Yaoi Comic “Tough” Is Ready For Download!
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It’s finally here! The first chapter of our seven chapter gay teen yaoi comic Tough is now finished!
This will serve as the master post for Tough: Chapter One. Here is where readers should leave comments about what they thought about the comic and it’s also where I’ll be sharing the first 16 preview pages with you!
What’s this first chapter about?
Tough starts with 15-year-old Filipino-American Mike Castro being dragged into a fag bashing by a bunch of older, wilder boys. Mike knows it’s wrong and tries to stop it, but that just makes things worse; the older boys turn on him, forcing him to either beat the cute gay boy they’ve cornered or face the same fate. Can Mike figure out a way to save this guy and himself? And could this really be the start of a romance?! Read Tough: Chapter One to find out!
How do I read this comic?
This is another free download for Yaoi 911 News & Downloads subscribers. Subscribers to our mailing list get sent links to our free comics and this is the latest one. So if you want to read more, just sign up — a link will be sent right to you!
(You can also find and download Tough: Chapter One at our new store. If you’re a subscriber and haven’t gotten the Yaoi 911 News & Downloads email yet, you can create a new account at our store using your subscriber email address, Add To Cart a free comic and when you Checkout, you’ll be able to download it for free. It’s fast and easy — try it! Tough: Chapter One at The Yaoi 911 Store. )
Where can I talk about it?
Right here! The comments section’s of this post is the place to let me and other readers know what you thought. (And please do — you’re the whole reason we’re making these comics. And we love encouragement. 
)
What about spoilers?
So that folks are able to talk about the work without worrying about spoiling the story for others, I’ve added a new feature to the blog comments: spoiler protection! It works like this. Put the spoiler text into your comment between bracketed “spoiler” tags like this
to end up with this:
| Spoiler Inside | |
|---|---|
Just click the “SHOW” button to reveal the text. Until then, it’s hidden. Pretty nifty, huh? (And if you want to learn more tricks with this plugin, feel free to check out the tutorial created by the author.)
So, when does Chapter Two come out?
Chapter One is where we meet our heroes (and villains) and set things up. Chapter Two deals with the aftermath of what happens and it’s where the yaoi really gets cooking. If you want more kissing — and I know you do — I promise, you won’t have to wait long. The next chapter delivers the goods.
Chapter Two is already completely finished and will be sent out to subscribers on May 1, 2010.
Please tell me what you thought!
So that’s what you need to know about our latest comic. I really do hope you like the beginning of our story. Please take a moment and let me know what you thought!
Preview Pages
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- Tough: Chapter One Cover
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- Page 1
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- Page 2
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- Page 3
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- Page 4
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- Page 5
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- Page 6
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- Page 7
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- Page 8
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- Page 9
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- Page 10
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- Page 11
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- Page 12
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- Page 13
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- Page 14
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- Page 15
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- Page 16
Tough: Chapter One written by Alex Woolfson. Pencils by Vitto. Colors by Vincent Lee.
© 2010 Alex Woolfson. All Rights Reserved.
Want to download the entire comic? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comics page and the link will be sent right to you!
Enjoy reading articles like these? Don’t miss out! Get Yaoi 911™ blog posts emailed right to you — for free!
Learn More!
- Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re also giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
- Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
- Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
- Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!
About the Author: Filmmaker by day, yaoi creator by night, Alex has dedicated himself to helping cute guys fight evil and find love.
Alex Woolfson
UltimaST
EmmanGr
Dar-rell Kenneth Henderson
purpleteddi
Sorry for the late response, I’ve been having some medical issues. : Haha, well, I...
This story was nothing short of wonderful. I am amazed you are not already drowning in comments of praise. Your biographical information at the end of your story was just as inspiring as your well-crafted comic book.
Story, art, and dialogue were solid and compelling. Characterization was utterly believable, and I want to know how you did the colors so well so I can steal the technique and apply it to my own work.
I truly look forward to seeing more of your work. I will certainly pass this link along and tell others about your fine comic. Feel free to contact me if you’d like and I will gladly gush some more.
Best wishes,
-Briz
That was actually fantastic. I loved the fact that things were somehow semi-stereotypical but at the same time had little added twists, it made it seem very believable, and the artwork and olouring were gorgeous.
Funnily enough, three seconds after I received the link I was bombarding people with it as a reccomendation, and was also being bombarded with it.
I’m now eagerly looking forwards to chapter 2, and will probably blabber on about this chapter until I get it!
*whines* Your banner with Mike and Rob is so EVIL!!!! It teases me to know end =( lol
Anyway, I seriously LOVED the first chapter of this story!!!!!
