The Ruthless: Issue Three tickle comic production preview

[oblesklk1]

Hi all!

Sooo...it's about damn time we had something on our series The Ruthless, eh?

It took two years to release issue #2, and it took about a year to release #3. If these half lives continue, we're hoping to have #4 within 6 months of #3's release. Absurd? Nah, we're planning on it. I have fairly aggressive production schedules that I want to keep up, and that time period sounds about right to me.

So why did it take a year to release #3? Well mostly we had some back and forth on the fate of The Agencies and The Ruthless. Nothing bad, mind you, just trying to figure out who should be doing what.

And the good news is that the same art team that brought you #2 is doing #3 as well. We really like their look ,and to be honest I can't imagine The Ruthless appearing any other way now that they've given Stacia and the gang a strong look. It's a gritty, traditional comic book look that I really dig. It suits the environment well.

I'm going to use this thread in the coming weeks to make various notes on how production is going, and the thought process on some of the story and the action. We're planning on having the issue release sometime in either April or May. I'm not sure when yet.

These first two attachments are of Stacia and Doctor Collins. They were characters pinups we commissioned the team to do after we revamped the web site.

Collins still has her librarian-ish kind of look, even though she's actually a billionaire heiress.

And here is Stacia, looking a bit confident.

 

[oblesklk1]

Since it's been a year since Issue #2's release, it probably isn't a surprise to the readers that The Ruthless is actually Stacia. She fabricated the entire experience of being kidnapped and tickle tortured by the fiend in Issue #1. She is the fiend, a revelation she made to Doctor Collins in Issue #2 and is explored in the story "Origins, Part I" at http://www.the-agencies.com/stacia-story2.html

Now that she made this confession to Doctor Collins, her psychologist, Stacia has felt a huge weight off her shoulders. She now has a partner in crime in her shrink. The two have a bizarre relationship, and that will also be explored as the issues come out.

So where is Issue #3 headed? Stacia (aka The Ruthless) has a plan to create a machine called a Neural Mapper. Because she lacks specific anatomy training and engineering skills, she "recruits" the help of three gifted women at the nearby university. Doctor Collins, although seemingly innocent in all of this, quickly becomes an adept student and invaluable aid to Stacia in gathering the proper talent and ensuring co-operation with them.

Attached is a panel which shows Stacia and Doctor Collins casually discussing the status of the project...building the Neural Mapper.

 

[oblesklk1]

The attached shows kind of a before/after panel at The Ruthless Headquarters. At this point in the story, The Ruthless has successfully gathered her three "helpers" who are, understandably, a bit hesitant to help someone who resorts to kidnapping to accomplish her goals.

As she usually does, Stacia just has a way with people, and can be rather convincing.

On The Ruthless's costume, we're going to be playing with a few designs and see what works best. The suit was created by Stacia out of sheer force of will, and is a miracle of nanotechnology. Each cell in the suit is intelligent and can act on its own or in concert with the rest of the suit. It protects her from harm, and can take any form she wishes. In these early issue, The Ruthless is going to be primarily covered, as Stacia is still somewhat in denial about what she is and what she has to do. However, as the story goes on, she becomes more comfortable with what she really is, and will reveal more of herself in the suit. If she appears before others fully covered, it's her denial mechanism kicking in. After awhile, her actions will truly be second nature to her.

The one thing that will always be with the costume is the concept of the several eerily pulsing tendrils which adorn the suit.

On the restraining devices in The Ruthless, we really want to explore the fantastic possibilities that a comic book can bring. So what do we mean by that?

Well, Dave came up with a wicked idea for a bondage device that I believe was published in his earlier digital works. It's a machine that simply wouldn't hold up well in a tickling situation except for the most hardcore ticklee. I don't want to spoil too much about it, but I was immediately thrilled at the prospect of including it in this story. With this storyline, we're definitely going to be doing some exploring in some areas that I haven't done personally in other comic lines. I figure with the overall theme and Dave's presence to bounce ideas off of, this comic will be perfect to showcase some truly weird stuff. Don't worry, tickling will always be #1. But that's not to say there isn't room for plenty of fun in addition to tickling.

