www.the-agencies.com presents The Ruthless #7

[oblesklk1]

The Ruthless #7 is now available for sale!

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

After taking a little longer production time than normal, Ruthless #7 is soon to release and we're pretty excited. We like this comic because no matter how much weird shit we put into it, it never seems to be too over the top for our fans. We certainly enjoy that kind of freedom, and will no doubt test those boundaries as the series matures.

The Story Thus Far...

Issue one starts out on the docks of Bay City, a day like any other. Stacia Walton, a local Channel Four reporter, has been on the trial of a villain named "The Ruthless" for some time. No one knows what it is, where it comes from, or what it wants. It simply kidnaps rich and powerful women, and releases them back to their homes after a couple of weeks. No one knows what goes on except for its victims. But Stacia had to know. Eventually, she got too close. Because on that fateful day, she is taken back to the Ruthless's secret lair. There she is tickle tortured for days. Sometimes it asks questions, sometimes it doesn't. It fulfills most of the fantasies she's always harbored deep within her psyche. She doesn't know how it knows her so well, but it torments her in ways she's always craved, beyond anything she could ever hope to endure. Endless laughter. Desperate laughter. For days.

After a time, Stacia is released. But the trauma never really ends and she seeks the help of one Doctor Collins, a celebrity psychologist. The theapy sessions last several months. Doctor Collins makes some progress, but there is something hindering her way. She knows there is something special about Stacia, and something very special about this thing called The Ruthless. Doctor Collins begins her own obsession about The Ruthless. She aims to draw it out and find out what it is. Unfortunately for the good doctor, The Ruthless has been wanting to meet her for a very long time. It has sat in the shadows, hungering, craving, lusting. But no more will it sit idle. It pounces on Doctor Collins, and takes her back to its lair.

Doctor Collins is introduced to brand new means of torture as The Ruthless seems to know all of her intimately sensitive spots. It seems to delight in torturing this intelligent, well groomed and professional woman. To her horror, Doctor Collins discovers that The Ruthless has also kidnapped Stacia and is simultaneously torturing the both of them. Stacia is being tormented on a machine that teases her ceaselessly, turning her on while not allowing her an orgasm. She is gagged, and when the gag is removed, Stacia begs for release. In exchange for the orgasm, Doctor Collins must suffer unbearably. Stacia agrees, sealing Doctor Collins' fate. Doctor Collins is pushed past her limits, and immediately breaks character. She has a hunch that Stacia is really The Ruthless, but wanted Stacia to admit it on her own. However, the tickle torture is too much for the good Doctor to take, and she begs for it to stop, calling Stacia out. Stacia, still on the machine, comes clean with her shrink and admits she's been The Ruthless all along. As she admits this, the machine instantly vanishes, and The Ruthless, which had just been an empty suit of armor made to look like it was full, now covers Stacia. The end of issue #2 shows Stacia in her costume as The Ruthless!

After Stacia continues to tickle torture Doctor Collins for awhile, just for fun, the two get to know each other a bit more. Stacia finds out that Doctor Collins has a vicious streak of cruelty that runs through her. The Doctor is all too eager to help Stacia in her mission to do...whatever she's trying to do. Stacia's motivations are not clear to anyone except herself. All Doctor Collins knows is that Stacia is kidnapping very powerful women from Bay City, tickle torturing them into madness, and she wants on board.

The two discuss a pet project that Stacia has dreamt about for years. It's called a neural mapper, and she has three perfect candidates to help her build it: a medical doctor, and two engineering students from the nearby university. After some persuasion and a thwarted escape attempt, the team of three agree to build Stacia's machine. Before they are released to go home, the neural mapper is used on each of the three builders to ensure its accuracy. Satisifed with the results, Stacia and Doctor Collins allow the team to return to their homes. One thing remains: the three builders were all caucausian. To truly test the neural mapper's capabilities, different test subjects must be gathered to ensure all the data is accurate. Doctor Collins shares the files of three possible test subjects from the local college campus that would be perfect for the machine.

Stacia, in her Ruthless battle armor, sets out to find these three test subjects on the local university campus. She tracks all three down on game day and abducts them in broad daylight. Stacia is eager to test the neural mapper on these three because they're all strong willed young women. If the neural mapper does its job, it means Stacia can break anyone in a matter of minutes with her special brand of tickle torture. Keri is tested first, and the neural mapper shows her 'red zones' (spots where the ticklee goes instantly berserk) are under her arms and the sides of her breasts. Marlina is tested next. Although Marlina isn't especially ticklish, the neural mapper did pick up two spots: her genitals and between her toes. Rylie is tested last and her entire body is a red zone. Each girl is placed into a machine that will test her endurance and ability to withstand tickle torture in the worst spots. Stacia is pleased with the results of all three test subjects. After the tests are completed, Doctor Collins revisits Marlina in her chair and decides to have a little exploratory fun with the girl that supposedly wasn't ticklish. Soon, all three girls are released.

