Location: Zebub's Lair

The Wrong Focus

I’m almost certain I wrote this strip shortly after saying “you’re focusing on the wrong thing” in real life, which happens semi-regularly. Because I say a lot of things, and most of them don’t matter, but are also weird enough that they draw attention away from the part that did matter. I’m very good at speaking.

In other news, my OTHER webcomic just debuted! I’m working with artist and friend of Hell, Inc. (and me, specifically) Daniel Schneider on Reforged, a Warhammer Age of Sigmar comic on the Warhammer Community website! New episodes will be going up every Friday for the duration of our 10 episode first season.

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 and also the creation of my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers. I can say, without hesitation, it is the best book I have ever drawn. And you can see every new page as I draw them!

Vote for Hell, Inc. on Top Webcomics! Click the banner below to vote daily, which helps put Hell, Inc. in front of new readers!

Next Week: Sara returns to spy mode and Helen gets weird. Read it early on Patreon!

Soul Searching

Why yes, I did realize when I sat down to draw this strip that I was going to have to invent a search engine for Hell. For something made up on the spot, I’m pretty happy with it. B.L. Zebub isn’t, so much, but I am.

In other news, it’s my birthday today! If you want to help me celebrate (and also boost my Etsy rating), buy a book or two from my Etsy store between now and February 7th, 2022! You get great books at a discount, I get money to pay for things like new glasses! Everyone wins.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

It’s me, for surviving another year. Next week it could be you, if you support Hell, Inc. on Patreon! At the $5/month or higher tier, you get to read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as a premium webcomic before it goes to print (at which point you will get a copy in the mail!).

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! Unless you’re reading this on update day, it’s a new month, which means votes are worth more as the rankings reset! Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Checking in with the intern spy, who is focusing on the wrong thing. Read it early on Patreon!

Extreme Christmas Measures

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate, and happy holidays to everyone! It’s a busy season, which resulted in me forgetting what day it was, so this is later in the day than normal. What even is time?

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the holiday Week! Like him, you can also read Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I draw it AND access to over a thousand pages of other comics, including the previous Hockeypocalypse books, for $5 a month on Patreon. It’s like a giving me a Christmas present and then I give you multiple new pages ever week!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! It’s a regular source of new readers, and more votes = higher placement and better visibility. Click the banner below to vote daily.

Next Week: Untangling Christmas lights, a task so annoying that I bought a Christmas tree with the lights built into it. Read it early on Patreon!

Solid Sara

The third panel was really easy to write and quite a challenge to draw, which is generally the case whenever something is hard to draw.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Brien Aronov is Employee of the Week, and is reading Hockeypocalypse: Slashers as I write it! Will it be the best book I’ve ever produced? Probably! And by supporting me on Patreon at the $5/month and up levels you’ll get a print copy when it’s done. Supporting my art on Patreon means I can keep doing stuff like that instead of hunting for freelance jobs and trying to develop graphic novel pitches that agents/publishers will like (I have no idea what either of those groups like). Capitalism, it is a huge pain in the ass for someone like me who likes to make stuff but whose creative niche does not result in making hits.

You can help more people find Hell, Inc. by voting for on Top Webcomics! Click the banner below to vote daily, and also just tell some people you think would like it. Know people who read comics? Tell them about Hell, Inc. and send a link. Word of mouth is the only universally effective way to spread the word.

Next Week: There are no bad ideas, except that’s not true at all, there are absolutely bad ideas. Read it early on Patreon!

Tetris Must Be Destroyed

Why yes, this strip title (and the line it is referencing) IS a reference to GWAR’s “America Must Be Destroyed.” Those of you who have been around for a while will not be surprised at all that the guy who drew an entire comic based on a GWAR reference which led to him drawing an official GWAR comic would continue to make GWAR references. Have I said GWAR enough? GWAR.

EDMONTON EXPO UPDATE: I was going to be doing my first convention appearance in 2 years at Edmonton Expo in October, but that has since been cancelled due to the Alberta provincial government’s complete inability to do anything for the public good unless it benefits the party or its donors. Anyway, in an attempt to both get books to readers and replace some of that convention revenue, I’m running a sale on my Etsy shop until October 3rd for 25% off your order total on any order of $20 or more. If you were planning to stop by at Edmonton Expo, head over to the shop and grab the books you were looking for!

