Character: Doug

Organ Liquefier

This episode’s Patreon preview is about the challenges of laying out a strip when the dialogue is concentrated into a smaller number of panels. It starts out with “oh no what have you done, past me?” and then I have to figure out what to do with what past me has given present me.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! It’s how I have predictable money, which is both Cool and Good because we live in capitalist hell-world. If everyone who read the comic in a month chipped in $1, I’d be able to turn down most freelance work and focus on doing Hell, Inc. stuff and my own graphic novels! That would be preeeeetty cool. Especially now, because I am brooooke.

You can help Hell, Inc. for free by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which has been a great way to draw in new readers. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Sara dives into the instruction manuals. Read it early on Patreon!

The Zen of Failure

The Zen of Failure sounds like the state that occurs when I’m pitching projects. There’s a certain flow state that comes from copying and pasting pitch documents into various forms and formats to send to people who may or may not respond, and might not even look at them. It creates a certain feeling of acceptance that this action probably will not matter, but it must be taken or it definitely won’t matter. It’s related to the way rejection loses its sting when it happens frequently. Just pitching to literary agents, I’ve been rejected or ignored over 100 times now. Rejection isn’t even really a feeling anymore, it’s just a thing that happens which indicates I have to keep pitching things.

Naturally, the Patreon preview for this strip was mostly about… lettering? Yes, of course.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and has been able to download my video game, Space Jerks as a result! You can, too! Patreon is my predictable source of income, and I would very much like it to grow to the point where I can do things like make a video game and not be haunted by the thought that I’m wasting my time because nobody will support it!

Remember Top Webcomics? That’s still a thing, so if you want to boost Hell, Inc. in the rankings and funnel some new readers in, click on the banner below. You can vote daily.

Next Week: Ray, office scientist. Read it early on Patreon!

Hold Madness

Hold madness is real and very powerful. Maybe not “Hulk Smash a desk” powerful, but there’s a certain amount of antipathy toward human existence that builds up when you’re hearing the same musical loop for 35 minutes. Which is maybe a thing that happened to me last week. Hockey game goes into intermission, and I think “ah, I’ll bang out this phone call I need to make.” By the time I was done, it was almost the next intermission. Oof.

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 (who are cool, weird cyborg-things) exploring space and how the things that are in space are often terrifying. Season 2 is underway!

Patreon! Go there. Do that. It is my most reliable source of income, and that is very helpful when living that freelance life. If everyone who read the comic last week chipped in $1/month, that would be enough to almost completely eliminate the need for freelancing. That would be rad! You’d also all be able to play my video game, Space Jerks!

You can also support Hell, Inc. for free by telling your friends about it, because that is infinitely better than any promotion I can do. Also voting on Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below is very helpful!

Next Week: The zen of incompetence. Read it early on Patreon!

Making a Lot of Sense

Hell, Inc. has a pretty defined colour palette by this point, so it’s always fun to do panels that let me shake that up.

Also I made a video game, have you heard?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week, and I just made my fourth appearance on the show, this time discussing crime drama Better Call Saul! If you want to hear me talk about how artfully executed BCS is, then good news, you’ll have a great time listening to that podcast!

Patreon! It’s a predictable source of income, and ALSO Patrons can play Space Jerks, the video game I made!

Also check out the newsletter, which is how to hear about what I’m up to without needing to subject yourself to things like Twitter.

You can also support Hell, Inc. for free by telling your friends about it, because that is infinitely better than any promotion I can do. Also voting on Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below is very helpful!

Next Week: Doug’s tale of woe and being bad at Arrivals. Read it early

Failure Chicken

Failure chicken, for when everyone wants to be a loser! It’s also a very funny first idea expressed in the comic for 2024. It’s like the opposite of a resolution – “just be slightly worse than your competition!” But also the first thing I did was forget to finish writing the post before it went up, so not a great start!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

I made a video game! If somehow you haven’t heard me yelling at the internet about it yet, now you know! Patrons at any of the paid tiers can download for free, right now, and play it on your computers! It’s called Space Jerks, and I wrote about its origin in a free Patreon post here. You should read the post, then chip in a dollar and download the game, in which you will blow up aliens with a laser.

You can also help get Hell, Inc. in front of new readers by voting for it on Top Webcomics! You can vote daily by clicking on the banner below.

Next Week: Totally normal reactions to failure chicken. Read it early on Patreon!

Brain Wizard

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/It is Monday, as appropriate! Now that it’s Christmas, we are about six months past the Christmas story arc. Naturally. If, somehow, Hell, Inc. ever becomes an animated show, I’ll have to make sure the Christmas party stuff doesn’t air anywhere near Christmas, just to keep up that tradition.

