The Feel
Katie's innocent cheerfulness combines with Laurie's tragic past to make Count Your Sheep a strange mix of humor and melancholy accentuated by the blue colors. The strip is characterized by "quiet humor" that often involves discussions of the nature of childhood, life lessons, and the misunderstandings that occur between grownups and children. Because of this, it is most often compared to Calvin and Hobbes, Mutts and Peanuts. Ramos has also referenced the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch as an influence.
Although it is primarily a humorous comic there are some plot-points that are alluded to, most often involving Katie's father and the characters' struggles as a single-parent family.
As mentioned before, the comic draws from Calvin and Hobbes, but in a complementary way. The "quiet humor" of the strip strongly contrasts Calvin and Hobbes' rough and tumble nature. Katie and Ship would talk at home and have discussions while eating cookies, or carry potted plants, while Calvin and Hobbes had their red wagon, the sled, the tree fort and Calvinball (not to say that CYS isn't active at times). Calvin's parents were generic middle class parents who seem to be little more than boundaries to compare to Calvin's youthful nature. Laurie is a young, financially struggling, single mother, and the fact that she can still see Ship (who often is the most adult of the three) reflects just how different she is from Calvin's parents.
Read more about this topic: Count Your Sheep
Famous quotes containing the word feel:
“If only the strength of the love that people feel when it is reciprocated could be as intense and obsessive as the love we feel when it is not; then marriages would be truly made in heaven.”
—Ben Elton (b. 1959)
“One of the most important findings to come out of our research is that being where you want to be is good for you. We found a very strong correlation between preferring the role you are in and well-being. The homemaker who is at home because she likes that “job,” because it meets her own desires and needs, tends to feel good about her life. The woman at work who wants to be there also rates high in well-being.”
—Grace Baruch (20th century)