Chapter: 2018

And His Brain Vomited Forever

Happy New Year, this is strip number 50! Despite the technical difficulties early in the year, Hell, Inc. still managed to hit 50 pages in the first 11 months. That’s a pretty good start. It’s such a good start, that what could be the first Hell, Inc. print collection is done. I’m debating how big of a book I want to do for the first collection, but I’m leaning towards doing smaller, more frequent editions instead of waiting until I’ve got 150+ pages done and making a monster of a book like the HEAT one. I’ll have to price some stuff out and see how I can make the math work. But that will be a 2019 task, because for the rest of 2018, I’m playing games and colouring Hell, Inc. strips.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:
We’re back at the start of the rotation with Cait of the North. Follow her on Twitter, where she is better at promoting my comics than I am. What, putting the guy who just wants to stay at home and draw cartoon pictures all the time in charge of marketing is, perhaps, not a great business move? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You know what IS a great business move? Supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon. It keeps me, the dumbass artist, from having to do actual business shit all the time. Instead, I can make more comics to entertain you. So, Patreon. Go do it.

Next Week: The first Hell, Inc. of 2019, wherein Doug grows a backbone to replace the one his brain just vomited up. Read it early on Patreon!

“Or Something”

Christmas kind of snuck up on me, so no Christmas break from posting this year. I have been taking an extended Christmas break from actually doing any work, though, which has been very nice. After the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter, and the pretty major efforts involved in finishing the book to get it shipped before Christmas, I’ve been taking some time off. Aside from keeping up on Hell, Inc. and some minor illustration work, I’ve mostly been playing Pokemon Let’s Go on the Nintendo Switch that my partner and I bought during a Black Friday sale. Which, after a year with a few pretty difficult deadlines, it feels weird to not have to do much.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

ALL OF YOU! Merry Christmas, you all get a shout-out for supporting Hell, Inc. through its first year. It was a weird year. The strip did really well, readership-wise, out of the gate, and then the webhosting issues kind of cratered that. It’s been a slow climb since then, but hopefully 2019 will continue to see more readers join you fine people and turn Hell, Inc. into a (gasp) popular webcomic!? Ha, no, I’m just kidding, I’d be happy if it could readily achieve “webcomic with a reasonable readership.” If you want to help support Hell, Inc., and are broke from the holiday season, SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS! Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr (does that still exist now that the porn is gone?), send it directly to people you think would like it – however you do it, word of mouth is 1000% the best way to grow readership.

Next Week: Why was the intern sleeping on the real break room floor? Find out early by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon!

Have A Nice Trip

See ya next Fall! Ah, jokes that make elementary school kids think they’re clever. I still don’t like this title very much, but it’s better than the original title that Patreon partrons saw last week.

A lot of effort went into making Doug’s fall the exact right kind of ridiculous-looking. Drawing physical comedy moments like that is a ton of fun, so I always want to try to make it as fun for the reader as it was for me.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of the pirate-themed Pathfinder podcast Cursed, is this week’s Employee of the Week! If you’re one of the zillion listeners of the Adventure Zone, give it a listen! If you want to be Employee of the Week, hit up the Hell, Inc. patreon and keep the corporate gold card paid off.

Next Week: Adventures in the refrigerator! Check the fridge early on Patreon!

Meat-ing

I don’t know if this is the dirtiest joke in the comic so far, but it’s probably the least subtle. Especially since it’s a Steve joke, and he allows me to exercise my desire to make terrible jokes with full belief that they’re funny.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Robbie Dorman, host of the Simpsons Show and Serial Fanatacist podcasts, is the Employee of the Week. I just mailed his Hockeypocalypse Season 4 book. He also has a Patreon, perhaps consider throwing him a few bucks as well, yes? CORPORATE SYNERGY. If you want to get in on the corporate synergy, support the Hell, Inc. Patreon so I can keep using the corporate gold card.

Next Week: Gotta get some jet fuel, and things get weird in the Real Break Room. Get into the Real Break Room on Patreon.

How!?

That’s a very good question, Willis. Doug’s drawing reminds me of the drawings I used to do on the back of tests. I never liked being the first one to hand a test in, so I would draw on the back until somebody else handed theirs in. Upon having one German quiz returned, I discovered that the professor had ALSO drawn on the back of my test – a dinosaur drawn chasing soldier I had doodled (who later became George in Redcoats-ish). That worked out better for everyone than whatever B.L. Zebub is doing to that poor computer.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Happy Harbor Comics is the Employee of the Week, and also the reason why I worked a 12 hour day helping run a book fair in Beaumont, AB last week. I was actually happy to help, until I spent an hour in traffic trying to return the fixtures and leftover product to the store. I was much less happy about that. Make me happy by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon, where you’ll be supporting a less evil corporation than… well, most of them.

