American comic publishers IDW had a problem. They were planning to publish a hard hitting satirical expose on the George W Bush administration in the form of a box of bubblegum cards, entitled Weapons Of Mass Distraction. But they couldn'y find anyone locally who was up for writing and drawing such a monster.

Whether it was a combination of a near fanatical support for the leader of the free world, or a fear that such a career move might encourage secret services to squat in the apartment next door, they didn't know. So they reached further afield - to political cartoonist and satirist Rich Johnston in London, and to illustrator Enrique Lorenzana in Spain.

"Being paid money to write up the various scandals of Bush and co... it was like taking candy from a baby. Although some babies can be quite strong and you may have to wrestle for a while." Johnston writes and draw weekly cartoons for popular UK political blogger Guido Fawkes, as well as being the author of last year's political hit comic book "Holed Up". "That comic was written from an American family's point of view who believes that Bush was just too left wing and liberal for their tastes and decided to do something about it. It's a fun place to write from, so I continued with this card set."

George Bush is portrayed as a loony King George II of Americaland, Dick Cheney as Elmer Fudd, Karl Rove as Spy Vs Spy and God as a critic of rising oil prices,

As to why IDW couldn't find anyone closer to home to write these near-treasonable diatribes as bubblegum cards. "I honestly don't know - maybe they were all too busy writing The Daily Show or South Park." Even our own departing Prime Minister makes an appearance as a staunch poodle shaped ally."Blair was my favourite to write. I just stacked up a list of his good points... and then destroyed each one by simply mentioning Iraq."

Does he expect much American hatred? "Oh I get hatred from Americans if I just write up what I had for supper. They're so good at hating. But since I started writing this card set, most of my American friends seem to share my way of thinking. There may be a larger audience for Weapons than I originally thought."

Weapons Of Mass Distraction is published on Thursday and is available in comic shops globally.