Tom Tomorrow is the
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
of
editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins (born April 5, 1961, in
Wichita,
Kansas). His weekly
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
, ''
This Modern World'', which comments on current events, appears regularly in more than 80 newspapers across the United States and Canada as of 2015,
as well as in ''
The Nation'',
''
The Nib'',
''
Truthout'',
and the ''
Daily Kos'', where he was the former comics curator
and now is a regular contributor. His work has appeared in ''
The New York Times'', ''
The New Yorker'', ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'', ''
Mother Jones'', ''
Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'', ''
The Economist'', ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'', ''
The American Prospect'', ''
CREDO Action
CREDO Mobile (formerly Working Assets Wireless) is an American mobile virtual network operator headquartered in San Francisco, California. CREDO Mobile's mobile network operator is Verizon Wireless.
CREDO Mobile had a five star privacy rating f ...
'', and ''
AlterNet''.
Career
Perkins was first published in the
San Francisco-based
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
magazine ''
Processed World''. He adopted the subject matter of the consumer culture and the drudgery of work, a theme shared by the magazine, and entitled his comic strip ''This Modern World'' when it was launched in 1988. (Like many of the magazine's contributors he adopted a
pseudonym to avoid retribution from potential employers.)
In 1990, the strip began to be run in the ''
SF Weekly'', before being picked up in the fall of 1991 by the ''
San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863.
Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...
''. During this time of expanding audiences for Perkins, he shifted the focus of his work to politics. Perkins added papers throughout the 1990s, distributing his comic via self-syndication, a practice he has continued throughout his career.
In 1998, Perkins was asked by editor
James Fallows to contribute a bi-weekly cartoon to ''
U.S. News & World Report'', but was fired less than six months later, reportedly at the direction of owner
Mort Zuckerman
Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman (born June 4, 1937) is a Canadian-American billionaire media proprietor, magazine editor, and investor. He is the co-founder, executive chairman and former CEO of Boston Properties, one of the largest real estate in ...
.
In 1999, Perkins had an animation deal with ''
Saturday Night Live'' and produced three animated spots that were never aired.
In 2000 and 2001, his online animated series was the top-billed attraction in
Mondo Media's
Mondo (Italian, Ido, and Esperanto for ''world''), may refer to:
People
* Michael Mondo, Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
*Mondo Guerra, American fashion designer
* Armand ”Mondo” Duplantis, Swedish pole vaulter
Computer science
* Mo ...
lineup of mini-shows, in which the voice of Sparky the Penguin was provided by ''
Jeopardy!'' champion and author
Bob Harris.
[ See http://thismodernworld.com/animation-and-film] Perkins has also collaborated with
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
, according to a 2005 interview with the ''Santa Cruz Metro''.
In December 2007,
Keith Olbermann devoted the closing segment of an episode of
his show to a reading of "
Bill O'Reilly's Very Useful Advice for Young People", a two-page cartoon-cover story by Perkins for ''
The Village Voice''.
In 2009,
Village Voice Media, publishers of 16 alternative weeklies, suspended all syndicated cartoons across their entire chain. Perkins thereby lost twelve client papers in cities including
Los Angeles,
Minneapolis, New York, and
Seattle,
prompting his friend
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...
to post an open letter on the
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
website in support of the cartoonist.
Vedder and Perkins had become friends after meeting at a campaign rally for
Ralph Nader in 2000.
The collaboration between Pearl Jam and Perkins continued with an invitation to submit cover art for the ''
Backspacer'' album in 2009.
After being selected to provide the cover art for ''Backspacer'', Perkins went on to create a series of Halloween-themed posters for the concerts supporting the album.
In 2015, Perkins was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
and later in the year, ran a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign that raised more than $300,000 to publish a career retrospective, ''25 Years of Tomorrow''.
''This Modern World''
''This Modern World'' is Perkins' ongoing comic strip that has been published continually for more than 31 years. While it often ridicules those in power, the strip also focuses on the average American's support for contemporary leaders and their policies, as well as the popular media's role in shaping public perception.
In addition to any politicians and celebrities depicted, the strip has several recurring characters:
* A sunglasses-wearing penguin named "Sparky" and his Boston terrier friend, "Blinky"
* "Biff", a generic conservative often used by Sparky as a foil
* "Conservative Jones", a
boy detective
A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man.
Definition, etymology, and use
According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...
whose deductive reasoning satirizes the logic of conservative news analysts and politicians
* The tentacle-waving aliens of planet Glox
* The "Small Cute Dog", who was accidentally elected president on "parallel earth", and whose subsequent actions mirrored those of President George W. Bush
* The "Invisible Hand of the Free Market Man", a superhero figure whose head is shaped like a human hand
In September 2001, he began his blog, also called ''This Modern World''.
Personal life
Perkins, a longtime resident of both
San Francisco and
Brooklyn, lives in
New York City according to his Twitter bio.
Works and publications
Anthologies of ''This Modern World''
*
*
*
*
*
* – a large omnibus of early work and selected strips
*
*
*
*
* – includes pre-''Modern World'' material
*
*
Children's picture book
*
– a picture book for children aged 4–8
Awards
* 1993 Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award (MAMA)
* 1995 Society of Professional Journalists James Madison Freedom of Information Award
* 1998
Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Cartoon, for ''This Modern World''
* 2000 Association for Education in Journalism and Education, Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award
* 2001 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
* 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Cartoon, for ''This Modern World''
* 2004
AltWeekly Award, Cartoon (More than five papers), 2nd Place, for ''This Modern World''
* 2006 AltWeekly Award, Cartoon (Four or more papers), 3rd Place, for ''This Modern World''
* 2013
Herblock Prize
The Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning is an annual $15,000 after-tax cash prize, and a sterling silver Tiffany trophy. for editorial cartooning
* 2014
Association of Alternative Newsmedia second place award for cartooning
* 2015 First Place, Cartoon category,
Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) Awards
* 2015 Comic Strip Gold Medal in the
Society of Illustrators' Comic and Cartoon Art Annual competition
* 2015
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning finalist
[Ryce, Walter]
"Tom Tomorrow's political cartoon strip This Modern World earns him a Pulitzer finalist spot,"
''Monterey Country Weekly'' (Apr 21, 2015).
References
External links
*
Buzzflash Interview: Tom Tomorrow, Author of "This Modern World"Beyond Chron Profile: Tom Tomorrow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomorrow, Tom
1961 births
Living people
American bloggers
American editorial cartoonists
American political writers
American male non-fiction writers
American comics artists
American satirists
American political blogs
Artists from Wichita, Kansas
Pseudonymous artists
Writers from Wichita, Kansas
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male bloggers