Page 7
View attachment 292238
At the start of the page we see Agent Starlight calling in for help. She is in the building, acting as hacker and watchdog for Mirth and Agent Deadline as those two infiltrate the corp. The scene switches to Mirth, whose shirt is removed and is hanging onto a bar for reasons soon to be explained.

Like so many of us...you guys have come a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way!

Congrats, good buddy on almost ten years of Agencies comics. Congrats on how far you've come with these fun comics. And congrats on the impending release of Agencies 16. Impending, right? Is it out?

Grrr....**checks**

No, not out. Just making sure I didn't put my damn foot in my mouth. AGAIN.

O////////O

Hope it comes out soon.

Agencies 16.

Not my foot.

We're waiting.

For Agencies 16.

Oh never mind. LMAO.

Good stuff,

B

 

[Oblesklk]

very good work

Thanks love feet

Like so many of us...you guys have come a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way!

Congrats, good buddy on almost ten years of Agencies comics. Congrats on how far you've come with these fun comics. And congrats on the impending release of Agencies 16. Impending, right? Is it out?

Grrr....**checks**

No, not out. Just making sure I didn't put my damn foot in my mouth. AGAIN.

O////////O

Hope it comes out soon.

Agencies 16.

Not my foot.

We're waiting.

For Agencies 16.

Oh never mind. LMAO.

Good stuff,

B

It's hard to believe it has been 10 years (or yeesh, way too many years since the dawn of the internet and start of the online tickling community). Ticklers are amazingly productive artists, and it's just incredible to see so much amazing work produced by so many different folks. Things from stories, photoshop manips, 3D creation, comics, pinups, to text/graphical based video games. It's just amazing to be a small cog in the wheel of progression.

And no, The Agencies #16 isn't out yet Soon though!

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #5http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-five.html

Issue released February 2004.

Cover

Barnone, my favorite issue of the early issues (defined as The Agencies #1-6). Martin Vire is the artist here and brings such a simple sexiness to the characters here.

We meet Miss Rachel Ghost in this issue (she is an agent, her official callsign is Agent Ghost). And, as it turns out, her roommate, also named Rachel. In an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, the folks whom Miss Rachel Ghost stole from take her roommate by mistake. Hey, it happens!

So our heroine suits up and goes to rescue her roommate, which doesn't quite like she planned. Miss Rachel Ghost also appears later in The Agencies #10.

I like Miss Rachel Ghost, and she promises to show up more frequently in future issues (after she escapes from Karma's dungeons of course). She controls the power of gravity. This allows her to partially fly by creating zero G fields. She can also hinder enemies and turn herself invisible by bending light rays around herself (hence the callsign Ghost!). She's a cute, neat character, one I've underutilized in the stories so far.

On the issue itself, this was the first full color comic we offered in our catalog. Martin did an incredible job on both the inks and the colors. I was very happy with how this one turned out. And for the early issues, this one was also a fan favorite as well. It's also the first issue in which we introduce the concept of implied nudity during a tickling session. When Rachel's tennis rival Anya first finds Rachel, Rachel is topless and assume to have been worked out a little like this before Anya ever steps in the room. We don't show any partial nudity in this issue, but we dip our toe for the first time here.


Page 7

This sequence reminds me that I need to bring back Miss Rachel Ghost with this outfit. We went a different route in Issue #10 where Rachel also appears and dressed her up in a business suit there as she was infiltrating a building in broad daylight. But I'd love to have her back in this outfit again, it's just great.

And yes, the first of the page shows Rachel's hot Asian roommate Rachel being tickle taunted by her tormentors.

 

[PQfingers]

nice artwork

 

[jjj42]

Issue #5 is still my favorite. There is something particularly sadistic and sexy about it that hasn't been matched in most other comics (and I mean all comics, not just yours and not just the agency).

