Location: Conference Room

Less Immediate, Still Regret

This and the next strip were originally supposed to be one episode, which was, obviously a very poor bit of planning. Thankfully I’ve been doing this long enough to be able to spot those kinds of issues before they become a problem, or solve those problems in ways that don’t stick out as patch-jobs.

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 5: “Overtime” and you can, too! Head over to the Hell, Inc. Patreon and for as little as $1 a month you’ll get access to that book and over 1000 pages of over digital comics! Patreon is my most predictable source of income, so even $1 a month makes a big difference!

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which is the primary source of new readers for the comic. It’s the beginning of the month, so votes are worth even more as the rankings reset. Vote daily by clicking on the banner below!

Next Week: Back immediate regrets. Read it early on Patreon!

Immediate Regret

It’s Victoria Day in Canada, which means a long weekend which always screws up my routines for remembering to update. Could I load a bunch of posts in advance and not have to worry about that? Probably. Am I going to? Probably not. Much like how watching the NHL playoffs has made me furiously angry, but will I keep watching the Oilers next season? Yes. Will I do so while wallowing in self-loathing? Probably. If you want to check out the product of the last time I was in this headspace, go read the Hockeypocalypse books. People aware of the origins of the series will not be shocked to learn I’ve been writing a new volume.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the Week, and will be one of the first to have access to Hell, Inc. Volume 5: Overtime later this week, as I’m in the process of finishing that up. You can get that AND access to over a thousand pages of other comics, including the aforementioned Hockeypocalypse series, for as little as $1 a month on Patreon and ALSO help support me, the creator of said comics, because apparently humans need money to live.

You can also vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics, which brings in more new readers than any other avenue thus far. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Mistakes were made, and their consequences have become clear. Read it early on Patreon!

Worst Person in Hell

One thing I’ve learned while working on Hell, Inc. is that a handful of the characters are a huge pain in the ass to colour because they have way more colours than everyone else. Willis is one of those characters. I’m glad he’s not really a character who pops up in backgrounds.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Jillian Dolan, artist of Kyle the Nihilist Dinosaur, Misha, and other delightful comics, is Employee of the Week! She is one of the folks with exclusive early access to the digital edition of Hell, Inc. Volume 4: Mandatory and will be receiving a digital copy of Hell, Inc. Volume 5: Overtime when it’s done in two weeks or so. Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you, too, can have early access to every Hell, Inc. book and over a thousand pages of other comics!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which boosts the comic’s visibility and helps bring in new readers. You can vote daily by clicking on the banner below!

Next Week: The party planning binder is… maybe a bit excessive. Read it early on Patreon!

Fried Tires and Nuclear Fish

Is this a weirder callback than Steve eating the bees? Yes. Yes it is. In other news, I’ve just finished drawing episode 210, which is the end of book 5! Once the book short story and the cover are done, that’ll be a wrap on that volume, then on to book 6!

Speaking of books, I’ve put together a survey about how people want the print books to be released. Click here to give your feedback!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Cindy Gauthier is Employee of the Week, and you can read her comic Posthumous on Webtoon (where you can also read Hell, Inc., if that’s a format you prefer). If you want to get your comics needs handled, support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, where you’ll get a digital copy of Hell, Inc. Volume 4: “Mandatory” (which includes a book-exclusive short story) as well as over 1000 pages of other comics! Patrons should keep an eye out for volume 5, which is currently being wrapped up. I’ve probably got about two weeks left on that.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which is responsible for lots of new readers. Click on the banner below to vote daily and help boost Hell, Inc.’s visibility!

Next Week: You know what everyone loves? Meetings. Read it early on Patreon!

Meat-ing

I don’t know if this is the dirtiest joke in the comic so far, but it’s probably the least subtle. Especially since it’s a Steve joke, and he allows me to exercise my desire to make terrible jokes with full belief that they’re funny.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Robbie Dorman, host of the Simpsons Show and Serial Fanatacist podcasts, is the Employee of the Week. I just mailed his Hockeypocalypse Season 4 book. He also has a Patreon, perhaps consider throwing him a few bucks as well, yes? CORPORATE SYNERGY. If you want to get in on the corporate synergy, support the Hell, Inc. Patreon so I can keep using the corporate gold card.