The artists did this story major justice! And now I have to wait for the next chapter… *sniffles* But I’m a loyal fangirl, so I’ll wait as long as I have to! *pops a squat and gorges on Goobers while I wait* lmao XD
Oh, please let it be tomorrow already!
I loved the first chapter, from the way the characters look to the basic diaglogues that hit every emotion at just the right angle.
I loved it, thank you!
(Somewhat of a spoiler alert for the rest of the message!
And sorry for those who read, and didn’t want to, before the spoiler tags were added/working…)
Anyway, I can’t wait for the next chapter! Unfortunately I will have to. The good news is: You’ve got yourselves another fan. And good luck on the other story as well!
-Fluus-
@BrizyComics –
Thank you so much for your kind words, Briz. (And thank you for being brave enough to go first!)
You know, I’m such a hard-core perfectionist, that while I was finishing up this comic, all I could see were the flaws in my own writing. (The work by my artists is, of course, fantastic.
) I’m really glad to hear you liked the story, characterization and dialogue and that my end note was inspiring. That’s just great to hear.
Bay Area artist Vincent Lee did our amazing colors — you can read about him on our Creators page — and the only secret I know is that he is a total pro! (I bet, though, if you contact him through his Web site, he could give you a few more details.
)
And thank you so much for offering to recommend our work to others — we’re really trying to get the word out! (And I poked my head over at your Web site. Nice work. I look forward to taking a closer look once the dust settles from this release.
)
Cheers!
Alex
@Rinabean –
Yeah, I do like playing with genre. I ain’t no Joss Whedon, but it’s fun to create some stereotypical villains and yet offer a few little tweaks or fun bits to try to take their characterization to the next level. I’m glad to hear it worked for you! (And yeah — aren’t Vitto and Vincent just awesome? They did great work on this comic.)
Delighted to hear you’ve been “bombarded” with recommendations for our work. Totally makes me want to ask all about it. “From who??? From where??? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” But I think I’ll just keep my cool and say “Thank you.” and “Oh, that’s nice.” That would be the cool way to handle that…
Alex < --- NO COOL WHATSOEVER
I'm really glad you're looking forward to the next chapter. I can't wait to share it with you!
Cheers,
Alex
@RavenDeVir –
Heh, heh, heh. Glad to see my evil plans are working…
Also very glad to hear you loved our first chapter — and that you found Rob hot. (I do too — but I secretly suspected that everyone else would go for Kevin, bad boy that he is.)
Thank you so much for commenting — please have a few extra Goobers for me!
Cheers,
Alex
@Fluus –
Uh, oh! I hope I didn’t give the impression that Chapter Two was coming out tomorrow. It’s completely done — but I was planning on saving it until May 1st! You know, to keep my air of mystery. (And also so I keep having nice treats to send subscribers throughout the year.) Chapter One is the comic I was planning to send out on March 1st — I just couldn’t wait so I decided to send it out this weekend!
Glad to hear the dialogue worked for you — writing the boy’s banter was my favorite part. (And I’ll pass on the compliments about the look to my artists!)
Delighted to hear we’ve made you a fan. I can only hope that the rest of our work lives up to your expectations.
Cheers,
Alex
Very impressed with your first chapter! I like the realism of your writing and the color pictures are a refreshing change from the usual doujinshi black and white of similar styles.
The story line grabbed my interest and I’ll be looking forward to the next update. Also wanted to mention how much I enjoyed reading your authors notes and how you were inspired to write this particular tale.
I will be recommending this on my LiveJournal account. I don’t have a huge readership, but every little bit counts. Good luck and I hope this turns out to be as successful as it truely deserves to be.
Really fantastic job on this! I dig the art a lot and the dialogue is very realistic!
@madisuzy –
Thank you so much for your kind words. Yeah, I wanted to put out some yaoi in color — more expensive to make, but for my tastes it really adds something. Glad it’s something you liked too. It’s also nice to hear that you found the writing somewhat realistic. While this is definitely a yaoi story — so I’m willing to stretch realism a bit here and there
— I definitely would like our heroes to feel real. If I succeeded in some small way, that’s terrific!
Also glad to read you liked the author’s note. It’s always a bit weird for me to turn the spotlight on myself, but one of my dreams with the Yaoi 911 project (and this blog) is to inspire others to create their own work. We need more high-quality gay comics! And I hoped by talking about my own inspiration that it might encourage others to tell the yaoi stories they’ve always just seen in their own heads.
And thank you so much for your wonderful LiveJournal post. I’m totally printing that up and putting it on my fridge! LOL!