A Christmas Present for Patrons!

In lieu of an Employee of the Week, I’ve got a gift for my Patreon patrons (which can also include you, if you want!). I’ve been working on a video game side project for a bit, and patrons can now play my first finished game, Space Jerks! It’s an arcade shoot-em-up based on Space Invaders, but with hand-drawn art and sound effects that I foley’d myself! I’m excited to be able to share this with folks, so if you’re a patron, check it out, and if you’re not… well, you could be. Patrons at all levels will be able to download the game on an ongoing basis. Click on the image below to check it out!

As always, Top Webcomics is a helpful way to tell people about Hell, Inc.! You can vote daily by clicking on the banner below.

Next Week: Doug tries to be his own brain wizard. Read it early on Patreon!

 

Interdimensional Council of Helens

The Patreon preview for this strip is mostly about how lettering needs to be considered during writing, and also about how fun it is to write phrases that sound like they’re from a prog rock album. Probably one that has a laser light show set to it.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Robbie Dorman is Employee of the Week. He is co-host of The Simpsons Show, the only podcast about The Simpsons, and also the only podcast about The Simpsons that I have done a guest spot on. You should also check out his website to learn about his new novel releases. He writes that good good scary shit. Indie artists need your support now more than ever, so check out his stuff!

Also check out my Patreon, because if everyone who reads Hell, Inc. on a monthly basis kicked in $1, I’d be able to cut my freelancing schedule to nearly nil, and focus on the things you already like Hell, Inc., and presumably also other things.

You can also support Hell, Inc. for free by telling your friends about it, because that is infinitely better than any promotion I can do. Also voting on Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below is very helpful!

Next Week: Bridget attempts to develop a council, possibly less interdimensional. Read it early on Patreon!

Important Shame Plans

Important Shame Plans, as opposed to unimportant shame plans. Which is, presumably, whatever B.L. Zebub is doing the rest of the time. This week’s Patreon preview talked about lettering, and the main sources I used for learning that art form.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Hell, Inc. is reader-supported – no ads, no sponsorships, just Patreon and book sales keep this thing afloat. 2023 has not been the best year for comics income, but you can help turn things around in 2024 for as little as $1 a month, which also gets you early Hell, Inc. strips, previews of other stuff I’m working on, and even commissioned art!

You can also help by telling people about Hell, Inc. Word of mouth is by far the best way to get new eyeballs on the comic, and that all starts with you, the reader! Tell your friends, tell your co-workers, or vote on Top Webcomics by clicking the link below!

Next Week: Bridget seeks allies, and an interdimensional council is involved. Read it early on Patreon!

Doris Noticed

As we’ve established previously, Sara is clearly very good at sneaking around and doing things clandestinely. This week’s Patreon preview post was about the ideas that need to germinate in the back of your mind before they’re ready, and how sometimes that means a poop joke is the catalyst for that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week, and also author of our RPG BURGERPunk, which is now available digitally on DriveThru RPG.

Also available digitally are all of the Hell, Inc. volumes (1-6), on both Patreon and GlobalComix (the covers aren’t actually squashed and weird, it’s a display thing I don’t understand). Speaking of Patreon, you can subscribe to help me keep making art and also being alive, for as little as $1 a month!

You can help Hell, Inc. for free by telling people about it! Send links to your friends and co-workers, or vote on Top Webcomics! It’s the beginning of a new month, so the votes count for more as the rankings reset. Top Webcomics helps direct people looking for new webcomics to Hell, Inc. instead of whatever comic is using robots to have thousands of votes instantly!

Next Week: There are important shame plans. Read it early on Patreon!

Here There Be Monsters

I’ve drawn weird monsters on bathroom signs in a couple of series now, and every time it’s because I’m imagining a fantasy map with “here there be dragons” written on it and applying that logic to toilet signs. I think I used it first in Hockeypocalypse, but regardless of which was first, it’s appeared in that and in Hell, Inc. In this week’s Patreon preview, I talked about how early the geography of the office was decided on, but how the reader gets that information much more slowly.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

“Game Time” Art Middleton is Employee of the Week! Follow him on Twitter, if that’s still a thing you do, 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 and read new strips early (see above!). It turns out that humans, like demons, need money to live! Me, specifically.

In other news, social media’s slow collapse strengthens the case for Top Webcomics. The Old Internet becomes the New Internet! Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Hey, so if you didn’t know WHERE the bathroom was… Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!