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Posted by TeeHeeLawrence on 05-14-2010 at18:54:

  Dark & Semi-Sweet Before Sweet & Silly

Having just read "Nightmare Ave. No. 14" as a whole--after having sampled Andrea & Co.'s misadventure first--I'm struck by how different in tone the two parts are.

In each part, the protagonists (as well as the antagonists) are markedly varied.

Canan approaches No. 14 with a sadness and wariness that makes one want to give her a hug and warn her away from the place. Her glasses give her a serious, thoughtful look. She does seem to be a magnet for people--even to her unseen boyfriend--eager to exploit her. When she's tickled, it's more than a bit of a cruel thing to do to such a tender heart (if a tenderfoot). Her bewildered, seated form-awakening from her ordeal--is strangely affecting, even lovely.

Andrea's glasses, by contrast, seem like a fashion affectation, signaling her ambition, and don't disguise the fact that, while she's clever, she's not quite as smart or as self-possessed as she appears to be. When she's tickled, it's hilarious just desserts. And when she revels in tickling the college girls, it's amusing and wholly in character. (Altho, to give her her due, she's not so driven that she didn't stop to aid the fallen Canan during the transition between parts.)

Hatice and Aynur project the breezy, impatient self-assurance guaranteed to get them in trouble and amply tickled. While Aynur pretty clearly craves putting herself in ticklish situations, Hatice's hard case makes it appear that it's the last thing she wants. But, I think she protests too much. For all her complaints, I suspect that she secretly relishes being tickled as much as her prankster pal.

Canan's encounter at the door is truly the stuff of nightmares. On one side are two "dirty old men" who snatch the package, withhold her pocket pc, steal one of the boots she takes such pride in, and then mercilessly tickle her tender foot. On the other are the vampirish Morgana and her two fellow twisted sisters, who steal her other boot, and seem even more bent on cruelly tickling her.
Merely trying to do her job gets her tickled 'til she passes out, sees her
put under a wicked witch's spell (the further effect of which presumably will make for another cruel cootchy-coo Canan tale), and costs her the modest symbols of her tentative dignity: the stylish boots her Dad bought for her.

Andrea's pursuit of her briefcase is more the stuff of slapstick. Harry and Larry seem much more like the mischievous boys they're (not really credibly, I'm sure) pretending to be. Andrea's purposeful lies and the college girls' easy surrender to greed at her monetary offers are worthy of screwball comedy, so it's no surprise that, in short order, they're tickling each other much more than the "boys" tickle them.

(BTW, in any future revised version of ABP, I hope you somehow manage--in a tale already crowded with cootchy-coo action--to give Hatice a chance to tickle either Andrea or Aynur (Or both!). Perhaps when Andrea has directed her tickling attentions to Aynur, Hatice can remove her pal's other ballerina flat and add to her hilarity. Or (And?), when Andrea lets go of the girl's lost shoes when the "boys" tease her toes, Hatice, in disgust, might claim Andrea's remaining pump and pay the businesswoman back for so gleefully tickling her helpless foot.
Either way, one (or two characters) would be straddling the door as she's being tickled on both sides in comedic complement to Canan's nightmare in the first part.)

(And, while we're talking revisions, in the sequence in CTPD when the wicked trio are peering through the door at Canan's tickling torment, at present, the shots don't match. That is, the shots of Canan's tickled foot are the reverse of the POV of the Goths; her foot is always seen as if from inside, not outside. One shot, at least, looking down along Canan's leg of the top of her twitching toes and trembling foot from the Goth's view would ice the cootchy-coo cake. Just a nitpicky thought...)

I can't stop without commenting on the--Ahem!--infamous page 24. On the one hand, it's an obvious and not ineffective way to depict Canan's slipping into unconsciousness. On the other, it seems, visually and ticklemindedly--a terrible waste of a whole page. I'm not sure what could replace it...maybe a montage of Canan's waggling foot and wiggling toes and her hysterically laughing face gradually melting and fading to black.
This reminds me of the furor in a long-ago Marvel comic, when artist John Byrne depicted a superhero fight in a snowstorm by presenting 6 pages blank except for a flurry of word balloons. He was chided for taking a shortcut, however clever and as full of dialogue as it might have been.

In short, then, "Nightmare" is a tantalizing pairing of tickling scenarios dark and light, torturous and playful. While it may not have the obviously more ambitious intertwining of plots offered in "Hotel Cootchy-Coo"--clearly your magnum opus--it's an engaging and even inspiring (Witness this exhaustive, if not exhaustING, comment!) on its own.

And, I can't resist asking, fan:
Since Canan is based on an old acquaintance--clearly not forgotten--are you "having your way with her" in a manner you could not in real life?

Also, besides Canan's certain magickal re-encounter with Morgana and her minions, I'd love to see the pale witch pitted against someone who fancies herself equally powerful and wicked: Martina. It would be SO cathartic to see the fierce antagonists reduced to hapless, girlish laughter.

Thanks for the marvelous work.

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Posted by Mandrake on 05-14-2010 at20:10:

 

Hey, love reading your reviews. Nightmare Ave. no. 14 was the second story we worked on together (the first being A Stupid Bet), and I could understand how you could contrast the two. Tickling could seem as fun and innocent as the second story, or it can seem as cruel and abusive as it did in the first. It all depends on the protagonists's intentions, in particular the tickler and ticklee. Part of the fun of writing these stories is depicting what's going through these characters minds, all seem to react a little differently.

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Posted by fantomaZ on 05-14-2010 at21:59:

 

thank you very much for this very detailed review. and special thanks for the more critical remarks like the one about the black page. very appreciated. only that way I can optimize those e-comics furthermore.

greetz fantomaZ

PS: another thank-you-bonus per pm on its way ...

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Posted by TeeHeeLawrence on 05-15-2010 at01:16:

  Sweet Tooth

Thank you for the bonus, fan. (I like to imagine that I wasn't as avid in its pursuit as Aynur is in putting herself in ticklish situations...)

Man, I appreciate differing approaches and tones in tickling tales, but I must confess to preferring tickled characters engaging in slapstick over enduring trauma. Either I'm romantic or just a weenie...

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Posted by fantomaZ on 05-15-2010 at21:14:

 

I always try to vary the theme regarding the different characters of our models. so when you look at the character descriptions in the setcards you can easily guess what kind of tickling might occur. for example when Aynur is involved you can be sure that it will be playful. "Hotel Coochie Coo" and specially the "Maids in Distress" episode is a good example. pure fun

concerning Canan: no, I wouldn't like to do this in real life. the Canan-character is based on a real character. that's all. and the real character shared some fantasies with me that are influencing some of the stories ...

greetz fantomaZ