(Only one small correction: a guy, me, might be writing and directing/editing these comics but I do work with very talented women [Karla Diaz on A Shot in the Dark, Winona Nelson on ASITD, Tough:Chapter 2 and Artifice]. And while I am writing for other gay men, I’m also very much writing for women [one woman friend in particular, actually]. So Yaoi 911 isn’t 100% by men for men. That said, I’m sure my guy energy plays a big role and you certainly won’t find a lot of wispy bishonen in our work. So I think it was a good idea to give your readers a heads-up.
)
I really appreciate the well-wishing. You are awesome and I hope to see you here a lot!
@curlpop –
Yay! Thank you for the props! Glad you like the art and my dialog! Score!
Considering I’m filipino (with a bit of spanish and south asian here and there), I’m curious as to how Mike’s character will turn out, heh.
@s14 –
Well, I sure hope you like him! He’ll have flaws like everyone else, but like I said in the notes, he’s my favorite character right now (though there is another character introduced in Chapter 3 who might just steal my heart.)
In some ways, the character of Mike is a bit of a tip of the cap to my Filipino pals, but in other ways, quite different. Please let me know how you think I’m doing with his characterization.
Alex
@Alex Woolfson –
Ah, that explains why there was a chapter posted before the actual posting date. No problem, I’ll wait for chapter 2 for as long as it takes!
I loved the first chapter, I was tense scenes of confrontation.
Staff you´re doing a great job, thank you very much for sharing and dedication.
Hugs.
Alex, I hope I’ve been clear, because english isn´t my native language, I am brazilian
And I recommended your blog for suggested reading on a brazilian blog dedicated to yaoi also. 
From the amazing cover through the entire chapter one, TOUGH casts a potent spell! This first chapter has real substance and something important to say about the value of taking a risk, believing in yourself and having courage in the face of danger – and keeping a sense of humor – none too easy a task!
The art of TOUGH successfully amplifies and accentuates the story and themes and doesn’t cause unwanted confusion. Some of the panels are down-right extraordinary and the entire chapter obviously took a lot of time, effort and talent – BRAVO! **APPLAUSE** !!
The characters are multi-faceted (oh and really cute
) especially the two main characters, Rob and Mike these two are charmers for sure! they aren’t willing to compromise what they believe in when confronted with a threat and are ideally strong, fearless and unapologetic about who they are.
Very Nicely done. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next chapter!
I really enjoyed this first chapter of ‘Tough’.
I thought the characters were beautiful!!!
This is the first comic I’ve read off of this site and I’m really impressed.
Can’t wait till May! (Seems really far away though)
So happy I came across this site!
@Sandrinha –
I’m delighted to hear that you loved this first chapter — and that you enjoyed some of my humor. (Writing the comedic moments is always my favorite part.
)
And I love our Brazilian readers! Believe it or not, my stats show that a lot of Yaoi 911 readers come from Brazil. (With Thai and Indonesian readers, they are the largest non-English speaking group). So, thank you so much for posting about us! It’s much appreciated!
I hope to see you again here soon.
@RC –
Wow, RC — what an awesome comment! A full review in itself!
I’m really glad that you found substance in our work — and that your found importance in its message. That is very gratifying to hear. While the main effect I’m going for is, of course, entertainment, I’d like to think that some of my own values come through in the story. And having courage and believing in yourself are definitely two of my most important values.
Also really glad you liked the art and appreciated its clarity. For me (and I think Scott McCloud helped solidify this for me), clarity is the first priority when creating comics. If your readers are confused about the action or have to re-read panels to figure out what’s going on, then you are breaking the magic of the story. As the editor of these comics, I feel that one of the best ways I can help is to pretend to be a first-time reader and ask myself: Do I understand what’s going on? Do I understand where my eye is supposed to go and what the next panel is? Do I understand what that facial expression means?
Flashy pages with a million things going on will get “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs” but if they distract from the story or you can’t really tell what’s happening, it’s just grandstanding IMHO. So, it’s delightful to hear our efforts around this are appreciated.
It’s also delightful to hear that you found our main characters cute. Through photorefs and direction, etc. I have a strong hand in how the characters look and I know my personal tastes can be, well, unusual. I think most gay guys would find the characters in Side By Side to be amazingly hot. But I tend to like more regular looking guys — they just feel more real to me. And real = more engaging and, well, hotter — to me, anyway.
So, there was part of me that’s been a little afraid that everyone else would love the more traditionally yaoi hotness that is Kevin and give a shrug to Rob and Mike. So, nice to hear that I won’t be alone in wanting Mike and Rob to get together.
