Pictures for Sad Children
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| Pictures for Sad Children | |
|---|---|
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| Author(s) | John Campbell |
| Website | picturesforsadchildren.com |
| Current status/schedule | Unknown |
| Launch date | 2007 |
| End date | 2014 |
| Genre(s) | Absurdist humor, black humor, Comedy |
Pictures for Sad Children was a webcomic created by John Campbell in 2007. The comic variously employed dark, surreal, or gritty humor and was mainly story-driven until shifting to more self-contained strips. Pictures for Sad Children was a finalist in the 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) as an Outstanding Newcomer.[1]
Kickstarter and subsequent closure
In May 2012, John Campbell set up a Kickstarter crowdfunding project to fund production of the second book of Pictures for Sad Children, entitled "Sad Pictures for Children". Some of the perks were outlandish or bizarre, such as Campbell drawing a comic under the influence of DMT, going to the dentist "for the first time in ~8 years" or putting up paste-ups in the donor's city under the risk of being arrested.[2] The campaign succeeded, with $51,615 raised from a goal of $8,000.[2]
On September 19, 2012, Campbell posted an update to the Kickstarter project claiming to have faked depression "for profit".[3][4][5] This post was followed up by a post stating he had "faked faking depression".[3][6]
On February 27, 2014, Campbell posted a final update explaining that 75% of the rewards for supporting the project had been sent out, and that no more would be sent out in the future. Attached was a video of Campbell supposedly "burning one book for every email received asking about the unreceived books", totalling 127 burned copies of the book[7]. Campbell claimed that the funds to ship the remaining books were not available. "Two weeks ago, the stress of not being able to afford to mail the books prompted Campbell to burn 127 books behind a dumpster in an alley behind [her] apartment."[8] In addition, Campbell stated that one book would be burned for every email received after the update was posted.[9] Campbell also noted that the Pictures for Sad Children comic itself would be ending, and expressed discontent with money as a concept as well as the consequences of capitalism and its effects on relationships between people in society.[9] In an interview, Campbell claimed that "750 to 800 books (were shipped), while another 150 were undeliverable and returned". Campbell also said that no further books were sent out due to lack of funds to ship them.[8] However, in May 2014, Max Temkin, one of the creators of the popular card game Cards Against Humanity and himself a backer of the Pictures For Sad Children Kickstarter, took over responsibilities for the project. Temkin announced he would send surveys to anyone who paid for a book but hadn't received one, and that he would be paying for shipping costs with his own funds.[10] On July 17, Temkin announced they had managed to ship books to everyone who completed the survey.[11]
In September 2015, the domain picturesforsadchildren.com lapsed. The web page became a GoDaddy advertisement offering to sell the rights to the URL. The page has displayed various contents since. In comparing the success of the Kickstarter for Mighty No. 9, Pictures for Sad Children was listed as one of the more notable failures on the platform.[12]
References
- ^ The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards - 2008 List of Winners & Finalists
- ^ a b "sad pictures for children by john campbell". Kickstarter. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ a b Update #3 - I'VE BEEN PRETENDING TO BE PRETENDING TO HAVE DEPRESSION FOR PROFIT AND I'M SORRY
- ^ Update #2 - I'VE BEEN PRETENDING TO BE DEPRESSED FOR PROFIT AND I'M SORRY
- ^ Fidel Martinez (September 20, 2012). "Artist's confession of faked depression draws mixed reactions on Kickstarter". The Daily Dot.
- ^ Daniel Fries (January 7, 2012). "How to disappear completely from the internet". Killscreen.
- ^ Brogan, Jacob (11 June 2015). "FTC Fines Kickstarter Campaign Creator Who "Used Most of the Funds on Himself"". Slate. Slate. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- ^ a b Alisa Hauser (March 5, 2014). "Kickstarter Fail: Artist Raises $51K to Publish Books, Burns Them in Alley". DNAinfo.
- ^ a b "Update #32 - IT'S OVER". Kickstarter. February 17, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- ^ "Update #34 - An Update From Max Temkin". Kickstarter. May 14, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Update #36 - Shipping Update". Kickstarter. July 17, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Seven Kickstarters Mighty No. 9 is definitely better than". ZAM. Retrieved 5 October 2016.