Yes! I'm working on a comic! I need something to occupy my time with. >>

Tis' called Count! And it follows a pack of ex-laboratory testing dogs on a Post Apocalyptic Earth as they struggle for the key to their survival. Duh duh duuuuuh. At least that's what it is so far. >>

Got a few pages sketched up, but I'm working on the characters first.

THE CHARACTERS
Halflife
OneEye [link]
TwoStep
ThreeLegs [link]
Fourfeit (coming soon, thanks to Sanna)
Fivebooks (thanks to Zoe) [link]
Sixpence (thanks to Wingsy)
Sevenfold (Thanks to Mai) [link]
Eight____ (coming soon, thanks to Cat)
Niner (coming soon, thanks to Steve)

Other Characters!
Finite [link]
XI (Or Exie)
[link]
Zero (or Cipher)
[link]
Soix
[link]
Pi
[link]

But I may need help when I get closer to the actual comic. >> As you can see... I can't colour or shade worth crap so if anyone wants to give me a help with that, I'd love ya forever. Also, I don't have the other numbers! I was planning to have 0-9 and as you can see I only have plans for Three numbers plus half... so if anyone wants to have a go at a character design...

Or even a different character, there will be other dogs springin' up, but the Count pack are the main players. I'd love to see some Bully breeds helpin' them out every once in a while... maybe joining up. >>

Now that the main numbers 1-9 are filled, people are welcome to try to creatively use the bigger numbers, or even Zero (though this one won't really be part of the back). And dogs arent' the only survivors! Other animals can play a part. >> I'm actually thinking of maybe including a little helpful raccoon... So if you all want to make a different animal... I'd love to see what you come up with. ^^

OH. And a little about the characters I already HAVE, if that helps.

Halflife is the baby of the bunch. She's smart but completely utterly lacks common sense and has almost caused her own death a few times. She's OneEyes younger sister.

OneEye is the pack alpha. He's a strong, silent, no-nonsense kind of guy...except when it comes to Half. She knows how to break him down.

TwoStep is the lowest ranking member of the pack. He's a goofball, a stray pup picked up before he even opened his eyes and everyone make sure he knows it. He has incredible luck though...and will come in handy later in the comic.

Ol' Captain Threelegs is the oldest. He can remember bits and pieces of the End but his memory may be faulty, he was only a pup at the time. In his younger years, he was the head guard, loved...respected. But now he's old and he's showing that he's seen better days, having lost half an ear and a leg in his battle with the pack's attackers. He's since been replaced by a younger, more able member of the pack.

Fourfeit: This sneaky dog was supposed to be the next alpha after Threelegs but forfeited (thereby his name) his chance by leaving the pack to search for other surviving packs. (It’s up to you to decide if he found any.) When he came back the alpha-spot was already taken by Oneeye and he didn’t want to fight him for it… yet.

He is cunning and manipulating and when he becomes leader, as he plans to do, he wants to attack other packs and make them join his pack (until he reaches world domination, mwahaha).

Nobody really likes him any more. Formerly he had manipulated them to think that he would be a good leader and Three-Legs were the only one to see through him. That’s why he allowed him to go away to search for other packs. He wanted the pack to see that One-Eye would make a better leader.

Now, Fourfeit is trying to win Twostep over.

Fivebooks: Fivebooks, a pitbull who was once a test subject for memory and learning enhancing drugs, because pitties should not only be butch fighters Very Happy. Fivebooks can be fairly intimidating despite her rather small stature (she's a shorty, somewhere between staffy and pitbull size), but any agressive behaviour is a bluff. Though she is rough with her friends she's a lousy fighter when it gets down to it, preferring tactics and planning to actual action. To make up for her lack of fighting skill Fivebooks is clever and has a brilliant memory thanks to scientific tampering. She's also blunt and honest, considering lies to be a waste of time.

Fivebooks is rumoured to have read five human books from before the End. She won't tell anyone which books they were though.

She looks like she's wearing goggles.

Sixpence: Sixpence is a mongrel of the highest degree, but it's obvious he has a bit of herding dog in him - think Australian cattle dog in build and temperament. He doesn't always get on well with the rest of the pack, because although he's quiet and fairly gentle, he's not one to take a joke well, and is more likely to encourage caution than adventure. He doesn't trust particularly easy, and therefore doesn't give off an air of being close; more appropriate labels would be reclusive, aloof, distant.