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment! I really hope you like Chapter Two!
@Lara –
Yay! Glad to hear we impressed you and that you’re happy to have found us! Please tell all your friends!
(And I’m sorry about the delay in releasing Chapter Two, but the truth is, these comics take a long time to make! I think it’s better to release a new comic every three months than release two quickly and then wait close to a year for the next one. Hopefully, by having something to share every few months, readers won’t forget about us — and will also have something nice to look forward to. That’s the plan, anyway. We’re still figuring all this out — and comments like yours help us know how we’re doing. So, I hope to see you here again to tell us just that!)
Thank you very much for letting us know what you thought!
Alex
Great work on the comic, what a lot of effort, really excellent, the story and the artwork
@rorsdors –
Thank you so much! I’m really glad that you enjoyed it!
I just can`t wait for the next chapter. I love this comic<3
@YaoiLover4Ever –
Hey, thank you so much! I’m delighted to hear you loved “Tough” — I hope you like “No Kissing” just as much.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. And please tell all your friends!
Alex
Hi I just had to restart my computer. How can I download the comic one more time?
@YaoiLover4Ever –
No problem. If you ever want to re-download one of our comics, all of our free comics are also available as free downloads for our subscribers at our new Store.
If you create a NEW account at the store using your subscriber email address, you will be able to Add To Cart any of our free comics and when you click Checkout, you’ll be able to download that comic for free. You can find those comics here:
Tough: Chapter One at The Yaoi 911 Store
A Shot In The Dark at The Yaoi 911 Store
Please let me know if you need any other assistance!
Alex
Thank you for the help. And sorry for the late reply.
I wonder if this title might cause some confusion because isn’t there already a mainstream boys’ comic called Tough about a guy who gets into street fights? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tough_(manga)
@tyciol –
Golly! So many comments! Thank you very much for your interest in my posts.
And thank you for letting me know about that other comic (and the link). Coming up with completely original titles is always a challenge in this day and age — there’s just so much media out there, unless your titles are very long or particularly obscure, chances are someone else has already used (or, as in this case, translated a non-English title into) the title you feel is most appropriate. In terms of confusion, I can take some comfort that it seems like Viz has discontinued the manga you link to before distributing the books that would properly be called “Tough”.
But even if they hadn’t, “Tough” is the right name for this graphic novel. I’m willing to accept a little bit of confusion to name my work something that I feel resonates with the story.
Thank you again for your comment!
Alex
I was just wondering, is the second chapter still being released tonight? I checked my email, and it never came.
It’s not a big deal or anything, just curious.
Also, great work so far, i can’t wait to see more!
@Minnette –
Ah ha! Somebody’s been paying attention!
Well, we are sooooo close — and I could rush things to send it out tonight — but I’d rather make sure everything is working and tested before I send out the link to our 12,819 subscribers. So, sadness — I’m not going to make my self-imposed deadline of May 1st.
It’ll go out sometime this week, just not today.
BUT I do have something to share. The beautiful painted cover Winona Nelson created for this chapter! It’s not the same thing as actually getting the comic today, I know — and I promise we’ll try harder to meet our deadline next time – but hopefully you’ll like it just the same. Check out our latest post to see her kick-ass work.
And thank you very much for your interest in our comics. I really am glad that you were looking forward to seeing this next chapter and I sure hope you like it when you get it!
Hello there !
I love your work, really, it’s so impressive. But what impress me the most it’s that you and your team are tenacious enough to pull together such a huge project. Seven chapters, it’s a lot of work.
Now my “review” if I may say so.
I love the artwork, though I’m used to reading manga, I also love western-style comics. First, the colors are very subtle and not gaudy. Second, you got a good sense of movement and life, your drawings look very fluid, which is always appreciated for fight and action scenes.
Third, the faces are very expressive, which enabled me to feel close to the characters. And their lips, oh boy, there are gorgeous, so kissable. My favorite panel? The last one, in which Mike is biting his lower lip. He’s just too cute, wanna eat him up.
About the characters, I love Mike’s baby face, and Rob is such a hunk (is it me or is his hair styled in a 60′s fashion? He also oozes confidence and pride, kind of a role model for us gay people, isn’t he? And finally, the long-haired boss of the gang, he cracked me up, what a (good-looking) sissy!
The cues are also very good, they give a realistic feeling to the whole, it’s just like youth would interact with each others. And they are funny. I fully agreed with Mike when he said to Rob: “you’re funny”.
By the way, it’s been a long time since I meant to ask you, have you ever heard of Est Em also spelled Esuto Emu ? She’s a very good mangaka, her stories are very mature, sensitive, and aimed at an older audience. If you want to check out some of her works I’d advice you “seduce me after the show” licensed in english, my favorite one. Est Em is well known among gay yaoi-readers.
