Character: Doug

My Hero’s Broken Body

Cerberus is very fun to draw but I had to completely relearn how to do it, because his previous appearance (prior to a few strips ago) was drawn nearly 3 years ago. It turns out that the muscle memory for a character that was in four or five panels doesn’t last for several years! Who could have guessed?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it, 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.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps push it up the rankings and make it more visible to new readers! Votes are worth more early in the month as the rankings reset. Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Leash laws apply in the Hell, Inc. lobby. Read it early on Patreon!

Don’t Suggest It

It’s like asking the teacher if there’s homework – just because you know there probably is, don’t mention it and maybe they’ll forget! It’s like Ray never went to Satanic high school.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait is Employee of the Week at Hell, Inc. and also at her soap business, Soaps & Sorcery. She’s been adversely affected by the vagaries of the Etsy algorithm, so go buy some excellent soap and get her shop moving in a numbers-appeasing direction. You can also support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, which includes access to Hockeypocalypse: Slashers at the $5 or greater tiers, and original digital art commissions! So do that, because Patreon is the only even slightly predictable income I have!

You can also vote daily for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics by clicking on the banner below! It helps bring in some new readers.

Next Week: Everyone’s favourite Hell hound is back to… help? Let’s go with “help.” Read it early on Patreon!

Back Soup

Did the first panel of this strip take longer to draw than the entire rest of the strip? Yes. Yes it did. It wasn’t even close, either.

Completely unrelated, the Edmonton Oilers won a playoff series, and therefore I am high on SPORTS in the fourth or fifth-hand way that the success of others can result in. I assume it’s similar to when any other fandom gets a thing they want in a very satisfying way.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

“Game Time” Art Middleton is Employee of the Week! Follow him on Twitter or check out his Twitch streams, OR… do both of those things.  Also, head over to the Hell, Inc. Patreon, where you can support the continued existence of your favourite office demons and also the creation of my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers. I can say, without hesitation, it is the best book I have ever drawn. And you can see every new page as I draw them!

You can also help out by voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics! Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Mo’ manual labour, mo’ problems. Read it early on Patreon!

Probably Not the Worst Job

I think it’s pretty reasonable to consider manual labour less bad than wrangling a giant demon dog who will almost certainly pee on you. Those of you who have read book version of Hell, Inc. Volume 1: Welcome to Hell… Inc. have seen Cerberus before, but the rest of you will be introduced to him soon enough.

Unrelated, but I’m always somewhat amused when a Hell, Inc. update coincides with a major Christian holiday. Even though Hell, Inc.’s version of Hell is far more influenced by depictions of Hell in popular culture than it is the Biblical conception of it, I’m tickled by the idea that someone could be going to an Easter service and reading about demons decorating for Hell’s Christmas party in the same day.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Azhar Baig is Employee of the Week, and has a podcast called The Wisdom of Love that you should check out. It’s a comedic recounting of the Great Western Philosophers. You, too, can support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, and also read my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, as I draw it!

As always, you can vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics to help it get in front of new readers! Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: The Arrivals department, where every soul passes through and nobody wants to return. Read it early on Patreon!

One of THOSE Jobs

You know THOSE jobs. The ones that people hear about and flee so fast that they leave nothing but a dust-ghost in their wake. The ones that are even shittier than the baseline of your normal tasks by incalculable orders of magnitude.

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! 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. Another freelance gig has concluded, which means Patreon money is the only predictable money contributing to this expensive-ass “being alive” thing.

You can vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which gets more eyeballs on it as it goes further up the ranking chart. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Sara must approach The Other Guys. Read it early on Patreon!

Object Permanence

I’m bouncing between projects like I’m a superball right now. I’m currently alternating between working on Hell, Inc., Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, Reforged, and writing the graphic novel that I’ll be working on after Slashers. Oh, and some stuff to send to literary agents. If effort and income were directly correlated, I would be much less horrified at how much my new glasses prescription costs.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it, 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.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps push it up the rankings and make it more visible to new readers! It’s a new month (tomorrow), so be sure to get your votes in as the rankings reset. Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: B.L. Zebub is extremely good at his job and keeping track of his underlings. Stop laughing. Read it early on Patreon!

Good at Being a Face

What’s that, Doug’s inability to process signals exists because I also can’t process signals? Nah, sounds fake, nobody would write that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it, 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.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which helps push it up the rankings and make it more visible to new readers! Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Sara is still traumatized and Doug might not have object permanence. Psychological stuff! Read it early on Patreon!

Work Place Skeleton Face

Work Place Skeleton Face is my new band, and also my office aesthetic in case things go downhill and I need a real job. I shall have a visage that engenders in my co-workers uncertainty and a strong desire to stop interacting with me. That seems ideal.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait is Employee of the Week at Hell, Inc. and also at her soap business, Soaps & Sorcery. She’s running a clearance sale to allow new product to cycle in, so get on that and get cleanified. You, too, can support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, which includes access to Hockeypocalypse: Slashers at the $5 or great tiers, and original digital art commissions! So do that, because Patreon is the only even slightly predictable income I have!

Vote daily for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics by clicking the banner below! It’s the most consistent way to bring in new readers to the comic! The best way, it turns out, is to have a viral tweet, but I have no control over that.

Next Week: Longing for the future where you aren’t in the office for eleventy-two hours a day. Read it on Patreon!

Soul Searching

Why yes, I did realize when I sat down to draw this strip that I was going to have to invent a search engine for Hell. For something made up on the spot, I’m pretty happy with it. B.L. Zebub isn’t, so much, but I am.

In other news, it’s my birthday today! If you want to help me celebrate (and also boost my Etsy rating), buy a book or two from my Etsy store between now and February 7th, 2022! You get great books at a discount, I get money to pay for things like new glasses! Everyone wins.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

It’s me, for surviving another year. Next week it could be you, if you support Hell, Inc. on Patreon! At the $5/month or higher tier, you get to read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as a premium webcomic before it goes to print (at which point you will get a copy in the mail!).

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! Unless you’re reading this on update day, it’s a new month, which means votes are worth more as the rankings reset! Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Checking in with the intern spy, who is focusing on the wrong thing. Read it early on Patreon!

A Third Thing

Drawing attention to the rule of comedy threes is a joke structure I always love when I see it. Speaking of seeing, the comic you’re seeing was drawn EIGHT MONTHS after the comic from last week. In between I drew most of Hockeypocalypse: Slashers and have been working on some SECRET PROJECTS. One of those is supposed to come out right away, which will be cool.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Leonardo is Employee of the Week, but is unfortunately not a ninja turtle (as far as I know). You, too, can have me speculate about whether you might be a mutant reptile by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon. If you pledge at the $5/month or higher level, you’ll get to read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it! Which you should want to do, because it rips.

You can also help out by voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics! Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: B.L. Zebub figures out his tormentation strategy, and I make up the word tormentation. Read it early on Patreon!