The Low Roads, chapter 1 (comic strip, FF/F, full body/foot).

[Low_Roads]

This is a brand new comic art story, the beginning of what I hope will become a long-running series. Please let me know what things you enjoy about it and what things you don't: it will help me to shape the details in future chapters.

Link to Chapter 2: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?p=172707#post172707
Links to all chapters: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=39114

Pages 1-5:

 

[Low_Roads]

Pages 6-10:

 

[Low_Roads]

Pages 11-15:

 

[Low_Roads]

Pages 16-18.

The final page in this post isn't part of the story. It's a step-by-step look of the procedure I used in creating the comic. Several forum artists are offering such "behind the scenes" details now, and I want to take a turn... though the process is so specialized and makeshift, I doubt anyone else will be able to use it. Still, the information may prove interesting.

Panel one (upper left): This is a very simple preliminary sketch for page 16, based on the description from the written script. Note that it only superficially resembles the finished page. Still, such sketch-work is important for continuity purposes and for addressing initial layout problems. As my artistic style is none too complex, my thumbnails are always crude affairs: involved effort might just as well go into the finished picture.

Panel two (upper right): A panel template is scanned into the computer. Flexi-Sign Pro (a sign-making program) is then used to create and arrange the text. The text-laden page is printed so that artwork can be added. Note the tall panel on the left: this is the pencil layout; the smaller one on the right has been inked.

Panel three (lower left): Once the graphic work is done, the page is again scanned so that Flexi-Sign Pro can fill in block color. This is a purely mechanical but laborious process, often taking an hour or so per page. Flexi-Sign Pro is not really designed for art applications.

Panel four (lower right): After the block colors are in place, the page is printed a second time. Colored pencils are employed to supply highlights and shading. This is the last step... the page is now complete. The finished page is then scanned into the computer one final time (and tweaked slightly for brightness and contrast) so that it can be sent.

 

[tk22]

dude, i thought that story was fantastic. Plz do make it series. Id love to see more

 

[Low_Roads]

Thanks tk2! Glad you enjoyed it! Don't worry, this will be an ongoing series. I already have the plots for the next three chapters worked out, and I'll be starting on a new script this coming week.

 

[scavenger]

What can I say? Marvelous! Outstanding!
The rythym of the story is perfect, scenes are never too short or too long. Everything is just perfectly timed.
The characters remind me of the old Felix the Cat cartoon movies, especially those two shady characters who kidnap Mercy. On page 12, I specifically liked how the two villains interact with their facial expressions,
Your world is also greatly described in the first few pages, this really makes the setting understandable and believable.
In short, I think the whole thing is perfect as it is, and I'm curious about the next chapter. Plus, the "making of" was a nice addition as well, very interesting to read!

Hm, I really should finish my own comic that I'm working on... 🙂

 

[Ignatz]

Nightmarishly erotic.

 

[Low_Roads]

Thank you scavenger! You're very perseptive about my inspirations! I'm a huge fan of the older cartoon look, especially stuff from the '30s (Max Fleisher, Ub Iwerks, Van Buren, the early Merry Melodies, etc. ... they were a whole lot easier to see when I was a kid than they've become now). Guggle, the guy in the striped pullover, was a pretty deliberate attempt to ape that style. I'm also delighted that the exposition worked for you! I was afraid I might be making it too long.

Man, I'm dying to see your comic! With your eloquence and the beauty of your images, you could be turning out material to rival Richard Corbin!

Thanks a bunch, ignatz! I'm glad you think so... that was exactly the tone I was after!

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Morbidly delightful. I'd like to see where you continue to go with this. 🙂

 

[Low_Roads]

Thank you Vlad! "Morbidly delightful" is highy praise coming from the Prince of Darkness! I'm still shaping the overall premise, so even I don't know exactly where it's heading yet. But my short term plans are pretty well fixed. Expect a fresh setting and a few new characters next time. We'll get to see a lot of Tabor County before I'm through!

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Thank you Vlad! "Morbidly delightful" is highy praise coming from the Prince of Darkness! I'm still shaping the overall premise, so even I don't know exactly where it's heading yet. But my short term plans are pretty well fixed. Expect a fresh setting and a few new characters next time. We'll get to see a lot of Tabor County before I'm through!

