View source for Pictures for Sad Children

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{{quote|''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 [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/142 the toast he wants to give at his brother's wedding]}}

{{quote|''i made [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/290 this comic] and i regret it, but i regret most comics and i regret most things.''|'''john campbell'''}}

''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131124052749/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 [[Self-Demonstrating Article|which is why this article is written this way]] not because we are too dumb to find the shift key. blame john campbell

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

paul, [[Phrase Catcher|who is a ghost]], who is wearing a bedsheet, died just before the first strip. he wears the bed sheet to look [[Bedsheet Ghost|ghosty]] of course. he [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112040108/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/65/ hates everything] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20121109234118/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. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410185626/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 [[Crapsack World|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 [[Magical Realism|magic realist]] elements to the world as well, like an [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112040428/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/115/ ipod that plays you your regrets], a family that has [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112040433/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/130/ the powers] [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112035641/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/135/ of jesus], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130727001634/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/18/ post-it notes that seemingly come from no one]

the author is currently dabbling in various new media, please bear with his experimentation

{{tropelist|tropes used in ''pictures for sad children'' include:}}
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: afsheen and sara
* [[All Lowercase Letters]]
* [[And That's Terrible]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121109234118/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/56/ you are not dead you are just a bad person]
* [[Alt Text]]
* [[And Now for Something Completely Different]]: [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/331 up the mountain to see the dead man]{{Dead link}}
* [[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 [[Creator Breakdown]] john campbell is posting his work in various media in place of regular comics
* [[Bedsheet Ghost]]
* [[Blessed with Suck]]: [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/256 HAPPY BIRTHDAY]{{Dead link}}
* [[Celestial Bureaucracy]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523110835/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/176/ paul waits in line to get into the afterlife.]
* [[Coitus Uninterruptus]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410185951/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]{{Dead link}}
* [[Creator Breakdown]]: John Campbell did a kickstarter to make a book of the comic, which met its goal easily enough. Unfortunately, he was then faced with doing the actual ''work'' of shipping out books to donators. This whole concept of "effort" apparently caused him to go insane, burn the books, and declare that it was immoral for people to expect things in return for the money they gave him.
* [[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]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130218235102/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/153/ impossibly tragic grandma]
* [[Episode on a Plane]]: [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/372 we are all going down together]{{Dead link}}
* [[Fetish]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130219002706/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/165/ "do you have any pornography that simulates having a significant relationship, that is my fetish"]
* [[Flat What]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410185626/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/28/ what.]
* [[Furry Fandom]]: [[Inverted Trope|inverted]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112030733/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/116/ the dog is a uh, reverse furry]
* [[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]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130727004632/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/107/ gary imagines his future with a girl]
* [[Island Help Message]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112034807/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/122/ poor dfw]
* [["Jump Off a Bridge" Rebuttal]]: [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/386 everyone is doing it]{{Dead link}}
* [[Kafka Komedy]]: [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/370 u may have been in this situation b4]{{Dead link}}
* [[Literary Allusion Title]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121109112243/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/46/ so it goes]
** [[T. S. Eliot|ts eliot]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20121218213109/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/31/ prufrock]
** [[Kurt Vonnegut|kurt vonnegut,]] [[Slaughterhouse-Five|slaughterhouse-five.]]
* [[Metaphorgotten]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130727000138/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/108/ in the alt text], [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/272 in the text text]{{Dead link}}
* [[Mixed Metaphor]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130615014514/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/192/ lampshaded in the alt text]
* [[Mundane Afterlife]]: hell is a hotel somewhere in latin america
* [[The Plague]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130124082030/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/304/ it is not very convenient]
* [[Platform Game]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20131124072500/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/315/ this one] contains examples of [[Scoring Points]] [[Designated Villain]] [[Goomba Stomp]] and [[For Massive Damage]]
* [[Product Placement]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121007223352/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/248/ hooray for] [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/249 long john silver's]{{Dead link}}
* [[Racist Grandma]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112041231/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/131/ if she is not being racist, then she is just boring.]
** also you may consider [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112040208/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/120/ this tree] to be a racist grandpa, it was certainly planted by one
* [[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]{{Dead link}}
* [[Robotic Reveal]]: [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/340 and it gives his room mate a bsod]{{Dead link}}
* [[Running Gag]]: a character calls for help and reaches gary
* [[Self-Deprecation]]: in the alt text [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/376 here]{{Dead link}}.
{{quote|''i can almost see something mediocre. it says pictures... of small children??''}}
* [[Serious Business]]: don't talk to jeremy about saint shoot unless you want [https://web.archive.org/web/20121109234128/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/58/ this]
* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130124082051/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/308/ an odd variation]
* [[Shout-Out]]: in early comics, to the love song of j. alfred prufrock
* [[Suddenly Ethnicity]]: paul (who is a ghost) is chinese
** gary's ethnicity is "[[Ambiguously Brown|brown. ish.]]"
* [[Take That]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20131124060246/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/7/ huge slam on oklahoma out of nowhere]
* [[Talkative Loon]]: the [http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/331 music promoter]{{Dead link}}
{{quote|''lacking the hazy hooks of their debut, a pleasing middle ground between lo-fi and club, this folk ep will be making year end lists for the east coast shitgaze tropicalia no wave dubstep sxsw bedroom split single''}}
* [[Talking Poo]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121110090704/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/190/ the voice of reason]
* [[The Singularity]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130727005946/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/102/ 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/366 yr mileage may vary on whether this is black comedy or what]{{Dead link}}
* [[You Bastard]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130726234549/http://archive.picturesforsadchildren.com/103/ i am not telling a joke. you are terrible]

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Stick Figure Comic]]
[[Category:Embellished Webcomics]]
[[Category:Pictures for Sad Children]]
[[Category:Web Comics]]
[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]