Months pass. Rylie suddenly decides to step forward and tell the world all about The Ruthless. She is to appear on live television with another victim of The Ruthless, a blonde banker named Tracy who gained sudden notoriety after the media blitz surrounding her abduction. Both girls stand to make a fortune, and are looking to cash in on their experiences. Little do they know The Ruthless is always watching.

Minutes before the live television event was to being airing, the Ruthless crashed the filming of the special. Stacia decided to make an example of what happens when people double cross The Ruthless! Stacia binds Tracy to a chair, forcing her to watch Rylie tortured on live television. Stacia binds Rylie with rope, ensuring any struggling will result in more torment for her victim. For many minutes this continues, with Rylie losing more clothing as the filming goes on. The entire nation watches helplessly, in horror, as the villain is now known coast to coast as the world's most wanted terrorist. At home, Doctor Collins watches the events unfold from her bedroom, disappointed that Stacia took such delicate torment to a world stage. Now the entire world knows of the Ruthless, her existance can no longer be disputed. Her techniques are also now boradcast to the entire world, to live forever in digital format. But Doctor Collins believes Stacia should be disciplined for her short sighted handling of Rylie. After Rylie's defeated and tickled body slumps to the ground, the Ruthless now turns an eye to Tracy.

The Ruthless is out to prove a point to Tracy: exploitation is the only unifying trait among sentient beings in the universe. It is this bleak, fatalistic viewpoint that will mark the next few issues of the issues as things will get increasingly dark. The Ruthless takes Tracy to her nemesis in the entertainment world, a former kids' channel princess and current pop star sensation named Ariel. Ariel is kidnapped and taken back to Ruthless HQ. There she is tormented needlessly by The Ruthless and Doctor Collins in order to prove Stacia's point to Tracy. Tracy is forced to watch Ariel's torture. Tracy's memory of her own suffering at the hands of the Ruthless, juxtaposed with the immense satisfaction she receives that watching her enemy get justice, hits Tracy at once and she is unable to deal with the duality of the situation. Her mind splits and descends briefly into poetic expression. As this happens, Stacia and Doctor Collins revels in Ariel's extremely sensitive skin. Ariel starts screaming at the torture and eventually calls out to her mother. This shocks Stacia, who hears the scream and is immediately reminded of her own daughter, who isn't even born yet. This association of Ariel with her own daughter (who is yet to be born) and her sensing of Doctor Collins desire to betray her, gives The Ruthless an idea for Ariel to prove herself. Ariel and Tracy have until the end of the day to break Doctor Collins by any means necessary, or else their own freedom from tortured laughter is in peril.

In summary, this issue has:

• 11 interior color pages
• Includes a color cover and pinup of Tracy and Ariel getting ready to get to work on Doctor Collins
• Issue offered in hyperlinked PDF format
• Pencils/Inks by Octographics, same art studio that brought you The Ruthless #2-#6
• Written by Oblesklk
• Directed by Oblesklk and Jonathan Essex
• F/F and Inanimate/F tickling
• Features all upper body tickling
• Depicts breast tickling
• Depicts genital tickling
• Gagged scene
• Ariel in lovely, lacy black lingerie
• Tracy in schoolgirl outfit
• Costs just $12.95 !

Here is the cover art for #7 of the series. It features Doctor Collins and oops, possible spoiler alert, she's ticklish 😉

 

[oblesklk1]

Here is a storyboard, loose pencil, and colorized panel in the issue. Without getting to spoiler-tastic, it would seem our newly introduced Ariel has a natural flair for cruelty. And what is this goddess power she speaks of?

 

[oblesklk1]

The Ruthless #7 is now available for sale!

In summary, this issue has:

• 11 interior color pages
• Includes a color cover and pinup of Tracy and Ariel getting ready to get to work on Doctor Collins
• Issue offered in hyperlinked PDF format
• Pencils/Inks by Octographics, same art studio that brought you The Ruthless #2-#6
• Written by Oblesklk
• Directed by Oblesklk and Jonathan Essex
• F/F and Inanimate/F tickling
• Features all upper body tickling
• Depicts breast tickling
• Depicts genital tickling
• Gagged scene
• Ariel in lovely, lacy black lingerie
• Tracy in schoolgirl outfit
• Costs just $12.95 !