 

[Oblesklk]

nice artwork

Thank PQfingers

Issue #5 is still my favorite. There is something particularly sadistic and sexy about it that hasn't been matched in most other comics (and I mean all comics, not just yours and not just the agency).

Yes, and honestly I'd like to gradually steer the series back in that direction. I know exactly what you're saying and I agree 100% about the sadism and sexiness.

 

[Sinister-Lurker]

I believe this (issue 5) was the first comic of yours I purchased. Still a gem, even after all this time.
Any chance we'll be seeing either of the two Rachels in the near future?

 

[Oblesklk]

I believe this (issue 5) was the first comic of yours I purchased. Still a gem, even after all this time.
Any chance we'll be seeing either of the two Rachels in the near future?

What a nice idea!

Although I definitely plan on bringing the first Rachel back (Miss Rachel Ghost), I'll need to consider a situation that makes sense to bring Rachel II back into the fold. Although honestly, how hard is it to find a reason to bring a ticklish, cute Asian character back into the mix?

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #6http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-six.html

Issue released March 2004.

Cover
This was the only issue with no cover. Odd, no?


I like this issue quite a bit, even though it's probably one of the more forgettable titles in The Agencies catalog.

This is a sweet little story of Agent Starlight enjoying romantic tickling with her boyfriend Agent Spectre. She comes home the agency one day and he surprises her with handcuffs and tickle games. That's honestly all there is to the story.

But it's a fun little distraction in a sea of tickle torture. Sometimes it's fun to just put on the brakes and have fun with the issues.

We explored this branch of tickling with the Yelena series, but not so much with The Agencies. We may yet have another issue at some point that shows the more sensual side of our shared interest. The Agencies #17 was just penned and has quite a bit of accidental romantic tickling in it, more than we usually have in this line. So that was fun to revisit (and perhaps revisit again in future issues if readers liked it).

There are two important things to note about this issue.

First, and perhaps most important, this is our first trip into nudity of any kind. Agent Starlight is topless in this issue, portrayed in a very tasteful manner. She's a favorite character of our's, and nowhere else does she appear topless in our series (little bit of trivia for you). Although there are two scenes of implied nudity in The Agencies #8 with Agent Starlight, nothing is shown in that issue. At any rate, with that milestone out of the way, we have ventured into crazy territory since that time in a variety of issues across the board. But you have to start somewhere, and that 'somewhere' was this issue.

Second, this was the last issue before The Agencies became a serial comic book. It's the last standalone issue. Sad, in a way, but these first 6 issues really felt like a warm-up of sorts. I learned a lot about producing tickle torture comics in this time period in the comic's history, and wouldn't trade that for anything. By the time the next issue released, we were ready to start weaving an epic tickling tale.

Page 2

I would love to introduce a pinup book of our main characters in various states of undress and lingerie. Maybe some day! Here is Agent Starlight, in her seductive best.


Page 9

After tickling his beloved Agent Starlight to climax, Agent Spectre decides to increase Agent Starlight's laughter by switching up his tickling technique.

 

[Oblesklk]

Art Sample from The Agencies #16



We start the book in Karma's dungeons. In The Agencies #15, Karma and 'The Tickler' captured two of Tiffany's friends: Julie and Cat after failing to capture Tiffany. Julie was interrogated at Karma's hand in Issue #15 and now it's Cat's turn to try and resist Karma's horrors.

We met Lucy, one of Karma's main hench(wo)men, in Issue #15. Here she appears again along with Karma, all too eager to help interrogate Cat.

This piece shows the rough pencils of the page followed by the finished letters.

 

[MidnightOyl]

Yup, number 5 is amazing. I agree with the others, bring the Rachels back!

Seriously can't wait for number 16 to come out.

 

[Oblesklk]

Yup, number 5 is amazing. I agree with the others, bring the Rachels back!

Seriously can't wait for number 16 to come out.

Thanks MidnightOyl, we will do what we can to brings the girls back

Issue #16 will be here before you know it!

