Character: Doug

Hiring Judgement

The Patreon preview for this strip talks about the writing utility of B.L. Zebub making everything about himself.

In other news, the Kickstarter for Rent-A-Thug – La Cosa Nostra is almost over (it ends at 5 PM MT on Tuesday, June 9th)! I’m very tired. If you haven’t backed it yet, you should go do that, because I want people to read the things I make. Click on the cover below to go to the Kickstarter page!

Next Week: Cerberus Update, which sounds like a segment on Satanday Night Live. Read it early on Patreon!

Who Doesn’t Have to Take This?

Who doesn’t have to take this? Ray! That’s who! Except that he kind of does, because he needs his desk for desk stuff.

Also, this update is early because the thing that lets me schedule posts in WordPress is broken, and I have to go to bed at a normal time. As some sort of owl-man, this is an annoying turn of events.

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! It’s a predictable income that I would like to be bigger so I can do less freelance and more stuff that I want to do! You get early access to Hell, Inc. strips, new comics, my video game Space Jerks, and more!

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: We check in on Sara in Infernal Pacts. Read it early on Patreon!

Meanwhile, Madness

The Patreon preview for this strip is about my rules of thumb for making “a bunch of people at their desks talk to each other” strips interesting. Making talking scenes interesting is the most vital piece of a cartoonist’s arsenal.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week. In their most recent season, I made my fourth guest 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!

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.

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: Ray takes a stand. It involves literal standing, at points. Read it early

Very Successful

The Patreon preview for this strip is about the differences in approach between digital and hand lettering, because I guess I’m thinking about lettering a lot lately. The fact that I have any room for thoughts that aren’t about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is probably a good sign? Then again, if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, I might end up only ever drawing Hockeypocalypse comics for the rest of time, so who knows!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

New hire Raymond is Employee of the Week! And you can, too! Supporting me on Patreon makes you both a Cool and Good Person, and also means I can dedicate time to the art I want to make instead of spending time in the panic-inducing world of freelancing!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a very useful way to reach new readers. Click on the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Bridget asks what she missed, and gets more information than she would like. Read it early 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!

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!