 

[Sinister-Lurker]

Once again, The Ruthless provides us with something unique. I doubt any of us can say we've seen the tickling instrument used in this issue anywhere else! Oblesklk continues to further the story of Stacia in this issue, in which our anti-heroine begins picking up a coterie of followers (or minions, depending on your outlook). The artwork is, as usual, dazzling. All in all, another wonderful addition to this growing line!

 

[oblesklk1]

Once again, The Ruthless provides us with something unique. I doubt any of us can say we've seen the tickling instrument used in this issue anywhere else! Oblesklk continues to further the story of Stacia in this issue, in which our anti-heroine begins picking up a coterie of followers (or minions, depending on your outlook). The artwork is, as usual, dazzling. All in all, another wonderful addition to this growing line!

Thank you Sinister-Lurker :cool

We have kept this comic line unique ever since its inception, and will continue to be unique until I hang up the pen. It's been very successful for us, and the fans have spoken: keep up the intensity and keep it unique!

We will absolutely keep doing so.

 

[oblesklk1]

The Ruthless #7 page 1

This page really sets the tone for both this issue and this story arc. Tracy and Doctor Collins are in the bath house, talking before all three of them are to be tested by The Ruthless. Doctor Collins plants the idea that Ariel wants to be The Ruthless's second in command and will kill both Tracy and Doctor Collins to get that coveted position. Although Tracy and Ariel are at odds with each other, murder isn't something she thought Ariel could be capable of. But now the idea is planted in her mind. There are 3 contestants that The Ruthless is testing and none of them trust the other. Tracy is a genuinely good person that believes in the goodness of others. She believes she can bring back Doctor Collins and Ariel from the abyss they're now in. Her faith is a powerful shield.

How will that affect the events in the next few issues...?

 

[Serious_sam]

Now that is hot.

 

[oblesklk1]

Thanks, kind sir!

 

[MarkReed]

Issue 7 Reviewed

After purchasing The Ruthless issue 7, I did a page by page review. Below is a 'public' version, edited with some small revisions.

First off, I really like the title page. The image is spectacular. After some thought, I realized Doctor Collins was probably referring to the scrap of ruthless between her legs, but the image as a whole gives the impression that she is being tickled by machine off-screen. I've always been annoyed when title pages picture things that are not included in the comic, so I probably would have added a pair of hands tickling the ribs and changed the text to indicate the person tickling her. Outside of that, it's a brilliant upper body closeup, and it's really well drawn.

Skipping to the pinup page that precedes the story- I *really* like it. There is literally nothing about the picture that I would change. It's really well done.

Story Page 1: We have an entire page devoted to story setup. Normally I'd be annoyed, since I know these issues usually only come in 10 to 12 pages, and I'd like everyone one to count. This page is different though- we get to see the three main (non-Ruthless) characters naked. A lot! Frankly, that changes the entire thing from "irritating but necessary story setup" to "here, stare at some breasts while we set things up." As shallow as it sounds, it really makes a difference.

Story Page 2: Another setup page. The attention getter here is the different outfits. Ariel's is okay- I get that she's going for the 'nearly bare but Dominant' look. It was nice, but it was much like the Ruthless's outfit in this issue: good for flavoring, but it's not something the eye really focuses on very much. I liked Tracy's innocent schoolgirl outfit. That was my favorite for this issue. Especially since it's on a soon-to-be-victim. I probably would have wanted a more mature, sexier outfit on a tickler. For a 'lee, innocent outfits *really* work.

Then we have the not-so-good doctor's dress. It's a nice dress, and it's great on a ticklee. I was surprised to see it on Doctor Collins though, because I was expecting something more doctor-ish. In a different setting (like if they'd all just returned from dining out, or a party), or on a different person it would have been great. Actually, it's still great. I just wanted to see Doctor Collins tickled while looking something close to a doctor- or more like a adult 'escort' pretending to be a doctor. With that said, the dress really is good, and is my second favorite outfit of the issue.

Story Page 3: This page is all about the plot, and plot-wise it's brilliant. I would have been just as happy to see two girls tickle one girl as to see one girl tickle two, but the method that you used to execute the turn around was really cool. I also like the general idea of getting "Ruthless scraps" that allow someone to use what is effectively telekinetic tickling.

The fourth panel of the page confused me for a while. The "pow" makes it look like Ariel is hitting Tracy instead of grabbing the ruthless scrap before the Tracy can get it. This is also confused by Tracy's upraised hands in panel 3, while Ariel isn't going for 'her' scrap (the scrap intended for Ariel) yet. Not exactly sure what's happening in panel 4. I figured that Ariel either grabbed the other girl's ruthless scrap first, or mentally overrode control of both scraps by sheer force of will. Regardless, it becomes obvious that Ariel gets both scraps as the story develops.

