Character: B.L. Zebub

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a very fun word to say, even if Doug apparently doesn’t know what it means. This strip means I’ve caught up with the buffer again, so I’m going to have to get back to the comic mines.

I’ve lately been spending almost all of my creative/work time in the RPG mines, which I didn’t expect to have such veins. As I mentioned last week, Hell, Inc. The RPG has launched on Kickstarter. This was a project undertaken on a whim and which we didn’t have huge aspirations for – the costs involved were pretty low, so we figured we’d recoup those pretty easily and then maybe hit the first stretch goal. Instead, it’s absolutely blowing away every crowdfunding thing I’ve done to a pretty comical degree. Not in terms of dollars, because the rewards aren’t that expensive, but the backer numbers are already nearing the most I’ve had one one project and it’s not even been a week. Is this being successful? If you haven’t, yet, click the images below to head over to the Kickstarter and check it out – it’s a very fun rules-lite RPG with a unique mediocrity-based dice mechanic.

Next Week: Sara plays motor oil mixologist. It goes as well as you think it will. Read it early on Patreon!

Pretend Motivation

Pretend motivation is what I have right now writing this newspost, as I just finished writing the update and then WordPress ate it and the draft autosaving did nothing. Much like the goggles. Now join me on the exciting journey to rewriting cool news!

Hell, Inc. The Roleplaying Game launches on Kickstarter (as part of ZineQuest) TOMORROW (August 23rd, 2022, for those of you reading from the future). The Employee Handbook is a 32 page, full colour, saddle-stitched book with the complete Hell, Inc. game system, advice for running the game and creating bureaucracy-based bonkersness, random NPC generators, and a pre-written adventure! The game system was created by myself and Cait, and is designed to encourage the pursuit of mediocracy – both low and high rolls will cause you additional hassles as you earn the scorn or additional-task-based praise of your boss. Click on the cover image below to hit up the prelaunch page so that you’ll be notified as soon as the campaign goes live (which is currently scheduled to be 9 AM MT, 11 AM ET, 8 AM PT).

Your regularly scheduled Employee of the Week and Patreon plugs will return next week after the Kickstarter is (hopefully) funded. These features will return which next week’s episode, in which B.L. Zebub tries to become one with Stan’s butt. Read it early on Patreon!

Excellent Taste

I don’t know why I decided that Stan’s costume would be part-CEO part-Napoleonic general, but I’m very pleased I made that decision because it is a lot of fun to draw. I don’t know why, but I always forget to draw his tail at first, though. Maybe just because I didn’t give most of the regularly appearing characters tails, so I forget they’re an option? Who knows.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait is Employee of the Week, and is also the co-author of the upcoming Hell, Inc. The RPG, which is based on the system she created for Fail Marines, our surprisingly successful debut in indie TTRPGs! The Hell, Inc. RPG is a 32 page full colour ‘zine with the full game system, loads of art, GM and setting development advice, and whatever the office-equivalent of an adventure is! Incidentally, if anyone has ideas for what an adventure module should be called in a game where you’re office drones battling demonic photocopiers instead of swinging swords at goblins, I would love to hear them! You can go to the pre-launch page to sign up for a notification when the campaign launches.

Speaking of being notified for things, click on the banner below to sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter, where I talk about the various things I am getting up to, such as developing RPGs on the spur of the moment.

The Boot-lickening

One of my favourite ways for people to signal that I should not respect them is when they are shitty to anyone “below” them in whatever hierarchy they are part of, but a sniveling toad to anyone “above” them. I have seen this at comics industry parties and the secondhand embarrassment is STRONG.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

“Game Time” Art Middleton is Employee of the Week! Follow him on Twitter or check out his Twitch streams, OR… do both of those things.  Also, head over to the Hell, Inc. Patreon, where you can support the continued existence of your favourite office demons. It turns out that humans, like demons, need money to live! Me, specifically.

You can also sign up for my newsletter, where I just announced that Hell, Inc. The RPG will be part of Kickstarter ZineQuest, launching on August 23rd!

Next Week: Stan and B.L. Zebub have a stirring intellectual debate about the finer points of motor oil. Read it early on Patreon!

Butt-based Stealth

Butt-based stealth usually means “not farting,” so this is a new, dynamic approach to the topic.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week, and you can, too, by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon at the $2/month or higher levels!

