UGH Vol.1 by Hulyen Paperback, 1st Edition 124 pages in black and white Published by Haliya Publishing, November 2017 PhP 395.00 at Mervstore

Ok. I'm really a huge fan of Hulyen and her works. In fact, I've been buying UGH comics since it started out as zines. Not only that, I also bought random UGH merchandise like shirts and stickers in different occasions.

I bought UGH Vol.1 at Komiket 2018 held at Elements At Centris, Quezon City on February 2018. The truth is that I went there just for this comic book. When I learned that all three UGH zines were compiled and published into one book, I told myself I should have a copy.


This then-zines-now-a-book was titled UGH because "Ugh!" is an expression that is used a lot in the comics. According to Hulyen in an interview in FlipGeeks.com, "Ugh!" is used "to express disgust, boredom, unhappiness..." which seem to be the only emotions one of the characters—Hipster Hulyen—has. I guess the title is just appropriate for what the stories are about because the stories are based on real life cringe-worthy situations that Hulyen observed on a daily basis.

While Hulyen admits that she is not really good at drawing, I really love the overall look of the book. The big, round eyes of the characters give it a more humorous feel and the crooked lines on several panels make it more obvious that they were hand-drawn which is something I personally like in comic books versus those that are digitally made.

Inspired by some comics she bought from BLTX back in 2013 or so, Hulyen decided to make UGH zines because she and her friends wanted to have their own booth at Komikons, so she compiled some of her old works and added some few new ones and UGH was born. Parts of the book are about a character Hipster Hulyen which, judging from the character's name, I think is based from the creator herself and her own personal experiences but the intention seemingly is to point out and make fun of hipsters and what they do. The characters Jhonnalyn and Jhuli Beth though, I'm not sure if one of them is also based on a younger version of Hulyen or if these are girls she knew from her highschool days. But whoever they are, I like their story because even when I did not come from a Catholic school, I can still totally relate to most of their experiences.

In general, I love the entirety of the book. There is not a page that is boring and it helped that in almost every turn of the pages, there is a new story. Some of them I find a little offending and some parts might be blasphemous to others (which, to me, is not a problem at all) but let's face it, a lot of us find humor in little insults, right?

EXCESS:
This book is back by popular demand in its Second Edition with a turquoise-colored cover.

UGH Vol.1 by Hulyen Paperback, 2nd Edition 124 pages in black and white Published by Haliya Publishing, November 2017 PhP 395.00 at Mervstore