Story Page 4: Tracy gets a new bra- the tickle bra!

I *LOVE* the concept. I think you should repeat this idea sometime, by having Stacy take some girls out to a formal dining event, and have them wear bits of Ruthless as replacement socks, panties, and bra. Maybe just one each, so each girl can get tickled in a different spot. Then, they'd have to 'behave themselves' in a formal environment while getting teased and tickled the entire time. You may want to throw in some teasing and denial too, to enhance the experience.

So again, the 'tickle bra' idea was pretty cool. The one bad thing about it is that the ticklee is effectively still clothed, even after her top has been ripped off. I really would have liked to see some breasts. This could have been done in two ways- either make the ruthless bra somehow transparent enough to see through, or provide a close up "inside view" for one panel, showing breast getting tickled on the interior of the bra. Either one of these would have worked, but as it stands a lot is left up to reader imagination.

Alternately, you could have used small extensions from the ruthless bra, doing some tickling on Tracy's abdomen and upper thighs. They're just begging to be tickled in that shot. That way, something gets visibly tickled, which was really the sole detracting point about an otherwise brilliant idea.

Story Page 5: Continuing the same great scene from page 4. No real changes. I was surprised to see the main panel of page 5 was almost a repeat of the main panel from page 4. Tracy is certainly more frantic and having a definite reaction, but the bra isn't really tickling any new areas. Again, this was mostly because the reader couldn't see the tickling get done. I would have loved to see a close up 'inside view' of the bra tickling the breast. Maybe two small panels, one on pages 4 and 5.

Story Page 6: Here we see Tracy getting tickled while zooming away to start the other scene. I liked the bits of Ruthless going south for other spots- whether that means stomach, legs, or under the skirt. I was disappointed that this idea wasn't picked up again in the two remaining panels we see later. Since we don't see any more bits of ruthless later, it is assumed that they settled beneath her skirt. That leaves things entirely up to the reader's imagination, and we already have that happening both with the bra and the under-the-dress tickling later. I would have liked to see bits of purple elsewhere on "that girl's" body in the two panels later on, even though they were pretty panned out. That could have been done pretty easily, since it would basically involve adding a few purple dots and splotches to the zoomed out images.

We also see the beginning of Ariel tickling Doctor Collins, but there's not a lot to be said about it. It's still in the setup phase. I *do* like the confident poses that Ariel took. She looked very dominant as she pushed the doctor down and tied her feet up.

Story Page 7: At last, more bare breasts! Yay! The upper body focus of this scene, with the breasts being bared the entire time, does a lot to make up for the 'reader imagination required' element of the last scene.

I don't know if it's just me, but something about the way the doctor's face is drawn in panel 2 looks somehow off.

On this page, Ariel teases the doctor by lightly to moderately tickling her breast, and the doctor gives big heavy "HAHAHA" lines. This seems like an overreaction to me. Her laughter really should have been lighter, or Ariel should have been tickling her somewhere else with her other hand.

With that said, I really like the upper body tickling shots on this page. Woot!

Story page 8:

Another great use of the ruthless scrap that Ariel got. Love the concept, even if you're a "Maxim guy" and prefer not to show the really graphic stuff. (*Sigh*)

The one odd thing about the ruthless scrap in this scene is that it tries for the wild tentacle look, but comes off looking too much like a deformed penis. With the way the end of the tentacle is waving around, it looks more like it's trying to drill into the doctor rather than tickle her beneath her dress. It probably would have helped if the ruthless scrap formed two narrow extension to loop itself around each thigh. That would have given it a stable base to tickle from, instead of looking like a wildly waving tentacle. Maybe even if it had taken the form of a pair of panties that had been pulled down to the doctor's upper thighs, with lines or small tentacles emerging from the 'center' of the panties that went up into the doctor's hidden crotch.

The doctor herself is really well drawn on this page. (The artist team you're using for this issue is pretty awesome in general, by the way.) I really liked her reactions. I also really like the final panel of the page, where Ariel pokes the doctor's breast and says a teasing "so yummy." That was a pretty cool display of Ariel's character.

Story Page 9: A great full page shot. The upper body tickling is back in action here. Again, I just want to say that I really liked the upper body shots in the scene as a whole. The ruthless scrap is downstairs, still looking a little too much like a penis for my comfort, though. Still, it's obvious the doctor is really getting what-for here, and her big "HAHAHA" lines are obviously getting earned!

On a different note, I love the use of dialogue in this panel (as well as the scene in general). You deliberately left the under-the-skirt part up to the reader's imagination, but you did a good job of verbalizing what's happening. I still would have liked to actually "see" more, but I understand that stylistic choice that you've made.

