I realize I'm particularly susceptible to this sort of thing, but Pictures for Sad Children depresses the hell out of me. For personal reasons, I had to give up depressing media a while back after crying while watching Caprica one to many times. But I couldn't give up Pictures for Sad Children. It's bleak. It's cynical. But it's also terribly smart.

It has also been, up until last week, a very simple comic, visually. Like Dinosaur Comics before it, Pictures for Sad Children has been a very specific artform, one who impact is heightened by its spare art.

More recently, though, John Campbell has been experimenting with his art form, presenting his comics as book art. Campbell says he was inspired by his recent art show to experiment more with his style.

I'm always excited to see the next stage in a cartoonist's evolution. After all, what is the Internet for if not to give artists a space to grow? (Oh right: voyeurism.) But what I'm really interested to see is if and how these experiments change Campbell's writing style.

[Pictures for Sad Children]