Chapter: 2024

Moving On!

The last Hell, Inc. of 2024! The patron preview for this strip talked about how Willis’ experience comes from my own teaching experience.

In other news, I got a Retroid Pocket 5 for Christmas, and now I must pry myself away from it to draw more Hell, Inc. strips.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week! Patreon is a predictable form of income, which I appreciate, because freelancing and doing cons creates a wild income rollercoaster! If everyone who reads the comic chipped in a dollar a month, I’d be able to stop panicking about picking up freelance work and do more of my own stuff, which would be ideal.

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: Bridget has notes on Helen’s notes. Read it early on Patreon!

You May Remember Me From Such Training Videos…

The Patreon preview for this strip is about how the demon in the video was originally just Troy McClure from The Simpsons, and then I talk my joke writing philosophy in terms of pop culture references.

Merry Christmas in a few days, for those who celebrate, and have a good week for everyone who doesn’t! Feel free to revisit the Christmas party arc of Hell, Inc. for all your festive comic needs. It starts here, and goes for, like, 150 pages.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

YOU, THE READER! There are a lot more of you than there were last year, which is awesome. It’s ideal, really, because if less people were reading the comic, that would be a real bummer. Special thanks to those of you who support me on Patreon, because any kind of predictable income is incredible. I’m looking forward to 2025, where I have an actual plan for a bunch of really cool new comic and RPG stuff that will hopefully not be destroyed immediately by circumstance.

BEHOLD! I have finally made a new Top Webcomics banner, only six years after first using the site header as a temporary one! You can click on it to vote, daily, because Top Webcomics is still a very effective traffic driver, and more votes means more eyeballs.

Next Week: Willis may have jumped the gun on the whole “no questions” thing. Read it early on Patreon!

Unsolicited Tech Support

Brought to you by every presentation where some computer thing doesn’t quite work! The Patreon preview for this strip was about unsolicited tech support, comics as choosing a series of moments, and school AV carts.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Trash the Stampede is Employee of the Week, and can be found on the internet at The Word Eater. They could also be found next to me at my last market of the year, which was last week! Patreon is also a predictable source of income, which helps calm the increasingly rough waters of freelancing, so I very much appreciate the people who support me on it!

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: What does a workplace orientation video in Hell look like? Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!

They’re ART

I have a buddy who I regularly tell to fuck off because he calls his drawings doodles, but it’ll be an immaculate artwork that he spent like 15 hours on. Helen’s are much more in the ballpark of what I would consider a doodle. I also spent an unnecessary amount of effort on making Helen’s handwriting not look like mine. Oh, I also wrote a Patreon preview for this strip, which is about how I hear way more sound effects than I will actually put into a comic.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week! They supported the creation of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, and helped make that book possible! Which is good, because Hockeypocalypse continues to be my best seller at conventions.  You can also help me out for as little as $1 a month, because that really adds up when enough people get involved.

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: Willis does some I.T. work before orientation can start. Read it early on Patreon!

Visual Learner

The Patreon preview for this strip is about not remembering which jokes were in short stories that most of the audience didn’t read! It’s fine, it makes sense without that knowledge.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

In a break from tradition, the Employee of the Week isn’t a bit, I actually hired somebody to do website work. Christian DeWolf of Shellscript.ca came on board and did a great job of fixing a bunch of site issues that had accumulated, and also made it so more people will actually see these newsposts, which is very helpful. If you need web development services, I highly recommend reaching out to Christian!

Relatedly, such services cost money, so if you want to kick in a buck or two to the Patreon, that would be very helpful! Patron support pays for things like “the website existing” and once that’s covered, “thing I need to live.”

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. It’s a new month, which means the rankings have reset and votes are worth more (relatively speaking). Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Did Helen take any actual notes? We find out! Read it early on Patreon!

What’s in a Name?

This strip’s Patreon preview was, like last week’s, about the design process for the Satanic Baseball Simulator team logos.

In other news, I’ve removed the Twitter sidebar from the site, and also removed my Twitter account from existing. You can find me on Bluesky, which has been a pretty great experience so far. It’s already become the biggest social media presence I’ve ever had, which is wild.

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 because we live in capitalist hell-world. 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. Especially now, because I am brooooke.

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: How is Bridget and Helen’s project in the Real Break Room going? Read it early on Patreon!

The Fighting Rays

The Patreon preview for this strip was about the process of designing the logos for the Satanic Baseball Simulator teams. Will it come up again next week? Yes.

Also, a brief PSA – some maintenance is being done on the site, so there might be some outages.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, which means they are one of the folks helping support Hell, Inc. and my other non-freelance art endeavours! For example, I want to draw another wrestling comic.  Patreon can make that possible! Even $1 goes a long way, and adds up pretty fast when enough readers show their support.

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: Doug looks for support among his colleagues. Read it early on Patreon!

Pop Flys and Pop-Ups

The Patreon preview for this strip was about coming up with the visual jokes in the background of the last panel. I could have probably written about the usefulness of multi-image motion for panels like Doug spinning in his chair, but I’m sure I’ll have more opportunities for that.

I’ll be at the Holiday Geeky Gifts Market at the Edmonton Expo Centre on November 16-17, so if you’re in Edmonton, check that out. I’ll also be at the Dark Star Comic & Toy Show on December 1st, also in Edmonton.

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.

Patreon! It’s a predictable income that I would like to be bigger so I can do less freelance and more stuff that I want to do! You get early access to Hell, Inc. strips, new comics, my new ttrpg Big Robots, Big Feelings, and more!

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: Ray has OPINIONS about Doug’s team name. Read it early on Patreon!

Speculate Wildly

You know what’s a great way to make a strip take a long time to draw? Make each panel have multiple characters, and only one of them is a main character that I’ve developed muscle memory for!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week, and I’ve made yet another guest appearance! This time, we talked about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury! We talk about the Prologue, which is an insane rarity – a first episode that is also the best episode of the series. You also get to hear me say some absurd Gundam character names, which I could have done for MUCH longer. You can also hear me talk about a bunch of other shows, like Better Call Saul, Newsradio, Workaholics, and Ugly Americans!

You can also head over to Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below, where voting can help draw new readers to Hell, Inc.! It’s early in the month, and votes count for more because the rankings reset.

Next Week: Back to the office, where things are very normal. Read it early on Patreon!

Reasonable Timeline

The Patreon preview for this strip was about how I treat coming up with background character designs like jazz. In other news, I have finished rebuilding the book design file for the Big Hell, Inc. Book that I’ve mentioned a bunch of times. It took several weeks, and involved recolouring/lettering about 30 strips as well as the front and back covers, and redoing all of the page layout. But now it’s done! It also has a real title, Hell, Inc. Afterlife-time Employment. I don’t know when it’s coming out yet, though. It might get a publisher? Who knows! But you’re reading this, so you’ll definitely hear about it when I have updates.

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 check out his website 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!

You can also head over to Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below, where voting can help draw new readers to Hell, Inc.!

Next Week: We learn about death. Statistically. Read it early on Patreon!