History Webcomic / PicturesForSadChildren

* {{suddenly ethnicity}}: everybody is an identical stick figure so this pretty much happens by default. paul (who is a ghost) is revealed to be chinese upon removing his bedsheet to wash it, while gary's ethnicity is "[[AmbiguouslyBrown brown. ish.]]"

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]] and tore down her entire webcomic page and burned the unshipped books she promised to her kickstarter backers.

the comics can now be seen on https://sadpicturesforchildren.wordpress.com/

* UsefulNotes/{{furry fandom}}: [[InvertedTrope inverted]] the dog is a uh, reverse furry

* {{furry fandom}}: [[InvertedTrope inverted]] the dog is a uh, reverse furry

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]] and tore down his entire webcomic page and burned the unshipped books she promised to her kickstarter backers.

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]] and tore down her entire webcomic page and burned the unshipped books she promised to her kickstarter backers.

* {{product placement}}: a small series of strips supposedly sponsored by fast food chain long john silver's features such ironic horrors as a frycook holding his arms in the fryer until they burn into "long john"-shaped crisps and also [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the ennui that pervades the rest of the comic]]. other strips make reference to purina dog chow and chewing gum

** also as part of the minor but protracted breakdown john campbell is posting his work in various media in place of regular comics

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' was a webcomic by john campbell, until the author removed all comics from the website and [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeited on his kickstarter]] on february 27 2014.

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]] and tore down his entire webcomic page and burned the unshipped books he promised to his kickstarter backers.

* {{politicians kiss babies}} [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192/ this leads]] to a massive moment of {{that came out wrong}}.

* {{politicians kiss babies}} [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192/ this leads]] to a massive moment of {{that came out wrong}}.

** ''it's flying car bullshit: surely the world will conform to our speculative fiction, surely we're the ones who will get to live in the future''

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' was a webcomic by john campbell, until the author removed all comics from the website and [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeited on his kickstarter]] on february 27 2014. %% links to archives of the comic's posts can be found in [[http://pastebin.com/Q8vLHNAS this pastebin paste]] or [[http://www.reddit.com/r/webcomics/comments/1z7men/trying_to_make_a_backup_of_the_former_webcomic/ this reddit thread]].

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' was a webcomic by john campbell, until the author removed all comics from the website and [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeited on his kickstarter]] on february 27 2014. links to archives of the comic's posts can be found in [[http://pastebin.com/Q8vLHNAS this pastebin paste]] or [[http://www.reddit.com/r/webcomics/comments/1z7men/trying_to_make_a_backup_of_the_former_webcomic/ this reddit thread]].

** also as part of the minor but protracted {{creator breakdown}} john campbell is posting his work in various media in place of regular comics

there were many [[MagicalRealism magic realist]] elements to the world as well, like an ipod that played you your regrets, a family that had the powers of jesus, and post-it notes that seemingly came from no one

the author is currently dabbling in various new media, please bear with his experimentation. also due to a move to {{tumblr}} many of our links go to the wrong comics and none of the comics have alt text anymore. sorry

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]] and tore down his entire webcomic page and burned down the unshipped copies he promised to his kickstarter backers.

as of february 27 2014 the author has [[CreatorBreakdown threatened to burn]] a sad pictures for children book for every email he receives asking why kickstarter backers have not received the books he promised them

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' was a webcomic by john campbell, until the author removed all comics from the website and [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeited on his kickstarter]] on february 27 2014. it featured a minimalist style of art, humor, and grammar. originally, the comic also featured character-driven stories about a ghost and some other people

as of february 27 2014 the author has taken the comic offline and threatened to burn a sad pictures for children book for every email he receives asking why kickstarter backers have not received the books he promised them

* {{and now for something completely different}}: up the mountain to see the dead man
* {{art shift}}: one comic is a sunday strip from a fictional syndicated version of comic, done in full colour (and complete with [[http://www.kingfeatures.com/ king features syndicate]] small print in the margins)

* {{death is cheap}}: best shown through paul who is killed by a car hitting him and simply becomes a ghost. then when his time of haunting is up he is forced into hell but ends up escaping it very easily
* {{deus angst machina}}: impossibly tragic grandma
* {{episode on a plane}}: we are all going down together

* {{imagine spot}}: gary imagines his future with a girl

* {{product placement}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/223/ hooray for]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/224/ long john silver's]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/264/ and]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/270/ purina]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/271/ and]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/272/ gum]]
* {{racist grandma}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/121/ if she is not being racist, then she is just boring.]]

