Character: Vicky

The Right Motivation

It’s always important to figure out how to motivate people around you. Sara probably should have figured out by now that “not working” is strongest motivation available in this office, but we’ve already seen that she’s not picking up this “Hell” thing as fast as she might hope. In the Patreon preview for this strip, I talk about how I spent a lot of time thinking about what to name the green long-necked guy, only to then not actually use his name in the dialogue. It now occurs to me that I STILL haven’t named the woman in red.

COMING SOON TO PATREON, a new one-page tabletop RPG that I’ve written and illustrated! It’s called BIG ROBOTS, BIG FEELINGS! It’s a rules-lite game about being a teen mecha pilot that must battle enemy mechs and your own emotions. I still need to make a logo, and character sheets, but the main rules are written. If people like it, I might expand it into a ‘zine like the Hell, Inc. RPG or BURGERPunk.

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: Helen gets an unexpected phone call. Read it early, and with author commentary, 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!

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!

The Bee Tooth Rule

The bee tooth rule is a very good one, I think. If you’re doing anything and your teeth start to feel like they’re full of bees, you should probably stop doing that thing. That line is courtesy the time I forgot that I had already taken my ADHD medication, and the accidental doubling of the dosage made it feel like my teeth were vibrating. I don’t recommend it!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and you can too! Get Employee of the Week shoutouts, read my next graphic novel 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.

If you want to keep up with what I’m working on, what my friends are doing, and (most importantly) see cute photos of my pets, sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is a helpful source of new readers! It’s early in the month, which means votes are more valuable as the rankings reset.

Next Week: Ray’s Stay Awake Juice. Read it early on Patreon!

Topics of Conversation

Conversations with my parents during the pandemic made me realize how much “things we have done recently” form the core of most casual conversation. When the answer to “what have you been up to” is “nothing, same as you,” it’s a lot harder to carry on a chat. That was indirectly how I arrived at writing this strip. I wasn’t consciously comparing the gang not having anything to talk about because they’ve all been together for a month straight to not having anything interesting to tell my parents because I’ve been at home for a month straight, but upon reflection it’s pretty clear how I ended up at this week’s joke.

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. 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 pretty cool. Speaking of graphic novels, currently Rent-A-Thug: La Cosa Glasnostra is being reformatted as traditional comic pages and posted. Following that, the Rent-A-Thug graphic novel will be starting up (unless some publisher gives me a lot of money before that happens).

Also, the next RPG in my burgeoning empire is going to be launching in February, so sign up for my monthly-ish email newsletter to learn about BURGERPunk.

Diance Party

I don’t know what a table-dancing jam is in Hell, but Diane probably has some insight on that.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, and will get to read my new Rent-A-Thug graphic novel as I draw it! Subscribers to my newsletter have already seen the first page, which I think is several orders of magnitude cooler than any previous Rent-A-Thug stuff. Patreon is my predictable source of income, and I would very much like it to grow to the point where I can get into a workflow of webcomic + graphic novel.

Remember Top Webcomics? That’s still a thing, so if you want to boost Hell, Inc. in the rankings and funnel some new readers in, click on the banner below. You can vote daily.

Next Week: Ever look at a group of people and wonder “what would they even talk about?” Sara does. Read it early on Patreon!

Evolution of Dance?

Yes, I DID have to Google what the name of that dance video that was big on YouTube and got referenced on The Office was called. That was probably an unnecessary effort, but that is what we do here at Hell, Inc. It’s very clear that the comic, the corporation in the comic, and sometimes my studio area are all named the same thing.

I’m starting 2023 with a lot more concrete plans than normal, art-wise. The staggering artistic achievement that will be BURGERPUNK, the RPG, will be launching on Kickstarter in February. If you reacted to that with “that title rules,” then congratulations, you’re gonna like it a lot.

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! Go there. Do that. It is my most reliable source of income, and that is very helpful when living that freelance life. If everyone who read the comic last week chipped in $1/month, that would be enough to almost completely eliminate the need for freelancing. That would be rad!

Also check out the Newsletter, where I’ll be dropping some art from the Rent-A-Thug graphic novel for the first time!

Next Week: Diane lives a funk-based existence. Read it early on Patreon!

The Secret Technique

Last week was obnoxiously busy, with Hockeypocalypse: Slashers launching on Zoop (go preorder a copy, by the way, and greatly reduce my stress levels), two podcast recordings, launching the quickplay rules for the RPG Cait and I have been making, Fail Marines. I’m very tired.

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. Season 2 is underway!

I like a good Patreon plug as much as anyone, but the real business here is Hockeypocalypse: Slashers on Zoop. It is my favourite comic I’ve ever written/drawn, and I think you’ll agree. Preorder your copy to help fund the book’s existence! Get it for yourself, get it for a friend or family member, or do all of the above! Not interested in Hockeypocalypse (you should be, are you okay?)? Donate your copy to your local library when you get it!