Story Page 10: More upper body tickling! Yay! Not a lot to say about it though, other than I'm glad to see the armpits getting a little attention. I'm happy the focus was on the breasts, but the armpits and ribs getting a panel or two spices things up nicely. Also glad to see Tracy in the pan-out shot, still getting tickled on the side.

Story Page 11: No tickling in this one, other than the 'under the skirt' tickling that's left to reader imagination. I liked the ruthless ball that acts as a gag, though by now I'm really wondering just how large of a ruthless scrap Ariel got. The third bit, acting as the gag, seems like an awful lot of ruthless material from the few scraps of cape that Stacy tore off at the start.

The tickle machine was a surprise, and seemed a bit much. Ariel seems to exceed her powers with that, going from using a gift she's already been presented with to a high priestess summoning the demonic torture tool directly from her Goddess. We don't get any explanation of how she got the power up required to do that.

Still, the next issue should be pretty cool! I'm looking forward to the doctor getting mercilessly tickled by the machine, while (hopefully) Ariel concentrates on Tracy some more. I DEFINITELY think that the next issue should stick with this scene and not skip away to some other plot element. Let's see the two victims suffer some more!!

Not sure why we have the advertisements at the end, given that anyone looking at them has already been to the website. That said, I'm not complaining about seeing them! I especially like the Ruthless advert, which references the quite awesome issue 5.

I purchased issue 5 at the same time as 7, by the way, and it's spectacular. I won't go page by page like I did with this one, but I really liked it. I thought the foot tickling was really well done, and didn't feel forced. I'm not a foot fetishist, so I appreciate it when foot tickling feels like the next logical step instead of a diversion from what the tickler was doing.

I also liked the verbiage about her panties. You didn't have to show it in any panels, other than background clothing, but you introduced an arousal element all the same. Very well done.

Basically, issue 5 boils down to "I really like it. Well done."

But back to issue 7. Overall, I thought it was very well done. I liked the upper body focus, and you had some very inventive ideas with the ruthless clothing that I'd like to see continued later. Again, I recommend that "formal dining" or otherwise formal experience, with the ruthless tickling woman underneath their clothing while they have to behave. Maybe it can start with light tickling and the girls trying to contain the laughter, and end with heavy tickling and the girls being humiliated while they make a scene laughing in public. This would go particularly well if Stacy is trying to destroy the public image of some social or political rival.

Great work, hope to see more from you soon!

 

[oblesklk1]

After purchasing The Ruthless issue 7, I did a page by page review. Below is a 'public' version, edited with some small revisions.

Wow, thanks! I really appreciate the time it took to put this together. This is an incredibly powerful method of communicating with a publisher. This

writeup probably took you a couple hours to do and shows us you have a vested interest in making our work better. So we will absolutely listen and do what

we can to improve our future publications.

First off, I really like the title page. The image is spectacular. After some thought, I realized Doctor Collins was probably

referring to the scrap of ruthless between her legs, but the image as a whole gives the impression that she is being tickled by machine off-screen. I've

always been annoyed when title pages picture things that are not included in the comic, so I probably would have added a pair of hands tickling the ribs and

changed the text to indicate the person tickling her. Outside of that, it's a brilliant upper body closeup, and it's really well drawn.

Thanks, I like this cover, too. The main thing I don't like about it is that it's oriented in a very awkward way. It should be horizontal, right? But the

oriented is vertical so there's a lot of white space. It's weird. But it's effective because it does cut her off and lend towards a bit of imagination.

Good note about misleading readers with scenes that don't appear in the book. I try to be very, VERY careful about this and it's good to hear that I need to

keep being careful. This happens all the time with mainstream comics, but I would feel bad if the ticklee were shown barefoot with a villain threatening to

tickle her feet, then a foot loving customers buys it only to find upper body tickling inside. I can see where this would be very frustrating to people.

Story Page 1: We have an entire page devoted to story setup. Normally I'd be annoyed, since I know these issues usually only come in

10 to 12 pages, and I'd like everyone one to count. This page is different though- we get to see the three main (non-Ruthless) characters naked. A lot!

Frankly, that changes the entire thing from "irritating but necessary story setup" to "here, stare at some breasts while we set things up." As shallow as it

sounds, it really makes a difference.

That's great feedback.

