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Q&A: How do I read Evil Inc?
🕑 Added 2023-11-26 19:00:03 +0000 UTCQ.: How do I read Evil Inc? I enjoy the After Dark stuff, but I feel like I'm missing the whole story.
A.: This is a great question! Evil Inc started in 2005 as a daily comic strip, and I rebooted it in 2016 as an ongoing graphic novel. At the same time, I restarted the entire storyline — resetting character arcs and continuity. To make matters a little more complicated, it took me a couple of years after the reboot to really find my legs as a longform writer. As a result, many of the first chapters of the new Evil Inc are somewhat forgettable. So here's a guide to get you started.
After Dark
I need to say this first. Evil Inc After Dark is an add-on to the central Evil Inc storyline. Several of the Evil Inc storylines are continued in After Dark. However, no continuity in After Dark plays a significant part of the central Evil Inc story. In other words, After Dark is not required reading. You can read all of Evil Inc without reading After Dark and never miss an important plot point.
It's just not as fun. ;)
Evil Inc reboot
I think the best place to jump into Evil Inc is the 7th chapter of the reboot. There are a number of ways to do this.
- Website:Start here —> https://www.evil-inc.com/comic/youre-fired/
- Kindle Unlimited: Start here —> https://amzn.to/40S7WaK
- Dropbox: Patreon backers at the $5+ levels get Dropbox links every month. This includes access to a folder full of full-page Evil Inc comics. You can start with the file titled 20190917_fullpage
Going back even further
That's the short answer to your question: Start with Chapter 7 (Evil Inc eComic #49). But, as you probably know by now, I rarely stop at the short answer, so here are some more thoughts!
If you'd like to start from the beginning of the reboot, you can do a couple of things. You could buy the graphic novel Evil Inc: Under New Management. Or you could use a previous bonus reward to download the 18+ eBook version of that book, combining the Evil Inc stories with their After Dark counterparts.
The next graphic novel, which is slated to be Kickstarted early next year, will have two editions — an SFW and an NSFW version.
Speaking of previous bonus rewards, you can download chapter 6, chapter 7 and chapter 9 that way, too!
The original comic strips
If you've read all that and still want more, you can return to the original Evil Inc comic strips that started the whole thing off. All nine volumes of Evil Inc Annual Report can be found on Amazon. You can also read them on the Evil Inc website, with your Patreon log-in. Both Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 1 and Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 2 were bonus rewards and are still downloadable.