 

[oblesklk1]

I'm attaching a tiny sample of one of the protagonists on the machine.

It is interesting to note we changed this script about a week before launch. It was changed significantly. It what is now Issue #4, we have some seriously awesome action sequences in the issue, and we had this tiny 1-2 page blurb about how the machine was built. I was never happy with this, and felt it really needed its own story. I also felt like sometimes I just need to relax and tell the story as a good pace instead of rushing so much stuff in an issue.

So I did. And this issue is the result of that. It's basically the gathering of the three people, how the production went, and some of the aftermath. It's a good issue, packed with some stuff that was fun to write (including a scene where we have probably the most stubborn, bitchy, and arrogant character we've ever had in our publications get brought down some pegs). And with Dave's machine, the visuals are just great.

 

[ktulu2]

Sounds very nice indeed. The Ruthless is one of the few commercial tkl product series that really interests me, mainly because of the awesome artwork. I'd love to hear more/see a larger sample of the machine.

 

[reeperolaughter]

NIce, looks great so far, can't wait to see the rest

 

[oblesklk1]

Sounds very nice indeed. The Ruthless is one of the few commercial tkl product series that really interests me, mainly because of the awesome artwork. I'd love to hear more/see a larger sample of the machine.

Only because you asked nicely! :lol

I'll attach a copy of the machine to this post. This is something Dave whipped up a couple years ago in his other publications. This machine is so absurdly ridiculous there's something left to say except :scared

He sent this to me as a suggestion for some 'future issue' of The Agencies or The Ruthless. After looking at this baby, then looking at the art potential of the studio working on The Ruthless, we absolutely had to have this one in Issue #3.

Fun thing to note about comic book productions...sometimes you have this inspiration to do something lofty and intellectual and...well, anyway other times you just do things just because it would look fucking awesome to do.

That's a pretty big explanation for the genesis of Issue #3. I wanted to expand the original script and write some scenes around this machine. And depending on reader feedback, I may want to bring this one back again. It's just too yummy to waste.

NIce, looks great so far, can't wait to see the rest

Thanks man! We'll continue this production thread over the coming weeks, so stay tuned 🙂

 

[Dave2112]

Hi guys! About time I chimed in here as well, eh? Although I adore the work I do with Agency Publishing as a whole, I have a special kinship with Ruthless. This series has given me the ability to just "let loose" and get creative with the devices and specific torture sequences and really push things over the edge.

I'm psyched to see The Spreader finally show up in this series! I'd actually designed this a while back for possible use in The Agencies, but it fits SO much better in the Ruthless universe. And this is just the beginning, pholks. This series is gearing up to blow past the boundaries of standard tickling comics, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

I have to agree with Obs here...the Ruthless 2 art team was the best choice to continue this series and they continue to blow me away with their ability to bring our twisted dreams to life!

 

[oblesklk1]

Hi guys! About time I chimed in here as well, eh? Although I adore the work I do with Agency Publishing as a whole, I have a special kinship with Ruthless. This series has given me the ability to just "let loose" and get creative with the devices and specific torture sequences and really push things over the edge.

I'm psyched to see The Spreader finally show up in this series! I'd actually designed this a while back for possible use in The Agencies, but it fits SO much better in the Ruthless universe. And this is just the beginning, pholks. This series is gearing up to blow past the boundaries of standard tickling comics, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

I have to agree with Obs here...the Ruthless 2 art team was the best choice to continue this series and they continue to blow me away with their ability to bring our twisted dreams to life!

Digging the mainstream point of view on your wicked machines. After living a life seeing all the wasted tickling opportunities on TV and movies over the years, it is definitely gratifying to see what comics would look like if created by sadistic psychos (well...maybe only 20% psycho).

I'm attaching another penciled frame of the three protagonists of the issue. The two gals on the right are the brilliant engineering students kidnapped to help Stacia build her crazy supervillainish machine. The one on the left is a doctor giving her expertise during its construction. This panel is nothing special, it just shows the three of them talking. Possibly even...plotting?

Never a wise move against The Ruthless.