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Azhar Baig is Employee of the Week, and has a podcast called The Wisdom of Love that you should check out. It’s a comedic recounting of the Great Western Philosophers. You, too, can support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, and also read my new graphic novel, Hockeypocalypse: Slashers, as I draw it!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics! You can do that daily by clicking on the banner below!

Next Week: B.L. Zebub’s anti-Tetris rampage. Read it early on Patreon!

Re-promoted

And that’s a wrap on volume 4! In fact, I’m already halfway done drawing volume 5, which is zipping along pretty quickly. As of typing this post, I’ve just finished strip 189, and have scripts up to 205. I’m hoping to have the whole volume scripted by the end of the week, then I’ll start figuring out the back-up story for the print book while I draw the rest of the volume.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Bartender of the Apocalypse is Employee of the Week, and presumably works at O’Hellihan’s pub. They support Hell, Inc. on Patreon, and you can, too! New patrons receive access to Hell, Inc. Volume 4: “Mandatory,” which includes a book-exclusive short story about The Bad Chair, and over a thousand pages of other digital comics!

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, which is where the largest number of new readers come from. Votes early in the month are especially valuable as the rankings reset, and your efforts have been keeping Hell, Inc. in the top 300 for the last several months. Click the banner below to vote daily!

Next Week: Volume 5 begins in the Real Break Room! Read it early on Patreon!

The Greatest Hits

What are the toady greatest hits, you ask? FIND OUT NEXT WEEK! How’s that for a next episode tease? What? It’s lame? Well who asked you, anyway?

All right, I’m having a conversation with myself now, so I’m gonna stop and move this thing along.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Sebastian is Employee of the Week, and you can, too! In fact, you can also read Hell, Inc. Volume 4 – “Mandatory” before the general public by donating as little as $1 a month to Hell, Inc. on Patreon! There are also over a thousand pages of other comics available to patrons, so check that out.

You can also help Hell, Inc. by voting for it on Top Webcomics, where a large number of new readers come from. Vote daily by clicking the banner below, as it helps the comic move up the ranks and gain greater visibility!

Next Week: Schemes upon schemes upon easily actionable non-schemes. Read it early on Patreon!

Demoted

Less than 10 panels between promotion and demotion has to be some kind of record, right?

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 its bonus short comic detailing the only origin story that really matters: the bad chair. Support Hell, Inc. on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you, too, can find out where that most diabolical of furniture pieces came from.

It’s the beginning of the month, which means that votes for Hell, Inc. are hugely valuable on Top Webcomics as the rankings reset! Help new readers find our humble office demon comic by clicking the banner below to vote. You can vote daily!

Next Week: Back to the greatest hits? Read it early on Patreon!

A Promotion’s a Promotion

A promotion is a promotion, except when it’s actually kind of a punishment, like when I worked at a Blockbuster and my supervisors made less than a dollar-an-hour more than me but had to do paperwork.

There’s only ONE WEEK left to vote for Hell, Inc. in the Best Webcomic category of the Sequential Magazine Awards for Canadian independent comics. I would really appreciate it if you did that, because validation is good, actually. And even better when I can hang it on my office wall! Seriously, though, please go vote by clicking the image below.

If you want to check out the nominees in the other categories, many of whom are friends and acquaintances of mine, check out the full nominee list by clicking here.

Employee of the Week returns next week (for real, this time) when I have my shit together and remember to prep the update ahead of time like normal.

Next Week: Promotions are followed by bad decisions. Read it early on Patreon!

How We Do Things Here

AKA Hell, Inc. strip #100! It simultaneously feels like we should have hit number one hundred a while ago and like the comic just started. By strip 200, there will be material for FIVE Hell, Inc. print books if I keep the current length static. Madness.

EMPLOYEE OF THE WEEK:

Caitlin aka 95 Percent Coffee aka the only reason my Twitter gets updated with anything related to my art and isn’t exclusively used for talking about sports and movies I watched. If there were an actual Employee of the Week award, she would probably win it once all of the guinea pigs and chinchillas had gotten their turn. Also, she has a book coming out on Friday, so you should pre-order that. It’s a collection of 13 short horror stories, including some that were featured on the Drunk in a Graveyard podcast. Also, support Hell, Inc. on Patreon because it would be cool to have more money that isn’t reliant on stumping for freelance work.

It would also be cool if more people read Hell, Inc., and you can help with that by upvoting it on Top Webcomics. So please go do that.

Next Week: Lies beget career advancement and social capital. Read it early on Patreon!