History Webcomic / PicturesForSadChildren

''pictures for sad children'' is a webcomic by Janet Harbinger. The comic's original website was taken down (along with Harbinger [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeiting on her kickstarter]]) on February 27, 2014.

In February 2014, Harbinger [[CreatorBreakdown tore down her entire webcomic page]], and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her Kickstarter backers. (In May of that year, Max Temkin of TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity fame managed to obtain and ship all of the originally promised books.)

* AllLowercaseLetters: The comic's characters (and Harbinger herself) speak this way.

** During the comic's later years, Harbinger posted comics made with other assorted media.

* SelfDeprecation: One comic's alt text is Harbinger insulting her own comic.

The two main characters were Paul and Gary, although sometimes the comic would follow the other minor characters for a little bit. Paul, [[PhraseCatcher who was a ghost]], who was wearing a bedsheet, died just before the first strip. He wore the bed sheet to look [[BedsheetGhost ghosty]] of course. He hated everything and didn't care. Gary was a grad student who worked at a call center that took the overflow of Indian help lines. People called him and [[{{hilarity ensues}} hilarity ensued]].

In February 2014, Harbinger [[CreatorBreakdown tore down her entire webcomic page]], and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her Kickstarter backers. (In May of that year, Max Temkin of TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity fame managed to obtain and ship all of the originally promised books.) She has since re-established the website, however, and copies of the classic ''Pictures for Sad Children''/''Sad Pictures for Children'' books are available for purchase in PDF form.

''[[http://picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' is a webcomic by Janet Harbinger. The comic's original website was taken down (along with Harbinger [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeiting on her kickstarter]]) on February 27, 2014, but as of May 2018 has since returned.

* {{The Singularity}}: Paul's long rant towards Gary presents a rather cynical take on it.

''[[http://picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' is a webcomic by Janet Harbinger.[[note]]formerly known as John Campbell[[/note]] The comic's original website was taken down (along with Harbinger [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeiting on her kickstarter]]) on February 27, 2014, but as of May 2018 has since returned.

%%ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

''[[http://picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' is a webcomic by Janet Harbinger[[note]]formerly known as John Campbell[[/note]]. The comic's original website was taken down (along with Harbinger [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeiting on her kickstarter]]) on February 27, 2014, but as of May 2018 has since returned.

In February 2014, Harbinger [[CreatorBreakdown tore down her entire webcomic page]], and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her Kickstarter backers. (In May of that year, Max Temkin (of TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity fame) managed to get and ship out all of the originally promised books.) She has since re-established the website, however, and copies of the classic 'Pictures for Sad Children'/'Sad Pictures for Children' books are available for purchase in PDF form.

* AltText: Well, until they were taken down, anyway, the comics usually had unique alt text. The comics are now only available in PDF form, without alt text.

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' was a webcomic by Merry Graves[[note]]formerly known as John Campbell[[/note]], until the author removed all comics from the website and [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeited on her kickstarter]] on February 27 2014.

The comic featured a minimalist style of art, humor, and grammar. Originally, the comic also featured character-driven stories about a ghost and some other people.

After 226 pages, the story of Paul and Gary came to a very abrupt and inconclusive end. After that, the comic continued as an unconnected series of surreal one-shots with occasional story arcs but none as long as the big one.

The world of ''Pictures For Sad Children'' was [[CrapsackWorld cynical]]. Most of the characters were depressed even though they knew that they had no real problems. The main characters also resigned themselves to a life of unfulfilled dreams and crushing meaningless jobs. 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 passive-aggressive post-it notes that seemingly came from no one.

In March 2014, the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]], tore down her entire webcomic page, and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her Kickstarter backers. In May of that year, Max Temkin (of TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity fame) managed to get and ship out all of the originally promised books.

* AllLowercaseLetters: The comic (and Graves herself) spoke this way.

* AltText: Well, until they were taken down, anyway, the comics usually had unique alt text. They're all gone now.

** Also, as part of her minor but protracted breakdown, Merry Graves posted her work in various media in place of regular comics.

%%* IslandHelpMessage: Poor dfw

%%* Metaphorgotten: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/108 In the alt text]], [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/272 in the text text]].
%%* MixedMetaphor: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192 Lampshaded in the alt text]].

%%* NoPunctuationIsFunnier: Or I mean if you think it's funnier.
%%* ThePlague: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/304 it is not very convenient]]
%%* PlatformGame: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/263/ This one]] contains examples of {{scoring points}} {{designated villain}} and {{goomba stomp}}.
%%* PoliticiansKissBabies: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192/ this leads]] to a massive moment of {{that came out wrong}}.

** 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]].

%%** Also you may consider [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/111/ this tree]] to be a racist grandpa, it was certainly planted by one.

%%* RoboticReveal: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/340 And it gives his roommate a BSOD.]]

* SelfDeprecation: One comic's alt text is Graves insulting her own comic.