Next Week: Steve makes puns, Doug makes faces. Learn more of Steve’s punmanship by reading next week’s comic early on Patreon!

Actual Chlamydia

Most strips turn out more-or-less like the final thumbnail sketch of the script, but not drawn as a tiny rectangle full of scribbly lines that are indecipherable to anyone but me. This one ended up changing a lot – it was supposed to be a pretty standard row of five panels, with the inset panel that is panel 2. Then I tried to lay it out on paper, and realized that I had laid it out in the thumbnail and made it too wide, and didn’t actually have room for it to be five panels wide AND fit the dialogue bubbles. The end result is way more visually interesting, I think, and made me a lot happier with the strip than I would have been if it was just a normal five panel layout.

Employee of the Week:

Brien Aronov is the Employee of the Week! We haven’t had a new Employee of the Week in a while – let’s get some new names in the rotation. You can do that by giving some money to the Hell, Inc. Patreon, which is how I pay for things like the website and justifying working on this instead of taking more freelance work.

Next Week: How does a computer get an STD? A theory. Read it early on Patreon!

Work the Butts

The Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter is over (thanks to all of you who pledged your support and helped share the project), and other than some administrative end stuff (making the surveys, sending files to the printer, stuff that doesn’t take much more thought than the effort to type it), I have done pretty much nothing but draw next week’s Hell, Inc. strip and paint Warhammer dudes. First, I painted a bunch of Ork Boyz, and have since moved on to finishing up a Kharadron Overlords Thunderers squad.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is Employee of the Week! While the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter made a great leap forward, the Patreon took a bit of a step back. At 20 patrons you’re all getting the original Hell, Inc. issues #1 and 2 as physical copies in the mail, so harangue your friends into supporting our favourite capitalist hellscape. Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon – because old, rich white dudes need your money less than I do. Goddamn, how isn’t corporate America banging down my door with genius promo lines like that?

Next Week: After you work the butts, remember that you’re in an Inhuman Resources seminar. Read it early by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

Horny For Work

Last chance for the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter! It’s wrapping up at 5PM MT on Wednesday. Take a few seconds to back it now, and avoid the regret of missing out!

One day I will master digital type on a frosted glass pane on a door. This was a huge improvement over the last attempt, however, which involved giving up and leaving the window un-lettered.

In the original Hell, Inc. comics, this meeting was about harpy safety in the workplace (aka how to be safe from harpies in the workplace). The harpies will show up in this version, at some point, but I haven’t decided on their role in the new story yet.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Still the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter. Back it, it’s my favourite book I’ve made. Next week, back to patron shoutouts as Employee of the Week. If you want said shoutout, perhaps to promote something of your own, support Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

Next Week: Work the Butts. Find out what that means early on Patreon.

Your Plans Mean Nothing to the Photocopier

This strip was the first thing I’d coloured digitally in well over a month. It went smoother than I was expecting, to be honest – with the palette now pretty firmly set, I guess it’s easier to pick up after a long time off than it would have been earlier in the comic.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

The Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter has passed its funding goal, so it’s Employee of the Week again, and will be until the campaign ends and I can send the book off to the printer.

Next Week: It’s the start of a new day, but the New Day. Read it early on Patreon.

 

Your Plans Mean Nothing To Me

Apparently I hadn’t drawn a Hell, Inc. strip in over a month. So good on me for building up a solid buffer, I guess?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

ME! The Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter campaign funded in just 12 days, well ahead of the 20 day mark set by Where Is Zog?, so I’m going to pat myself on the back for no longer having to exist in a state of low-level anxiety about how long it’s going to take to fund and if people actually like anything I do. You should check it out, and buy one or more books. You can get the entire series (over 400 pages) for $82 CAD (roughly $62 USD) including shipping! It’s funded, so it’s pretty much a pre-order at this point, and the more pre-orders I get, the more cool bonus stuff will be unlocked in the stretch goals.

Next Week: I just finished lettering next week’s comic, and it’s maybe the end of the first print book? I haven’t decided how long the print books will be, yet. Anyway, Patrons can see it early.