The next earth-shaking issue of Ugly Mug, the House of Harley’s anthology of ‘comics to amuse and confuse’, will hit the stores in early Autumn. The original 1980s run of Ugly Mug is long out of print, so why not act now to fill the gaps in your collection of our 21st Century editions, before they disappear forever?

Ugly Mug 5 – our triumphant return after a 30-year break was published in the latter days of lockdown, which may explain why our trademark irreverent humour is laced with an undercurrent of paranoid horror.

Readers of a nervous disposition are alerted to this change of tone by the grinning face of the malevolent Voodoo Master on the cover – a sinister example of hypnotic suggestion masquerading as trigger warning!

Amongst the highlights in this issue…

• Organic Matter – an auxiliary brain is assembled, in a twisted tale by Ed Pinsent

• Count Dracula’s Great Secret is revealed, in a tribute to horror movie maverick Paul Naschy, 1970s ice lolly ads and picnic vodka

• Enigmatic cover star Voodoo Master undergoes a mid-life crisis

• Seb, stranded in fog – where is everyone? The first episode of our Anglo-French heroine’s adventures in the unknown

• The Kommuter Kronicle exposes the psycho-political horror of public transport policy

• Harvey’s S-S-S-Secret – Hollywood actor Harvey Keitel faces his biggest fear, in a half-remembered tale by the House of Harley studio

• Father Gilderoy Investigates – meet John Bagnall‘s dynamic sleuth

• Peasholm Island – prologue to the forthcoming graphic novel The Rightful King of the North Riding by Marc Baines

• Discourage the Use of Cash – the House of Harley’s Behavioural Research Unit strikes

• Negative Lad asks what good are superpowers in this misbegotten world?

• Trick or Street – never drive at night!

• Somberline: Dreams of Power – ominous politics abound in this one pager by the much-missed Chris Reynolds

• The Saga of the Scroll – Harry Excess encounters a giant octopus and other evil omens, in chapter 5 of Ed Pinsent‘s Windy Wilberforce epic

  • Note for readers: the individual episodes of our ongoing serials can be enjoyed on their own – no prior knowledge is required!

  

  There’s also eye-popping art by underground cartoon legends Savage Pencil, Denny Derbyshire, Niall Richardson and Tom Baxter Tiffin.

“…an irresistible compendium of non-mainstream comic strip goodness. The contents run the gamut from rational to surreal, silly to sophisticated, amusing to offensive; UGLY MUG 5 is, in short, eminently representative of the state of the art in modern-day underground comix.” – The Bedlam Files

Get your copy now – 72 pages for £9.95+postage from our Etsy store. (Readers outside the UK may find it cheaper to order via Lulu).

Or check out the Comics section of our store for other 21st Century issues of Ugly Mug, along with gift bundles, and our innovative Naked Knowledge puzzle-comic (tagline – “you might learn something”).

Ugly Mug 9 is due out this autumn. To sign up for notifications about that or other House of Harley news, look for the ‘Join for Free’ button on this page.

Get your choc ices ready! Submit your annual leave request to HR! Book a deckchair on your nearest beach! And head over to John Bagnall’s Etsy store to pick up a copy of The Bugle Summer Special, the ideal reading material for this hot hot summer.

The Bugle Summer Special is a tribute to the British comics of yore and has been lovingly put together by cartoonists John Bagnall and Phil Bartle, who have populated the fictional northern English town of Slackdale with characters such as Nervous Nigel, The Boggs, entertainer Bryan Trowell, Harold McHector the Manic Collector, Father Ogle, Misery Guts, sweet shop owner Bobby Minto and the battling brothers Eric and Derek.

This issue also features stories by regular Ugly Mug contributors Ed Pinsent and Marc Baines, along with an all-new House of Harley three pager: the return of Lady Backenforth – she’s the Lord of the Manor – in another battle with the boys and girls of Slackdale…

And it comes with a fantastic FREE gift – Battling Eric and Derek Puppets.

To celebrate the new issue, there’s a launch event this Friday (26th June) at Consett Heart – Heritage & Arts Centre, The Old Ambulance Hall, John Street, Consett, County Durham DH8 5AS. Get yourself along for a night of musical entertainment from The Tunisians, Lee Harrison and One Dollar Zombies.

Original artwork from The Bugle will be on sale, along with comics, postcards and jars of Slackdale pickles! The exhibition opens at 5.30pm and the music begins at 7pm. Entry is free but any donations go to keeping Consett Heart open.

The Bugle Summer Special is available now for £5+postage from John Bagnall’s Etsy store.

