Location: O'Hellihan's

The Bill

I’m currently in the midst of a particularly notable streak of having no idea what day it is, so I’m glad some neurons fired to remind me that it was Monday and I needed to post the new comic.

Over on Patreon, my usual early reader post ended up being a much more detailed than usual look into the process of breaking a script into panels for the strip. If you’re interested in the process of the comic, chip in a buck and check that out.

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: We’re kicked out of the bar, now what? Read it early on Patreon!

 

The Most Christmas Party

It occurs to me that I’ve never actually been to a company Christmas party as an adult. I remember being dragged to some of my dad’s work events that were intended for the employees to bring their families, but my experiences at those were largely of being bored because I was, like, 8 or something. As an adult, I’ve either worked alone in my studio, which does not involve staff parties unless I put little party hats on my pets. Prior to that, I’ve either worked retail or in education, and the one Christmas party I was involved in at a school was a meal at a restaurant at a giant table seating 20 or 30 people, where everyone just talked to the 6-8 people near them, who were almost always the same people you talked to all the time at school. It certainly lacked Helen’s… bigness.

I’m going to be at Calgary Horror Con for the first time, selling the horror and horror-adjacent books from my catalogue, and maybe dipping out to watch movies if I get tired of talking.

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. 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: The bar staff are less enthusiastic about how things have gone than one might hope. Read it early on Patreon!

 

Drunk Santa vs. Ceiling Skeleton

Drunk Santa vs. Ceiling Skeleton, the fight of the century! If this was HEAT, you’d get about three months of that. I miss drawing beefy wrasslers doing violence to each other, but I do NOT miss trying to pace wrestling as a webcomic. The fact that anyone kept reading that comic while the Super Max Challenge Final took up a YEAR of posts might qualify them for sainthood. I’m currently developing another wrestling comic as a graphic novel pitch, so maybe drawing a lot of wrasslin’ again will be in my future.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and will get to read my new Rent-A-Thug graphic novel as I draw it! Subscribers to my newsletter have already seen the first page, which I think is several orders of magnitude cooler than any previous Rent-A-Thug stuff. 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.

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: Sara has very strong opinions about having gone to O’Hellihan’s instead of the Christmas party. Read it early on Patreon!

Cartoon Brawling Dust Cloud

Despite it seeming like the obvious visual choice, I avoided drawing an actual cartoon brawling dust cloud. I don’t have a high-minded formal reason for it, it just looked squashed and weird once I accounted for the space the balloon would take up. It was easier to communicate the same idea with a tangle of bodies that used the space better. Thinking about those kinds of decisions that go into making a comic is always interesting to me, as there’s rarely a definitive correct answer, but rather many viable options depending on what the artist intends to communicate to the reader.

In other news, Calgary Expo and FCBD are in the rearview mirror, which gives me a little over a month until I next appear amongst the living. I’ll be back in Calgary, this time for the Horror Con, on June 17th and 18th! It’s themed around Killer Klowns from Outer Space this year, which kicks ass, because that movie rules.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and will get to read my new Rent-A-Thug graphic novel as I draw it! Subscribers to my newsletter have already seen the first page, which I think is several orders of magnitude cooler than any previous Rent-A-Thug stuff. 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.

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: Helen’s romantic past! Read it early on Patreon!

Chaotic Helen Noises

Speaking of chaos, I have returned from the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. For my part, most of the chaos was the result of construction on the Stampede Grounds ensuring I rarely knew I where to go if I needed to go anywhere. Otherwise, things went pretty smoothly for me – a pleasant drive down, leisurely set-up, I remembered what all of my books were about to pitch them. And I went home with A LOT fewer books than I arrived with, which is always the goal. Thanks to everyone who bought books or prints, and hello to those of you discovering Hell, Inc. as a result of the con!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Me, because I am too tired to look up whose turn it is. If you would like to help support Hell, Inc. as well as my other comic-making, and the all-important “continuing to feed and house myself,” consider chipping in $1 a month or more over on Patreon. Patrons get bonuses such as early access to Hell, Inc. strips, tons of art from my other projects, and even custom digital art!

