Bridget – Page 6 – Hell, Inc.

Thank You For Your Patience

The Patreon preview for this comic talks about a piece of advice I gained from early-career shop talk that continues to be a regularly used tool in my toolbox. It’s about using rounded surfaces in the art.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week, and I just made my fourth appearance on the show, this time discussing crime drama Better Call Saul! If you want to hear me talk about how artfully executed BCS is, then good news, you’ll have a great time listening to that podcast!

You should also vote for me in the Sequential Magazine Awards, in the Favourite Cartoonist category. It’s open to anyone who wants to vote, and you can vote in as many or as few categories as you want! I would like to say I am above the external validation of awards, but I am absolutely not. Click the image below to go to the page with the nominees and ballot.

If you’re still in a voting mood, 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: Meanwhile, at the office… Read it early on Patreon!

Helen: Judgement Day

Helen is probably second or third in the cast, behind B.L. Zebub and maybe Doug, in getting the super exaggerated demonic poses. That wasn’t something I intended from the start, it just kind of happened as Helen got more characterization that lent itself to over-the-top, expressionist depictions. In the Patreon preview for this strip, I instead talk about creating rhythm with panel layouts and how that’s useful in adding additional storytelling layers.

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!

ALSO I’m still nominated for the Sequential Magazine Awards in the Favourite Cartoonist category, and you should definitely vote for me, because I want to win. Click on the image below to go to the landing page with the nominees and link to the voting form!

If you’re still in a voting mood, 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: Human souls, please report to the scary lady for judgement. Read it early on Patreon!

Bridget Smash… Hand Bones

I think that’s more or less what would happen to me if I tried to karate chop a desk in half. Just BAM skeleton hand flying through the air. I also think the visual of a skeleton, or parts of a skeleton, popping out of a person intact is extremely funny for reasons I can’t fully articulate. This week’s Patreon preview goes into that a bit.

I’ve been nominated for a Sequential Magazine Award in the Favourite Cartoonist category! The Sequential awards are intended to recognize Canadian indie comics. Please go vote (for me, specifically), because I would very much like to win. Click on the image below to be taken to the landing page with the nominees and the link to the voting form (you can vote in as many or as few categories as you want).

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! Patreon is my only predictable source of income, so chipping in a dollar or two is extremely appreciated, and helps ease the burden put on freelancing and conventions to prop up my art income!

You can also vote on Top Webcomics, because I guess we’re doing a voting theme this week. Click the banner below to vote!

Next Week: Failure chicken reaches the point of… chicken? The chickening? Read it early on Patreon!

Office Cult-ure

You can tell whether you’ve got a good workplace by how much chanting happens. I assume more is better? I’ve never had a chanting workplace. I should try to cultivate that in my studio space, but guinea pigs and chinchillas are notoriously chant-averse creatures.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

As you may have gathered from the graphic below, I’ve been nominated for a Sequential Magazine Award in the Favourite Cartoonist category! The Sequential awards are intended to recognize Canadian indie comics. Click on the image below to be taken to the landing page with the nominees and the link to the voting form (you can vote in as many or as few categories as you want). I would very much appreciate your votes, because I’ve lost various categories of these awards, like, 5 times now. Click on the image below and go vote (for me)!

You can also vote on Top Webcomics, because I guess we’re doing a voting theme this week. Click the banner below to vote!

Next Week: Strategies are formulated. They are not good. Read it early on Patreon!

Organ Liquefier

This episode’s Patreon preview is about the challenges of laying out a strip when the dialogue is concentrated into a smaller number of panels. It starts out with “oh no what have you done, past me?” and then I have to figure out what to do with what past me has given present me.

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: Sara dives into the instruction manuals. Read it early on Patreon!

The Zen of Failure

The Zen of Failure sounds like the state that occurs when I’m pitching projects. There’s a certain flow state that comes from copying and pasting pitch documents into various forms and formats to send to people who may or may not respond, and might not even look at them. It creates a certain feeling of acceptance that this action probably will not matter, but it must be taken or it definitely won’t matter. It’s related to the way rejection loses its sting when it happens frequently. Just pitching to literary agents, I’ve been rejected or ignored over 100 times now. Rejection isn’t even really a feeling anymore, it’s just a thing that happens which indicates I have to keep pitching things.

Naturally, the Patreon preview for this strip was mostly about… lettering? Yes, of course.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and has been able to download my video game, Space Jerks as a result! You can, too! Patreon is my predictable source of income, and I would very much like it to grow to the point where I can do things like make a video game and not be haunted by the thought that I’m wasting my time because nobody will support it!

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: Ray, office scientist. Read it early on Patreon!

Hold Madness

Hold madness is real and very powerful. Maybe not “Hulk Smash a desk” powerful, but there’s a certain amount of antipathy toward human existence that builds up when you’re hearing the same musical loop for 35 minutes. Which is maybe a thing that happened to me last week. Hockey game goes into intermission, and I think “ah, I’ll bang out this phone call I need to make.” By the time I was done, it was almost the next intermission. Oof.

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. Season 2 is underway!

Patreon! Go there. Do that. It is my most reliable source of income, and that is very helpful when living that freelance life. If everyone who read the comic last week chipped in $1/month, that would be enough to almost completely eliminate the need for freelancing. That would be rad! You’d also all be able to play my video game, Space Jerks!

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: The zen of incompetence. Read it early on Patreon!

Making a Lot of Sense

Hell, Inc. has a pretty defined colour palette by this point, so it’s always fun to do panels that let me shake that up.

Also I made a video game, have you heard?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Patreon! It’s a predictable source of income, and ALSO Patrons can play Space Jerks, the video game I made!

Also check out the newsletter, which is how to hear about what I’m up to without needing to subject yourself to things like Twitter.

Next Week: Doug’s tale of woe and being bad at Arrivals. Read it early

Failure Chicken

Failure chicken, for when everyone wants to be a loser! It’s also a very funny first idea expressed in the comic for 2024. It’s like the opposite of a resolution – “just be slightly worse than your competition!” But also the first thing I did was forget to finish writing the post before it went up, so not a great start!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

I made a video game! If somehow you haven’t heard me yelling at the internet about it yet, now you know! Patrons at any of the paid tiers can download for free, right now, and play it on your computers! It’s called Space Jerks, and I wrote about its origin in a free Patreon post here. You should read the post, then chip in a dollar and download the game, in which you will blow up aliens with a laser.

You can also help get Hell, Inc. in front of new readers by voting for it on Top Webcomics! You can vote daily by clicking on the banner below.

Next Week: Totally normal reactions to failure chicken. Read it early on Patreon!

Brain Wizard

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/It is Monday, as appropriate! Now that it’s Christmas, we are about six months past the Christmas story arc. Naturally. If, somehow, Hell, Inc. ever becomes an animated show, I’ll have to make sure the Christmas party stuff doesn’t air anywhere near Christmas, just to keep up that tradition.

A Christmas Present for Patrons!

In lieu of an Employee of the Week, I’ve got a gift for my Patreon patrons (which can also include you, if you want!). I’ve been working on a video game side project for a bit, and patrons can now play my first finished game, Space Jerks! It’s an arcade shoot-em-up based on Space Invaders, but with hand-drawn art and sound effects that I foley’d myself! I’m excited to be able to share this with folks, so if you’re a patron, check it out, and if you’re not… well, you could be. Patrons at all levels will be able to download the game on an ongoing basis. Click on the image below to check it out!