THE THAMES OBSERVER: AN INDEPENDENT FICTIONAL NEWSPAPER INSPIRED BY EAST LONDON AND THE DLR

A new independent publishing project brings together literature, drawing and fiction to transform London’s Docklands Light Railway into a landscape of mystery and imagination.

London, UK — Spring 2027

The Thames Observer is a new independent publishing project exploring the boundaries between fiction and reality through literature, drawing and visual art. Set around East London and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), the project imagines a fictional newspaper reporting mysterious events taking place along one of London’s most recognisable urban transport networks.

The Issue 000 of The Thames Observer is conceived as a teaser for a future Issue 001 and introduces the visual and literary universe behind the project.

Created by visual artist Juan Fuster, working under the alter ego John F Junior, the project began with a series of drawings imagining strange, mysterious and fantastical situations around the DLR railway line.

From this initial series of drawings, John F Junior invited writers, artists and illustrators to contribute to the creation of a shared fictional universe.

The ambition is to produce a unique printed newspaper combining fiction, literature, illustration, comics and independent publishing, using the familiar urban environment of East London as its setting.

Fiction, mystery and the London DLR

At the heart of The Thames Observer is the idea of turning an everyday journey on the DLR in East London into an unexpected cultural experience.

The project is inspired in part by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds, which famously demonstrated the power of fiction to blur the boundaries between imagination and perceived reality.

The Thames Observer takes this idea into contemporary London, asking what might happen if a fictional story were presented in the familiar language and visual form of a real newspaper.

Issue 000: four creative voices

The first issue brings together four contributors from different creative and professional backgrounds.

Franky Mercado, a multidisciplinary artist from Madrid, presents the adventures of Tracey, a young East London girl travelling on the DLR between dreams and reality. The comic takes inspiration from the dreamlike world of Little Nemo.

John F Junior, artist and illustrator, contributes the mysterious cover image depicting the discovery of supposed “human rats” beneath the platforms supporting the DLR tracks, introducing the project’s darker, thriller-inspired atmosphere.

Maggie Kuzan, an independent curator and writer who regularly contributes to Contemporary Lynx, offers a text built around a stream of connected thoughts, turning a journey on the DLR into an intimate and psychological experience.

Santiago Díaz Bravo, writer and political correspondent based in London, brings the historical figure of Judge George Jeffreys into the present through the language and format of a newspaper article.

Together, these contributions create a publication somewhere between an independent newspaper, literary magazine, fanzine, comic book and artist publication.

An independent publishing project in London

The complete The Thames Observer project is planned for Spring 2027.

The project is currently looking for artists, writers, illustrators, cultural organisations, creative partners and sponsors interested in supporting an independent publishing initiative connecting contemporary art, literature and the urban landscape of London.

The project would also like to thank La Tundra magazine for supporting and helping to promote the initiative.

The Thames Observer doesn’t want to tell a story about London.
It wants to make London feel, for a moment, like a story.