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 Ballad of Flailing Helen. It’s not a ballad, it’s more of screeching sound. Read it early on Patreon!

Against Helen’s Love

In the Patreon preview for this strip I wrote about the ways that Helen’s characterization has been unconsciously influenced by trash reality TV, and also accidentally created everyone’s new favourite reality show, Real Wine Moms of Hell. I assume the season order from Netflix is already in my email inbox.

April 27-30 I’ll be at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo for the first time in 4 years! Have I already had a panic attack about it? Sure have! My brain is garbage. Come and see me at table P01 in the Big 4 building, which I have conveniently mapped out below:

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’s problems become EVERYONE’s problems. Read it early on Patreon!

Hard to Get

Deciding on Helen’s character being “drunk chaos gremlin” was the most important element to making the O’Hellihan’s half of this volume come together. Whenever I needed something to move scenes along or punch up a strip, I could rely on Helen. She really became the driver of the second half of the book. Also, I’m talking about the story as a book because I’m starting to plan the big Hell, Inc. print collection, which will include 300 strips. It’s probably going to have two strips stacked on each page (like newspaper strip collections often do), because a 3.5″x8″ format probably can’t handle being 3″ thick. Maybe in hardback, but it seems like that would be an unpleasant reading experience, ergonomically. More thought will go into that in the next few months.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week. I’ve been a guest on several episodes, most recently the strange and Hell, Inc.-esque animated comedy Ugly Americans – a short-lived series that never quite reached the potential of its premise. I’m also on the episodes about extremely well-crafted but under-remembered ’90s sitcom NewsRadio and 2010s stoner thing that loosely adheres to its premise, Workaholics. I’ll also be returning on their new season about crime shows, discussing the shockingly good Star Wars spinoff Andor.

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: Does Drunk Santa reciprocate Helen’s feelings? Does Drunk Santa HAVE feelings? Read it early on Patreon!

Keep Dancing Until Santa Replaces Your Blood

If you stop dancing, Santa won’t replace your blood, and you… need that? Your blood? Or your blood replaced? Those are the only two states of blood, I think, but I’m not a doctor. I DO say “Bye, everybody!” like Dr. Nick on a pretty regular basis, though, which makes me an equivalent level of doctor.

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 follow him on Twitter 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 other comics I make without bothering to consider whether they suit the publishing zeitgeist).

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 continues to be ON ONE, and it gets weird(er). Read it early on Patreon!

Sobering Sponge

Sponges – for when you need to absorb things in your stomach, and also are a demon and already eat garbage and poison.

Also, some of you read this on Sunday, because I don’t know what time is and scheduled it for the wrong date. I also texted a friend of mine to ask how his book signing went… the day before it happened. I’m SO GOOD at time. And yet, I have never missed a professional deadline? I don’t know why I am like this.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read my next graphic novel as I draw it (more on that in the near future!) 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.

If you want to keep up with what I’m working on, what my friends are doing, and (most importantly) see cute photos of my pets, sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a helpful source of new readers! It’s early in the month, which means votes are more valuable as the rankings reset.

Next Week: Helen’s demands of Santa interrupt the party. Read it early on Patreon!

Even and Sticky

I’m bouncing between projects like a superball right now, which is kind of counter to how I prefer to work. Any given day I have about 5 things I could be working on, and another 2 or 3 that I should probably be thinking ahead toward. That is too many things, and largely why I wish I was the kind of creator who kills it on Patreon. That way I could pick one or two things and focus on those, and then do new things when those are done. That would be pretty great, and less stressful!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week, and is currently in her writing cave working on the large amounts of BURGERPunk RPG material that are the result of the improbably overachievement of the Kickstarter. Speaking of crowdfunding, Patreon! It lets me have predictable income and focus on making the comics I want to make! If every Hell, Inc. reader kicked in just a dollar a month, I’d be able to cut my freelancing down to just “I have been offered a lucrative book deal” stuff! That would be very cool.

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: Sobering up in Hell is not better than sobering up on Earth. Read it early on Patreon!