Chapter: 2021

Busted

Patreon patrons will be aware that I’ve retitled this strip. The reasons for that are two-fold: 1) the original title on the Patreon preview was long and terrible and 2) I forgot that I had already titled every strip that’s already drawn for alternate reasons I think I’m now supposed to mention yet. In news I can tell you about, I’m almost 20 strips ahead! This one is 167, and I finished 186 on the weekend. Now I need to get back to the script mines to wrap the rest of book 5 (which will end on 210).

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Azhar Baig is Employee of the Week and would like you to consider supporting (NAME OF CHARITY HERE). You might also consider supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon, where readers have access to new digital works as soon as they release and new patrons get access to over a thousand pages of digital comics!

You can also support Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which is the largest source for new readers of the comic. You can vote daily by clicking on the banner below!

Next Week: When the boss is happy, nobody else is. Read it early on Patreon!

Elaborate Scheme

It’s always deflating when you come up with an elaborate scheme that feels like the peak of your genius and somebody goes ahead and suggests the straightforward, easy solution that you had already written off. Really ideal for writing this specific joke, though!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Christine Bennett, better known as Purple Pony Art, is Employee of the Week! She has early access to Hell, Inc. Volume 4: “Mandatory,” and you can, too! Head over to the Hell, Inc. Patreon and for as little as $1 a month you’ll get access to that book and over 1000 pages of over digital comics! That started as a pandemic thing that I expected to last two or three months, but here we are still doing it!

You can also help support Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which is the primary source of new readers for the comic. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Mission: Incredibly Possible. Read it early on Patreon!

The Greatest Hits

What are the toady greatest hits, you ask? FIND OUT NEXT WEEK! How’s that for a next episode tease? What? It’s lame? Well who asked you, anyway?

All right, I’m having a conversation with myself now, so I’m gonna stop and move this thing along.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! In fact, you can also read Hell, Inc. Volume 4 – “Mandatory” before the general public by donating as little as $1 a month to Hell, Inc. on Patreon! There are also over a thousand pages of other comics available to patrons, so check that out.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, where a large number of new readers come from. Vote daily by clicking the banner below, as it helps the comic move up the ranks and gain greater visibility!

Next Week: Schemes upon schemes upon easily actionable non-schemes. Read it early on Patreon!

Demoted

Less than 10 panels between promotion and demotion has to be some kind of record, right?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Jillian Dolan, artist of Kyle the Nihilist Dinosaur, Misha, and other delightful comics, is Employee of the Week! She is one of the folks with exclusive early access to the digital edition of Hell, Inc. Volume 4: Mandatory and its bonus short comic detailing the only origin story that really matters: the bad chair. Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you, too, can find out where that most diabolical of furniture pieces came from.

It’s the beginning of the month, which means that votes for Hell, Inc. are hugely valuable on Top Webcomics as the rankings reset! Help new readers find our humble office demon comic by clicking the banner below to vote. You can vote daily!

Next Week: Back to the greatest hits? Read it early on Patreon!

A Promotion’s a Promotion

A promotion is a promotion, except when it’s actually kind of a punishment, like when I worked at a Blockbuster and my supervisors made less than a dollar-an-hour more than me but had to do paperwork.

There’s only ONE WEEK left to vote for Hell, Inc. in the Best Webcomic category of the Sequential Magazine Awards for Canadian independent comics. I would really appreciate it if you did that, because validation is good, actually. And even better when I can hang it on my office wall! Seriously, though, please go vote by clicking the image below.

If you want to check out the nominees in the other categories, many of whom are friends and acquaintances of mine, check out the full nominee list by clicking here.

Employee of the Week returns next week (for real, this time) when I have my shit together and remember to prep the update ahead of time like normal.

Next Week: Promotions are followed by bad decisions. Read it early on Patreon!

Terrible Step-stool

It turns out that humans are not actually good step-stools, especially when they are much smaller than you are.

