Location: Conference Room

Cerberus Orientation

The Patreon preview for this strip is about the decision process of where to put details when drawing a strip.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Jillian Taylor-Dolan, colourist of the award-winning Lost At Windy River, is Employee of the Week, which means they are one of the folks helping support Hell, Inc. and my other non-freelance art endeavours! Patreon can make that possible! Even $1 goes a long way, and adds up pretty fast when enough readers show their support.

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: Helen returns to the office. Read it early on Patreon!

Hi, Neighbour!

This week’s Patreon preview is about drawing action in a comic strip, and when it’s useful to shorthand things.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Barrie Deatcher is Employee of the Week, which means they are one of the folks helping support Hell, Inc. and my other non-freelance art endeavours! For example, I want to draw another wrestling comic.  Patreon can make that possible! Even $1 goes a long way, and adds up pretty fast when enough readers show their support.

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: Sara has many questions. Read it early on Patreon!

Cerberus Ate My Homework

I suppose Cerberus didn’t EAT the homework so much as demolish it, and a bunch of stuff around it. This week’s Patreon preview is a little bit about the construction of this Helen arc, but also about how much fun drawing action sequences in a comic strip is.

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.

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, my new ttrpg Big Robots, Big Feelings, 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: Cerberus keeps going! Read it early on Patreon!

The Weight of Expectations

Based on how much Helen is sweating, apparently the weight of expectations is water weight. The Patreon preview for this strip was about drawing that.

In other news, I’m going to be drawing Hell, Inc. page FOUR HUNDRED this week. It feels like I haven’t been doing this strip for very long, but it’s been 7 years.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Ben Hamlin, host of Syndicated with Lesley and Ben (among other casted pods), is Employee of the Week, and I’ve made yet another guest appearance! This time, we talked about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury! We talk about the Prologue, which is an insane rarity – a first episode that is also the best episode of the series. You also get to hear me say some absurd Gundam character names, which I could have done for MUCH longer. You can also hear me talk about a bunch of other shows, like Better Call Saul, Newsradio, Workaholics, and Ugly Americans!

You can also 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: Helen’s presentation continues… sort of. Read it early on Patreon!

 

Great Expectations

The Patreon preview for this one is mostly about how I arrived at the title.

I spent the past weekend at Gamecon Canada, which was a lot of fun. It’s always a bit strange to be at a convention and not be tabling. I was part of the Play On Tabletop narrative 40k event, bringing my Orks to serve as the spare player to ensure there weren’t any byes. I ended up playing in 3 out of the 4 rounds, which made me baffled by the people playing in the 40k Grand Tournament who had 6 or 8 games or something like that over the same time span. My brain would be leaking out of my ears after that many games in a weekend.

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 because we live in capitalist hell-world. 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!

You can help Hell, Inc. for free by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which has been a great way to draw in new readers. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: The overheating photocopier becomes a bigger problem. Read it early on Patreon!

Overtime Rules

This week’s Patreon preview was about pivoting on joke ideas, as well as one of the recurring themes of the comic. I’m also still tired from Calgary Expo, because a four day convention is basically a week.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week! Hurray! Patrons can currently read ahead on my next webcomic/graphic novel, Dropkicks & Dragons! Patrons are going to be able to read a fair amount ahead of the general public when that one launches, and it kicks ass, so please check it out!

In other news, continue voting for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics. The Old Internet becomes the New Internet! Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Helen is hard at work on her presentation. Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!

 

What Do We Do Here, Again?

The video is raising a lot of questions that should be answered by the video. The Patreon preview post for this strip was about the effect in the fourth panel, with the film strip overlaid on the computer video, and how I did that.

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 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: B.L. Zebub emerges from his lair. Read it early on Patreon!

 

Moving On!

The last Hell, Inc. of 2024! The patron preview for this strip talked about how Willis’ experience comes from my own teaching experience.

In other news, I got a Retroid Pocket 5 for Christmas, and now I must pry myself away from it to draw more Hell, Inc. strips.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin is Employee of the Week! 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 stop panicking about picking up 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: Bridget has notes on Helen’s notes. Read it early on Patreon!

You May Remember Me From Such Training Videos…

The Patreon preview for this strip is about how the demon in the video was originally just Troy McClure from The Simpsons, and then I talk my joke writing philosophy in terms of pop culture references.

Merry Christmas in a few days, for those who celebrate, and have a good week for everyone who doesn’t! Feel free to revisit the Christmas party arc of Hell, Inc. for all your festive comic needs. It starts here, and goes for, like, 150 pages.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

YOU, THE READER! There are a lot more of you than there were last year, which is awesome. It’s ideal, really, because if less people were reading the comic, that would be a real bummer. Special thanks to those of you who support me on Patreon, because any kind of predictable income is incredible. I’m looking forward to 2025, where I have an actual plan for a bunch of really cool new comic and RPG stuff that will hopefully not be destroyed immediately by circumstance.

BEHOLD! I have finally made a new Top Webcomics banner, only six years after first using the site header as a temporary one! You can click on it to vote, daily, because Top Webcomics is still a very effective traffic driver, and more votes means more eyeballs.

Next Week: Willis may have jumped the gun on the whole “no questions” thing. Read it early on Patreon!

Unsolicited Tech Support

Brought to you by every presentation where some computer thing doesn’t quite work! The Patreon preview for this strip was about unsolicited tech support, comics as choosing a series of moments, and school AV carts.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Trash the Stampede is Employee of the Week, and can be found on the internet at The Word Eater. They could also be found next to me at my last market of the year, which was last week! Patreon is also a predictable source of income, which helps calm the increasingly rough waters of freelancing, so I very much appreciate the people who support me on it!

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: What does a workplace orientation video in Hell look like? Read it early, and with author commentary, on Patreon!