Despite this, he's fairly good with younger dogs in that he has boundless patience and will nudge them back into line time and time again without becoming frustrated or intolerant. Sixpence has no real want to be leader, and is content as a loyal pack member; he'll be one of the first to stand at One-eye's side should things get messy. For all his placidity, he is protective of the pack, and will reveal a streak of serious aggression if needed.

Since he's not the most chatty of canines, he doesn't pass on much information about his past. The collar around his neck is worn, and not a professional arrangement, seeing as it's more akin to a jagged scrap of leather rather than a buckled, colourful thing. Instead of the standard name-and-address tag dangling off it, there's a small silver coin attached - a sixpence. It can only be assumed he was in human company at some point, and not very fine company at that.

Sevenfold: Sevenfold, a Doberman Pinscher, was never a test subject; she was one of a group of security dogs which guarded the perimeter of the laboratory. After the death of the humans, she was at a loss to know what to do next and so joined up with the other Count dogs, although they were wary of her at first as she was so closely associated with the laboratory.

Sevenfold is the ideal second in command. She prefers to defer to someone else rather than lead herself. She is extremely energetic, always alert and watchful, and pretty paranoid with it; she'll often give false alarms and has a tendency to always anticipate the worst case scenario. Rather than worrying about it, however, she gets angry. Although it takes a lot to push her over the edge, once you've annoyed her enough, she has a fiery temperament and is completely fearless, often to the extent of doing rather stupid things. Although she is very intelligent, instead of sitting back and planning, she always wants to leap into action and tackle problems head on. If someone upsets her or annoys her, she will have no compunction about telling them, and expects others to be the same; she's never particularly interested in trying to read into situations and other people's thoughts. Despite this, she is always concerned if she hears that someone is upset and will do her best to cheer them up.

Sevenfold is very adventurous and likes a challenge. She has a great, if rather mean, sense of humour, and often snarks at her friends, although she is stiffly polite to anyone she doesn't trust. It takes a long while to gain her trust and she is wary of strangers. Usually she's happy to follow the leader, but she does have her own mind and if she seriously disagrees with whatever the leader has decided, she is completely assertive about expressing her views, which can come across as unintentionally aggressive. Sevenfold is stubborn, and she holds a grudge for a long time if you've wronged her, finding it very hard to forgive people. She is extremely loyal and likes to express her love for her friends, defending them to the end, although she has a tendency sometimes to become introverted and distant for (usually short) periods of time.

Niner: Niner's a rather helpful and loyal jindo. He's very good at motivating members of the pack, or causing cool calmness to filter back in after a crisis.

But he's also very quick to decide against something if it doesn't 'smell quite right,' so he isn't pointlessly loyal to just anyone.

He's also not half bad at fighting.

He also happens to be a very nice shade of greypurple, and he can climb nine foot walls and fences.

And the other characters...

Finite: Whatever happened to Finite in the lab, it is certain that it scarred her mentally. She seems to have lost much of her sanity, and even her body language is wrong. For instance, she has the unfortunate tendency to stare anyone she meets straight in the eye-- an aggressive signal-- even though she certainly has no intention to challenge. She tends to make other dogs uneasy with her presence, and is a loner as a result.

She wanders around alone, scrounging for food, occasionally stopping for hours on end to stare at nothing, perhaps remembering what happened back in the laboratory. She often mutters to herself, babbling strange phrases, sometimes trying to imitate words remembered from the humans who experimented on her.

Finite is aware of her unstable condition, and calls herself "a broken creature." But in her periods of lucidity, she is capable of displaying great insight and intelligence.

Finite is a whippet. Her fur is a very pale shade of tan, but she is covered in bald patches.

XI (Exie): This is XI, but other dogs just call her Exie. She's a pure bred saluki who is considered perfect by the breed's standard. She is the fastest runner known and is able to sprint at 44 mph. She's easily recognized by her "racing stripe" that starts at her nose and ends at the tip of her tail. She's five years old and still in very good health.

