Character: Doris

ACTIIING!

I say “AAAACTIIIING” while raising a hand dramatically on a surprisingly regular basis. Just, like, around the house, finding reasons to do that. I don’t know why my brain is like this, either. This week’s Patreon preview is about some of the art challenges that can come up with digital lettering.

This post is coming to you via time travel, as I’m writing this before I leave for Calgary, but you’re reading it after I’ve already gotten back. Presumably I saw some of you at Calgary Expo, and some of you are new readers! Hello! Welcome! I’m very tired now.

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: We learn about B.L. Zebub’s Important Shame Plans. Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!

Failure Chickens Feel No Shame

This week’s Patreon preview was about the strange process of drawing a webcomic, and how that influences the art. It’s one of the most interesting elements of webcomics as a medium, to me.

In other news, Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is this weekend (April 25-28, 2024), and I will once again be a guest. This year I’m at table P20 in the Big 4 Building, along with piles of my books and prints.

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: Doris brings up some limits to the power of a failure chicken. Read it early on Patreon!

Important Shame Plans

Important Shame Plans, as opposed to unimportant shame plans. Which is, presumably, whatever B.L. Zebub is doing the rest of the time. This week’s Patreon preview talked about lettering, and the main sources I used for learning that art form.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Hell, Inc. is reader-supported – no ads, no sponsorships, just Patreon and book sales keep this thing afloat. 2023 has not been the best year for comics income, but you can help turn things around in 2024 for as little as $1 a month, which also gets you early Hell, Inc. strips, previews of other stuff I’m working on, and even commissioned art!

You can also help by telling people about Hell, Inc. Word of mouth is by far the best way to get new eyeballs on the comic, and that all starts with you, the reader! Tell your friends, tell your co-workers, or vote on Top Webcomics by clicking the link below!

Next Week: Bridget seeks allies, and an interdimensional council is involved. Read it early on Patreon!

Doris Noticed

As we’ve established previously, Sara is clearly very good at sneaking around and doing things clandestinely. This week’s Patreon preview post was about the ideas that need to germinate in the back of your mind before they’re ready, and how sometimes that means a poop joke is the catalyst for that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week, and also author of our RPG BURGERPunk, which is now available digitally on DriveThru RPG.

Also available digitally are all of the Hell, Inc. volumes (1-6), on both Patreon and GlobalComix (the covers aren’t actually squashed and weird, it’s a display thing I don’t understand). Speaking of Patreon, you can subscribe to help me keep making art and also being alive, for as little as $1 a month!

You can help Hell, Inc. for free by telling people about it! Send links to your friends and co-workers, or vote on Top Webcomics! It’s the beginning of a new month, so the votes count for more as the rankings reset. Top Webcomics helps direct people looking for new webcomics to Hell, Inc. instead of whatever comic is using robots to have thousands of votes instantly!

Next Week: There are important shame plans. 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!

But First, Cerberus

Sometimes I forget that Doris is the receptionist for the office, and can be used in that capacity for joke delivery purposes! It’s also fun to bring the janitors back, because I like drawing those green weirdos. They’re a department, like I.T., that could probably carry their own comic. Not them, specifically, because they’re barely characters, but I think the ideas of “I.T. Crowd but in Hell” or “demon janitors” have something to them as workplace comedies.

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: And now, non-Cerberus business. Read it early on Patreon!

Office Raccoons

Office Raccoons could also be a desperate 2000s attempt to reboot The Raccoons by capitalizing on the popularity of The Office. It could also be a genuinely very funny comic about a Toronto overrun by raccoons to the point where they have just replaced humans entirely, which I kind of want to make. Add another project to the list of roughly 200 that I think would be fun.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

You, if you stopped by my table at Edmonton Expo! It’s always wonderful to be reminded that the numbers in the stats dashboard are, in fact, actual people reading the comic and not just algorithmic errors. If YOU want to be shouted out specifically as Employee of the Week, and also help me keep making art you like instead of continuing to flail about in the chaos that is freelancing, go to Patreon! Supporting Hell, Inc./me on Patreon is an ideal way to ensure I can work on projects because they’re interesting instead of churning out pitches in hopes that one of the hundred or so people that can make the publishing industry pay me a livable amount of money do so.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps bring in new readers. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Ray’s corporate family recipes. Read it early on Patreon.

Extreme Christmas Measures

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate, and happy holidays to everyone! It’s a busy season, which resulted in me forgetting what day it was, so this is later in the day than normal. What even is time?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the holiday Week! Like him, you can also read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it AND access to over a thousand pages of other comics, including the previous Hockeypocalypse books, for $5 a month on Patreon. It’s like a giving me a Christmas present and then I give you multiple new pages ever week!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! It’s a regular source of new readers, and more votes = higher placement and better visibility. Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Untangling Christmas lights, a task so annoying that I bought a Christmas tree with the lights built into it. Read it early on Patreon!

Butt Schedule

Butt Schedule could also be some sort of appointment to have a butt. What does that mean? I don’t know.

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 exploring space and how the things that are in space are often terrifying. Other things that are terrifying include having Patreon being my primary source of income at the moment! Do you like Hell, Inc.? Kick in a buck a month! Want to be Employee of the Week? Chip in 2 bucks a month. Want to read my brand new graphic novel Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it? 5 bucks. Want me to draw some stuff for you? Only 20 or 30 bucks. Get on board, where we’re going we need comics.

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics! It’s been doing shockingly well the last 6 weeks or so, keep up the good work, dear readers! You can vote daily by clicking the banner below.

Next Week: Going outside and not expecting death and destruction is some real rookie stuff. Read it early on Patreon!

Work Purposes

You know when someone tells you that what they’re doing is for work purposes, they are always telling the truth. It is impossible to lie about Work Purposes.That’s just a fact.

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 exploring space and how the things that are in space are often terrifying. Other things that are terrifying include having Patreon being my primary source of income at the moment! Do you like Hell, Inc.? Kick in a buck a month! Want to be Employee of the Week? Chip in 2 bucks a month. Want to read my brand new graphic novel Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it? 5 bucks. Want me to draw some stuff for you? Only 20 or 30 bucks. Get on board, where we’re going we need comics.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, where a higher ranking gives the comic more visibility to webcomic readers. Vote daily by clicking the link below!

Next Week: Where do you turn when you need hope? The I.T. department… that sounds wrong. Read it early on Patreon.