Webcomic / Depression Comix

A Webcomic from Clay, of Sexy Losers fame, which follows several characters struggling with depression or friends with depression.

It can be found here, on DeviantArt here, on Tumblr here, or on WordPress here,

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Depression Comix contains examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Depressed Character 02's mother, Depressed Character 06. As strip #132 shows, her own mother was just the same.
• Accentuate the Negative: Many, many times. Examples include strips #28, #80, #175, #185, and #190.
• Alpha Bitch: Society, particularly in Strip #255, where she disinterestedly dismisses everything others bring before her, except for the prettiest girl in school.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: The character of Society is one for, well, society. A man representing mass media appears a few times as well.
• Appeal to Worse Problems: Strips #21 and #87. Every time, the depressed character in question winds up simply feeling worse.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Played for a few dark laughs:
  • Strip #77. Depressed Character 04 thinks the solution to each of her problems is to die. The problems in question: her life sucks and she can never feel happy, she's made a mountain of mistakes that have ruined her life, she feels completely alone, and she burned toast.
  • Strip #91. According to her depression, Depressed Character 02 is stupid, ugly, only makes everyone's life miserable, and talks to herself.
• Art Evolution: Big time. Clay's art over the course of the comics takes a sharp increase in quality, from the characters receiving more realistic designs to the use of more complex camera angles in panels.
• Author Avatar: Depressed Character 01 looks a lot like Clay.
• Black Comedy: On occasion; see also Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking above and Deadpan Snarker below.
  • Strip #27. The voice in Depressed Character 02's head suggests making up a list of reasons why she sucks:
    "Do you want to start crying now or wait 'til we reach number fifty?"
  • Strip #29, which personifies the delicate mindset of a depressive in the form of trying to defuse a "cry bomb".
  • Strip #59. Depressed Character 02's thoughts about a friend questioning why anyone would want to commit suicide:
    "There are people who actually don't think about killing themselves?"
  • Strip #65. After her computer crashes, Depressed Character 04 laments having lost her work and having to reset it. She then finishes with, "Lucky computer".
  • Strip #106. Depressed Character 02 thinks she's completely unlikable. Her girlfriend, Satellite Character 09, offers her a rose...and she turns away, leaving her completely out to dry while shouting, "Wait a sec!"
  • Strip #125. Depressed Character 10 is told to redo her work; she responds, "I knew it! I suck!" Cue the second time where she's told she made a big improvement and just needs to make a few more corrections; she responds exactly the same way.
  • Strip #128. Depressed Character 02 is hiding behind a rock, and her girlfriend is wondering where she is.
  • Strip #183. Depressed Character 02 is frantically trying to reach a phone for help while being held back by a huge weight representing her depression. Her mother comes along and says her depression can't be bothering her if she's not even getting help for it, and her only response is a blank stare on her face.
  • Strip #188. Satellite Character 01 has to fight to keep Depressed Character 01 from pushing a "Life Erase" button, and quips that it's hard to not be offended by the whole thing.
  • Strip #193. "If you don't believe in yourself, the people who do believe in you seem so misguided."
• Broken Ace:
  • Depressed Character 23 is most often used to illustrate the problems of people who have depression but don't "look" it. Usually it's her beauty that causes people to not take her seriously, but Strip #371 has her in a conversation with Depressed Character 22, who calls her "perfect." Cue her internally debating with herself over it.
  • Santa Claus, of all people, is listed as a Depressed Character. Instead of the typical Bad Santa presentation, he's just as jaded by the holiday season as anyone else.
• The Cameo: Depressed Character 16 originally appeared in Sexy Losers before being a full Transplant here. A few other extras are such as well.
• Can't Take Criticism: Depressed Character 02 in strip #94.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Depressed Character 01 in strips #7, #11, #21, and #250. It provides a couple of moments that, in some ways, are Actually Pretty Funny.
    Satellite Character 01:You know this is all in your mind. You can fight this if you tried.
    Depressed Character 01:If it's all in my mind, should I punch myself in the head, then?
  • Strip #160. Depressed Character 04 drops a jug of milk. The milk jug says, "Way to go, you big fucking loser." But it doesn't end there; she replies, "Oh, hello there, metaphor for my life."
• Death Is Cheap: Depressed Character 03, who is used several times to show the thoughts that go through those on the verge of committing suicide and the thoughts of others after the fact. Also Depressed Character 11, to a lesser extent.