 

[DarkoneCR]

What can I say... always been a fan of your comics dude... sure to buy this one as soon as it comes out, I can hardly think there would be any flaws except for the fact that the story always ends in a cliffhanger and one has to wait a year to find out what's next! LOL 🙂

 

[oblesklk1]

What can I say... always been a fan of your comics dude... sure to buy this one as soon as it comes out, I can hardly think there would be any flaws except for the fact that the story always ends in a cliffhanger and one has to wait a year to find out what's next! LOL 🙂

If it's any consolation, this one is less "cliff-hangery" than Ruthless #2 or Agencies #13, two of our recent biggest releases.

I know you'll love seeing this machine in action in Ruthless #4, so something of a cliff hanger? Eh maybe not, but it will be a good time. Also, we're definitely ramping up our production times to cut out this "once a year" "once every two years" nonsense. We've made a lot of changes to get there, some of which have been kind of confusing (switching art teams around and such), but we've found a good solid ground from which to work and will strive to cut down on production times.

 

[oblesklk1]

This is the first issue where we really see Doctor Collins get her freak on.

I don't want to say much more about the setup for this scene. But suffice it to say, if you've read the first Origins story on the website, Doctor Collins is warming up to her true nature in this issue.

Doctor Collins got warmed up by Stacia in Issue #2, and now it looks like she's more than willing to return the favor to other unfortunate souls that find themselves in the grasp of The Ruthless.

In this panel, the good doctor is taunting a protagonist here. She states that playing in red zones for too long can have unusual effects on the victim, including temporary states of delusion and hallucination...then casually asks her if she's seeing anything yet.

 

[epsilongold]

I am looking forward to the next chapter with much interest. Also, any word on the next chapter for Tickle Magnet?

 

[oblesklk1]

I am looking forward to the next chapter with much interest. Also, any word on the next chapter for Tickle Magnet?

Awesome!

On the Tickle Magnet, production is going forward. Well, sideways I guess, which is better than going backwards (which some of our books have done in the past 🙂 )

The pencils/inks are done. We really love Raquel's work on the pencils/inks, it just fits the characters and environment really, really well. But the colorists they had for her work...well, they just sucked. And that's being polite.

So we did a casting call for colorists, got like 4 dozen applications/portfolios (might be an exaggeration, may have only been like 3.5 dozen, I lost count). And after an exhaustive screening process, got a colorist that really complements the line work. I'm actually really excited about that comic line now. At one point, sales were bad and I was considering scrapping it. Then, for whatever reason, sales jumped up on it, and this new art team has me invigorated. I've worked with female artists before, but this is the first time both artists (pencil/inks and the colorist) have been female. Should be fun.

So anyway, the pencils/inks have passed review, so they're packaging them up as we speak and sending the hi-res versions to the colorist so she can work her magic.

I don't know the release timeline for TM #2, but it should release after Ruthless #3 comes out.

 

[oblesklk1]

Here is an extension of the pencils attached to post #2 above. This is a scene at the end of the book, after all the tickle torture has been wreaked upon our fair protagonists. The former heroes (Stacia and Doctor Collins) now turned rogue in the book casually discuss the production of Stacia's machine, the Neural Mapper.

One of the girl geniuses was giving them trouble earlier, but Doctor Collins explains everything has been straightened out.

 

[epsilongold]

Awesome!

On the Tickle Magnet, production is going forward. Well, sideways I guess, which is better than going backwards (which some of our books have done in the past 🙂 )

The pencils/inks are done. We really love Raquel's work on the pencils/inks, it just fits the characters and environment really, really well. But the colorists they had for her work...well, they just sucked. And that's being polite.

So we did a casting call for colorists, got like 4 dozen applications/portfolios (might be an exaggeration, may have only been like 3.5 dozen, I lost count). And after an exhaustive screening process, got a colorist that really complements the line work. I'm actually really excited about that comic line now. At one point, sales were bad and I was considering scrapping it. Then, for whatever reason, sales jumped up on it, and this new art team has me invigorated. I've worked with female artists before, but this is the first time both artists (pencil/inks and the colorist) have been female. Should be fun.

So anyway, the pencils/inks have passed review, so they're packaging them up as we speak and sending the hi-res versions to the colorist so she can work her magic.