Next Week: Gotta get some jet fuel, and things get weird in the Real Break Room. Get into the Real Break Room on Patreon.

How!?

That’s a very good question, Willis. Doug’s drawing reminds me of the drawings I used to do on the back of tests. I never liked being the first one to hand a test in, so I would draw on the back until somebody else handed theirs in. Upon having one German quiz returned, I discovered that the professor had ALSO drawn on the back of my test – a dinosaur drawn chasing soldier I had doodled (who later became George in Redcoats-ish). That worked out better for everyone than whatever B.L. Zebub is doing to that poor computer.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Happy Harbor Comics is the Employee of the Week, and also the reason why I worked a 12 hour day helping run a book fair in Beaumont, AB last week. I was actually happy to help, until I spent an hour in traffic trying to return the fixtures and leftover product to the store. I was much less happy about that. Make me happy by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon, where you’ll be supporting a less evil corporation than… well, most of them.

Next Week: Steve makes puns, Doug makes faces. Learn more of Steve’s punmanship by reading next week’s comic early on Patreon!

Actual Chlamydia

Most strips turn out more-or-less like the final thumbnail sketch of the script, but not drawn as a tiny rectangle full of scribbly lines that are indecipherable to anyone but me. This one ended up changing a lot – it was supposed to be a pretty standard row of five panels, with the inset panel that is panel 2. Then I tried to lay it out on paper, and realized that I had laid it out in the thumbnail and made it too wide, and didn’t actually have room for it to be five panels wide AND fit the dialogue bubbles. The end result is way more visually interesting, I think, and made me a lot happier with the strip than I would have been if it was just a normal five panel layout.

Employee of the Week:

Brien Aronov is the Employee of the Week! We haven’t had a new Employee of the Week in a while – let’s get some new names in the rotation. You can do that by giving some money to the Hell, Inc. Patreon, which is how I pay for things like the website and justifying working on this instead of taking more freelance work.

Next Week: How does a computer get an STD? A theory. Read it early on Patreon!

Work the Butts

The Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter is over (thanks to all of you who pledged your support and helped share the project), and other than some administrative end stuff (making the surveys, sending files to the printer, stuff that doesn’t take much more thought than the effort to type it), I have done pretty much nothing but draw next week’s Hell, Inc. strip and paint Warhammer dudes. First, I painted a bunch of Ork Boyz, and have since moved on to finishing up a Kharadron Overlords Thunderers squad.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is Employee of the Week! While the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter made a great leap forward, the Patreon took a bit of a step back. At 20 patrons you’re all getting the original Hell, Inc. issues #1 and 2 as physical copies in the mail, so harangue your friends into supporting our favourite capitalist hellscape. Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon – because old, rich white dudes need your money less than I do. Goddamn, how isn’t corporate America banging down my door with genius promo lines like that?

Next Week: After you work the butts, remember that you’re in an Inhuman Resources seminar. Read it early by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

Horny For Work

Last chance for the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter! It’s wrapping up at 5PM MT on Wednesday. Take a few seconds to back it now, and avoid the regret of missing out!

One day I will master digital type on a frosted glass pane on a door. This was a huge improvement over the last attempt, however, which involved giving up and leaving the window un-lettered.

In the original Hell, Inc. comics, this meeting was about harpy safety in the workplace (aka how to be safe from harpies in the workplace). The harpies will show up in this version, at some point, but I haven’t decided on their role in the new story yet.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Still the Hockeypocalypse Kickstarter. Back it, it’s my favourite book I’ve made. Next week, back to patron shoutouts as Employee of the Week. If you want said shoutout, perhaps to promote something of your own, support Hell, Inc. on Patreon.

Next Week: Work the Butts. Find out what that means early on Patreon.