Just recently gained access to Bandito's follow-up to "Temple of Bounce". Hope no one minds if I share a few impressions!
Well, I know that I certainly don't mind. ^^
Thanks so much for this, LBH. I wish there was some way I could repay you for the generous words, for the support, and for taking the time to share them both with me and with the community. I do not exaggerate at all when I say that it is people like you and feedback like this that makes all of this worth the time and worth the passion Lotus and I put into it.
The second Bounce excursion declares itself from the cover page as a more sedate, focused outing than its forerunner, just as an Eastern martial art epic tends to be more finely tuned procedurally than its occidental anything-goes serial-style counterpart. The opening image for TOB splits its attention three ways (among the Chix), while raucous distraction filters in from the borders; BOTD's cover image centers its attention to a single smokey portrait of "Chosen-One" Hailey, coyly provocative behind and amidst elegant oriental trappings. While not subverting the promise of exciting action... anyone even remotely conversant with the kung-fu genre understands its grounding in well-placed kicks... the chaos attending your typical Indiana Jones/Die Hard smash-em-up has been leavened into Shaw Brothers disciplined formula and attention to fine detail.
For as long as I can remember, Lotus and I both have been raving fans of the kung fu genre (hence some of the inspiration behind her name). Dragon was a tribute to the cliche's we love the most within this beloved style.
Indeed, the Chix grueling training regimen might not seem out of place in "Drunken Master" or "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin"! Martial arts cinema often accords preparation a more important narrative function than actual engagement... exquisitely rigorous ritual and exercise lend credibility to later shows of superhuman ability. BOTD lavishes great care in observing this template: the Chix fall under the tutelage of a demanding Master, who not only guides them toward fighting excellence but also expounds on the all-important underpinning philosophy; early stages of training subject initiates to physical stress (BOTD exchanges tickly extremis for lumps and exhaustion); the girls strive for specific techniques with flowery names (Five Feather Finger Exploding Laughter and Sexy Samurai Fluff-Chuck Ambush stand in for Palm Fist or Shadow Strike); acquired skills are tested in head-to-head bouts between students prior to practicing them in earnest against lethal adversaries. Four carefully crafted pages of buildup unspool in montage fashion, accented with nifty silhouette tableaus for arch-heroic effect! A background changing-seasons riff confirms that this process isn't exactly a slapdash, overnight affair!
Thank you so much for noticing those small details, my good friend. What's a kung fu tickle epic without a feathery training montage? And as for the changing seasons, it is a visual theme that we have always loved in asian cinema.
Support elements of this burlesque occupy stations well established by staid tradition: the aforementioned MA master, the Mitzocoochie (quite striking in her snow-white coif); her war against the Jade Ninja clan for possession of a Forbidden Scroll of Tickle Fu... a parchment macguffin whose rather un-key nature foreshadows a wickedly conceived final twist! As TOB toyed with Spielberg, so does BOTD make a gentle, affectionate mock of Jimmy Wang Yu-style convention. What's good for the bald eagle flies just as well for the phoenix!
Rofl. The Mitzocootchie was a fun one to draw. Hee hee. And, as fate would have it, one of the only Bounce Chix characters that has never been on the recieving end of the feather.
Art motifs skillfully reflect the radical change of Bounce venue from the Middle East to the Far East. The culturally inspired costuming, with its bounty of teasingly cut design and floral or dragon print, convinces with bows to authenticity while at the same time meeting the demands of over-the-top hero-wear! The villains' fortress headquarters, seen on page 7, charms with its decorative accouterments and non-Western preference for curved line! Paper lanterns and cherry blossoms offer gentle ethnic flavor! White Lotus's pallet includes much red and green, choices which she deftly manipulates into complimentary hues throughout the training scenes (via the intervention of soft background purple) or makes janglingly harsh during the final good guy/bad guy dust-up (page 12). The landscape feels far more fertile than it did in TOB, which relied on an appropriately dusty color scheme to convey its desert setting and an ancient funereal tone. BOTD clearly takes place in a land where things live and grow.
Thanks for the kind words in Lotus' direction. I know she greatly appreciates the feedback. She has never considered her work on the Bounce Chix to be JUST a tickle comic. She puts her heart and soul into it, as much as she would for any work.
The comic's fetish content is rather more randy than in its predecessor... more in line with the sentiments of TIS. The frequent talk about orgasm (climax being the object of most of the tickle-fu techniques) and feathers straying netherward sharply distinguish BOTD from the softer TOB. This ramping-up of the ardor is nicely reflected in the Jade Ninja showdown, page 12, an amazing series of panels that sees Hailey's tight hair-do come all undone and her robe covert into rags by way of her non-stop thrashing! Still, one rejoices that favorite targets such as feet, belly and underarms are far from neglected! Andi's mastery of the feather-footed move, digits dishing out the vengeance they once received, is an inspired turn! Her animal appetite finds literal expression as she suckles trapped opponents' toes and plants soleful kisses (further kudos to WL for not over-selling the suggestion of lip gloss!)
Is the tickle action naughtier in Dragon? Well, I suppose it would be. As my comfort level increased with the subjects and with the community in general, I suppose that I allowed more skin and more eroticism to fill the pages.
Such a strong cross-cultural embrace for our much beloved fetish (first evidenced in Egypt, now championed by Japan) would seem to suggest that we never had a need for Esperanto... tickling is the universally understood language that all nations have craved! People everywhere should brush up on it! I'm sure that Janey, Hailey and Andi would happily lend a hand... they already qualify as master linguists! And Bandito continues to pen the most entertaining translation texts!
LMAO. Who knows what languages will be next on their list to learn. Thanks again so very very VERY much for the comments my friend. You truly are a gem that this community is so damn lucky to have. We don't deserve you, but we so appreciate you.
Your friend,
Deeto
