The Bikini Contest (AR Comic)

[vended]

Originally Posted by Dreamtales

I'm always open to suggestions, so let me know if there's anything you'd particularly want to see...

I wouldn't mind an AR or AR/AP storyline without any sort of Big/Little Sister nor Boyfriend/Girlfriend relationship.

Just a different plotline, for once. Something original.

[godleydemon]

So I did finally get a chance to sit down, get the comic and read it. My verdict is!? eh..

So it's a bikini contest with some pretty buxom and beautiful women. Mom and Betsy do not appear in this comic. Our beautiful contestants decide to hit on Lauren's boyfriend. Where we get a 3 step regression on the first girl, where she then discovers she's shorter then her friends. Why they don't realize something is wrong and run away screaming? Who knows. Eventually the rest of the girls all hit on bobby at the same time. We get another 3 panel regression, (maybe 4?). Then the girls start fighting, why they don't realize they've all turned into 8 year olds? Who knows. Eventually, they figure out they look like little kids now and Lauren shoos them off. They go BACK TO THE CONTEST!? Because apparently as one of them put it, "I don't want to lose". Eventually the crowd notices Lauren and they convince her to go up on stage. She of course teases our age regressed contestants and they try and strike sexy poses. Eventually it ends with a dog ripping off the bottom bikini of the originally sexier contestant and running away with it.

All and all, I find the entire situation absolutely ridiculously confounding to the point I could no longer try and focus on the story and ended up shaking my head and laughing at the pure absurdity of the situation. The entire premise falls apart when one girl regresses before the others and the others comment on how small she is. At that point, right here, all of them should have known something was wrong. When they're hitting on Lauren's main squeeze, they comment on how tall he is and in each panel they comment on how he seems to be getting taller. Eventually they fight and still haven't clued in to the fact that they're so small.

All and all, the entire comic had some decent regression in 3 and 4 steps/panels, but the story was flawed, weak and overall disappointing. The art was great this time around and I didn't really notice anything glaring this time and I'm happy to say it seems they've stepped up there game on this one slightly. Though I found Lauren's bikini kind of hideous.

I find myself hating Lauren more and more with each comic I read and it's turning me off of dream tales comics. I may just keep buying to keep up my collection at this point. I think the only thing at this time, that can help keep my interest in any of the Betsy and Lauren comics, is if Betsy finally get's some damn revenge.

[kingloser4Lives]

Well said godleydemon, well said.

[vended]

Well said, indeed.

[Dreamtales]

Originally Posted by godleydemon

but the story was flawed, weak and overall disappointing.

I find myself hating Lauren more and more with each comic I read and it's turning me off of dream tales comics. I may just keep buying to keep up my collection at this point. I think the only thing at this time, that can help keep my interest in any of the Betsy and Lauren comics, is if Betsy finally get's some damn revenge.

I appreciate the feedback and will take it as a personal challenge to come up with new story lines that will have a broader appeal. That said, these are AR comics, so the basic premise is pretty silly - people do not get younger, so there's a certain amount of suspension of belief involved in the genre. This was a short story intended to show off AR artwork, humiliation and role reversal in a few pages. It's not a longer detailed story with more character development and psychological suspense like Sex in a Bottle or Yard Work.

Anyway, I'm hoping you all will like the next AR comic, which will NOT be a Betsy & Lauren story...

[vended]

Originally Posted by Dreamtales

That said, these are AR comics, so the basic premise is pretty silly - people do not get younger, so there's a certain amount of suspension of belief involved in the genre

That's not true at all. The change not being possible doesn't mean the characters can be shown having stupid reactions to it.

If you think that, it does explain why so many of the DreamTales stories have the characters seemingly unable to react to the fact they're getting younger, which is really exasperating.

You don't think you have to give an effort to write realistic, believable stories, and, well, it show in the comics.