Count Your Sheep!!!

One of the main places I go when I am idyllically procrastinating from doing any work are webcomics. As you can see from the sidebar to your right, I have a wide selection of webcomic sites that will get you hooked for hours on ends.

However, I would say one of the few ones that stand out from the pack is Count Your Sheep by Adrian Ramos or more know with his signature name, Adis! The base of the story is about the life of Laurie and her daughter Katie. The twist here is that both mother and daughter share and interact with the same imaginary friend, Ship, who is a ‘counting sheep’ created by Laurie during her own childhood and was subsequently passed down to Katie during birth.

The style of the strip is akin to a feminine version of Calvin & Hobbes with a twist of Gilmore Girls added for good measure. The issues involved in the comic concerns things like single parenthood, life in general, the ecology, inner-self esteem and above all, the good old days of just being a kid.

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Katie is a whimsical kid who, like Calvin, has an overactive imagination that frequently gets her into trouble. It is kinda endearing to see how she uses her 7-year-old logic to analyze and sometimes critique the world of adulthood. Katie is also portrayed as an idealist and quite self-assured for someone of her age. Ship, being around for at least two generations in the family, is ever there to give good advice and bail Katie out of a pinch.

Laurie is the mother and overall ‘queen’ of the household. As quoted in Count Your Sheep's Wikipedia article, she is the worn-out version of her daughter although very frequently we get to see her lighter side. There are also periodic strips entitled Back In Time where we see Laurie as a kid and the subsequent incidents that had transpired in the past.

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Ship, well, is a sheep. He is the archetypical ‘counting sheep to sleep’ imaginary friend but has over the course of the strip evolved into something more. As both mother and daughter can interact with Ship, he is ever the wise counselor for both the girls. Wisecracking at times (even with self desires such as food and dignity), he ultimately is there for them.
Never the less, among every story arches done so far, the one that I personally look forward to are strips involving, Marty. The late father of Katie and husband to Laurie, he is an unseen character but has such a powerful impact on both the girls. I personally love strips where Laurie reminisces about Marty or when she/they visits his grave. A very touching and emotionally powerful message about surviving a death of a loved one and one that I applaud the artist for.

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Ship went ‘away’ when Laurie and Marty gotten married and feels a sort of gnawing guilt for not being there for her when Marty dies. He came back into existents on the day Katie was born, which was after Marty had died (hinted to be in a car accident).

Overall, a very inspiring comic with characters that people can relate and actually care about. Updates are periodically done so one can expect like 3-4 new strips per week. Go check it out! Remember to read the archives from comic no.1 because like any good series, you don’t want to be left hanging in between.

"Moo... Moooo... Mooo, I say! Mooo!"