The new issue of Bagnall and Bartle’s The Bugle comic is being launched with a splish, a splash and a splosh at Consett Heart on Friday 26th June. Get yourself along for a night of musical entertainment from The Tunisians, Lee Harrison and One Dollar Zombies.

The Bugle is a grown-up tribute to the British children’s comics of yore. Here’s some sneak previews from its pages, by the wonderful John Bagnall…

The Bugle Summer Special also features stories by regular Ugly Mug contributors Ed Pinsent and Marc Baines. And an all-new House of Harley three pager: the return of Lady Backenforth – she’s the Lord of the Manor – in another battle with the scamps of Slackdale…

Original artwork from The Bugle will be on sale, along with comics, postcards and Slackdale Pickles! The exhibition opens at 5.30pm and the music begins at 7pm. Entry is free but any donations go to keeping Consett Heart open.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t got issue one of The Bugle, there’s a few copies still available for just £5+p&p in John Bagnall’s Etsy store. Snap it up while you can.

The bumper 2023 edition of our art-comix anthology Ugly Mug recently disappeared from the House of Harley Etsy store due to an alleged (and baffling) violation of Etsy policies – but we’re happy to report that it’s back.

Issue 7 is packed with comics and drawings to amuse and confuse, including:

• Otherweirdly – epic notions of another world by Denny Derbyshire

• Take the Children Out of Town – a crisis of adulthood played out in Seussian rhyme

• How a Comic is Made – John Bagnall goes inside the factory

• The Imbalance of Nature – weird and wonderful extremes of life documented by Ed Pinsent

• the debut of Mark E Smith Music Teacher, our affectionate tribute to the lead singer of The Fall. (For more about this, see our previous post).

• Duk u Sucka – Tom Baxter Tiffin‘s tale of Ned Kelly lost in The Dreamtime

• Seb, Surrounded – our hardy heroine battles an enemy she cannot see

• Batlight, a beguiling photo story by the much missed Chris Reynolds

• Windy Wilberforce – Harry Excess tangles with Dr Fengele in chapter 7 of Ed Pinsent‘s The Saga of the Scroll

• Dogbreath – Savage Pencil‘s misanthropic mutt dreams of world destruction

• And eye popping graphix by Alberto Monteiro, Masaman, Jim Barker and Oxideguy

Ugly Mug 7 gives you 120 pages to reckon with for a mere £19.99+p&p. It is available in our Etsy shop as well as via Lulu (which can be cheaper for international readers).

“As jammed-packed with beguiling thrilling stuff as any British X-mas Annual of yore, these curated creations brim with surreal narrative force and come overloaded with wry and witty visual oomph…” – Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

“Adults only… they weren’t kidding.” – Talking Small Press Comics

To mark the occasion of Ugly Mug 7’s return, here’s some glimpses at work-in-progress art from its pages, by the House of Harley studio…

…and also, a rare treat, a look at the full cover design submitted by iestyn pettigrew…

You can find more 21st century editions of Ugly Mug on the House of Harley website. We’re working hard on issue 9 now and it’s due to hit the streets in the autumn. To sign up for notifications about that and other House of Harley news, look for the ‘Join for Free’ button on this page.

“…from darkly satirical tales to absurdist comedies, all drawn with a raw, expressive style… guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on readers… this is an anthology that’ll make you laugh, admire artistic flair, and maybe even question your sanity.” – Comic Book News UK

“…the tagline ‘comics to amuse and confuse’ perfectly encapsulates the breadth of material between its covers… its contents range from everything from parodic Viz-like humour through to oblique and sometimes even impenetrable experimental comics.” – Broken Frontier 

Our affectionate comic strip tribute imagines the late great singer of The Fall having an unlikely side hustle as a violin tutor at Salford College of Musical Technology. Follow his adventures – and learn some valuable lessons about music and life – in Ugly Mug, our anthology of comics to amuse and confuse, starting with issue 7.

We’ll be raising a glass or three to the memory and legacy of Mr Smith and his many musical collaborators this weekend at Futures and Pasts, a celebration of 50 years of The Fall, at Band on the Wall in Manchester. It looks to be a great event, with performances by bands including The Look Back Bores and The Fallen Women, guided tours of Manchester by Fall drummer ‘Funky Si’ Wolstencroft, a rare behind-the-scenes tour film, a restaging of The Fall’s 1987 play Hey Luciani and much more. Check out the programme for more details.

Meanwhile, new episodes of Mark E Smith Music Teacher are being prepared for Ugly Mug 9, due out this September. If you’re not a member of our Patreon clubs, look for the ‘Join for free’ button on this page to receive notifications about that and other House of Harley activities.

Back issues of Ugly Mug are available from our Etsy shop, along with other House of Harley publications, original drawings and comics, music and merch.