37 pages, Color, US$10.00
Age Regression
Artwork by PalComix
More Suzy and Marilyn Age Regression fun as Marilyn experiments with a youth ray. The comic is inspired by the classic Lois Lane AR comic “The Crybaby of Metropolis,” and features Marilyn slowly regressing to a teenager, adolescent, child, baby, and then…?
Plot Synopsis: Frank is hosting a special exhibition of inventions, and Marilyn and Suzy are invited. Marilyn tries out a youth ray to get rid of her grey hairs in a bid to steal Frank from Suzy. And as Marilyn gets younger and younger, Suzy is looking less like her rival and more like her big sister – or her mother! [Note: This comic features an unbirthing scene.]
US$10.00
I found this comic very enjoyable. Tsk, tsk, Marilyn!
(Now, about the sequel to Beach Blanket babies……)
Good job! Was nice to see Suzy turn the regression tables on Marilyn for a change.
It was good, but I liked your original take on the CRYBABY OF METROPOLIS a lot more. I feel this lacked the aspect of rivalry and humliation that, and most of your other works, have, which is the most appealing aspect of this genre to me personally. The ‘re-birthing’ was great though! Very creative.
Perhaps a sequel, CRYBABY SUZY? I’d love to see Bojay tackle that. ^_~
Thanks for the comments, and good points about the humiliation aspect. I thought Marilyn was pretty thoroughly humiliated in this one, though.
I have been talking with Bojay about doing another Crybaby sequel. Seems we think alike!
First off, please don’t take the above to be overly critical of your work. I quite enjoyed it and thought it was very well done; as I’m sure you’re quite used to, you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and everyone, particularly in a niche genre like this, has their own aesthetic and is looking to get something different from the work.
I’m fairly new to the AR genre, and yours is actually the first work I’ve ever had any exposure too…and probably the best. I haven’t really found any other stories with nearly the quality in the prose, or the attention to story and character, or the complexity of the exploration of the theme and the execution, that yours have (if you have any recommendations, I’m all ears).
Of particularly significance to me is your disection of the CRYBABY OF METROPOLIS story, and subsequent expansion on said story, which, to me, was a good essay on the main tenants of this genre, how they work, and why they are engaging; the aspects of humiliation, dominance, power reversal, submissiveness, and, of particular interest ot me, rivalry.
To that end, you have used these themes and tropes to great effect in a variety of stories, personal favorites of mine including THE RIVAL, the original GIRLS GONE CHILD, TALE OF TWO SISTERS, THE AU PAIR, REMEMBERANCES OF SISTERS PAST etc. All great stories that have similar elements that enage and excite me…but all of these are rooted in the original CRYBABY OF METROPOLIS story, which is why I was excited by the idea of your going back to the source to reenvision it with your recurring characters, Suzy and Marilyn. This seemed a perfect marriage of materials, as Suzy and Marilyn are great takes on the female rival archtypes such as Lois and Lana (one of the best) or Betty and Veronica, etc etc. It was also especially exciting because Marilyn is usually in the dominant role over Suzy, thus raising the stakes as she is placed in the Lois role of being the one regressed and made submissive and powerless, in a reversal of her usual role.
The story itself is well concieved and tightly plotted, following much the same arch as the original source, but with it’s own twists; a variation or approximation rather than an imitation. The conceit of the story is an effective motivation; concerned about the minor defect of a few grey strands, Marilyn throws caution to the wind and uses an experimental machine to regain her youth. As in the original, this becomes the basis for a morality tale (as most Comics Code era stories were) about the dangers of irresponsibility and vanity.
Explicit sexuallity is not necessary here; this is EROTICA, not pornography. Porn is physical stimulation, erotica is mental stimuation; you are making something more cerebral, and engaging the audience on a deeper, more intellectual, level. What’s most important is to show the change in the power dynamic; Marilyn is helpless at the mercy of, and even dependent on, her rival, who gleefully antagonizes her, making light of her plight and exploiting it to get the upper hand in their struggle for dominance. To that end, the story is mostly successful, despite my few nitpicks on areas that I felt could be reinforced.
Good job, and thank your for the hard work! I look forward to future projects.
Another great Dreamtales/PalComix collaboration! Really liked it all the way up to Marilyn regressing to toddler and then the rebirthing, bit weird for me!
I do love the Suzy & Frank & Marilyn comics, and would really really really love to see another SW edition! Especially a sequal to Marilyn’s New Dress, as at the end of that they end up different sizes. Would be cool to see the story continue!
v00d00
I highly enjoyed your work, I thought it was not only beautifully drawn but the storytelling, humor and regression sequences were especially done well (and I wish that you would do A Week at the Beach from ararchieve.com)!
I loved this comic. It would be nice to have a sequel where we have Marilyn is having to grow up under Suzy parentage. When she reaches around kindergarten age, she tricks her new mother into the youth ray and gets a little sister to dominate with Frank as their daddy.
I agree with steven but my other idea is based on superman’s girlfriend lois lane #42 with frank, suzy and marilyn all get age regressed with their emotions affecting them with each age they regress to.