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #7http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-seven.html

Issue released January 2005.

Cover

A wonderful cover depicting Mirth in Karma's "loving" care. It's a shame she was never tickled in this outfit, as I was quite fond of it. Oh well

The issue that honestly started it all. One of my personal favorites, a fan favorite, and has sold an incredible number of copies in its 6 year tenure.

This is the start of consistent full color comic books from Agency Publishing, the start of one main, continuing storyline, and the start of the 'anything goes' mentality to the story. In this issue, we start with Mirth. She's an orphan, taking to the streets and fending for herself as long as she could remember. Recently she had found companionship with the agency, acting as a mercenary on their behalf and running several jobs for them. The agency had just offered her a chance to become a full-fledged agent, finally a member of a family.

And then her older sister Karma met up her and changed all that.

Through brainwashing, manipulation, and tickle torture, Karma was able to turn Mirth to her side. Leaving the namesake 'Mirth' behind, she is now known as 'The Tickler.'

This concept of turning a character and the lofty ideal of redemption is a recurring theme in our publications. The notion of self identity and ego is always evident so the question must be asked: who is the real person? The Mirth before the transformation or The Tickler after?

Before The Agencies #7, Mirth was a sweet girl who would do anything to help her friends. After the issue, she becomes little more than a puppet to Karma, a truly twisted person who believes the ends justify the means.

I fell in love with the studio's interpretation of our Agencies universe. The character sketches I received in those early days were just stunning. They had given the perfect face to Agent Starlight, whom I naively believed would never be depicted properly in comic form. Karma came across perfectly as a short-haired redhead with a terrible evil streak and chip on her shoulder. And Mirth comes across so sweet in this issue, it's almost tragic what happens to her. And all of this conveyed beautifully in the artwork.




Page 10

Here is Mirth in Karma's dungeon. Aside from having very ticklish feet, Mirth is starting to have waking dreams (with the dreamlike borders on the borders). She's starting to remember events from her past. In the final panel here, Mirth is remembering Karma treating her tender feet with a massage. The problem is, none of these memories were real. Karma abandoned her family, along with her baby sister Lindsay (aka Mirth or 'The Tickler'), to pursue her own vain ambitions. So all these memories are being planted by Karma, who has limited telepathy abilities.

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #8http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-eight.html

Issue released November 2005.

Cover

And this is when things get weird.

OK, this is probably one of the stranger issues we've ever published. Partially because much of the storyline happens in a dream state that Agent Starlight was forced into.

We start off watching Agent Succubus try to seduce Magistrate Veronica both sexually and through a rather suitcase full of cash to persuade her to see things the agency's way. The meeting is interrupted as 'The Tickler' crashes through the window, kidnapping Agent Starlight, Agent Succubus, and the Magistrate Veronica. Although she only really wants Starlight, the other two may come in handy so why not abduct them?

Agent Starlight goes unconscious, from knockout gas. When she awakes, she's in a dreamlike state where she still interacts with 'The Tickler' in a series of bizarre tickle scenes including herself and her students at the academy. 'The Tickler' has total control in what happens to the dream, including dressing and undressing Agent Starlight at her whim.

The one surprise here is that 'The Tickler' finds out Agent Starlight tickle tortured Karma when they were students at the Academy. That memory was suppressed due to the XS-45 compound that Agent Starlight engineered, yet the memory was still loose in her brain, enough for 'The Tickler' to pick up on in the dream state. So she ends up disliking Agent Starlight just a little bit.

After the tormentors eventually get to Agent Starlight's kid sister Tiffany, Agent Starlight snaps, unable to deal with the situation. At that point Karma (in the real world) uses her limited telepathy against the distract Agent Starlight to steal the formula from her mind.

After she grabs the formula, she sells off the Magistrate Veronica and Agent Starlight to Yin and Yang, two cruel lieutenants to the Boss Kazazumi crime lord. Agent Starlight is to be kept as Karma's pet, for retribution.

