The Patreon preview for this strip is about how I approach making a strip interesting when there’s only one character speaking.
Brien is Employee of the Week! Patreon is my most predictable form of income, and even $1 a month is a huge help!
In other news, continue voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics. The Old Internet becomes the New Internet! Click the banner below to vote daily.
Next Week: Doug and Bridget workshop lies. Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!
My new tabletop RPG, Big Robots, Big Feelings, is live on Kickstarter!
The game, redesigned and expanded from the One Page RPG Jam version, is available in both PDF and print versions. The new book is 36 pages, full colour, and contains the complete game rules along with an adventure to get you started right away! It’s also jam-packed with original art!
Click on the graphic below to go to the Kickstarter page and get a copy!
I have exciting tabletop RPG news!
Big Robots, Big Feelings will be launching on Kickstarter in February as part of ‘Zine Quest 2026! This 36 page, full colour, ‘zine rebuilds the mechanics of Big Robots, Big Feelings from the ground up to maximize the focus on character and narrative. The result is a lean system and a book bursting with original art.
The Pre-Launch Page is live right now, and allows you to sign up to be notified when the campaign launches on February 10th.
My new webcomic, Dropkicks & Dragons, is LIVE! The first 10 pages are available on VoicesofWrestling.com, and there are 26 pages currently on Patreon, with new ones being added as I draw them! Click on the image below to start reading!
Exciting news, folks – I’ve been preparing my first comic in nearly two years for print, and it’s on Kickstarter RIGHT NOW!
Rent-A-Thug – La Cosa Glasnostra is a one-shot comic story for mature readers. It is the standalone story of arms dealers Rastovich and Red Ilsa trying to buy weapons looted from the former Eastern Bloc’s arsenal, and the ensuing bloodbath when that goes awry. Can their love survive betrayals and hails of gunfire, or will they drown in the sea of blood they’ve created? Rent-A-Thug began in 2005 as a comic strip in the University of Alberta newspaper, The Gateway. It ran until 2010, with hundreds of strips and pages of blood-soaked mayhem. Now, nearly 20 years later, it returns with La Cosa Glasnostra. A Rent-A-Thug graphic novel is currently in the works, and La Cosa Glasnostra is the first work paving the way for that book, aiming to reinvent the visual style and reintroduce readers to the world.La Cosa Glasnostra draws inspiration from numerous sources, including Grand Theft Auto IV; movies like Lord of War, Robocop, Tokyo Gore Police, and Snatch; and comics like Black Lagoon and Gunsmith Cats.
Production on the book is already COMPLETE – it’s ready to send to the printer as soon as the Kickstarter campaign wraps and I know how many I need to print.
I hope you’ll check it out – it’s a big stylistic stretch, and I’m really excited for people to read it and see what they think. Click on the cover, or pages below, to check it out!
*the pages below are not in sequence, they’re taken from throughout the comic
On June 18th, the first new Rent-A-Thug since 2010 is coming to print!
Rent-A-Thug – La Cosa Glasnostra is a one-shot comic story for mature readers. It is the standalone story of arms dealers Rastovich and Red Ilsa trying to buy weapons looted from the former Eastern Bloc’s arsenal, and the ensuing bloodbath when that goes awry. Can their love survive betrayals and hails of gunfire, or will they drown in the sea of blood they’ve created?
It will be launching on Kickstarter, and delivering in September. Options available to backers will include digital and print copies of La Cosa Glasnostra, art commissions from me, and digital (and some print) copies of many of my past projects! Please sign up to be notified when the Kickstarter launches, because having a lot of followers on it is helpful for algorithmic reasons I don’t understand.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffmartin/rent-a-thug-la-cosa-glasnostra-one-shot
The Art Gallery of Alberta is doing their 3rd Annual Comic & Zine Fair on April 13-14, and I’m going to be there!
It’s free to attend, so drop by the AGA and check out myself and a whole bunch of other vendors with cool comics, zines, and art! I’ll have copies of the Hockeypocalypse series, , both Hell, Inc. books plus the RPG, both Redcoats-ish books, BURGERPunk, GWAR, and other stuff! No, I cannot remember which books in my catalogue are still in print off the top of my head anymore. Click the image below to check out the AGA’s site and get more info on the vent!
Voting for the Sequential Magazine Awards closes at midnight Eastern time on March 31st, so if you haven’t voted yet, get to it! I’ve been nominated in the Favourite Cartoonist category! The Sequential awards are intended to recognize Canadian indie comics. Please go vote (for me, specifically), because I would very much like to win. Click on the image below to be taken to the landing page with the nominees and the link to the voting form (you can vote in as many or as few categories as you want).
I’ve been nominated for a Sequential Magazine Award in the Favourite Cartoonist category! The Sequential awards are intended to recognize Canadian indie comics. Please go vote (for me, specifically), because I would very much like to win. Click on the image below to be taken to the landing page with the nominees and the link to the voting form (you can vote in as many or as few categories as you want). Voting is done by comics fans, and is open until midnight Eastern on March 31.
My first video game, Space Jerks, is now available to play on itch.io! You have the option of playing for free in your browser, or naming your own price (including free) to download a copy!
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Space Jerks is the result of me learning how to make video games, and deciding to make an arcade shooter in the vein of Space Invaders. It’s got entirely hand-drawn art, and I also did the foley on the sound effects myself! Play Space Jerks! Do it now!
That’s right, I made a video game! The TL:DR is that patrons can download it, and anyone who becomes a patron at $1/month or above can download it. Right now! Click on the image below to go to Patreon, where you can find the post with the file and a free post talking about how I ended up making a video game at all, and how I landed on making “cooler looking Space Invaders.”
Space Jerks is fully hand-drawn, features sound effects that I foley’d myself, and music by Not Jam. It supports keyboard and controller control schemes, and even saves your high score! I want to hear what folks’ high scores are, that stuff is fun. Also let me know if you find any bugs, because my quality assurance department is me, and me using my wife’s computer. It’s not a huge sample size.
sara clearly has very little office experience – learning what you´re supposed to be doing by discretely watching your co-workers is an essential survival skill! not as crucial as appearing to be super busy while slacking though 😉