Character: Sara

Office Raccoons

Office Raccoons could also be a desperate 2000s attempt to reboot The Raccoons by capitalizing on the popularity of The Office. It could also be a genuinely very funny comic about a Toronto overrun by raccoons to the point where they have just replaced humans entirely, which I kind of want to make. Add another project to the list of roughly 200 that I think would be fun.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

You, if you stopped by my table at Edmonton Expo! It’s always wonderful to be reminded that the numbers in the stats dashboard are, in fact, actual people reading the comic and not just algorithmic errors. If YOU want to be shouted out specifically as Employee of the Week, and also help me keep making art you like instead of continuing to flail about in the chaos that is freelancing, go to Patreon! Supporting Hell, Inc./me on Patreon is an ideal way to ensure I can work on projects because they’re interesting instead of churning out pitches in hopes that one of the hundred or so people that can make the publishing industry pay me a livable amount of money do so.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps bring in new readers. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Ray’s corporate family recipes. Read it early on Patreon.

What IS New?

The preview post for this comic on Patreon talks at length about how my attitudes about my work processes have changed since I started making comics, and how that shows in the comics I make. You’re welcome, because the other option was going into way too much detail about how I did the receptionist’s speech balloon.

In other news, Edmonton Expo is this weekend, which really snuck up on me! I’ll be at table P09 on the Comic Creator wall of Hall H.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait is Employee of the Week, and will ALSO be at Edmonton Expo. Possibly at my table, but more likely with her sword fighting club. If YOU want to be Employee of the Week, and also help me keep making art you like instead of continuing to flail about in the chaos that is freelancing. Patreon is the most convenient way to do that, and you also get to see a bunch of cool art way before other people!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps bring in new readers. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Doris the greeter. Read it early on Patreon.

Floor People

This week’s Patreon preview involved discussion about how I handle compositions for actions that are repeated multiple times over the course of a series. I probably could have written an entire textbook on the subject if I had talked about HEAT, because that series involved drawing roughly 5000 lariats.

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 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: Maybe the office party was okay, after all? Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!

The Worst Morning

We have reached the end of book 6! That’s the kind of thing I keep track of, but probably doesn’t come across or matter to you, the reader. The comic strip format of Hell, Inc. means that the story structure doesn’t have big dramatic splashes or cliffhangers that read as obviously being the end of an issue, like a print comic series does when it’s collected together. The story kind of flows along, with plot and jokes happening, and where a volume begins or ends is less important than what the main thrust of the book’s story is. I should write something about getting to the end of book 6, since that was originally supposed to be the end of the series.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week! They supported the creation of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, and helped make that book possible! You can do that with my next graphic novel, which I will be serializing on Patreon as well. Backers at the $5/month and up tiers will get a copy mailed to them when it’s finished! You can also help me out for as little as $1 a month, because that really adds up when enough people get involved.

You can help out Hell, Inc. for free by clicking the banner below to vote on Top Webcomics, which you can do daily! It helps make the comic more visible to webcomic readers.

Next Week: Sara gains further insight into the hazards of floor-sleeping. Read it early on Patreon!

Hindsight

In the Patreon preview for this strip, I talk about the concept of joke density and my approach to incorporating it into Hell, Inc.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Shane Lees is Employee of the Week! He has a webcomic, Tales of Abuse, which you can check out at his website. You should also check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, which is my predictable form of income. One of these days it will replace the need to freelance! Not a SOON day, but one day!

You can help out Hell, Inc. for free by clicking the banner below to vote on Top Webcomics, which you can do daily! It helps make the comic more visible to webcomic readers.

Next Week: The strip that ends this arc! To be followed by… another arc! Read it early on Patreon!

The Bus Waits for No Demon

This week’s comic made me hyper-aware that my buffer is down to two weeks, which means I need to get drawing again. My efforts lately have been focused on a new pitch packet (one of those will land, one of these days) and BURGERPunk stuff. There was a loooooot of BURGERPunk stuff to draw.

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.

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: Getting Helen OFF the bus isn’t easy, either. Read it early on Patreon!

You Forgot Something

This week’s Patreon preview was mostly about anxieties involved in not having written a romantic story before, and also talking about fun ways to use thought bubbles. Hopefully the folks on Webtoon who leave comments about the romantic plot are hyped about this one! Far less people read Hell, Inc. on Webtoon, but more of them comment. It’s an interesting phenomenon, the way different platforms encourage different audience behaviours.

In other news, I was just on the Podside Picnic podcast again, this time talking about the Warhammer 40,000 shooter BOLTGUN. Hear me learn in real-time that I can accidentally do a pretty solid impression of Boltgun’s lead character, and also tell a lot of weird anecdotes about 40k that relate to the game. I had a blast recording it, so check it out!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and will get to read my next graphic novel as I draw it! It was intended to be Rent-A-Thug, but now it might end up being a different thing, depending on how some things pan out! Freelancing is chaos, as I often say, and part of that means pitching a lot of things, and almost all of them being rejected! Patreon is my predictable source of income, and I would very much like it to grow to the point where I can get into a workflow of webcomic + graphic novel, without worrying about pitches and the publishing industry.

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: From romcom to action movie!? Read it early on Patreon!

Helen the Cat

“Helen the Cat” sounds like it could be a newspaper comic from the 20th century that nobody remembers because it was proto-Garfield or Heathcliff or one of the other cat comics. Or maybe it’s like Cathy, but a cat?

This week’s Patreon preview was about the decision-making process involved in choosing what angle to view the action from in any given panel (specifically the ones that resulted in “Helen the Cat” being the title).

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 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: Helen the Catbus? Read it early on Patreon!

Bat-Steve

Da-nanna-nannaaaa *spinning Steve face transition*

This week’s Patreon preview was about the two important questions that need to be answered by the scripting process, which stemmed from a conversation I had with some other cartoonists.

In other news, I was sick with a cold last week, which is the first time that’s happened to me since 2018. I don’t recommend it!

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, so if you like things that I do, check it out.

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: Return of the Mack? No, I don’t think they make buses. Read it early on Patreon!