%%* SeriousBusiness: Don't talk to Jeremy about Saint Shoot unless you want [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/58 this]].
%%* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/308 An odd variation]].

%%* TakeThat: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/7 Huge slam on Oklahoma out of nowhere.]]

%%* TalkingPoo: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/58/ The voice of reason.]]
%%* {{the singularity}}: A rather cynical take on it.
%%-->''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''
%%* WhoShotJFK: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/299/ Your mileage may vary on whether this is black comedy or what,]]

%%* YouBastard: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/94/ i am not telling a joke. you are terrible]]

* Imaginespot: Gary imagines his horrifically unfulfilling future with a girl.

%%** KurtVonnegut, [[SlaughterhouseFive slaughterhouse-five.]]

%%* BedsheetGhost

In March 2014, the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]], tore down her entire webcomic page, and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her kickstarter backers. In May of that year, Max Temkin (of TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity fame) managed to get and ship out all of the originally promised books.

** 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).
** Also as part of the minor but protracted breakdown Merry Graves posted her work in various media in place of regular comics.
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: In the original and [[AbortedArc abandoned]] storyline, [[PhraseCatcher Paul, who is a ghost,]] [[CelestialBureaucracy being unable]] go to heaven is the main plot.

* AllLowercaseLetters The comic (and Graves herself) spoke this way.

-->-- '''Gary''' describes the the toast he wants to give at his brother's wedding

In march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]], tore down her entire webcomic page, and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her kickstarter backers. In May of that year, Max Temkin (of TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity fame) managed to get and ship out all of the originally promised books.

%%* AllLowercase letters

''[[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/ pictures for sad children]]'' was a webcomic by Merry Graves[[note]]formerly known as John Campbell[[/note]], until the author removed all comics from the website and [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73258510/sad-pictures-for-children/posts/759318 forfeited on her 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]].

* celestial bureaucracy: Paul waits in line to get into the afterlife.

%%Please don't add any capitals; the small letters are intentional.

-->-- '''gary''' describes the the toast he wants to give at his brother's wedding

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

the comic featured a minimalist style of art, humor, and grammar. originally, the comic also featured character-driven stories about a ghost and some other people

it used 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 merry graves

the two main characters were paul and gary, although sometimes the comic would follow the other minor characters for a little bit

paul, [[PhraseCatcher who was a ghost]], who was wearing a bedsheet, died just before the first strip. he wore the bed sheet to look [[BedsheetGhost ghosty]] of course. he hated everything and didn't care

gary was a grad student who worked at a call center that took the overflow of indian help lines. people called him and [[{{hilarity ensues}} hilarity ensued]]

after 226 pages, the story of paul and gary came to a very abrupt and inconclusive end. since then, the comic 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'' was [[CrapsackWorld cynical]]. most of the characters were depressed even though they knew that they had no real problems. the main characters also resigned themselves to a life of unfulfilled dreams and crushing meaningless jobs.

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 passive-aggressive post-it notes that seemingly came from no one

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]], tore down her entire webcomic page, and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her kickstarter backers. in may of that year, max temkin (of [[TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity cards against humanity]] fame) managed to get and ship out all of the originally promised books.

!!this webcomic provides examples of:

* {{aerith and bob}}: afsheen and sara
* {{all lowercase letters}}
* {{and thats terrible}}: you are not dead you are just a bad person
* {{alt text}}: well, until the site moved, anyway. they're all gone now
* {{and now for something completely different}}: "up the mountain to see the dead man" was the first of several comics to experiment with {{medium blending}} and employ a significantly more surreal tone
* {{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)
** also as part of the minor but protracted breakdown merry graves is posting her work in various media in place of regular comics
* {{barred from the afterlife}}: in the original and [[AbortedArc abandoned]] storyline, [[PhraseCatcher paul, who is a ghost,]] [[CelestialBureaucracy being unable]] go to heaven is the main plot.
* {{bedsheet ghost}}
* {{blessed with suck}}: 212 HAPPY BIRTHDAY
* {{celestial bureaucracy}}: paul waits in line to get into the afterlife.
* {{coitus uninterruptus}}: "i'm ben franklin and i'm giving it to a french lady, this is what i do."
* {{corrupt corporate executive}}: 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
* {{crapsack world}}: it's not {{after the end}} or anything, everybody is just kind of bored and unfulfilled. also, gravity is just because atoms get lonely too
* {{death is cheap}}: best shown through paul who is killed by a car hitting him and simply becomes a ghost, and otherwise continues to live his day-to-day (un)life unchanged. then when his time of haunting is up he is forced into hell but ends up escaping it very easily
* {{deus angst machina}}: one strip features "impossibly tragic grandma", whose tragic backstory combines multiple mutually exclusive tragedies and historical events
* {{embarrassed by a child}}: played for surreal {{black comedy}} in one comic. a child points out a man on the street who has a large misshaped head and sharp teeth. the kid's mom just says not to stare at him. the man kills and eats a person right there in public and mom insists the child continue ignoring him
* {{episode on a plane}}: "we are all going down together" is a guest strip where paul, who is a ghost, gets annoyed with passengers on his flight and simply throws himself out of the emergency exit. a particularly stupid passenger is inspired by paul (who is a ghost and will emerge from the fall unscathed) and his lack of hesitation and jumps as well, to his death obviously
* {{fetish}}: "do you have any pornography that simulates having a significant relationship, that is my fetish"
* {{flat what}}: what.
* {{the fun in funeral}}: a beach funeral
* UsefulNotes/{{furry fandom}}: [[InvertedTrope inverted]] the dog is a uh, reverse furry (i.e. pretends to be human)
* {{hell}}: apparently it is a hotel in latin america. ironic punishments are pretty lax and the wi-fi is slow and you have to pay for it
* {{hypocrisy nod}}
* {{imagine spot}}: gary imagines his horrifically unfulfilling future with a girl
* {{island help message}}: poor dfw
* {{jump off a bridge rebuttal}}: everyone is doing it
* {{kafka komedy}}: u may have been in this situation b4
* {{literary allusion title}}: so it goes
** [[Creator/TSEliot ts eliot]] prufrock
** [[KurtVonnegut kurt vonnegut,]] [[SlaughterhouseFive slaughterhouse-five.]]
* {{metaphorgotten}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/108 in the alt text]], [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/272 in the text text]]
* {{mixed metaphor}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192 lampshaded in the alt text]]
* {{mundane afterlife}}: hell is a hotel somewhere in latin america
* {{no punctuation is funnier}}: or i mean if you think it's funnier
* {{the plague}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/304 it is not very convenient]]
* {{platform game}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/263/ this one]] contains examples of {{scoring points}} {{designated villain}} and {{goomba stomp}}
* {{politicians kiss babies}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192/ this leads]] to a massive moment of {{that came out wrong}}.
* {{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]]
** another series has a woman working for an ad agency & includes nonsense like purina dog chow that makes your dog vomit up ads for purina & also inversions where chewing gum companies hire homeless people to [[AntiAdvice advertise for their competitors]]
* {{racist grandma}}:
** two characters visit one's racist grandma, [[SubvertedTrope but she simply does normal politically correct grandma things]], leading the pair to leave abruptly as "if she is not being racist, then she is just boring"
** also you may consider [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/111/ this tree]] to be a racist grandpa, it was certainly planted by one
* {{religion of evil}}: there may be a pedophile priest involved but he may also just be a sinister minister, either way yr soul will be crushed
* {{robotic reveal}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/340 and it gives his room mate a bsod]]
* {{running gag}}: a character calls for help and reaches gary
* {{self deprecation}}: one comic's alt text

* {{serious business}}: don't talk to jeremy about saint shoot unless you want [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/58 this]]
* {{suspiciously specific denial}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/308 an odd variation]]
* {{shout out}}: in early comics, to the love song of j. alfred prufrock
* {{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.]]" the latter is lampshaded with a comment from gary daring paul to guess what his ethnicity is.
* {{take that}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/7 huge slam on oklahoma out of nowhere]]
* {{talkative loon}}: one strip has a bird-man and his bird-son journey across the world to glean wisdom from a gigantic hermit in the mountains, but uh, see for yourself

* {{talking poo}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/58/ the voice of reason]]
* {{the singularity}}: a rather cynical take
-->''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''
* {{who shot jfk}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/299/ yr mileage may vary on whether this is black comedy or what]]
* {{writing about your crime}}: a serial killer discovers that he's the subject of a media firestorm, so he takes advantage by writing a book about his killings. ''a non-fiction, self-help book'', encouraging readers to follow in his footsteps. the media thinks [[PoesLaw he just wrote it as an elaborate prank]], but he's quick to point out that he's completely serious
* {{you bastard}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/94/ i am not telling a joke. you are terrible]]

in march 2014 the author suffered [[CreatorBreakdown a mental and emotional breakdown]] and tore down her entire webcomic page and burned the unshipped books (encapsulated dead wasps and all) that she promised to her kickstarter backers. in may of that year, max temkin (of [[TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity cards against humanity]] fame) managed to get and ship out all of the originally promised books.

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

''[[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 her kickstarter]] on february 27 2014.

it used 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

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

->''whatever happens you guys will do great-ish things, probably. unless you don't, like most people. but you will be doing it together. unless you get divorced.''\\
--'''gary''' describes the the toast he wants to give at his brother's wedding

->''i made this comic and i regret it, but i regret most comics and i regret most things.''\\
-- '''john campbell'''

* {{platform game}}: [[http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/263/ this one]] contains examples of {{scoring points}} {{designated villain}} {{goomba stomp}} and {{for massive damage}}

* {{barred from the afterlife}}: in the original and [[AbortedArc abandoned]] storyline, [[PhraseCatcher paul, who is a ghost,]] [[CelestialBureaucracy being unable]] go to [[MundaneAfterlife hell]] is the main plot.