You’ve probably seen it on the site or on social media by now, but Hell, Inc. has been nominated for an award! It’s up for Best Webcomic in the Sequential Magazine Awards (which are for Canadian independent comics), which is very cool. The winner is voted for by you, the people, and you can vote by clicking the image below! I would really appreciate it if you did that, because winning things rules and I want an award to put in my office (the last one I won saw the company shut down before they sent me my plaque).

If you want to check out the nominees in the other categories, many of whom are friends and acquaintances of mine, check out the full nominee list by clicking here.

Employee of the Week returns next week when I have my shit together and remember to prep the update ahead of time like normal.

Next Week: Even the good news is bad news. Read it early on Patreon!

The Most Terrible Punishment

The most terrible punishment… is forced festivity!? It is in Hell! And also malls in December.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cindy Gauthier is Employee of the Week, and can help fulfill all of your COVID-related mask needs. If you want to get your comics needs handled, support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, where you’ll get a digital copy of Hell, Inc. Volume 4: “Mandatory” (which includes a book-exclusive short story) as well as over 1000 pages of other comics!

You can also support Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which is the largest source of new readers. It’s highly ranked this month, so thanks for voting and keep it up by clicking on the banner below!

Next Week: Is Sara as sturdy as soap box? Find out on Patreon!

Champions of Unpaid Overtime

It was my birthday yesterday, which feels like more of an achievement in pandemic world than it has in the past. It was a pretty good birthday, all things considered – the Oilers and Raptors both won, I got an awesome piece of art as a gift (which you can see on my Twitter). While being a truly bizarre year of existence, 2020 was actually pretty good for my cartooning career, and you’ll be seeing some of the results of that later this year.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin is Employee of the Week. You can find Ben’s podcasts/streams on the Infinity Break Network! He also has access to Hell, Inc. Volume 4: Mandatory, and you can too if you head over to the Hell, Inc. Patreon page and chip in as little as $1/month! Patrons have access to both the third and fourth Hell, Inc. print books in their digital form, including exclusive short stories in each, and over 1000 pages of other digital comics!

It’s the beginning of the month, which means votes on Top Webcomics are worth a lot more as the rankings reset monthly. It’s the primary source of new readers for Hell, Inc., so vote early and often! You can vote daily by clicking on the banner below.

Next Week: The most diabolical punishment revealed. Read it early on Patreon!

Somebody Else to Blame

Why be introspective and learn about yourself when you can blame your failures on others? It’s so much easier!

In other news, I just signed some paperwork that will lead to exciting Hell, Inc. developments in THE FUTURE. Dunno how far into the future, that part isn’t really up to me.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Robbie Dorman is Employee of the Week, and is co-host of a new podcast called Cartoon Graveyard! I was the first guest in the podcast’s history, on the episode about The Mighty Ducks cartoon (it’s really weird!). You should check it out, and also check out his main podcast, The Simpsons Show. You should ALSO check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, where Hell, Inc. Volume 4: Mandatory is now available to patrons at any level!

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

Next Week: Blame Game World Champions! Read it early on Patreon!

Emotional Growth?

B.L. Zebub having a temper tantrum is always a lot of fun to write and draw. Much more fun than actual bosses having temper tantrums.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Welcome Shane Lees, our new Employee of the Week! He’s one of the first to have access to Hell, Inc. Volume 4: Mandatory because he supports Hell, Inc. on Patreon, but YOU CAN, TOO! If you want access to digital copies of Hell, Inc. books 3 and 4, plus over a thousand pages of other comics, you can get that for as little as $1 while also helping keep the mortgage paid on the Hell, Inc. offices by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

You can also help out by voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a prime source of new readers! You can vote once per day to boost the comic’s visibility on the rankings. Vote by clicking on the banner below.

Next Week: Turning despair into despair-aie. You don’t want to meet the Despaire-Aid Man. Read it early on Patreon!