You can also sign up for my newsletter, where I’ll be announcing a new Hell, Inc.-related projected later this week!

Next Week: Stan is back, and Satan-y-er than ever! I don’t know what that means, either. Read it early on Patreon!

Exhausted

I, too, am exhausted, although it’s the Sara kind and not the B.L. Zebub kind. Running a crowdfunding campaign is a strange thing, as it feels simultaneously like there’s no time and it will never end. It also feels kind of like a sports season, where the long view of the entire thing is what’s important, but it’s impossible to see that and avoid getting caught up in moment. Sometimes you feel unbeatable, and sometimes it feels like you shouldn’t even be in the league.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Azhar Baig is Employee of the Week, and has a podcast called The Wisdom of Love that you should check out. It’s a comedic recounting of the Great Western Philosophers.

Hockeypocalypse: Slashers ends on Thursday AND it has passed its funding goal. so head over to Zoop and preorder a copy. It is my favourite comic I’ve ever written/drawn, and I think you’ll agree. Preorder your copy to help fund the book’s existence! Get it for yourself, get it for a friend or family member, or do all of the above! Not interested in Hockeypocalypse (you should be, are you okay?)? Donate your copy to your local library when you get it!

Never (Immediately) Forget

I am a man in my 30s with ADHD, so I Regularly (Immediately) Forget all kinds of stuff. Like, so much stuff. My brain gives me Hell, Inc., but takes things like “what day it is” and “what I meant to do when I sat down and opened the computer.”

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the Week, and you can, too!

We’re under two weeks left on Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, so head over to Zoop and preorder a copy, which will ALSO help fund the creation of the book. It is my favourite comic I’ve ever written/drawn, and I think you’ll agree. Preorder your copy to help fund the book’s existence! Get it for yourself, get it for a friend or family member, or do all of the above! Not interested in Hockeypocalypse (you should be, are you okay?)? Donate your copy to your local library when you get it!

The Secret Technique

Last week was obnoxiously busy, with Hockeypocalypse: Slashers launching on Zoop (go preorder a copy, by the way, and greatly reduce my stress levels), two podcast recordings, launching the quickplay rules for the RPG Cait and I have been making, Fail Marines. I’m very tired.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cindy Gauthier is Employee of the Week, and you can read her comic on Webtoon! It’s called Posthumous, and is a comic about two friends exploring space and how the things that are in space are often terrifying. Season 2 is underway!

I like a good Patreon plug as much as anyone, but the real business here is Hockeypocalypse: Slashers on Zoop. It is my favourite comic I’ve ever written/drawn, and I think you’ll agree. Preorder your copy to help fund the book’s existence! Get it for yourself, get it for a friend or family member, or do all of the above! Not interested in Hockeypocalypse (you should be, are you okay?)? Donate your copy to your local library when you get it!

Totally Under Control

Do I identify too much with Sara in this comic, but where the giant three-headed dog is life? MAYBE, WHATEVER, YOU’RE NOT MY THERAPIST.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week. You can check out the two episodes of Syndicated that I guested on to hear my talk with my meat voice about workplace comedies. I’m on the episodes about extremely well-crafted but under-remembered ’90s sitcom NewsRadio and 2010s stoner thing that loosely adheres to its premise, Workaholics. You can also hear me on it at some point in the near future talking about Hell, Inc. adjacent cartoon Ugly Americans! I’ll let you know when that happens.

In other news, Webtoon is running a contest called Call to Action, and I entered with the first Rent-A-Thug comic published since 2010! Please go check it out and like and comment, because audience interaction is part of the criteria (which I both understand fully and dislike tremendously). Click on the banner below to check it out!

All Jobs Involve Cerberus Pee

Does YOUR job involve Cerberus pee? I hope not, for your sake, but it would really help prove the bold theory proposed by this strip title.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it, or commission digital art! All of those things also help provide a level of predictability to my income that basically doesn’t exist otherwise, because freelancing is chaos.

In other news… letter. I have a newsletter now. I haven’t started sending them out yet, but once the mailing list has some signups I’ll be sending out newsletters highlighting the stuff I’m working on, things I think are cool, and pet pictures. I don’t know how often those will be going out, but I’m thinking monthly unless I’m running a crowdfunding situation for a new book. You can sign up by entering your email address in the space below (it will not given to anyone else, and only used for newsletter purposes).