Character: Doris

This Shall Not Stand

I have visions of doing a B.L. Zebub-style header every time I stand on a chair for something. That never prevents me from standing on said chair to change light bulbs or get the crockpot or whatever, but I always think it as I’m climbing up there.

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, which will be getting an overhaul in July, which you can read more about. In short, the $5/month pledge tier is gonna be STACKED with a whole new Hockeypocalypse graphic novel.

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

Next Week: It’s hard to maintain the energy of a speech when you get a head injury in the middle of it. Read it early on Patreon.

Ping Pong Plan

Alternate title: The Preposterous Push-off Ping Pong Pinball Plan. Could I have worked in more “P” words? MAYBE!

In other news, COVID has got me thinking about how I want to approach future print releases for Hell, Inc. The vast majority of my book sales, outside of Kickstarters for product launches, come from doing conventions and book fairs. I have been able to sell Hell, Inc. books at exactly one (1) event since the launch last year, and it’s not looking like 2020/21 will have a busy convention season. Is it a good idea to carry on with my plan to Kickstart books 3-4 and 5-6? Or maybe I should just wait and do a collected edition with all six books once they’re done. Thoughts, dear reader? As the target audience for those books, I value your input on the topic.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! If you think what I do here with Hell, Inc. is worth a dollar, head over to the Patreon and be rewarded with early access to the digital version of Hell, Inc. Vol. 3: “Team-building Exercise” as well as over 1000 pages of digital comics!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is the comic’s largest source for new readers. A lot of you have been voting, and it’s been very helpful – Hell, Inc. has consistently been hanging around some much more established and popular comics in the rankings, which is pretty cool. Click on the banner to vote!

Next Week: We meet Diane, who does not have a great sense of who the people in the office are. Read it early on Patreon!

Nobody Calls You

I use the second panel from this comic a lot in social media marketing posts. Also, those last four words feel kinda gross. Like the kind of thing a dude named Trip with an expensive suit and unearned self-confidence would say in a meeting to sound smart. “Social media” is a term that makes me cringe when I hear it said aloud. I don’t know what it is… maybe how artificial it sounds? I think my point is that I really like that second panel, and really hate that marketing is part of my job?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is the Employee of the Week! He doesn’t have a link to plug, but if you do, or just want to help support the corporate juggernaut that is Hell, Inc. (my corporate office is my living room, it’s very Fortune 500), you can donate to the Patreon at the $2 level or above. At the $5 level you can get digital copies of damn near my entire comics catalogue.

Next Week: Doug is not a great therapist. Find out why early by supporting Hell, Inc. (and also me) on Patreon.

“Busy”

I’m a few days into what will end up being about three months off (as far as travel and public appearances are concerned), and it’s glorious. Not having a looming spectre of “go to another town and hopefully sell a bunch of my books to the people there” is pretty refreshing, as I haven’t really had that since… Christmas?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Me. I did three comic conventions, two book fairs, a library conference, and moved in a five week span. If you ask me (and I just did, so there), I’m pretty much a hero. NAP TIME.

Next Week: An action sequence. In a comic about working in an office. Suck it, Dilbert. Make Dilbert suck it by reading next week’s strip early on Patreon!

Such Fun

Believe it or not, the most difficult part of this entire strip was getting the tail on Steve’s balloon in the big middle panel to look like it was one continuous object.

This is a variation of a scene from the first issue of the black and white Hell, Inc. comic, which involved fork-stabbing and a lot of blood. If you want copies of the black and white Hell, Inc. books, I’m running a promotion on my Patreon. Once there are 20 backers, everyone gets books at no extra cost. You can give as little as a buck, or as much as… I dunno, more than that? Check it out.

Tomorrow: It’s Friday, and everyone wants one thing on Friday – their boss to be FURIOUS.