Location: The Beelzebus

Hindsight

In the Patreon preview for this strip, I talk about the concept of joke density and my approach to incorporating it into Hell, Inc.

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: The strip that ends this arc! To be followed by… another arc! Read it early on Patreon!

The Bus Waits for No Demon

This week’s comic made me hyper-aware that my buffer is down to two weeks, which means I need to get drawing again. My efforts lately have been focused on a new pitch packet (one of those will land, one of these days) and BURGERPunk stuff. There was a loooooot of BURGERPunk stuff to draw.

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! That would be preeeeetty cool.

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: Getting Helen OFF the bus isn’t easy, either. Read it early on Patreon!

Untitled Hell Comic

So I totally thought Doug’s balloon in the last panel would be bigger and cover up most or all of the building’s placard. And that’s how, by overestimating the size of a balloon, I made the name of Doug’s apartment building an Untitled Goose Game reference. It’s canon now.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Amon is Employee of the Week! For the first time in over a month I had to actually look at the rotation to see who was next, since it wasn’t just “who’s new?” Thanks to all of you who have signed up to support Hell, Inc. on Patreon and received Hell, Inc. Vol 3: Team-building Exercise as well as over 1000 pages of digital comics. It’s still my only predictable (and sometimes only, period!) source of income, so if you think the comic is worth a buck, head over to the Hell, Inc. Patreon.

Voting on Top Webcomics is also a great way to help bring new readers to Hell, Inc., and also a great way for me to get tripped out seeing where Hell, Inc. ranks in comparison to some comics that I consider real heavy hitters. Spoiler – Hell, Inc. ranks shockingly well in comparison.

Next Week: Seriously one of my favourite strips. Read it early by supporting Hell, Inc. on Patreon!

It Would Have Been Better to Eat a Person

No seriously though fuck executives. You know that adage that you get more conservative as you get older (presumably because you make money and want to protect it)? I have very much gone the opposite direction. At this rate, by the time I’m 70 I’ll be swinging battle axes at CEOs.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Returning staffer Ben Hamlin is Employee of the Week. Ben is also in the business of keeping us all entertained during quarantine as a podcaster with the Infinity Break Network! If you think the entertainment you’ve been getting from Hell, Inc. is worth a dollar, check out the Hell, Inc. Patreon page and contribute to my only reliable source of quarantine income! Patrons have access to the third Hell, Inc. print book, including an exclusive short story, and over 1000 pages of other digital comics!

It’s early in the month, which means votes over on Top Webcomics are worth even more as the playing field is reset! Click the banner below to help boost Hell, Inc. in the rankings and get it in front of more new readers.

Next Week: The only thing worse than riding the bus is getting off of the bus. Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon to read it early!

Fart Bus

Drawing this strip involved Googling the phrase “fart monster” while students at one of the Drawn to Write camps were working on a project. It turns out there are roughly four hundred thousand children’s books about farting monsters. Who knew? The publishing industry, apparently.

In Kickstarter news, there’s less than 72 hours left! If you’ve been waiting, because you wanted to stress me out, get on it! Time’s almost up. Click the image below to pledge your support to the only corporate overlord who isn’t actively ruining the planet.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Another light week, but I expect next week’s backer list will see a pretty big surge. The first few days and the last few days of a Kickstarter campaign always result in the majority of the backers. Thankfully for my sanity, this campaign has been a lot steadier throughout than the previous campaigns, and the most significant slowdown happened after the funding goal was hit.

Michael Rider

Enrica Jang

Paul McErlean

Shawn Underhill

Starside Comic Team

Matt Johns

Want to get your name in next week’s news post? Back the Hell, Inc. Kickstarter. Really, though, don’t do it just to get your name in the post. Do it because they’re awesome books that are also helping bring in new readers and keep the comic a viable project, financially.

Next Week: The Annual Candied Sheep Riot Clean Up.

Exorcise Exercise

This strip is a slight twist on an actual encounter I had on the bus once. Years ago, I was taking the bus home from an RPG session (Rogue Trader, the Warhammer 40K roleplaying game that Fantasy Flight Games used to publish, if I recall correctly). It was a reasonably full bus, and I was sitting near the front. Two homeless guys sat down on the fold-up seats by the door. One of them started ranting and raving about demons, which nobody was paying attention to. Then he says “there’s demons right here on this bus” and looks right at me. Looks me right in the eye. I am now uncomfortable, but return to reading and ignoring him. Then he starts waving his arms and imploring other bus-riders to join him in exorcising the demons from the bus, which causes both me and about 10 other people to move as far back on the bus as possible. This just causes the guy to start exhorting his fellows to join him in exorcising the demons even more vigorously. At this point, the other homeless guy, who has sat silent the entire time, just grabs the other guy by the shoulder and pulls him back down into his seat, saying only “shut the fuck up about demons.”

The Hell, Inc. Kickstarter has funded! The print books will be on their way to the printer later this month as a result. There are still stretch goals to achieve, though, and over a week left to hit them, so there’s work left to be done. If you’ve been waiting to see if it funds, wait no more! You’ve got less than 10 days to throw your support behind the project and be among the first to get the new books!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

We’re continuing with the Kickstarter backers. This week, the ones who pushed the campaign across the goal.

Michael Kingston

Lee Ditsworth

Shauna Forrister

Loren Albrecht

Chris Burris

Jennifer Bisaillon

Christine Stewart

Want to be in next week’s list, and responsible for helping unlock free copies of the original black and white Hell, Inc. comics? Back the Hell, Inc. Kickstarter by clicking the image above!

Next Week: The Beelzebus vis a vis Earth buses.