• Deconstruction: Strip #143 does this to the "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem" saying. Specifically, "a" implies that the situation has a single cause, is trivial, and not as complex as it actually is; "temporary" can still mean a very long time (sometimes one's entire life), and using "problem" assumes that a conventional solution is available and that the depressed person is looking for such a thing when they really simply want to end their distress and pain.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Strip 150 plainly shows that the comic's monochrome coloring is a visual manifestation of depression. When Depressed Character 02 starts trying to pick up pieces of herself, all of the pieces of what she used to be are in color.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Depressed Character 07 in strip #240. When it's hinted she might have a problem, she replies that the empty space she's trying to fill is the actual problem.
• Eldritch Abomination: Depression in the brain is personified like this in strip #79.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: All of the depressed characters have one under their right eye.
• Hate Sink: Society. Have a gander at her introductory strip, #108. See also Alpha Bitch above and Hypocrite below.
  Society: Everyone is beautiful! [thinks in silence for a panel, then points to the reader] Except you. Everyone is more beautiful than you.
• Hypocrite: Society in strip #204. She reassures the reader that it's okay to tell her if they have a mental illness, only to Freak Out after learning they do and brand them as a psychopath, telling them to stay as far away from her as possible.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Deconstructed with Satellite Character 13. The unseen depressive's manipulations and dependence on her leaves her so exhausted that she eventually leaves him. Some time later, she learns he committed suicide.
• Loners Are Freaks: Depressed Character 15 in strip #146, due to keeping to herself because of her stuttering.
• Misery Poker: Depressed Character 16 gives a bout of this to Depressed Character 02 in strip #227. They have another bout in strip #278, which is illustrated as a makeshift boxing match.
• Never My Fault: Strip #123. Depressed Character 11 is bullied into committing suicide, and everyone tries to backpedal on their actions.
• No True Scotsman: There are times when the characters chastise others for not being "truly" depressed. Depressed Character 16, for example, is pretty harsh on any depressed character who they feel isn't expressing the appropriate amount of angst. We do learn why she is this way, however—because it took her years of her peers dismissing her before she got a proper diagnosis, she feels like the right to be labelled depressed has to be earned even if she knows inside that she's being just as dismissive as the peers who gave her trouble.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Strip #75. Depressed Character 03's colleagues are talking about the cowardliness of suicide around the water cooler. After he kills himself, they're just as incredulous as to why he didn't come and talk to them.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: The cards used whenever a character is faking happiness have the side effect of this trope.
• Rape as Drama: Depressed Character 11 is not only sexually assaulted, but bullied, humiliated, and slut-shamed because of it by her classmates. Eventually, the pain is so great she ends her life.
  "Sometimes suicide is just delayed murder."
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Many times, a depressed character will be giving these to themselves in their thoughts.
  • In a much more cathartic version, Satellite Character 09 gives one to Depressed Character 16 in strip #263 after her bout of Misery Poker with Depressed Character 02 in strip #227.
• Rule of Perception: Strip #248. The doctor doesn't think his patient is depressed because she still looks well-composed. Also to a lesser degree in strip #239.
• Sarcastic Confession: Depressed Character 08 in strip #110. It results in him getting strapped to a bed.
• Satellite Character: Used as a catch-all term for the non-depressed characters.
• Suicide Dare: Happens to Character 11 in an online forum which leads to her actually committing suicide. Also appears as the page image for the trope.
• Stepford Smiler: Very prevalent among the depressed characters, represented by a character holding a card with a large smile drawn on it over their mouth. Said large smile has become a sort of logo for the comic itself.
• Sex for Solace: Depressed Character 07 is shown to use sex as a way to feel "something," only for her depression to come back once it's over.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted with Satellite Character 10. Unfortunately, for various reasons, she doesn't seem to be too much help to the depressed characters that visit her.
• Troubled Abuser: Depressed Character 02, Robin, is emotionally abused by her mother, who is at least partially responsible for her mental health issues. However, she is listed as Depressed Character 06. She gets a spotlight strip that establishes her mother treated her the same way.

• You Are Number 6: A meta-example. With the exception of Society, all of the recurrent characters in the comic are numbered by order of initial appearance and whether they're a depressed character or a satellite (non-depressed) character. The author has since given a select few explicit names:
  • Depressed Character 02 is named Robin.
  • Her girlfriend, Satellite Character 09, is named Wren.
  • Depressed Character 16 is named "Goth Chick".
  • The therapist, Satellite Character 10, is named Dr. Louvecock.

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