Chapter: 2022

Jazz Hands!

Jazz hands are a very effective technique when trying to distract your boss from the fact that you don’t actually have all that much usable information to give them. It really JAZZES things up, y’know? I’ll show myself out.

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 exploring space and how the things that are in space are often terrifying. Season 2 has just begun! Want to read my brand new graphic novel Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it? Support me (and by extension, Hell, Inc.) on Patreon at the $5/month or higher tier! Want me to draw some stuff for you? Only 20 or 30 bucks. Get on board, where we’re going we need comics.

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics by clicking on the banner below daily! It helps boost Hell, Inc.’s visibility to fans of other webcomics.

Next Week: B.L. Zebub has big plans, and he doesn’t need to tell you peasants about them. Read it early on Patreon!

The Good Motor Oil

I don’t know about you, but if I spit out my drink and Beetlejuice is in it, I’m not going to be happy with whoever made it.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week. You can check out the two episodes of Syndicated that I guested on to hear my talk with my meat voice about workplace comedies. I’m on the episodes about extremely well-crafted but under-remembered ’90s sitcom NewsRadio and 2010s stoner thing that loosely adheres to its premise, Workaholics.

In other news (if it still counts as news when I’ve been doing it for months) I’m serializing my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers on Patreon at the $5/month and up tier, which gets you 10-15 pages of the book as I draw them! It’s the best book I’ve made so far, so you should absolutely check it out, because patrons at the $5/month and up tiers will ALSO be getting a print copy of the book when that’s ready.

You can help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Sara might actually be a good spy? That doesn’t sound right. Read it early on Patreon!

The Shape of a Name

The writing process for Hell, Inc. is a lot looser than it is when I’m working on a graphic novel, largely due to the delivery method. When the reader is only getting one page at a time, it’s more important that each individual strip be able to function semi-independently than a page of a book needs to. In practical terms, it gives me more license to do weird little asides like this one that came from realizing that B.L. Zebub had never actually said Ray’s name out loud before.

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. You should also follow him on Twitter to learn about his new novel releases. He writes that good good scary shit. You should ALSO check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, which is currently host to my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers. I’m posting new pages every week for patrons at the $5/month and up levels. You get to help me have an income while I draw the book AND you’ll get a printed copy in the mail when they’re ready! So go support your favourite cartoonist for the cost of a coffee (which is a terrible point to convince someone of anything, since caffeine is addictive and, unfortunately, my comics are not).

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

Next Week: Detective B.L. Zebub is on the case. Read it early on Patreon!

Object Permanence

I’m bouncing between projects like I’m a superball right now. I’m currently alternating between working on Hell, Inc., Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, Reforged, and writing the graphic novel that I’ll be working on after Slashers. Oh, and some stuff to send to literary agents. If effort and income were directly correlated, I would be much less horrified at how much my new glasses prescription costs.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it, 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.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps push it up the rankings and make it more visible to new readers! It’s a new month (tomorrow), so be sure to get your votes in as the rankings reset. Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: B.L. Zebub is extremely good at his job and keeping track of his underlings. Stop laughing. Read it early on Patreon!

Good at Being a Face

What’s that, Doug’s inability to process signals exists because I also can’t process signals? Nah, sounds fake, nobody would write that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it, 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.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps push it up the rankings and make it more visible to new readers! Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Sara is still traumatized and Doug might not have object permanence. Psychological stuff! Read it early on Patreon!

Work Place Skeleton Face

Work Place Skeleton Face is my new band, and also my office aesthetic in case things go downhill and I need a real job. I shall have a visage that engenders in my co-workers uncertainty and a strong desire to stop interacting with me. That seems ideal.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait is Employee of the Week at Hell, Inc. and also at her soap business, Soaps & Sorcery. She’s running a clearance sale to allow new product to cycle in, so get on that and get cleanified. You, too, can support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, which includes access to Hockeypocalypse: Slashers at the $5 or great tiers, and original digital art commissions! So do that, because Patreon is the only even slightly predictable income I have!

Vote daily for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below! It’s the most consistent way to bring in new readers to the comic! The best way, it turns out, is to have a viral tweet, but I have no control over that.

Next Week: Longing for the future where you aren’t in the office for eleventy-two hours a day. Read it on Patreon!

The Wrong Focus

I’m almost certain I wrote this strip shortly after saying “you’re focusing on the wrong thing” in real life, which happens semi-regularly. Because I say a lot of things, and most of them don’t matter, but are also weird enough that they draw attention away from the part that did matter. I’m very good at speaking.

In other news, my OTHER webcomic just debuted! I’m working with artist and friend of Hell, Inc. (and me, specifically) Daniel Schneider on Reforged, a Warhammer Age of Sigmar comic on the Warhammer Community website! New episodes will be going up every Friday for the duration of our 10 episode first season.

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 also the creation of my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers. I can say, without hesitation, it is the best book I have ever drawn. And you can see every new page as I draw them!

Vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics! Click the banner below to vote daily, which helps put Hell, Inc. in front of new readers!

Next Week: Sara returns to spy mode and Helen gets weird. Read it early on Patreon!

Soul Searching

Why yes, I did realize when I sat down to draw this strip that I was going to have to invent a search engine for Hell. For something made up on the spot, I’m pretty happy with it. B.L. Zebub isn’t, so much, but I am.

In other news, it’s my birthday today! If you want to help me celebrate (and also boost my Etsy rating), buy a book or two from my Etsy store between now and February 7th, 2022! You get great books at a discount, I get money to pay for things like new glasses! Everyone wins.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

It’s me, for surviving another year. Next week it could be you, if you support Hell, Inc. on Patreon! At the $5/month or higher tier, you get to read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as a premium webcomic before it goes to print (at which point you will get a copy in the mail!).

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! Unless you’re reading this on update day, it’s a new month, which means votes are worth more as the rankings reset! Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Checking in with the intern spy, who is focusing on the wrong thing. Read it early on Patreon!

A Third Thing

Drawing attention to the rule of comedy threes is a joke structure I always love when I see it. Speaking of seeing, the comic you’re seeing was drawn EIGHT MONTHS after the comic from last week. In between I drew most of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers and have been working on some SECRET PROJECTS. One of those is supposed to come out right away, which will be cool.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week, but is unfortunately not a ninja turtle (as far as I know). You, too, can have me speculate about whether you might be a mutant reptile by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon. If you pledge at the $5/month or higher level, you’ll get to read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it! Which you should want to do, because it rips.

You can also help out by voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics! Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: B.L. Zebub figures out his tormentation strategy, and I make up the word tormentation. Read it early on Patreon!

Favourite Person-Adjacent Demon Thing

You, too, should make sure you tell your favourite person-adjacent demon thing that they’re your favourite person-adjacent demon thing. Sometimes when I write these news posts it feels like I’m just shotgunning words into the ether. This is one of those times. You’re welcome. Also, this is the last strip in book 5. Next week will be the first strip of book 6. There was just shy of 8 months between drawing those strips!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Shane Lees is Employee of the Week! He also does a webcomic, called The First Dude, which you can check out at his website. You should also check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, where for $5/month you can read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it! I’m in the midst of drawing the absolutely massive issue 15 (which is 60 pages long!) You also get Hell, Inc. strips early, or, at higher levels, you can commission original art from me!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which helps drive new readers to the site. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Book six begins! Read it early on Patreon!