Character: Bartender

The Bill

I’m currently in the midst of a particularly notable streak of having no idea what day it is, so I’m glad some neurons fired to remind me that it was Monday and I needed to post the new comic.

Over on Patreon, my usual early reader post ended up being a much more detailed than usual look into the process of breaking a script into panels for the strip. If you’re interested in the process of the comic, chip in a buck and check that out.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Shane Lees is Employee of the Week! He has a webcomic, Tales of Abuse, which you can check out at his website. You should also check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, which is my predictable form of income. One of these days it will replace the need to freelance! Not a SOON day, but one day!

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: We’re kicked out of the bar, now what? Read it early on Patreon!

 

Cartoon Brawling Dust Cloud

Despite it seeming like the obvious visual choice, I avoided drawing an actual cartoon brawling dust cloud. I don’t have a high-minded formal reason for it, it just looked squashed and weird once I accounted for the space the balloon would take up. It was easier to communicate the same idea with a tangle of bodies that used the space better. Thinking about those kinds of decisions that go into making a comic is always interesting to me, as there’s rarely a definitive correct answer, but rather many viable options depending on what the artist intends to communicate to the reader.

In other news, Calgary Expo and FCBD are in the rearview mirror, which gives me a little over a month until I next appear amongst the living. I’ll be back in Calgary, this time for the Horror Con, on June 17th and 18th! It’s themed around Killer Klowns from Outer Space this year, which kicks ass, because that movie rules.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and will get to read my new Rent-A-Thug graphic novel as I draw it! Subscribers to my newsletter have already seen the first page, which I think is several orders of magnitude cooler than any previous Rent-A-Thug stuff. Patreon is my predictable source of income, and I would very much like it to grow to the point where I can get into a workflow of webcomic + graphic novel.

Remember Top Webcomics? That’s still a thing, so if you want to boost Hell, Inc. in the rankings and funnel some new readers in, click on the banner below. You can vote daily.

Next Week: Helen’s romantic past! Read it early on Patreon!

Sobering Sponge

Sponges – for when you need to absorb things in your stomach, and also are a demon and already eat garbage and poison.

Also, some of you read this on Sunday, because I don’t know what time is and scheduled it for the wrong date. I also texted a friend of mine to ask how his book signing went… the day before it happened. I’m SO GOOD at time. And yet, I have never missed a professional deadline? I don’t know why I am like this.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read my next graphic novel as I draw it (more on that in the near future!) 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.

If you want to keep up with what I’m working on, what my friends are doing, and (most importantly) see cute photos of my pets, sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a helpful source of new readers! It’s early in the month, which means votes are more valuable as the rankings reset.

Next Week: Helen’s demands of Santa interrupt the party. Read it early on Patreon!

Sheila’s Sign Language

Sheila’s Sign Language is much easier to learn than ASL, but more limited in expression. It’s really just communicating the one idea, isn’t it? Still, it’s an important one.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read my next graphic novel as I draw it (more on that in the near future!) 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!

If you want to keep up with what I’m working on, what my friends are doing, and (most importantly) see cute photos of my pets, sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter!

What Drinking is About

Cait and I were having a conversation the other day about the movie trope where a female character is made clumsy to make her “relatable.” It’s like a character is written to be cool, exciting, desirable, and whatever other qualities the story needs, but then the creators realize that they need the main character to have flaws. But if they give them real flaws, the audience might not get on board, so what flaw can they be given that will come off as relatable and funny instead of giving them an actually negative trait? It’s usually that they’re clumsy, and they do some prat falls that make them seem cute and funny. It’s the character development equivalent of lying about your weaknesses being “working too hard” or “caring too much” in a job interview.

That made me think about Sara, who isn’t clumsy so much as she is the victim of physical comedy because she doesn’t understand what in her environment is dangerous. I knew from the start of writing the comic that Sara was going to get a lot of physical comedy, but the goal wasn’t relatability. She was the best choice to fulfill a comedic role. If this were a Hollywood romcom, Bridget would be the one doing pratfalls, but they wouldn’t be allowed to be nearly as cartoonish or (occasionally) grotesque. Which would suck, because I think the physical comedy in Hell, Inc. works BECAUSE it’s overstated like that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Shane Lees is Employee of the Week! He has a webcomic, Tales of Abuse, which you can check out at his website. He’s also getting a copy of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers in the mail in the near future by supporting at the $5/month and up level! A new book will be starting up on there once my living room no longer looks like a Canada Post. You should check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, which will be where you can check out the next book, and is also my predictable form of income.

You can also sign up for the monthly-ish newsletter, which has a shitload more subscribers than it did before the Hell, Inc. The RPG Kickstarter. Also, it has pet pictures.