I don't know the release timeline for TM #2, but it should release after Ruthless #3 comes out.

Yeah I remember you mentioning the thought of scraping the comic when I asked for the last update. Still I'm glad the story is still alive. Anyway thank you for the time estimate.

 

[oblesklk1]

Yeah I remember you mentioning the thought of scraping the comic when I asked for the last update. Still I'm glad the story is still alive. Anyway thank you for the time estimate.

Thanks, I'm glad it was salvageable as well 🙂

We do so much darker, more serious toned stuff with The Ruthless (and to a lesser extent The Agencies) that it's also nice to work on a tickling product that's a little more light hearted and silly. Plus I liked the characters a lot in that book as well, and it will be fun to explore their adventures.

 

[oblesklk1]

Post #4 above is a bit of a teaser. It's small so you can't really tell what's going on too easily. I'm attaching a pic to this post that both expands the scene a bit and shows the colorized version side by side. You can't see everything that's going on off-panel, but you can in the comic itself, so it's all good.

The neat thing about this story is Dave2112's influence on some of specific terrors presented in the story. The machine is his idea, as are the wonderful little bits attached to the protagonist's breasts. It's fun to throw in other s&m elements as called for in the story and see if people like them or not.

We got most of the interiors delivered today, so we're just waiting on the pinup/cover and we should be ready to roll with this issue in a couple weeks 🙂

 

[Violetta]

There are S&M elements in this, you say? My faith is restored! Pray, can you tell us just how much one might see in this particular issue?

 

[oblesklk1]

There are S&M elements in this, you say? My faith is restored! Pray, can you tell us just how much one might see in this particular issue?

I would say we've always had a pretty strong S&M themes in our books. It's just that what the two of us define as S&M may vary quite a bit. From my point of view as a producer, there are two elements of S&M that we can provide in the books. The mental side and the physical side.

We regularly include the mental aspect of S&M in most of our publications. We don't usually feature tickling as a cutesy, silly activity, which I think the subject matter tends to lend itself a bit easier to. It's usually under the pretense of some tickle torture scenario where the tickler is exercising obvious dominance over his/her tickle victims. I can do the cutesy stuff of course, it just isn't a preference so it's not as prevalent in the books as it could (should?) be.

However, in collaborating with Dave2112, the more physical elements of S&M will show up in the scripts, which is something we've lacked over the years. Physical as in you can more clearly see the S&M influence in the artwork. The beginning signs of this were the ball gags appearing here and there such as The Agencies #11 and The Agencies #13. But also in Ruthless #3 we have a predicament scene involving nipple clamps and laughter. I don't want to give too much away, but well...I'm sure you get the idea 🙂

Usually I wouldn't have put a scene like that in the book if drafting the script on my own, as it's not directly tickling related. But the more we experiment with these stories (i.e. finding out what people like and don't like), I'm wanting to put in more and more non-tickling elements that don't detract from the enjoyment of the work as a tickling book.

 

[oblesklk1]

So here's something we've never done before. I'm going to post pages "live" as they're under construction, so those that have been following the production can see what we first submit, what the first draft looks like, what our feedback is, and see the page evolve into the final version.

This will provide you a good look to what we do with a lot of our pages during production.

Here are the notes from my script on what to do with the cover art:

COVER
This is going to be a pretty simple cover. This is an implied scene that doesn't appear in the book directly. Doctor Collins is all alone with the doctor character featured at the beginning of the story. They're both waiting for Stacia (The Ruthless) to come back with the two engineering students so they can get started on the project. In the meantime, Doctor Collins gives the doctor a lot of water, ties her to a rack, gags her, and sees if she can keep from peeing until the others arrive. So this scene just shows the doctor, in bra and panties, on the rack, her knees together as she's obviously trying to keep from peeing. She has a gag on. Doctor Collins shows the doctor a huge feather, dangling ever so low just above the doctor's belly button. Doctor Collins, with her glasses on, looks absolutely evil.

DOCTOR COLLINS: I'M BORED. LET'S PLAY A GAME. YOU JUST DRANK 48 OUNCES OF WATER.

