Cyanide and Happiness - Style

Style

The style of Cyanide & Happiness is often described as dark, cynical and often offensive. Frequent topics of humor include disabilities, terrorism, rape, cancer, murder, necrophilia, pedophilia, sexual deviancy, sexually transmitted diseases, suicide, eating disorders, abortion and vehicular manslaughter. These topics are usually introduced in an unexpected or shocking way that is jarringly different from the natural "obvious" reading on the strip thus far. However, this is not always the case, and some family-friendly jokes do exist buried among the offensive material. The comic does not always have a definite punchline in each strip, or may have several panels of "awkward silence" after the punchline, with characters simply staring at each other.

There are some recurring characters including but not limited to Charles & his girlfriend, the Purple-Shirted Eye Stabber, Dr. Baby, Trelaf the Wise, Obese Maurice,The Personal Space Invader, superheroes like Seizure Man and Super Jerk, Dan the Downer, and Tall Justin, but otherwise there is a general lack of characterisation. Characters often act irrationally or nonsensically. The lack of characterization is supported by the primitive drawing style, which the writers often make jokes about. Characters rarely have names and are usually only distinguishable by the colors of their shirts (although they might not exactly be shirts as in the comic published on September 6, 2009, the green character opens his clothing as though it were a coat, or #931, in which a character's pants seem to be around his ankles). This naturally precludes most character-driven humor. The male characters almost always have no hair, which became a joke in itself. Female characters are distinguishable by their long hair and chest size, often used to comedic effect. Jesus makes numerous appearances, often with the comic containing religious puns.

All four artists also occasionally break the fourth wall, using the borders of each comic panel as part of the comic itself, allowing the characters within to interact with them in some form or another. Characters also sometimes acknowledge their status as drawings in a webcomic and discussing what is expected of them as a consequence.

On at least twelve occasions, Cyanide & Happiness has used animation in an otherwise static comic.

Aside from purely comedic strips, Cyanide & Happiness has Depressing Comic Weeks. During these events, instead of any kind of humor, the authors write depressing and/or upsetting comics. This has been noted on six different occasions.