Pictures for Sad Children

pictures for sad children
File:Pfsclogo.gif
Author(s)	John Campbell
Website	http://picturesforsadchildren.com/index.php
Current status/schedule	Monday - Thursday
Launch date	2007
Genre(s)	Absurdist humor

pictures for sad children is a webcomic by John Campbell which began in 2007. The comic, first focusing on the adventures of Paul, "who is a ghost," has since branched out to introduce other characters, such as Gary, whom Paul is forced to train at a call center after Paul initially lost his job because he was dead. Gary has since become the main character. Other characters include Gary's cousin, Sara, her husband, Afsheen, and their daughter, Maddy. Pictures for sad children also was a finalist in the 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) as an Outstanding Newcomer. Campbell's LiveJournal page, http://stereotypist.livejournal.com, was featured in their Spotlight section at the end of September 2007.

Style of humor

The style of humor in pictures for sad children is mostly dark. The strip is mostly story-driven, with most comics lacking a punchline, and when a punchline is present, it is not usually a joke in the strictest sense. More often than not, a comic will end with characters staring at each other, perhaps one of them coughing, and the reader is left to question the author's obscure message, if even there is meant to be one. Each comic also has alt-text, which serves as the title for the comic in particular. These alt-texts usually play off puns of the names of French surrealist writers, but scatological comic titles are by no means rare.

Characters

• Gary, the current main character and protagonist. He works at an office that takes call center overflow, and he has a very low self-esteem and possibly a social anxiety disorder.
• Paul, a ghost who was hit by a car running a red light. He formerly worked in accounting, but was moved to employee intake coordinator after his death. He ended up training Gary and (somewhat) befriending him, but left the strip after destroying a twenty thousand dollar computer. Sara, Afsheen, and Maddy live in his old house. He is now spending time with his family. He is also Asian . He only appears as a traditional ghost because he wears a sheet over his head in an attempt to look ghostly.
• Jeremy, Gary's roommate who avoids him to the point to where he has not seen him in three months. They still talk through closed doors, however. He has recently died.
• Sara, Gary's cousin who suffers from hallucinations and once ate a dead man's entire weight in candy, after which she regurgitated the man, now alive. She once worked at a testing facility which made her dead for a few hours, after which she would have to fill out extensive paperwork. She sometimes does not take her medicine.
• Afsheen, Sara's husband, whom she met at an allergy convention. He works two jobs, both of which he hates terribly, to help support his wife and daughter.
• Maddy, Sara and Afsheen's daughter, who is extremely sensitive to sunlight, possibly because her parents met at an allergy convention. She wears a pillowcase around whenever possible and is angered when she cannot. She acts much older than she actually is, and holds low opinions of the Internet and the people on it.

The Author

John Campbell used to write dirty poems at Wheaton College (Illinois). His previous residence was in Zacatecas, Mexico, but he has since moved to Chicago. He has participated in running with the bulls, but was disappointed by the blatant animal cruelty and general depressing nature of the event (this is his response to most things). He holds a close relationship with Ryan North, author of Dinosaur Comics, to the point where he has made an unnamed cameo and a guest comic, as well as a fan comic. The authors of A Softer World and Dresden Codak have also made guest comics. He also has a links page which includes single-panel interpretations of his favorite comics (with a link to the comic in particular) in his personal art style.