DOCTOR COLLINS: THINK YOU CAN KEEP DRY UNTIL 'THE RUTHLESS' GETS BACK WITH THE OTHERS?

DOCTOR COLLINS: YOUR QUIVERING STOMACH ALONG WITH THAT LOOK ON YOUR FACE, SAY NO!

DOCTOR [THINKING, PATHETIC FONT]: PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH...PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH...I GOTTA PEE...PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH...PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH...

CAPTION: SAY IT AIN'T SO!

CAPTION: HAS DOCTOR COLLINS, RENOWNED PSYCHOLOGIST, ACTUALLY TEAMED UP WITH 'THE RUTHLESS' IN A QUEST TO INFLICT TICKLE TORTURE ON ALL THE DENIZENS OF BAY CITY?

 

[oblesklk1]

And the attached is what we got back from the art studio.

Pretty good? Well, it's ok, but it needs a little work. I actually like the doctor character (the one on the rack) but Doctor Collins looks too passive to me. So the review notes tell them to zoom in a little bit (although there needs to be some room for the logo and marquee, there's still too much dead space) and make Doctor Collins a bit more active in the frame by having her snuggle up closer to the doctor while teasing her. Right now she's just too distant from her ticklee and there's nothing like getting right in someone's face when they're desperately trying to either not laugh or hold in the pee.

Dave's feedback revolves more about the ticklee. He gives great feedback that I didn't initially think about. I just saw a cute ticklee and thought "hot". His feedback is the gag isn't really well formed, it needs to be more elaborate that it is, in fact, a gag. Meaning it needs a strap shown instead of just a big floating ball. Right now, it's hard to tell if it's a gag or if her mouth is just open really wide. The second piece of feedback is a question, whether we should have straps around the ticklee's knees or not. This gives even more of an S&M flavor to the artwork. I prefer to leave them out, because it gives the old fashioned "I gotta go potty" body language vibe. So we'll discuss that a bit and have a "with and without look" on the artwork to see which looks better.

For those that love predicament tickling, this cover shows a classic 'I'll tickle you until you piss yourself or I get bored' approach, but it's only on the cover. This scene is not in the interior storyline itself. However, for those that like such scenes, you'll be pleased to know that we're including a 40+ page story with The Ruthless #3 entitled Origins, Part I and II (we released Origins: Part I last year after Ruthless #2 came out) that features a scene like this in more detail. It's good stuff, and not a bad supplement to the comic.

 

[Dave2112]

I think was a great idea. I've always wanted to let the readers a bit behind the scenes of creating a full-length tickling comic.

Speaking of the infamous knee-straps...I think I've changed my mind a bit. Considering the predicament, the victim having her knees in that position voluntarily...or as voluntarily as our hapless girl is capable of...makes more sense. I did initially think of it as a way to focus Ruthless as the "harder-core" (at least bondage-wise) of the two main comic lines. But, in the end, making sense in a scene outweighs visual impact in this case.

At least that's how I feel at the moment... 😉

 

[oblesklk1]

I think was a great idea. I've always wanted to let the readers a bit behind the scenes of creating a full-length tickling comic.

Speaking of the infamous knee-straps...I think I've changed my mind a bit. Considering the predicament, the victim having her knees in that position voluntarily...or as voluntarily as our hapless girl is capable of...makes more sense. I did initially think of it as a way to focus Ruthless as the "harder-core" (at least bondage-wise) of the two main comic lines. But, in the end, making sense in a scene outweighs visual impact in this case.

At least that's how I feel at the moment... 😉

I know what you mean, what you want to see can vary from day to day!

We received back the revisions to the cover tonight fresh from the art studio. They took our suggestions of having a more intimate approach and also added more definition with the ball gag. This looks a lot better in my opinion.

We'll keep you posted as we get more artwork on the cover so you really get a live version of the piece from start to finish. Given where we're at, I'm anticipating the launch to be sometime this next weekend.

We also got back artwork for the pinup, and it's looking great. The desperation scene setup was executed perfectly by the art studio; so we'll be posting the final version of that later in the week for free in this thread.

 

[oblesklk1]

Here is the finished cover for The Ruthless #3. It will release this weekend. Enjoy 🙂