* {{religion of evil}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/334 there may be a pedophile priest involved but he may also just be a sinister minister, either way yr soul will be crushed]]

* {{self deprecation}}: in the alt text [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/376 here]].

* {{suddenly ethnicity}}: paul (who is a ghost) is chinese
** gary's ethnicity is "[[AmbiguouslyBrown brown. ish.]]"

* {{talkative loon}}: the [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/276/ music promoter]]

* {{the singularity}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/93/ a rather cynical take]]

--'''gary''' describes the [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/132/ the toast he wants to give at his brother's wedding]]

->''i made [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/290 this comic]] and i regret it, but i regret most comics and i regret most things.''\\

* {{and thats terrible}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/56/ you are not dead you are just a bad person]]

* {{and now for something completely different}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/276/ up the mountain to see the dead man]]

* {{blessed with suck}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/212 HAPPY BIRTHDAY]]
* {{celestial bureaucracy}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/189 paul waits in line to get into the afterlife.]]
* {{coitus uninterruptus}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/183 "i'm ben franklin and i'm giving it to a french lady, this is what i do."]]
* {{corrupt corporate executive}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/332 one or more may be involved, not like it matters b/c the result is the same no matter what, there is no point in thinking about how many different ones there are in this strip]]

* {{deus angst machina}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/142/ impossibly tragic grandma]]
* {{episode on a plane}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/304/ we are all going down together]]
* {{fetish}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/154 "do you have any pornography that simulates having a significant relationship, that is my fetish"]]
* {{flat what}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/28 what.]]
* {{the fun in funeral}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/240 a beach funeral]]
* {{furry fandom}}: [[InvertedTrope inverted]], [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/107 the dog is a uh, reverse furry]]

* {{imagine spot}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/98/ gary imagines his future with a girl]]
* {{island help message}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/167/ poor dfw]]
* {{jump off a bridge rebuttal}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/386 everyone is doing it]]
* {{kafka komedy}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/370 u may have been in this situation b4]]
* {{literary allusion title}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/46 so it goes]]
** [[Creator/TSEliot ts eliot]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/31 prufrock]]

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' is a webcomic by john campbell. it features a minimalist style of art, humor, and grammar. originally, the comic also featured character-driven stories about a ghost and some other people

it uses punctuation only sporadically [[SelfDemonstratingArticle which is why this article is written this way]] not because we are too dumb to find the shift key. blame john campbell

paul, [[PhraseCatcher who is a ghost]], who is wearing a bedsheet, died just before the first strip. he wears the bed sheet to look [[BedsheetGhost ghosty]] of course. he [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/65 hates everything]] and [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/56 doesn't care]]

gary is a grad student who currently works at a call center that takes the overflow of indian help lines. [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/28 people call him]] and {{hilarity ensues}}

after 226 pages, the story of paul and gary came to a very abrupt and inconclusive end. since then, the comic has continued as an unconnected series of surreal one-shots w/ sometimes story arcs but not as long as the big one

the world of ''pictures for sad children'' is [[CrapsackWorld cynical]]. most of the characters are depressed even though they know that they have no real problems. the main characters also resign themselves to a life of unfulfilled dreams and crushing meaningless jobs.

there are many [[MagicalRealism magic realist]] elements to the world as well, like an [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/106/ ipod that plays you your regrets]], a family that has [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/130 the powers]] [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/135 of jesus]], and [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/18 post-it notes that seemingly come from no one]]