Ugly Hill
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| Ugly Hill | |
|---|---|
 Ugly Hill comic for 2005-07-01 |
|
| Author(s) | Paul Southworth |
| Website | http://www.uglyhill.com/ |
| Update schedule | Updating every weekday |
| Launch date | 2005-05-23 [1] |
| Genre | Absurdist humor |
Ugly Hill is a webcomic written and drawn by Paul Southworth. It is currently a part of Blank Label Comics. The titular Ugly Hill is the hometown of the main characters. On 2006-11-07 it was announced that Ugly Hill would be published on Viper Comics' website[1].
Contents |
[edit] Primary Characters
- Eli Kilgore is a slothful, consistently unemployed blue dinosaur-like creature with a seemingly permanent five o'clock shadow (that is, except when he allows it to sprout into a full-on beard). He is kind and intelligent, but is lazy and has nothing resembling a work ethic. He is a fan of the heavy metal band Skulldrift.
- Snug is Eli's lavender-colored best friend who still lives in his mother's basement. His mother is never seen, but is portrayed as a domineering, controlling woman. Despite her overbearing nature, Snug depends on her totally even if he is terrified of her. Snug has been shown to be slug-like in his sensitivity to salt.
- Hastings Kilgore is Eli's workaholic brother. He is tan-skinned, wears glasses and an ever-present necktie, has horns, and stumpy arms which Eli teases him about. He is work-obsessed, which leads a very high-stress life. These factors have led to problems with his blood pressure, necessitating a strict diet, which he ignores due to his love of good food (salt in particular). He is a noted racist (against the minority of one-eyed people in the Ugly Hill world, once he is called a Two-Eyes Supremacist). Hastings has been married many, many times, but even he is often confused as to the exact number due to a large variety of varied circumstances. He is constantly frustrated by Eli's inability to find and hold a job, but nonetheless supports him due to a feeling of family obligation.
- Peter Wipp is an intern at Hastings' office and a high school student. He has the appearance of an octopus wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a bowl haircut. He is a bright boy, often acts as the voice of reason, and is usually the most level-headed character in the strip. He often suffers from the pressure put on him by Hastings' workaholism.
- Elliot Krauthammer is a co-worker of Hastings' who is at best an irritation to him, often leading Hastings to act more extremely than normal. To wit: Hastings has attempted to eat Elliot on more than one occasion, as well as attempt to both get him fired for perceived workplace infractions, and to blow up his septic tank.
- Karl Kilgore is the father of Eli and Hastings. While Karl looks like a taller, thinner version of Hastings (and sporting a mustache), his personality is similar to that of Eli; a slacker and mooch. He finds work to be "for losers" and has built up considerable debt from various places. Not long ago, he was carted off to jail after hiding in a cave in an attempt to elude bill collectors, but while there, he still managed to hire a professional killer to try to murder his ex-wife. He recently escaped from prison when he heard of Mrs. Kilgore's attempts to get Eli to shave his beard.
- Grant is Peter's history buff friend. He is active in Ugly Hill's civil war re-enactment community. He is green-skinned, with orange hair, thick glasses, and a bulbous nose. Usually seen wearing his uniform.
[edit] Other Characters
- Fausto Ivanov was the Russian owner of a local convinence store in Ugly Hill. Looking like a small green slug with a black beard, Fausto is owner and seemingly the only employee at his store, Fausto's. In an April 2006 storyline, however, it was revealed that Fausto was actually a cyclops terrorist with plans to assassinate President Herbert Tripp. His plot was ultimately foiled by the efforts of Peter (who tackled Fausto) and Hastings (who took the bullet). The storyline ended with Fausto in US custody and awaiting trial. His fate is currently unknown.
- Dr. Hope Kilogre is an ex-wife of Hastings. So far she is the only ex-wife of Hastings to appear in the strip and not simply be mentioned in conversation. She resembles a pink dinosaur with orange hair, back spines, and glasses. She was married to Hastings for two years, but they divorced when Hastings learned that one of her parents was a cyclops (whether it was her mother or father is not mentioned). Despite this, Hope comes off as polite and cheerful, helping Hastings even after their divorce. Regardless, Hastings still treats her coldly, feeling betrayed that she kept her mixed parentage a secret from him.
- Mr. Ladwig is the immediate supervisor of Hastings and Elliot. He is pink, with black wings, a small tusk for a nose and blonde hair (which might be a wig). A non-confrontational person, he is constantly in the middle of disputes between Hastings and Elliot. There does not seem to be any bias in these fights, as Ladwig is willing to demote Hastings and foil Elliot's attempts to get Hastings fired or punished. While seemingly possessing a large amount of patience, he has been known to lose his temper when the fighting between the two employees disrupts his personal life (such as when Elliot badgered Ladwig while Ladwig was talking to his dying father).
- Miss Mudrick is Hastings and Elliot's boss. She is one of the minority single-eyed creatures of Ugly Hill, and thus, Hastings must continually try to keep his racism in check around her, but usually fails. Miss Mudrick is quite religious, and tolerant of others' idiosyncrasies to the point of heavy self-sacrifice.
- Tom Wipp is Peter's father. Under the pen name of "Prod Roberts", Mr. Wipp wrote a number of instructional books on the subject of workplace efficiency, which Hastings greatly admires. But Hastings becomes disillusioned when he gets to know Mr. Wipp and realizes he is more a family man than a business man.
- Mrs. Kilgore is the mother of Eli and Hastings and Karl Kilgore's ex-wife. Until recently, she had only been referenced by other characters and not seen in the comic, but was introduced during the Thanksgiving '06 story arc. Whereas Hastings more closely resembles Mr. Kilgore, Eli takes after his mother, sharing her blue skin and bulbous nose. Even so, based on prior character references, Hastings more closely mirrors her attitudes, including his bigotry. Much is not yet known about Mrs. Kilgore's overall personality, but it's likely that she may not have the same work ethic as Hastings. To wit: she doesn't seem to object to Eli or Karl's sedentary lifestyles, going as far as to threaten to stop painting landscapes for Hastings should Hastings ever kick Eli out of his apartment (a prospect that frightens Hastings enough to allow Eli to stay). One thing that's very clear, however, is that she maintains an extremely low tolerance for facial hair of any kind.
