Good morning everyone,
It has been said that “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
(NOTE: That line is attributed to Allen Saunders and first published in a January 1957 issue of Reader’s Digest magazine. It was later paraphrased by John Lennon in his 1980 song “Beautiful Boy” for his final album “Double Fantasy.”)
That saying is particularly relevant as the originally scheduled topic for today’s post had to be changed at the last minute. Nearly two months ago, on March 12th to be exact, I placed an order for a giants-themed book from an eBay seller. I had every expectation that the book would arrive early enough for a thorough reading and to allow sufficient time to draft this post. Alas, many weeks passed and the item was a no-show. So, it eventually became apparent that a back-up topic was required.
Therefore, I decided to take a look through the Giantess Club collection to see if anything piqued my interest. Accordingly, let’s now dive into “Couples Therapy”!
This three-part series was illustrated by J. J. McQuade and written by Gasinator. J. J. McQuade has drawn a plethora of works for Giantess Club, including, but certainly not limited to, “Hunting for Bigfoot,” “Jingle Bells Showdown,” and “Pumpkin Queens.” In sharp contrast, Couples Therapy was the only Giantess Club comic written by Gasinator.
The first installment was released in late March 2015 and the final was released in early July that year. That’s not much time between issues as compared to currently ongoing runs like “PMD: War.” The first installment of PMD: War was released in early December 2018, the second in late March 2019, the third in early December 2020, and there’s no indication when the fourth will be published even though five months have already passed. Point being that it’s a more enjoyable experience for customers when there is less wait time between issues and you don’t have to wait, as in the case of PMD: War, for several years to read a complete story.
Returning to Couples Therapy, the story involves a bickering young couple, David and Vanessa, who were each given special gifts, a bracelet for him and a choker for her, to heal their strained relationship from the marriage counselor Dr. Goldman. The description on the Giantess Club site states that the jewelry makes it so that “When one feels sexual pleasure, the other one starts to grow…” However, the actual text within the story itself describes the jewelry a bit differently, stating instead that they were reminders to always put their partner’s pleasure first.
Based on the idea given in the comic, that the jewelry pieces were reminders to always put the partner’s pleasure first, I was surprised that everything appeared to be driven by Vanessa’s wants. She is the one who loves the idea of growing. Conversely, it wasn’t noted what David wanted. David was a blank slate and seemingly his only purpose was to listen to Vanessa complain. (NOTE: Although, towards the end he did enjoy growing and of course sex with his giant wife.)
I was expecting that David would express a specific desire and the magic would make it real. In the same manner that the magic took Vanessa’s expressed desire for giant people and made that real. For example, David could have stated a want to see Vanessa’s butt swell, breasts increase in size, hair grow longer, etc. etc. Instead, it was all about Vanessa’s pleasure!
Turning from the plot to the artwork, the art was okay, not bad but also not great. A few problems are highlighted in the following screenshots:
Also, there was an instance in which dialogue bubbles were misplaced. The following panel takes place after David’s penis had become visibly erect, and rather large, while sitting in a movie theater. Vanessa notices and comments accordingly. However, the question “What’s got you so worked up?” was attributed to David, not Vanessa. I’m certain that the question was supposed to come from Vanessa, because she had noticed his erection, and not from David himself.
Overall, this was a fun premise, saving a failing marriage with the gift of growth! However, the execution was lackluster. A quick minor rewrite and more effort into the art could have made this great.
That’s it for today folks, Thursday’s review will cover a little-discussed manga with a giantess of stellar proportions. Until then, keep growing!
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There She Grows 