We've quietly increased our page count of recent books and those in production. We are now aiming for 11-13 pages in most of our books, whereas in the past

it was indeed 10-12. I usually afford myself 1 page of plot advancement. Any more than this is really dicey. If I feel it's important (The Agencies #18

that just released has a lengthy flashback sequence), I'll usually put it on my dime to add a couple pages. Meaning I won't increase the price even though

there are more pages, nor will I borrow from the tickling pages to keep the book around 12 pages in total. That would be rude 🙂 So I just made that last

issue like 14 pages to make up for it. My hope is that the storylines aren't distracting. My intention is that they are either short and easily skippable

for those not interested, or interesting enough to enhance the experience for those desiring deeper characters.

And the issue of nudity is good, too. We try to make the characters look sexy in the non-tickling pages as a means of increasing desire to see them tickled,

but usually don't do this nude. This issue was an exception because I wanted to show them all in a bath house kind of environment before they go to battle.

I just thought that imagery was odd enough to be fun. Glad you liked it, I will definitely take the issue of nudity and semi-undress to heart when writing

future scripts.

Story Page 2: Another setup page. The attention getter here is the different outfits. Ariel's is okay- I get that she's going for the

'nearly bare but Dominant' look. It was nice, but it was much like the Ruthless's outfit in this issue: good for flavoring, but it's not something the eye

really focuses on very much. I liked Tracy's innocent schoolgirl outfit. That was my favorite for this issue. Especially since it's on a soon-to-be-victim. I

probably would have wanted a more mature, sexier outfit on a tickler. For a 'lee, innocent outfits *really* work.

Then we have the not-so-good doctor's dress. It's a nice dress, and it's great on a ticklee. I was surprised to see it on Doctor Collins though, because I

was expecting something more doctor-ish. In a different setting (like if they'd all just returned from dining out, or a party), or on a different person it

would have been great. Actually, it's still great. I just wanted to see Doctor Collins tickled while looking something close to a doctor- or more like a

adult 'escort' pretending to be a doctor. With that said, the dress really is good, and is my second favorite outfit of the issue.

Ya I wasn't too happy with Doctor Collin's dress either. I was glad to see it come off later 😉

I really wanted Tracy's outfit to come out great, because it has greater relevance later on in the story (I'll be light on the spoilers, I swear!). So I'm

glad to hear you like it.

Story Page 3: This page is all about the plot, and plot-wise it's brilliant. I would have been just as happy to see two girls tickle

one girl as to see one girl tickle two, but the method that you used to execute the turn around was really cool. I also like the general idea of getting

"Ruthless scraps" that allow someone to use what is effectively telekinetic tickling.

The fourth panel of the page confused me for a while. The "pow" makes it look like Ariel is hitting Tracy instead of grabbing the ruthless scrap before the

Tracy can get it. This is also confused by Tracy's upraised hands in panel 3, while Ariel isn't going for 'her' scrap (the scrap intended for Ariel) yet. Not

exactly sure what's happening in panel 4. I figured that Ariel either grabbed the other girl's ruthless scrap first, or mentally overrode control of both

scraps by sheer force of will. Regardless, it becomes obvious that Ariel gets both scraps as the story develops.

Ya, this execution wasn't great. Jon pushed back on this to make the scene even clearer than it was before (ya it was even more confusing lol) so at least

it was a compromise. It's very, very difficult to tell a story worth telling in one page per 12. I find that honestly the most difficult part of this

entire process, but I love the challenge. And I think in this issue I bit off a lot in plot advancement and it didn't work out 100%. You're seeing the

effect of that.

The gist here is that The Ruthless gives them both a piece of her cape for their own use in torturing Collins and bringing her to her knees. However, Ariel

instead seizes power by knocking Tracy's piece away from her and immediately securing Tracy to the torture device so she can save her dessert (Tracy...who is

also Ariel's mortal enemy) for later.

Story Page 4: Tracy gets a new bra- the tickle bra!

I *LOVE* the concept. I think you should repeat this idea sometime, by having Stacy take some girls out to a formal dining event, and have them wear bits of

Ruthless as replacement socks, panties, and bra. Maybe just one each, so each girl can get tickled in a different spot. Then, they'd have to 'behave

themselves' in a formal environment while getting teased and tickled the entire time. You may want to throw in some teasing and denial too, to enhance the

experience.

So again, the 'tickle bra' idea was pretty cool. The one bad thing about it is that the ticklee is effectively still clothed, even after her top has been

ripped off. I really would have liked to see some breasts. This could have been done in two ways- either make the ruthless bra somehow transparent enough to

see through, or provide a close up "inside view" for one panel, showing breast getting tickled on the interior of the bra. Either one of these would have

worked, but as it stands a lot is left up to reader imagination.

Alternately, you could have used small extensions from the ruthless bra, doing some tickling on Tracy's abdomen and upper thighs. They're just begging to be

tickled in that shot. That way, something gets visibly tickled, which was really the sole detracting point about an otherwise brilliant idea.

