Character: Diane

The Right Motivation

It’s always important to figure out how to motivate people around you. Sara probably should have figured out by now that “not working” is strongest motivation available in this office, but we’ve already seen that she’s not picking up this “Hell” thing as fast as she might hope. In the Patreon preview for this strip, I talk about how I spent a lot of time thinking about what to name the green long-necked guy, only to then not actually use his name in the dialogue. It now occurs to me that I STILL haven’t named the woman in red.

COMING SOON TO PATREON, a new one-page tabletop RPG that I’ve written and illustrated! It’s called BIG ROBOTS, BIG FEELINGS! It’s a rules-lite game about being a teen mecha pilot that must battle enemy mechs and your own emotions. I still need to make a logo, and character sheets, but the main rules are written. If people like it, I might expand it into a ‘zine like the Hell, Inc. RPG or BURGERPunk.

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: Helen gets an unexpected phone call. Read it early, and with author commentary, 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!

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!

The Empty Cubicle

This week’s Patreon preview talks about the phenomenon where a piece of media advertises a mystery character death, and then it turns out to be a whole lotta nothing. Except in this case, I killed a “character” unadvertised to empty a desk. Real galaxy brain stuff.

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: Have you heard that judgement is mandatory? Read it early on Patreon!

Diance Party

I don’t know what a table-dancing jam is in Hell, but Diane probably has some insight on that.

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: Ever look at a group of people and wonder “what would they even talk about?” Sara does. Read it early on Patreon!

Favourite Person-Adjacent Demon Thing

You, too, should make sure you tell your favourite person-adjacent demon thing that they’re your favourite person-adjacent demon thing. Sometimes when I write these news posts it feels like I’m just shotgunning words into the ether. This is one of those times. You’re welcome. Also, this is the last strip in book 5. Next week will be the first strip of book 6. There was just shy of 8 months between drawing those strips!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Shane Lees is Employee of the Week! He also does a webcomic, called The First Dude, which you can check out at his website. You should also check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon, where for $5/month you can read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it! I’m in the midst of drawing the absolutely massive issue 15 (which is 60 pages long!) You also get Hell, Inc. strips early, or, at higher levels, you can commission original art from me!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which helps drive new readers to the site. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Book six begins! Read it early on Patreon!

O’Helliplans

Sara might as well be photo-referenced from everyone who doesn’t use a pre-lit Christmas tree, or who puts lights on the outside of their house. I can’t remember when, but at a certain point my parents gave up on string lights and embraced Christmas trees with built-in lights. I’m sure Sara wishes the office had made that decision, but obviously Hell wouldn’t do something like that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Bartender of the Apocalypse is Employee of the Week, and perhaps they will be seeing the office crew at O’Hellihan’s later. You should also support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, and perhaps subscribe at the $5/month and up level to read my new graphic novel Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it.

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which increases Hell, Inc.’s visibility to new readers! Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Doug’s brain leaks out of his ears a little bit. Just a little bit. Read it early on Patreon!

Drinkable Plans

So last week I had a tweet become extremely popular, which was not an experience I had previously had. As a result, Hell, Inc. had some truly absurd (by my standards) readership stats, and some of you reading this right now have found your way here from that. Welcome! This is Hell, Inc., it is very good, you should keep reading it.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Jillian Dolan, artist of Kyle the Nihilist Dinosaur, Misha, and other delightful comics, is Employee of the Week! She has access to Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, my new graphic novel, which is being serialized on Patreon as I draw it! We’re in the second half of the book as of this post, and they’re some of the best pages I’ve ever drawn. The first 5 pages are available on Patreon for free, and the rest are unlocked by donating at the $5 and up tiers. So go do that.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which is not nearly as effective as having a popular tweet, but has been a more easily enacted strategy for gaining new readers. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: B.L. Zebub must enact extreme measures, which might be some sort of nuclear overtime? Hard to say, but you can find out by reading it early on Patreon!