Exie's past is an enigma to most. She used to race professionally in the company of humans and was treated well. In fact, she was such a good racer that bets on her once numbered in the thousands. She was number 11 in all of her races, so she named herself XI. But now she's a bit of a loner looking to join a pack. She's willing to earn her keep and is quite submissive. She'll run away if something threatens or scares her, so she needs the help of others, like a pack, to help her stand her ground. She can be very sweet and caring, and also knows how to treat wounds like broken legs due to her time around humans and races. Other dogs might think she's aloof, but she's mostly just lonely and shy and looking for a family.
And that's it for now I guess. ^^

Zero (Cipher): A brindle colored Basenji, this intelligent dog gave himself the name "cipher" after his fall out of showdog-dom for multiple reasons. One, is that his proud breed is one of the most ancient, characteristic of his breed he never barks (and rarely talks), and in honor of his neck markings, he used the llong forgotten formal word for zero as his new title. Mixed in with his little known past, the name fits him almost too well. Known for being proud, his showing career is rumored to have been a powerful one, but he never hit that prestigous title of "Best in Show".

He is still convinced that no other dog stands as his equal. He walks alone.

He is 4 years old.

Soix: ;My Name? Soix

;My Number? Sixty

;I Am A What? Anatomically Female

;What Am I? Standard Poodle x German Shepherd x Doberman

;My Age? A year and a half

;Where I Come From? Soix had lived most of her life in a laboratory. She was bred there and it was there she was tested upon. Her, amongst with her brothers and sisters, were used for radiation testing. They were subjected to new and different drugs that were thought to help prevent radiation poisoning. Other ointments and drugs were used on them that were supposed to protect from radiation. After these were applied, they were sealed in a room where there was an intense amount of radiation. It took sixty dogs to get these drugs and ointments to working performance. Still, after all of that it wasn't perfect. It was as best as they could get before the scientists were wiped out.

The effects from the radiation were lasting though. The drugs kept her from dieing, but messed her up a ton. Her mind has been left completely scrambled, and the sentences that she can piece together are all spoken in rhyme. It’s very hard to understand her, but it can be done. She also doesn’t see herself as a gender anymore. She doesn't understand gender, and sees no need for it. She was also left blind, but that hasn't affected her very much.

Soix wasn't originally the "normal" one. On the contrary, she was intensely strange. Not as bad as she is now, but still she was interesting to say the least. She hardly ever used her eye sight before this anyway. The only other person she was close to was her brother, who died shortly after her last test, from radiation poisoning. After it was all done, she broke free from the laboratories and roamed about the streets scrounging for food and making a meager living.

Pi: This is Pi. He’s a 3.14 year old Cardigan Welsh Corgi. He’s brindle and white, and was born with a birthmark in the shape of the Pi symbol on his left hind haunch. But that is not his key distinguishing feature. He is well known throughout the packs because he is ridiculously smart. You might not be able to tell by his short-legged and unthreatening exterior, but this pup’s a genius. While most dogs react to situations with flight or fight, this guy’s got an arsenal of smarts to figure out the best solution to any problem. There’s no such thing as a Catch-22 for Pi. He will figure anything out in the blink of an eye. He’ll avoid confrontation at ease – slipping out of sticky situations with a nonstop flow of smooth words and careful movements. But if pushed into a fight, he’s fierce. He’ll recognize weak spots in a second and go right for them, often winning clashes by psyching the enemy out and breaking down their mental will. He’s notorious for tricking other animals out of their food and getting what he wants. He’s got a bit of a superiority complex and isn’t afraid to get up into another dog’s face if they tick him off. He knows he’s cleverer and will last longer in this crazy world than anybody else, and he isn’t afraid to show it. Since he has a higher intelligence quotient than other dogs, he doesn’t need to rely on a core pack for survival. So he’s a bit of a loner that sticks around the fringes of a community so he may reap what he needs. He’s not “evil” at all, though. He’s just smart and looking out for number one.
If a pack was able to recruit him and keep him, however, they would get exceptional benefits. Pi would be able to organize them into a terribly effective example of teamwork, planning out territory and battle plans best suited to that set of dogs. It will take a lot of convincing to tie him down, but once achieved, that pack would become unstoppable.

CLUBS