Yup, love this idea.

I love the transparent/translucent application to the material. And I love the notion of having it act as clothing in a public setting. Your first idea is

something I will have to implement. The second idea is actually coming up in a future issue. You're reading my mind 🙂

And I like the idea of an inside panel for the device. That is interesting.

Story Page 5: Continuing the same great scene from page 4. No real changes. I was surprised to see the main panel of page 5 was almost

a repeat of the main panel from page 4. Tracy is certainly more frantic and having a definite reaction, but the bra isn't really tickling any new areas.

Again, this was mostly because the reader couldn't see the tickling get done. I would have loved to see a close up 'inside view' of the bra tickling the

breast. Maybe two small panels, one on pages 4 and 5.

Fair enough.

Story Page 6: Here we see Tracy getting tickled while zooming away to start the other scene. I liked the bits of Ruthless going south

for other spots- whether that means stomach, legs, or under the skirt. I was disappointed that this idea wasn't picked up again in the two remaining panels

we see later. Since we don't see any more bits of ruthless later, it is assumed that they settled beneath her skirt. That leaves things entirely up to the

reader's imagination, and we already have that happening both with the bra and the under-the-dress tickling later. I would have liked to see bits of purple

elsewhere on "that girl's" body in the two panels later on, even though they were pretty panned out. That could have been done pretty easily, since it would

basically involve adding a few purple dots and splotches to the zoomed out images.

We also see the beginning of Ariel tickling Doctor Collins, but there's not a lot to be said about it. It's still in the setup phase. I *do* like the

confident poses that Ariel took. She looked very dominant as she pushed the doctor down and tied her feet up.

Ariel is quite the natural sadist, glad you picked up on that.

On the issue of concealing too much, we'll get into this a bit later as you touch on it in more detail here in a bit.

Story Page 7: At last, more bare breasts! Yay! The upper body focus of this scene, with the breasts being bared the entire time, does

a lot to make up for the 'reader imagination required' element of the last scene.

I don't know if it's just me, but something about the way the doctor's face is drawn in panel 2 looks somehow off.

On this page, Ariel teases the doctor by lightly to moderately tickling her breast, and the doctor gives big heavy "HAHAHA" lines. This seems like an

overreaction to me. Her laughter really should have been lighter, or Ariel should have been tickling her somewhere else with her other hand.

With that said, I really like the upper body tickling shots on this page. Woot!

Glad you like the good Doctor's breasts!

Yes, the facial expressions are hit and miss in my opinion, and you picked up on that, here. As for the overreaction, Mae Collins is extremely sensitive,

especially her breasts. So the immediatle reaction was planned, even if it came across as heavy handed. But to your point, even the most ticklish breasts

might have their owner seethting through teeth with a reaction as light as a feather. That would've been a good alternative to allow the action to build.

Story page 8:

Another great use of the ruthless scrap that Ariel got. Love the concept, even if you're a "Maxim guy" and prefer not to show the really graphic stuff.

(*Sigh*)

Quite right.

Now, take heart. I have never shown exposed genitals in our publications before. At some point I will loosen up. I do have an idea for which comic line

and which issue I want to showcase this kind of explict scene for the first time. I haven't decided 100%, but am definitely leaning. Having said that, even

if we do go full x-rated, it is probably not something we will show often. I don't want to use it as a cheap marketing ploy, I would like the nudity to make

some sense to the story. So far, The Ruthless has been dripping (oy, no pun intended) with opportunity to show explicit genital tickling shots. And there

will be many more before we're done. So that would seem a likely suspect for the first such scene. So I will "never say never."

The one odd thing about the ruthless scrap in this scene is that it tries for the wild tentacle look, but comes off looking too much

like a deformed penis. With the way the end of the tentacle is waving around, it looks more like it's trying to drill into the doctor rather than tickle her

beneath her dress. It probably would have helped if the ruthless scrap formed two narrow extension to loop itself around each thigh. That would have given it

a stable base to tickle from, instead of looking like a wildly waving tentacle. Maybe even if it had taken the form of a pair of panties that had been pulled

down to the doctor's upper thighs, with lines or small tentacles emerging from the 'center' of the panties that went up into the doctor's hidden crotch.

The doctor herself is really well drawn on this page. (The artist team you're using for this issue is pretty awesome in general, by the way.) I really liked

her reactions. I also really like the final panel of the page, where Ariel pokes the doctor's breast and says a teasing "so yummy." That was a pretty cool

display of Ariel's character.

Great comments about the Ruthless piece. I absolutely agree. It's too tentacle rapey right now. It's not optimal for what I was trying for.