You're welcome. 🙂

"Vladislaus Dracula and his Brides give Littlebighead's art two wings up, way up!" says the Rolling Stones

"I laughed...I cried, fed on the maiden next to me, then laughed some more!"- Count Vladislaus Dracula

"I wasn't sure where LBH was going with this at first, but he managed to deliver and take us on a ride, like a bat....out of hell!"- Mariska, Bride of Dracula

"This was so good and distracting, its easily something I'd drop tormenting peasants over! Good reading!"- Verona, Bride of Dracula

" LBH's work is as good as blood!"- Aleera, Bride of Dracula

 

[Low_Roads]

Ah, Vlad, you and the ladies warm my heart! Hmmmm.... maybe that's not a good thing: a warm heart means warm blood. I don't want to prove too much of a temptation! Still, it's wonderful to hear!

 

[Cbarton]

Excellent work, LBH. Appears very well concieved and drawn. This saga will become a must read if you keep up this work...

 

[Low_Roads]

Thank you hawkeye! I sure hope I can maintain interest and standards. I've got a few ideas for plots and incidents that I believe will prove entertaining... we'll see next time!

 

[Jaynin]

I've found this to be simply amazing, to be quite honest. Being a writer by nature, to me there's never such a thing as 'too much exposition' nor too much in the way of words during any given scene! I think you managed to blend these elements perfectly into your story, and on top of that I'm rather a fan of the more fantastical style of storytelling (fantasy elements such as those you've used, I mean, not to be confusing. >_>)

Definitely hope to see the next chapter(s) of this as soon as you can get them done. So far it looks like a masterpiece to me. ^_^ This coming from a self-avowed anime junkie, too. 😛

 

[dnc2423]

excellent work! please continue!

love the worm tickling.

also, can you include some stockinged feet sometime?

 

[ticklekid1]

Looooooove it!
Weezy from dragon tales

 

[rajee]

LBH, your a great storyteller and a great artist. I loved it. 😀

 

[Low_Roads]

Jaynin, thank you so much for your kind appraisal! I'm so glad you enjoyed the narrative passages of the story. They were great fun to write, and it's most rewarding to have them appreciated! I too am particularly partial to fabulous elements in storytelling; I tend to pay better attention when something really out of the ordinary is going on. And on that note, I fully understand your anime junkie-hood! I'd be more of one myself if I could afford the DVDs. As it stands, I absolutely love the samplings I've seen. The Japanese really understand plot construction, character development and pacing. We in the west could learn a lot from such examples. Happily, I believe we're beginning to!

Dnc, thank you! I'm delighted that the worm tickling scene worked for you! It seemed like a good idea to me, but sometimes I don't know when I'm being too quriky for my own good. I prefer "living" tickling tools (fingers, tongues, tentacles, worms, etc.) to non-living (feathers, brushes). They just seem to me to be more naturally reactive. I've never drawn sheer stockings before (my costuming sense is right out of Kids-R-Us), but that doesn't mean I couldn't try it! I'm looking for variations to keep the action from becoming too predictable. It's a good suggestion! I'll definitely try to include a pair at some point!

 

[Low_Roads]

Ribber, Thank you! Glad you and Weezy enjoyed it! More to come, eventually!

Rajee, you're too kind! It's always a double encouragement to receive accolades from the accomplished forum artists, so thank you! And thanks again!

 

[Darth Godflesh]

Your work deserves to be on "Heavy Metal" magazine, a solid plotline and good characters, just a coment, could you please use a cuter, I mean more human-like main character next time? There's something about those were-creatures (feline/human hybrids) that is almost creepy.

 

[Hungarian21]

It was GREAT! 😀 It had everything a good tk story should have!😉 Congratulations for such a fine piece of work. 😎

 

[Low_Roads]

Darth Godflesh, thank you very much for your compliments! And while I personally am rather fond of catgirls, I understand that they may not be everyone's cup of tea. Mercy and her (as yet unintroduced) sister, Persephone, will be the main protagonists in the Low Road stories... but they will by no means be the whole show! I'd envisioned Tabor County as a semi species-neutral environment, sort of like Akira Toriyama's original Dragonball landscape: a place where a few humanized animals wouldn't seem out of place. So there will be plenty of room for fully human tickle victims. In fact, the primary abusee in Chapter 2 will be a fully human female (what I don't plan to do is tickle torture any guys. That prospect holds no alure for me). I intend to mix things up, never fear!

Hungarian, it pleases my greatly that you found the story well rounded! Thank you! I tried my very best to make it that way, mixing in as many interesting elements as I could think of while striving to keep the situation non-gratuitous. In future, I'll be experimenting with the formula and attempting different approaches. The last thing I want to do is become stale.

 

[zzjustin]

That's awesome work. I loved it!