25 writers and artists from the Awesome Comics Podcast community have produced the latest edition of Drawn Under the Influence, a collection of new comics on the theme of Influence, with all profits going to support London’s Cartoon Museum.
An all-new anthology of comics and articles, DUI #4, featuring work by Mark Abnett, Dan Butcher, Eamonn Clarke, Tony Esmond, Chris Geary, Jay Pictor, Aaron Rackley, Kieran Squires and Sarah Webb – and certainly wears its influences on its sleeves!
Available now as a Print on Demand title through Amazon, running with the theme of this collection, editor/designer Simon Russell has crammed in as many references as he could to the weeklies and monthlies that influenced him growing up. Those include the marginal cartoons of Sergio Aragonés in MAD, to the hyper-promotional text of Stan Lee and the utility of Comics International.
Presented by The Barman, in the manner of EC Comics’ horror hosts, DUI #4 brings you 14 strips, five text pieces and a couple of treats celebrating influences, revealing influences, and discussing influences. All wrapped up in gorgeous covers by Zack Cahill, homaging a Steranko Hulk, and Sarah Webb, imagining Mucha drawing an iconoclastic character from British comics.
Taking advantage of the KDP Print On Demand system, you can buy your copy anywhere in the world, knowing it will arrive without surprise tariff and postage costs from a printer local to you.
“The unpredictable outputs of Print On Demand, means DUI #4 arrives slightly different with every reader,” says Simon, “just like the mimeographed and photocopied fanzines that first influenced us used to – but with modern printing technology, you know this publication will actually be readable!”
Each issue of DUI has a different editor and a donates all profits to a different charity. For issue four, long-time comics designer and editor, Simon Russell took the reigns to work with the (un)usual idiots of fan and professional creators to make what some people are calling the best comic of 2025.
(“The Some” being Simon’s Mum and Dad, but a quick flick through in advance of a fuller review later this month suggests they aren’t wrong!).
“Our charity for this issue is London’s own Cartoon Museum (cartoonmuseum.org), a place anyone can visit to enjoy the comics and cartoons that have shaped our culture and our nation,” says Simon.
“We have set things up so that every purchase of the comic sends the royalties that would normally go to the publisher directly to the Museum’s bank account. Nobody working on the comics takes a penny.”
So join some fine folk on an entertaining journey through what made them the way they are, and help a good cause at the same time.
DUI 4: Drawn Under The Influence, a 104-page anthology of independent comics donating all profits to charity is available here from AmazonUK | ISBN: 9798275482553
DUI #4 is made by Mark Abnett; Timothy Barnes; Dan Butcher; Zack Cahill; Eamonn Clarke; Cliff Cumber; Bert Dijkhuis; Tony Esmond; Martin Feekins; Chris Geary; Sam Hardacre; Alan Henderson; Cole Henley; Vince Hunt; Allan Liska; Benn Liska; Troy Martin; Ajax Alden Meres; Jay Pictor; Aaron Rackley; Simon Russell; Joseph Simons; Kieran Squires; Dan Stokes; and Sarah Webb
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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