Story Page 9: A great full page shot. The upper body tickling is back in action here. Again, I just want to say that I really liked

the upper body shots in the scene as a whole. The ruthless scrap is downstairs, still looking a little too much like a penis for my comfort, though. Still,

it's obvious the doctor is really getting what-for here, and her big "HAHAHA" lines are obviously getting earned!

On a different note, I love the use of dialogue in this panel (as well as the scene in general). You deliberately left the under-the-skirt part up to the

reader's imagination, but you did a good job of verbalizing what's happening. I still would have liked to actually "see" more, but I understand that

stylistic choice that you've made.

As above, take heart! My caving into full nudity is just a matter of time. I want such a scene to be tasteful. As you astutely noted above, I'm more of a

"Maxim guy" than a "Hustler guy" for what I find sexiest.

Story Page 11: No tickling in this one, other than the 'under the skirt' tickling that's left to reader imagination. I liked the

ruthless ball that acts as a gag, though by now I'm really wondering just how large of a ruthless scrap Ariel got. The third bit, acting as the gag, seems

like an awful lot of ruthless material from the few scraps of cape that Stacy tore off at the start.

The tickle machine was a surprise, and seemed a bit much. Ariel seems to exceed her powers with that, going from using a gift she's already been presented

with to a high priestess summoning the demonic torture tool directly from her Goddess. We don't get any explanation of how she got the power up required to

do that.

Excellent plot hole observation.

Well, not so much a plot hole, but rather the scene was missing a desperately needed narrative in the form of a caption! That was my mistake.

The pieces that Stacia gives to Ariel and Tracy is just a symbol of her greater power. Even though these pieces are depicted as being no bigger than a

handercheif, they bend reality and physics and can expand/contract at will. Through controlling them, their mass could expand enough to create a bubble of

force around an aircraft carrier. Stacia's power is cosmic, and even a fraction of that is beyond anything we could imagine. So Ariel attunes to her piece

very quickly and bends it to her sadistic will. She imagines a horrible execution device for Doctor Collins and her piece from the cape makes it so. Just

like Stacia's cape can form edges as sharp as razors, or as fluffy as feathers.

Still, the next issue should be pretty cool! I'm looking forward to the doctor getting mercilessly tickled by the machine, while

(hopefully) Ariel concentrates on Tracy some more. I DEFINITELY think that the next issue should stick with this scene and not skip away to some .other plot

element. Let's see the two victims suffer some more!!

I really hate spoilers, so let me know just say you will not be disappointed.

I know I skip around a lot in the stories but I want this subplot in The Ruthless to play itself out. It's the first subplot we've introduced that spans

several issues, so I definitely want to see it through to the end before moving on to something else.

Not sure why we have the advertisements at the end, given that anyone looking at them has already been to the website. That said, I'm

not complaining about seeing them! I especially like the Ruthless advert, which references the quite awesome issue 5.

Few reasons for the adverts. First, they were an experiment when we created our first PDFs. They have gone well so far. Second, I eventually intend on

using them as a 'coming attractions' piece where readers can find out what issue is next for the various comic lines and see artwork for them. Third, when

you produce high quality work that a lot of people want to read, not everyone wants to pay for it. So it's a way of ensuring people know where the source of

the great material is from.

I purchased issue 5 at the same time as 7, by the way, and it's spectacular. I won't go page by page like I did with this one, but I

really liked it. I thought the foot tickling was really well done, and didn't feel forced. I'm not a foot fetishist, so I appreciate it when foot tickling

feels like the next logical step instead of a diversion from what the tickler was doing.

I also liked the verbiage about her panties. You didn't have to show it in any panels, other than background clothing, but you introduced an arousal element

all the same. Very well done.

Basically, issue 5 boils down to "I really like it. Well done."

Thanks!

But back to issue 7. Overall, I thought it was very well done. I liked the upper body focus, and you had some very inventive ideas

with the ruthless clothing that I'd like to see continued later. Again, I recommend that "formal dining" or otherwise formal experience, with the ruthless

tickling woman underneath their clothing while they have to behave. Maybe it can start with light tickling and the girls trying to contain the laughter, and

end with heavy tickling and the girls being humiliated while they make a scene laughing in public. This would go particularly well if Stacy is trying to

destroy the public image of some social or political rival.

Great work, hope to see more from you soon!

Yup, love the clothing idea, can't wait to implement it. Love your translucent idea, I want to implement that, as well as see how this internal panel would

go. That would be a design challenge I'd love to take on.

Thank you very much for the input. It is apparent you put a lot of thought into this and have a great passion for tickle torture comics. I feel honored to count you as a customer and aim to keep you as one for many years!