Character: B.L. Zebub

Yo Yo Yo, Kick It

Good News, everyone! The fourth Hockeypocalypse book is launching on Kickstarter at 5 PM Mountain Time (4 PM Pacific, 7 PM Eastern) TODAY! Go buy it.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

It’s Cait of the North, who is essentially an unpaid marketing intern. If you want to be Employee of the Week (or an unpaid marketing intern), hit up the Hell, Inc. Patreon and help support your corporate overlords.

Next Week: Meanwhile, in the fridge…? Also, more Hockeypocalypse plugs, although hopefully you’ve all helped that get funded by then. Read the comic early by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

99 Printers and I Forgot Which One

This is definitely the most obnoxiously pleased with myself I’ve been about a strip title so far. As soon as I make several Wu Tang references in the titles, I will reach a very specific kind of nerd apotheosis. B.L. Zebub’s issue with the printer is also something I can identify with recently – I got a new printer, but my computer remembers the old one, and I keep accidentally trying to send things to the old printer. I’m very good at things, you guys. So good.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Congratulations, Ben Hamlin, you’re our Employee of the Week, and our Dungeon Master for the Cursed Seas podcast. Statistically speaking, you, the reader, probably listen to The Adventure Zone – so you should also listen to Cursed Seas. Do you want to be Employee of the Week? Of course you do, everyone wants to please their corporate overlords. You can do it by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon!

Next Week: B.L. Zebub gets kicky. Is kicky a word? It is now. Read it early on Patreon!

He’s Right Behind Me, Isn’t He?

This is going up after Edmonton Expo, but being written the day before it starts, so thanks to those readers who may or may not have stopped by to chat and buy some books. It was clearly the best possible idea to follow up three and a half months of sitting at home drawing with two conventions in two weekends. Eventually they won’t be a key revenue stream, and that will be a good time.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Robbie Dorman, host of the Simpsons Show and Serial Fanatacist podcasts, is the Employee of the Week. Did I see him at Edmonton Expo? Maybe! Only the me that can time travel knows, because I’m not going to go back and edit this later. 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: The boss might be angry. MAYBE. It’s possible. Find out how possible by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon, where patrons get to read each week’s strip early!

He Thinks He’s Funny

The greatest terror of all – the boss who thinks he’s funny. Steve Carrell became a zillionaire from that archetype. I’m almost certain that, were I to have employees, I would be the boss who thinks he’s funny. If it went anything like my time as a teacher, that would be the case. Turns out teenagers don’t think really dryly delivered Simpsons jokes are funny, because they’re wrong.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait of the North. She Twitters a lot, and also lives in the same house as me. You too can be employee of the week, by donating to Hell, Inc.’s Patreon, and continue to keep the lights on at our favourite corporate overlords’ office.

Next Week: Steve has some things to say, and Doug does not want to hear them. Find out what Steve says on Patreon.

Intern, Slave, Serf… Pick One

“Unpaid internship” is the most “HOW IS THAT ALLOWED!?” thing about capitalism to me. “Hey, we want you to work full-time hours, but we’re not going to pay you, you’ll just do it for experience. No, this totally isn’t just a way to trick people in to giving up all of the labour rights that we’re forced to pretend we’re okay with. THE CORPORATION IS YOUR FRIEND.” I mean, obviously it’s allowed because the people who run all those companies are the people with influence in the spheres of power that regulate them, but… argh, y’know? Argh.

I also didn’t anticipate I’d use these newsposts to critique capitalist bullshit as often as I have. Especially since I am a low-end bullshit capitalist. Although that’s mostly because, if I’m not, I will make no money in the arts and have to be a low-end bullshit capitalist benefiting someone else, I guess?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is the Employee of the Week! I’ve met him at the Edmonton Expo a few times, and he’s a wonderful chap. I’m using British slang now, I guess? If you want to be Employee of the Week, donate $2 to the Hell, Inc. Patreon page, because drawing comics requires money. Got something to plug? Let me know, and I’ll link it in your Employee of the Week post!

Next Week: Nobody calls you. Give this low-end bullshit capitalist a few bucks if you like his internet comic, and you can read it early!

What The Here?

“What the here?” is the most Steve Carrell in “The Office” that Zebub gets in the entire comic, I think. I mean, I haven’t written the whole thing, or even most of it, but that seems like the kind of thing Michael Scott would try to make catch on in an episode in the first few seasons. Unrelated, balloons where the text breaks out (“Doooooug!” in panel 1) are a huge pain in the ass all of a sudden. I used to be able to do them on the first try, no problem. Now? I’m pretty sure that one took as long as the rest of the lettering on the page combined. What the here?

Employee of the Week:

Damion, a longtime supporter of my previous webcomic, HEAT: The Space Age of Pro Wrestling, has remained on board for the transition to the new hotness (because Hell, get it?). Thanks, Damion! Want to be Employee of the Week like Damion? Donate $2 or more to the Hell, Inc. Patreon, because you like the comic and because capitalism forces us to use money to validate our existence.

Next Week: We learn a bit more about the capitalist hellscape of Hell. Patreon. Read early. I’ve written so many of these prompts to action that my brain is melting down.

The Best Teacher

Doug is the BEST teacher. It’s also how I first think when I have to teach something, except that I then follow it up with something resembling actual teaching afterward. In other news, I’m writing this from a hotel room in Drumheller, Alberta, following a successful appearance at the Alberta Association of Library Technicians Conference. I am not a library technician, but if you make graphic novels, you should get to know as many of them as possible.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

As a new patron, Crafty Geeks has jumped the line to be this week’s Employee of the Week. They do nerdy sewing stuff, so check that out for all of your nerdy sewing stuff needs. Do you want to jump the line and be next week’s Employee of the Week? Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon!

Next Week: We learn about photocopiers, and emotions. Read it early by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon!

The Daily Regret

The Daily Regret sounds like a very depressed newspaper.

I have returned from Auroracon in High Level, which was an incredible experience that has left me utterly exhausted. I had planned to get some work done on Sunday night after getting home, but instead I fell asleep on the couch after dinner. For 7 hours.

Next weekend is the AALT conference in Drumhellar, then I have a weekend off… to move into my new place. BRB dying.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK
How is an entire business the Employee of the Week? Shut up, that’s how. Thanks to Happy Harbor Comics for their patronage, as well as the fact that they carry all of my books and bring me to book fairs at schools and libraries across Alberta!

Next Week: The Intern. Read it early by becoming supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon!

Local Gorgons

I don’t know what possessed me to make the chair that people sit in when they’re having a meeting with the boss a torture device, but I did, and that made it much harder to draw. I couldn’t figure out how to represent it without dedicating a whole panel to it, but I imagine the seat as being stuffed full of scorpions. Y’know, just to make SURE you have a bad time in the boss’ office.

Next Week: We explore a new department of Hell, Inc. Get a head start by subscribing on Patreon!

Local Cockatrices

The “local cockatrices” bit instantly made B.L. Zebub my favourite character to write. He’s a conglomeration of terrible leadership traits, and thinking about how he responds to various situations is always entertaining.

As of posting time, I’m on my way back to Edmonton after Emerald City Comic Con. I’m writing this post in advance, so I don’t actually know how the con went, but I’m going to assume it was probably pretty good and I met a bunch of cool people, and some of them are reading this right now. Hello, cool people!

Next Week: It’s something of a pattern. Read it a week early by becoming a Patreon supporter!