Looking back on this issue now, there are definitely things I would've changed here. Sprawling storylines are fun, but the dreamworld was a bit odd and out of place. We certainly could've chosen more interesting means of breaking Agent Starlight




Page 17

Here Agent Starlight comes across her greatest nightmare (foreshadowing? Us? Never ), her baby sister Tiffany being tickle tortured by her enemies. Tiffany is a cute, thin redhead close to finishing up primary school and hoping to transfer to the Academy like her big sister (see Issues #14 and beyond for Tiffany's resurfacing into the storyline).

Pinup

Don't know why I'm attaching it, other than I kinda like this one.

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #9http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-nine.html

Issue released April 2006.

Cover

Here is another fan favorite, and mine as well. It's not surprising, this issue gets right down to it.

At the end of Issue #8, Magistrate Veronica and Agent Succubus were sold to Crime Boss Kazazumi and Agent Starlight was given over to Karma as a tickle toy. This issue explores what happens after that transaction took place.

Karma and Agent Starlight have a history together. They were both promising students at the Academy. All through school Karma silently seethed by what she considered an inappropriate patriarchal system run by inferior men with little to no controlling abilities. Seeing controllers (who are mostly women) as the wave of the future, Karma wasn't excited to join an agency. Just before graduation she secretly created a machine that enhances a person's sensitivities. In addition to making them much more ticklish (side effect), it heightened their environment awareness and greatly amplified their controlling powers. Karma kidnapped her sister Mirth when Mirth was just a young teenager and used the machine on her against her will, then let her back onto the streets to monitor the youth. Agent Starlight witnessed this horrible scene, knew her best friend Karma had gone over the edge, and reported her to the proper authorities.

Agent Starlight was tasked with getting Karma to confess her wheelings and dealings. Which Agent Starlight did, putting aside personal relationships. After the interrogation, Agent Starlight was immediately promoted to Agent and given place as the agency's top interrogator. Karma was dumped back onto the streets, expelled from the Academy and blacklisted from agency dealings.

Karma did not take this well, and seeks her vengeance in this issue against her former best friend.

I like this issue quite a bit. We learn quite a bit about the characters while some great tickle action is going on. We also learn that Agent Starlight's power is latent. It is known by someone in the agency, but it is classified. That will become a major plotpoint in the books to come. Agent Starlight's power and its origin will tie some of our various comic books together.

Page 3

Here is Agent Starlight, getting ready for fun. Karma is truly an evil bitch, almost beyond redemption at this point.

 

[Oblesklk]

The Agencies #10http://www.the-agencies.com/agencies-issue-ten.html

Issue released August 2006.

Cover

This issue was fun. We start off with the Agency sending in Miss Rachel Ghost (formerly seen in Issue #5) to rescue Agent Starlight from Karma's dungeons. Well, that rescue attempt goes awry and we see its imminent fallout.

We also learn (plotpoint foreshadowing for The Agencies #14 and later) that Karma and 'The Tickler' are seeking Tiffany for some reason. Tiffany is Agent Starlight's younger sister. It is unclear why Karma would seek her out at this point.

This was the last issue done by Javier for awhile. We take a break from his artwork in The Agencies #11-13, to have him reappear as primary artist in The Agencies #14. He truly set the tone and look for The Agencies universe, and I absolutely adore his work. He has a keen eye for sexiness.




Page 6

Here is Miss Rachel Ghost, captured agent, being foot tickle torture at a demonstration. Karma is assured the XS-45 compound she stole from Agent Starlight will help her tremendously in her power grab, and she tests out its power on Miss Rachel Ghost's nylon clad feet.


Pinup

This issue also had the epic dancing pinup, which proved to be a nice roadmap to character looks for a number of years. I discussed what I wanted to see in this pinup and Javier just blew me away when he came back with this one. We need to do more of these