So...I've been waiting for this issue of Foul Play for years. Actually, that's not even a fair way to put it. When the first Foul Play was published back in the summer of 2010, it was an instant hit with me. Bandito's art style was continuing to get better, but what I found captivating, beyond the setting, was the characters introduced. Countess Winnie was a little different than Bandito's standard gal, a little more curvy, a little more plush, but all the same, those curves glistened and flushed the right shades of pink, the action was sinfully hot, and I was hooked. And then, there were the variable other characters shown in those pages that I couldn't wait to see get absolutely tickled to pieces. Now, other parts of this series have been released, and we've seen pretty much everyone in action. The second release of Foul Play was absolutely incredible, must buy work that I felt like truly set a high bar and made Foul Play my second favorite out of all of Bandito's properties. Now, Holly Humphries might be my absolute favorite character in Foul Play (she's so goddamn cute, adorable, playful, ticklish, she's literally the damn cutest thing ever in my opinion), but, in turning this back to this release and why I have been waiting six years for it, the character I've wanted to see absolutely wrecked and destroyed is Alice Moore.
Time hasn't been kind to my desire. If anything, it's made it more urgent. When I shot messages back and forth with folks years ago, I was adamant that I wanted more Foul Play, and if it was parts of Alice just getting until she's nothing more than a puddle of juicy ticklegasms, than that would be swell. You see, Alice is also something different from the time for Bandito in that she literally carried with her this absolutely obscene, sleek, femme fatale look. She had that smoky, sultry look, and everything about her oozed sexpot. Maybe it was the sleekness in correspondence to the plushness of Winnie. Maybe it was how see through her attire was. Maybe it was the immense wicked joy she took in what she was doing. There's another aspect as well; Alice, to me, never came off as the brightest bulb in the drawer. She was someone governed by her lust, as if every thing that made her what she was was funneled into that. All that energy. All that desire. There's something extremely hot about the not so bright sexpot, and ever since my eyes gazed upon her, I wanted to see her literally ripped apart at the seams, because someone like her, who looks like her, her moves like her, must be so unbearably sensitive that they couldn't even cope with the caress of a feather. She'd quickly becoming a drooling, thrusting mess.
Foul Play 5 proves that, sometimes, it's truly worth the wait.
To be fair, when I envisioned this scenario in my head, it was under Bandito's style. I figured it was so hooked in the essence of what was going on that anyone else rendering this comic wouldn't do it justice. Josh Flynn has done incredible work with many of his MTJ releases, and his two Foul Plays before this one were absolutely incredible, but my judgment of his choice for this was always going to come down to this; how is he going to get Alice. My mark here was extremely high. Anticipation is hell that way. It can build things up until whatever comes never measures up.
Let's back up a bit and hit the story notes.
The storm keeping the gals locked away at the manor of the recently departed Lascivia Le Gerdemain rages on to its second night, the embers of the night before still glimmering. Looks as though we're about to be in for some turnabout. And once the power goes out, the Foul Play begins. Now, the setting here is very reminiscent of Clue, both the board game and the comedy, without the exact mystery of whodunit. Instead, the latent mystery here is why are these women here? They're there to claim their pieces of the Gerdemain fortune, but the gals were her enemies, and as such, some kind of nefarious plot, potentially from beyond the grave, is at play. Now, this aspect of the story has been gone into in recent releases, with one part of it kind of put out there on the magnificent cover for all to see, but really, the setting creates a bevy of scenarios with ticklers and ticklees with sordid pasts and personal rivalries all their own. I think that character plays such an important role in any of these sorts of releases, as what makes the action work is some level of investment in what you are seeing. With fetish art, what you want to see are characters that exude aspects that make them wonderful targets of tickling and perhaps a more erotic torture. You also want to see some level of gravitas to such acts, as simple throw away tickle action is kind of easy to come by now.
Enter Alice Moore, who is so obviously the dominant that she has Winnie right where she wants her, yet again...
Actually, before even that, and if you're a first time reader, the opening pages give you a good sampling of the scenarios that played out through the first four releases. Trust me here, though, especially with the first three on sale now, if you haven't purchased them, pick them up; you won't be disappointed. So many different tickle aspects happen in those releases, and it's all really top notch, both from a physicality aspect and a sensual/erotic one. The characters have wonderful connections that fuel the proceedings, with Foul Play #2: Severance and Foul Play #3: Servitude being my absolute favorites, especially Severance because of the aforementioned Holly and her wonderful feather strap on. Again, this is just a taste, crystallized scenes, and because of Flynn, a little bit of re-imagining.
