Character: B.L. Zebub

Attentive

B.L. Zebub is extremely attentive and aware of what’s going on around him. Extremely. The Patreon preview for this strip was about realizing just how many characters there are in Hell, Inc. There are a lot!

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 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: Doug has great communication skills. Read it early on Patreon!

 

I’m Very Good

The Patreon preview for this strip is mostly about the extremely annoying week I’ve had. It’s less insightful to the comics making process, but pretty insightful to being a person who would rather be drawing than dealing with Life Being Expensive.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Trash the Stampede  can be found on the internet at The Word Eater. Now all I can think about is that old computer game Number Munchers, but with words. Maybe I should make that? I have made a video game, Space Jerks, and Patreon patrons got to download it well before anyone else! Patreon is also a predictable source of income, which helps calm the increasingly rough waters of freelancing.

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: Sara unlocks the secret code for helpfulness. Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!

Keeping Janitorial Busy

Early update! It’s because the site needs updating that I need somebody else to do, and have to get up much earlier than normal to teach a comic class on Monday morning. I figure earlier is preferable to posting it mid-afternoon when I get home.

Thank you to everyone who supported Rent-A-Thug – La Cosa Glasnostra on Kickstarter! Now I can stop yelling about it and instead start getting it ready to send out to folks!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week! They supported the creation of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, and helped make that book possible!  Supporters at the $5/up tiers get to read my graphic novels as I create them, and get a copy at the end! More backers = faster progress, because I currently spend a lot of time freelancing to make money, which is important for being alive. 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: Doug is extremely helpful. Read it early on Patreon!

Hiring Judgement

The Patreon preview for this strip talks about the writing utility of B.L. Zebub making everything about himself.

In other news, the Kickstarter for Rent-A-Thug – La Cosa Nostra is almost over (it ends at 5 PM MT on Tuesday, June 9th)! I’m very tired. If you haven’t backed it yet, you should go do that, because I want people to read the things I make. Click on the cover below to go to the Kickstarter page!

Next Week: Cerberus Update, which sounds like a segment on Satanday Night Live. Read it early on Patreon!

Very Successful

The Patreon preview for this strip is about the differences in approach between digital and hand lettering, because I guess I’m thinking about lettering a lot lately. The fact that I have any room for thoughts that aren’t about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is probably a good sign? Then again, if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, I might end up only ever drawing Hockeypocalypse comics for the rest of time, so who knows!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

New hire Raymond is Employee of the Week! And you can, too! Supporting me on Patreon makes you both a Cool and Good Person, and also means I can dedicate time to the art I want to make instead of spending time in the panic-inducing world of freelancing!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a very useful way to reach new readers. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Bridget asks what she missed, and gets more information than she would like. Read it early on Patreon!

Chant Harder!

The Patreon preview for this strip is about the problems I gave myself trying to fit B.L. Zebub’s speech into one panel so I could keep the last three panels separate for comic timing. Do people know that I write something about the process of making each strip on Patreon? Well, if you didn’t, now you do.

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: All right, good shame, everybody. Read it early on Patreon!

Psychic Memo

Psychic memos are how I wish I could make story notes. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a perfect joke or line of dialogue, then by the time I tried to write it down I had forgotten some or all of it. It’s very annoying.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! I deeply appreciate your support on Patreon, which is a predictable source of income that, should it grow enough, can reduce or replace the need to freelance. That means more of the stuff you like, and less trying to figure out how to get work as every industry funnels all of its money into the C-suite. You also get benefits like early comics, pages from my graphic novels as I work on them, and other stuff like my video game!

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: The Great Shamening begins! Read it early on Patreon!

Maximum Shame

A crowd scene with a painting and decorations in the background was very smart. Good job, me. Really making things easy on myself, there. I just drew a more complicated strip that will be published in a few months, so I’m sensitive to my own decisions about staging that makes drawing harder. What makes things easier is getting to write B.L. Zebub, which is what the Patreon preview for this strip is about.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week, and has been hard at work in the BURGERPunk mines. I haven’t figured out how I want to incorporate the RPG stuff into the Patreon, but I should, because people seem to really like that stuff. 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 drop some 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: What ARE the shame plans? Find out! Read it early on Patreon!

Regrettable Pluck

The “I can do it” to “I’ve made a huge mistake” pipeline runs fast at Hell, Inc. And also in making Hell, Inc., where I insist on drawing a library stack of personnel documents that the reader will look at for somewhere between 3 and 10 seconds. This week’s Patreon preview involves thoughts about organizing my own reference material for Hell, Inc., which is not a library stack. It is a stack of folders, about six inches tall, and many many digital folders on a hard drive. This system does not make it nearly as easy to find reference material as I would like. But actually changing that is a lot of effort, so…

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

New hire Trash the Stampede brings a fantastic Patreon username to the company, and can be found on the internet at The Word Eater. Now all I can think about is that old computer game Number Munchers, but with words. Maybe I should make that? I have made a video game, Space Jerks, and Patreon patrons got to download it well before anyone else! Patreon is also a predictable source of income, which helps calm the increasingly rough waters of freelancing.

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: Sara vs. The Paperwork. Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!

Delusions of Upward Mobility

It’s busy around the Comics Bunker (aka the corner of the living room where my art desk is) these days. I’m bouncing between a freelance illustration job with Scholastic Canada (exciting!), doing some work on the Rent-A-Thug graphic novel (which has been a very slow process), and working on the story mode for Space Jerks. I just picked up another freelance gig that will start at an undetermined time in the future, and will at some point start drawing Hell, Inc. strips again when the buffer gets thin. I’m very tired. All the time.

This comic’s Patreon preview is largely about my lack of organizational skills in terms of making myself reference materials that would save me a lot of time.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week! They supported the creation of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, and helped make that book possible!  Supporters at the $5/up tiers get to read my graphic novels as I create them, and get a copy at the end! More backers = faster progress, because I currently spend a lot of time freelancing to make money, which is important for being alive. 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: Sara asks the hard-hitting questions that make everyone else uncomfortable. Read it early on Patreon!