There are also two other mangaka that I admire, Miyamoto Kano (her best works are those featuring Bun-san, hence my username ^^ if you feel like it, go and check her works at this address http://www.liquideros.com/project_timeline-walker.html). Miyamoto Kano is really good at writing sensitive and realistic stories dealing with heavy issues such as death, drugs, and you feel close to the characters because they are no hero, they’re just the man in the street, nothing much.
And eventually, I’m sure you’d like very much Motoni Moduru, she’s sort of a random person, her style is often described as the epitome of WTFism. When I read “Tough” it really made me think about “Dog style”, a story that deals with youth, friendship with lots of action, lots of fights, and earnest feelings without it being a sugary BL story.
I guess you mustn’t have lots of free time on your hands, so at the very least, out of these three mangas, you should check “Dog style”(licensed in English). I’m sure you’ll have fun reading it, and the sex-scenes are steamy, and…last but not least, they play it self (not a staple in the realm of yaoi where cum is spread on bodies, on walls…on the ceiling ?)
Hey, that was a pretty long comment, but you deserved it, right?
Once again, congrats on your hard work!
Note: It’s May the second, I still haven’t been notified of any new release, so I guess the second chapter isn’t out? Or maybe, I’m having issues with my Gmail box ? Anyway, I’ll be waiting!
Lots of love from Paris (sorry if there are any misspellings or grammatical faults! Please, be lenient, because I’m not a native speaker.)
Bun
@bun –
Hello there back! Thank you for such a wonderful and thoughtful review — I really appreciate you taking the time. Nothing could be more flattering to a creator.
I agree with what you said about Vitto’s linework (especially the character expressions) and Vincent’s colors. And yeah, in some ways Rob is meant to be a role model — but in other ways not. He’s a complicated guy in his own right — as you’ll find out in later chapters. But I do like that he stands up for himself — and that he’s good in a fight.
Thank you also for your kind words about the cues and the dialogue — as a writer I work very hard to make those things feel real and I’m delighted to hear they worked for you. As for what Rob meant with his “fag” line — IMHO, he actually meant both things. He doesn’t like the word fag much — and he is making some assumptions about Mike. But I agree it is open to interpretation.
I’m glad you liked the interracial relationship — as I’ve said elsewhere on this blog, showing the diversity in our comics that I’ve experienced in real life is important to me. And it’s especially important to me that our readers (hopefully!) can see themselves in our characters.
Also, thank you for the manga recommendations. I actually have read est em and enjoyed Seduce Me After The Show very much (and have written a review about it.) I’ve only read Say Please by Miyamoto-sensei — I didn’t connect with that too much, but I understand her other work might be stronger. You’re now the second person to recommend Dog Style to me — so I guess I’ll have to check that out. Always nice to have good books recommended to me.
Thank you again for the very long comment — it really was a great pleasure for me to read and I will let our artists know as well so they can enjoy it too. I’m sorry for the delay in getting out Chapter Two, but we’re almost done — by the end of the week, it will be in your email box. So hopefully the wait won’t feel too long. I’d love to hear your thoughts about that one as well!
(Oh, and I hope you’re having fun in one of the most romantic cities in the world! Paris — I’m envious.
)
Anyway, thanks again! Hope to see you here soon!
Alright, thanks for the info.!
That’s freaking awesome! I’m an art student and one day I want to make some work cool like this.
That’s on every gay’s dreams (at least on mine) one day that a fuking bastard will enter on our way and we will kick his ass off. With me never did, but I’m waiting!
Lovely art, cool and wrapping plot! I’m waiting for the track3!
So much luck and joy on your work!
Jonas Momiji
@jonasmomiji –
Hey, Jonas! Thank you! There’s no great compliment than to be told that another artist found your work inspiring — I hope very much that you do create work with the cute boys kissing. The world needs more cool gay comics!
And well, my hope in this life is that I never have to cause harm to anyone. But the fantasy, to fight back and win, yes, it is compelling, huh?
Thank you very much for the compliments. Please tell all your friends — we’re trying to get the word out — and please come back and let me know what you think of the next chapter!
Luck and joy with your work as well!
Alex
Wow, just wow! I hate that I didn’t read this sooner when I saw it. I just love stuff like this. The characters look and act so real. Right now I’m in the process of downloading “No Kissing” and “a shot in the dark”
@RochRok –
Hey, thank you! Glad you liked it! Please let me know what you thought of “No Kissing”!