I've been enjoying Sarah Jolley's "The Property of Hate" comic for several years now. Anyone who follows this blog knows that enjoying a work often leads to me commissioning tickling art-work of the characters. I got this commission featuring the hero, Hero, through CommissionKomori (AKA Komori), who was an excellent artist to work with.
Before we get into the art, I need to put a "read more" down here. The theme of this artwork was "the hero's journey", as it pulls in five different versions or Hero's character model, showing how she changed over time. The scenario shown in the art-work is, obviously, non-canon. However, I will be showing five different versions of Hero, who are all canon. Therefore, this commission contains major spoilers for "The Property of Hate" comic.
If you want to play it safe, just read from page #1 through page #577. You'll enjoy it. Trust me. Then, come back here.
Alright, here we go. All five versions of Hero are trapped together in one long set of foot-stocks, getting tickled to pieces.
Where the hell is RGB? Isn't he supposed to be babysitting them? I bet he's unconscious somewhere, having ominous dreams.
But why are there five versions of Hero co-existing, locked in the same set of stocks? Is this the ending, where the main villain, Hate, has won? Is this Hero's punishment for years of defying her? Would she really be this mean?
Or maybe this is all part of RGB's master-plan to save the world. Honestly, has he given us any information about the mission that would disprove such an idea? Has he given us any information about the mission, period? Mind you, I have no idea what this ritual(?) would accomplish beyond tiring out every Hero.
Anyway, let's dig into the details.
Here we have Hero #1. She's been freshly introduced to her new job. And she's already in way over her head. Sure, canonically, those Fear talons would absolutely shred through her feet. But we're not here to show Hero in pain. We're here for precision tickling. The hand-pose suggests that she is trying to plead her way out of this. She doesn't know how this world works just yet. Hell, she still has all of her fingers and eyes, which shows how early in the story she is.
And here we have Hero #2, after she got her cozy sweater. This is also after she traded away one finger from each hand in the Black Market. She's starting to understand things a bit better now. She knows that pleading won't help, so she's struggling to get her hands free. And look, Click, or at least part of him, is back. Do you think he's still salty about how things went down in the Black Market?
And here we have Hero #3, fresh from the Desert of Regret. This was an important story location, since this is where she got her fashionable hat. Unfortunately, the Nothing promptly attempted to erase her, as is its nature. So, now, we need to perform some art restoration on the soles of her feet. Yes, I can see that Hero managed to get a hand free from the restraints. She can't reach the brushes though, so this won't affect the procedure. And it will be a long procedure. Skin-tones are a pain in the ass to get right. There's going to need to be a lot of blending to get her back to her old self. Due to budget cuts, we don't have a separate painter's palette for color mixing either. Blending colors directly on the canvas is possible. It's just not ideal if the canvas is ticklish.
And here we have Hero #4. She's had an eye stolen. She's had a surprise nose job. Her boots have partially melted. She almost entirely melted. If any Hero out of this line-up deserves to put her feet up for a bit, it's this one.
And then the damn butterfly, Anxiety, had to come along and interrupt Hero's break. Canonically, Hero cannot see anything through the eye that Anxiety stole from her. But let's pretend that she can, because that makes this scene even more bizarre from her POV. Still, let's give credit to Hero's self-control here. Those little legs on her right foot are plenty tickly. However, she is making a best effort not to clench her toes and smoosh the bug. That's in-character, given that she doesn't crush Anxiety in the comic for doing much worse to her.
You may be wondering when Hero started dying her hair. The answer is page #517.
I didn't even notice that little detail until Komori used it. I think it works for her.
And here we have our last victim for the evening. Hero #5 is probably doing the best out of the line-up. Assok is a friend, after all. Is he still going to tickle her to bits? Oh, absolutely. But, at this point, Hero has accepted her fate.
You know, I don't think Hero is in any real danger here. I think this whole silly affair is happening back-stage at Jolley Comics studios. We've got the celebrity Hero (take your pick), and her four stunt-doubles (take your picks) all stocked up together. Hero #1, Hero #2, and Hero #4 are enduring playful, entirely friendly, attacks from their respective "villains". Perhaps this is therapeutic for our Heroes after shooting those scary scenes. Hero #3 is either getting legitimate art restoration work done, or her arches are being painted on just for fun. Hero #5 and Assok are getting some bonding time. Maybe this is the secret to how all of the Jolley is made.
In any case, I choose to believe that the tickling and their reactions to the tickling are genuine.
I really love this piece. Komori did an amazing job rendering the five major variants of Hero, with their canon outfits, and then putting them through their trials. In particular, I wasn't sure if they would handle Hero's eye replacement, but Hero #3 and Hero #5 show the change nicely.
This is the third piece I have commissioned from Komori, and they have done a great job each time.
Vintage Comic Tickling in "Out Our Way" by J.R. Williams from The Daytona Beach News Journal" December 24, 1931
Well, this is interesting. I enjoy foot tickling art. I happened across a printing of this comic in a facebook group for lesser-known comics. Thankfully, they gave the name of the comic, as well as the year, so I was able to find a higher-quality version in a newspaper archive.
So, what's going on here? It appears that this kid wanted to sneak a peek at his Christmas presents. However, rather than just lay down on the stairs, he decided to make things complicated for himself. So, he stretched himself over the hall, wedging his ankles into the banister, and grabbing onto the top of the door frame with his fingertips. I like the posing here. It's a bizarre situation to be in, and it leaves him vulnerable to what happens next.
I don't fully understand how he got himself into that position, let alone how he planned to get himself out. In any case, the family dog came up the stairs, found the kid's bare feet wedged in the banister, and started licking away. So, what was already a difficult situation, just got much harder. He isn't laughing at this point, but he's feeling the strain, and trying to shoo the dog away.
He hasn't been discovered yet. His mom (?) heard something in the hall, but his dad (?) figures it was the dog. He's half right.
The tag-line "Heroes are made - not born" appeared in several issues of this comic. If it has something to do with this issue specifically, I don't get it.
"Out Our Way" was a single-panel comic, so there isn't a follow-up to this scene. We don't see whether the kid eventually started laughing. You'll have to imagine/create your own sequel.
