Character: Stan

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a very fun word to say, even if Doug apparently doesn’t know what it means. This strip means I’ve caught up with the buffer again, so I’m going to have to get back to the comic mines.

I’ve lately been spending almost all of my creative/work time in the RPG mines, which I didn’t expect to have such veins. As I mentioned last week, Hell, Inc. The RPG has launched on Kickstarter. This was a project undertaken on a whim and which we didn’t have huge aspirations for – the costs involved were pretty low, so we figured we’d recoup those pretty easily and then maybe hit the first stretch goal. Instead, it’s absolutely blowing away every crowdfunding thing I’ve done to a pretty comical degree. Not in terms of dollars, because the rewards aren’t that expensive, but the backer numbers are already nearing the most I’ve had one one project and it’s not even been a week. Is this being successful? If you haven’t, yet, click the images below to head over to the Kickstarter and check it out – it’s a very fun rules-lite RPG with a unique mediocrity-based dice mechanic.

Next Week: Sara plays motor oil mixologist. It goes as well as you think it will. Read it early on Patreon!

Pretend Motivation

Pretend motivation is what I have right now writing this newspost, as I just finished writing the update and then WordPress ate it and the draft autosaving did nothing. Much like the goggles. Now join me on the exciting journey to rewriting cool news!

Hell, Inc. The Roleplaying Game launches on Kickstarter (as part of ZineQuest) TOMORROW (August 23rd, 2022, for those of you reading from the future). The Employee Handbook is a 32 page, full colour, saddle-stitched book with the complete Hell, Inc. game system, advice for running the game and creating bureaucracy-based bonkersness, random NPC generators, and a pre-written adventure! The game system was created by myself and Cait, and is designed to encourage the pursuit of mediocracy – both low and high rolls will cause you additional hassles as you earn the scorn or additional-task-based praise of your boss. Click on the cover image below to hit up the prelaunch page so that you’ll be notified as soon as the campaign goes live (which is currently scheduled to be 9 AM MT, 11 AM ET, 8 AM PT).

Your regularly scheduled Employee of the Week and Patreon plugs will return next week after the Kickstarter is (hopefully) funded. These features will return which next week’s episode, in which B.L. Zebub tries to become one with Stan’s butt. Read it early on Patreon!

Excellent Taste

I don’t know why I decided that Stan’s costume would be part-CEO part-Napoleonic general, but I’m very pleased I made that decision because it is a lot of fun to draw. I don’t know why, but I always forget to draw his tail at first, though. Maybe just because I didn’t give most of the regularly appearing characters tails, so I forget they’re an option? Who knows.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cait is Employee of the Week, and is also the co-author of the upcoming Hell, Inc. The RPG, which is based on the system she created for Fail Marines, our surprisingly successful debut in indie TTRPGs! The Hell, Inc. RPG is a 32 page full colour ‘zine with the full game system, loads of art, GM and setting development advice, and whatever the office-equivalent of an adventure is! Incidentally, if anyone has ideas for what an adventure module should be called in a game where you’re office drones battling demonic photocopiers instead of swinging swords at goblins, I would love to hear them! You can go to the pre-launch page to sign up for a notification when the campaign launches.

Speaking of being notified for things, click on the banner below to sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter, where I talk about the various things I am getting up to, such as developing RPGs on the spur of the moment.

The Boot-lickening

One of my favourite ways for people to signal that I should not respect them is when they are shitty to anyone “below” them in whatever hierarchy they are part of, but a sniveling toad to anyone “above” them. I have seen this at comics industry parties and the secondhand embarrassment is STRONG.

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. It turns out that humans, like demons, need money to live! Me, specifically.

You can also sign up for my newsletter, where I just announced that Hell, Inc. The RPG will be part of Kickstarter ZineQuest, launching on August 23rd!

Next Week: Stan and B.L. Zebub have a stirring intellectual debate about the finer points of motor oil. Read it early on Patreon!

Emotional Growth?

B.L. Zebub having a temper tantrum is always a lot of fun to write and draw. Much more fun than actual bosses having temper tantrums.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Welcome Shane Lees, our new Employee of the Week! He’s one of the first to have access to Hell, Inc. Volume 4: Mandatory because he supports Hell, Inc. on Patreon, but YOU CAN, TOO! If you want access to digital copies of Hell, Inc. books 3 and 4, plus over a thousand pages of other comics, you can get that for as little as $1 while also helping keep the mortgage paid on the Hell, Inc. offices by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

You can also help out by voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a prime source of new readers! You can vote once per day to boost the comic’s visibility on the rankings. Vote by clicking on the banner below.

Next Week: Turning despair into despair-aie. You don’t want to meet the Despaire-Aid Man. Read it early on Patreon!

Actually Try, Now

Ah, yes, it turns out that all-stars don’t need an all-star effort to beat… *checks notes*… a bunch of schlubs in the office slo-pitch league.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and will be one of the folks getting a digital copy of Hell, Inc. Volume 4: “Mandatory” later today once I’ve put the finishing touches on the file! You can be one of those people, too, by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon! New subscribers at any level will receive volume 4 as well as over 1000 pages of other digital comics by me and special guest cartoonist Lukasz Kowalczuk!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is the primary source of new readers for the comic. More votes = more visibility, so click on the link below to vote (daily)!

Next Week: B.L. Zebub reacts to adversity in a mature, thoughtful manner. Nah jk. Read it early on Patreon!

Stan’s Satanic All-Stars

Can you name the players on Stan’s Satanic All-Stars? Bonus points if you know the rest of the team from these guys. You’ll be seeing more of them over the next couple of strips.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Azhar Baig is Employee of the Week, and comes to us through my previous collaboration with the Lions Led By Donkeys podcast on some merchandising for the show. I’m pretty sure I sell more merch for LLBD than I do for myself. Also, by “pretty sure” I mean “I definitely do and it’s not close.” If you think Hell, Inc. is worth a dollar, head over to the Patreon and get yourself a digital copy of Hell, Inc. Volume 3: Team-building Exercise as well as over 1000 pages of other comics!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, where a higher ranking results in increased visibility to webcomic readers around the world. You can vote daily by clicking the banner below!

Next Week: Steve’s sweatiness knows no bounds. Bathe in that sweet, sweaty sweat on Patreon.

Satan was a Typo

Because of the way my design process works (typically things aren’t designed until I know I need to draw them in the story soon), Stan only existed as a rough concept in my mind for the longest time. Designing him a hybrid baseball/tinpot dictator uniform was a lot of fun, though.

If you want to do some Christmas shopping from my online store, you should do that ASAP to ensure the mail gets to  you on time.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Christine Bennett, better known as Purple Pony Art, is Employee of the Week! She has early access to Hell, Inc. Volume 3: “Team-building Exercise” and you can, too, by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon! There are also a little over a thousand pages of other comics available to Patrons, which is a lot. BOOM math’d.

It’s also very helpful to vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, because that’s where the majority of new readers discover the comic. More votes = more visibility from being higher on the list. Click the banner below to vote (you can do it daily!)

Next Week: Stan seems like a great boss. Read it early on Patreon!