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Eric: Moments of Transition
(From Count Your Sheep! Click on the thumbnail for full sized color change!)
First off, let me say this. There are days when I look at the Webcomics world, and I have no idea what to write over here in Websnark. This is actually one of the reasons the webcomics related snarks have declined. A lot of the really good strips and a lot of the really good executions within a strip are points I've said many many times. And after a while, it gets hard to say them again.
And then along comes a day where it seems like half the Webcomics world just kicks your ass to the curb.
This is one of those days. Maybe it's something in the water. I dunno.
Here's the first of them -- Count Your Sheep, which is always one of the fun ones. And Ramos has been doing riffs on Beatles songs for a while now, and that's been fun too. (Today's strip has "Carry That Weight" as a recommended soundtrack.)
But that's not what leapt out at me. See, in a way there are two different Count Your Sheep strips under the overall banner. For those who came in late, the sheep in today's strip, Ship, is a little girl's imaginary friend. The girl's name is Katie.
However, when Katie's mother, Laurie, was a little girl, Ship was her imaginary friend as well. And as a result, Ship can be seen and interacted with by both Laurie and Katie. It's a quiet, often melancholy strip, where we see the bright enthusiasm of Katie often contrasted with Laurie's melancholy. It's done in soft blue tones to reflect that tone.
However, every so often, the strip becomes Count Your Sheep: Back In Time, and we see Laurie as a little girl -- one far more tomboyish than Katie is -- and one who has grandiose dreams. (And a hate-hate relationship with the never seen Marty we know she grows up to marry and have Katie with... and who dies before the start of the strip.)
The Laurie Back in Time strips are purple instead of blue. It's a slightly darker color, which affects the tone, but it's also richer and in its own way less melancholy.
Today... we see (for one of the first times, if I remember correctly) Laurie as an adult in the purple tones... and Ship has returned, only to discover Laurie is in labor--
And the color snaps to the blue in the last panel. We see the exact moment in time when Back in Time becomes Count Your Sheep, in a metasense -- the exact moment the point is Katie's childhood and dreams, not Laurie's.
It's also where we learn that Marty died before Katie was even born. Given how dramatic a presence Marty remains in Laurie's life some years later, the sadness is increased. In a way, Laurie can't or won't move on. In another way, Marty manages to be a father to Katie despite never appearing. Certainly, we've seen Katie make reference to him -- Marty is no mystery to her.
This puts the Beatles strips in a kind of understanding. Through the theme strips, we've actually seen snapshots of Laurie growing up... and Ship reemerging in her life just in time to help Laurie when she's all alone... and about to stop being alone.
This is some potent stuff. Adrian Ramos gets a biscuit. A tasty, tasty biscuit.
Posted by Eric Burns-White at October 7, 2005 10:01 AM
Comments
Comment from: Dave Van Domelen posted at October 7, 2005 10:43 AM
A BLUE biscuit.
Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at October 7, 2005 10:51 AM
So, with all of the discoveries you're making about the time and space of the strip, would this be a moment of transition and a moment of revelation?
Comment from: Aerin posted at October 7, 2005 12:41 PM
The moment I saw this strip, I knew it was going to be snarked. I also like that, at least at my 1028x768 resolution, I had to scroll a bit to see the transition panel. It added that little extra oomph. And I'm pretty sure you're right, this is the very first time we've seen adult Laurie in the purple strips.
Comment from: Matt Sweeney posted at October 7, 2005 12:52 PM
what about Wednesday's strip? That's a purple strip and she's an adult there.
Comment from: Michael Nehora posted at October 7, 2005 12:59 PM
She was an adult there, yes, but Katie had not yet been born. So that strip belongs to the "purple past" of the comic.
Comment from: Matt Sweeney posted at October 7, 2005 1:04 PM
She was an adult there, yes, but Katie had not yet been born. So that strip belongs to the "purple past" of the comic.
May be I wasn't being clear. Aerin had said,
And I'm pretty sure you're right, this is the very first time we've seen adult Laurie in the purple strips.
And I was responding that today's strip couldn't be the first since we saw her on Wednesday as an adult as well.
The lesson today? Alergy medecine can be fun...
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at October 7, 2005 2:12 PM
I don't have the time to trawl the archives, but I know there was one from last year tht showed when adult Laurie left home and said good-bye to Ship (I believe for college), and that was in the purple scale. Not to mention adult Laurie in purple in Tuesday's comic.
Comment from: Matt Sweeney posted at October 7, 2005 2:16 PM
Is she an adult in Tuesday's strip? I read the visual clues as her being more of a teenager.
I guess part of the question is what is considered an adult?
Comment from: Remus Shepherd posted at October 7, 2005 3:10 PM
Eeek. Similar-looking characters, and the main way to distinguish their two plot arcs is whether their backgrounds are blue or purple? As a color-blind person, that would be impossible for me to follow.
Still, it sounds like genius for those who can appreciate it.
Comment from: quiller posted at October 7, 2005 4:05 PM
Also worth noting in the bottom left. CYS: Memories. A different title than Back in Time.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at October 7, 2005 7:58 PM
I think for purposes of CYS, Laurie is an adult when her hair is worn down, and a child when she has her hair in pigtails.
As for the previous one with adult Laurie in purple shades... found it:
Comment from: GrimRX posted at October 8, 2005 7:19 AM
I do believe that the strip where we see Laurie in the Snow leaving for somewhere, and the one of the most recent strips where she is calling Marty and thanking him are pointing to the same event.
Notice how Ship is seen saying good bye to Laurie in the latter comic, and does not appear in the former comic.
Comment from: GrimRX posted at October 8, 2005 7:20 AM
Edit to previous comment: also referance the same hairstyles.
Comment from: gwalla posted at October 8, 2005 3:09 PM
Remus: Actually, I just tested the page with a colorblindness-simulating site filter (an essential web design tool BTW), and the distinction is clear in all forms of colorblindness but achromatopsia (complete lack of color vision), and even then it's detectable (just more subtle).
It's not just a mater of blue or purple: the "present day" blue color scheme is significantly lighter than the past-purple, and different things are highlighted.
Comment from: Abby L. posted at October 8, 2005 9:14 PM
I love Count Your Sheep. Adrian Ramos does everything right.
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