Back to Alice. Well...Winnie. See, in the first Foul Play, a deal of sorts was struck, with Alice taking rather lewd advantage of her adversary. It's time to keep collecting. But...as can be the case, the tides change when an interested third party interjects themselves into the proceedings, and within moments, the domineering Alice Moore is held, at gun point, commanded to stand down. Winnie gets saved. But at the same time? She's not exactly a top. She flashes a sense of naivety, a sense of "I don't know what to do", and even though she was wickedly tickled, almost outright refuses the chance to get justified payback. It isn't until the third party informs her that either she has to tickle Alice, or she'll set her adversary loose again and they will take advantage of her, just like had happened the previous night, that Winnie finally acquiesces.
With all the set up now firmly placed, there are a few reasons why this release has been well worth the wait. The first thing that really grabbed me? Josh Flynn's artist renderings. I'll get to the greater aspects of his art further on, but from the little sampling here, and with the promo gif file on the site, I think you can see a level of detail to faces that stands out. It's not just the action; the characters look different, have their own appeals. How Flynn represents Alice fits in so well with my mental image of the sexpot, whether its her tantalizing taunts as she lords over Winnie, the shock at the turn about, or, my favorite, the curious dread she has on page six, looking up toward our painted third party, in the right panel at the top of the page. There's a hint of innocence in her here, like she's looking up, unaware, thinking "whatever could I have done wrong?" because what she does, her manner, everything about her is so part of her nature she has no concept beyond it. The faces continue to be a highlight; after all, one of the underplayed aspects in tickling art is dynamic facials, since it's so hard to delineate laughter and intensity, or so it seems. This is something Josh does extraordinarily well here, perhaps better than he's ever done it. It's quite evocative, all in all, and whether Alice is glancing up, or she's laughing her head off, whether she's so tickled that she's a drooling mess, or whether she's cresting on the verge of impossible ticklegasm, the panels all have a different sort of intensity and importance because of the way every face works at building and evoking that right feel for the action.
I would also be remiss if I didn't actually hit upon the action in and of itself; if you like no holds barred tickle action, you'll get it here. And in spades. There is a raw freneticism here that didn't exist in Josh's tickling artwork even a few short years ago. This is a showing of growth and understanding of audience. Wear fingertips would barely graze and characters had the same laughing face, here, whether it's feet, whether it's delightful curves, or the breasts, or the way characters are represented, or the way lee reacts to the actions, or the way the lers lord and taunt and tease, it all feels great and connects. This is what I want from a tickling comic. Bit by bit, piece by piece.
What really gets me, though, is the building that happens here. Again, I've wanted Alice Moore to be ravaged. I wanted her left it a puddle, taken to pieces. From the very first touch, she's unendurably ticklish. But it doesn't end there. She's being stripped of so much; her dignity, her command, her control and sexpot manner. Her clothing disappears until she's left in her choker. Her body betrays her instantly. Her body grows flush in embarrassment, in arousal. She can't control the sensations. And Winnie, reluctant to start, is like anyone else would be, seeing this, growing hungrier and hungrier, wanting to drive her adversary out of her mind. And she will. She will take her revenge, and the price will be too much for Alice, the sex kitten who can't control her gushing lust and her drooling laughter. Her loss of control is a highlight. She's a thrusting mess. And let me point that out; mess. She's dripping. From her lips. Both of them. This is something of a weird taboo in tickling comics that it seems is only now being overcome (heh heh heh), but it truly fits with everything here. Erotic tickling, naughty tickling, the evidence is there for you to see. And it's very well done. I'm something of a fiend, so I can always go for more, here! This is something of a big thing in the Foul Play series, and is one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much. The way it's built up to, the way it is expressed, here, is epic. From page 8 to 12, it's there. Page 12, all of it, is one of the best built to pages in any MTJ comic ever released. And that's on top of an awesome set of faces and flashes down below, with great teasing dialogue, with shameless begging. Seriously, if you dig tickling art and the eroticism behind it, I don't see many people coming out of getting to page 12 without losing it. It's damn great. Like, seriously, heart melting stars in your eyes great. I want Alice like that forever! Seeing it like this only makes it that much better.
The colors here by Flynn and Bandito both are well crafted. They work with the scenario, work within the context of the world and story, but also give out splashes of color and have the characters stand out. The shades of red and pink Winnie and Alice flash throughout only helps, and showcases the intensity of the tickling action as it grows rapidly.
If you're a fan of this series, pick it up. If you love great tickling action, pick it up. If you love tickling eroticism and ticklegasms, pick it up. Foul Play 5: Blackmail is another wonderful highlight in one of the best tickling series going out there, well worth the price, action packed, great, delicious characters in a different and fun setting. Seriously, one of the best to ever come out from MTJ.
