Tom Tomorrow

Perkins was first published in the San Francisco-based anarchist 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. 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.{{cite web|last1=Rhodes|first1=Steve|title=Tomorrow Never Knows|url=http://www.thismodernworld.com/pages/int1/int_bMFprofile.htm|publisher=Mediafile|date=December 1992 – January 1993|access-date=4 June 2017}}{{Cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2016/10/film-roman-working-on-animated-series-based-on-this-modern-world-1201833138/ |title=Animated Series Based On Acclaimed Underground Comic Strip 'This Modern World' In Works |last=Lincoln |first=Ross A. |date=2016-10-08 |website=Deadline|access-date=2017-12-30}}

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.thismodernworld.com/pages/int1/int_bpressclips.htm|title= No Mort Tomorrows|work=The Village Voice|access-date=2009-05-02}}

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 lineup of mini-shows, in which the voice of Sparky the Penguin was provided by Jeopardy! champion and author Bob Harris.{{cite web|url=http://www.ojr.org/ojr/lasica/1021401053.php|title=Let's Get Animated|publisher=Online Journalism Review|access-date=2009-05-02}} See http://thismodernworld.com/animation-and-film Perkins has also collaborated with Michael Moore, according to a 2005 interview with the Santa Cruz Metro.{{cite web| url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/11.02.05/tomorrow-0544.html|title=Here Today, Tom Tomorrow|publisher=Santa Cruz Metro|access-date=2009-05-02}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2007/12/olbermann_chann.php|title=Runnin' Scared|website=The Village Voice|access-date=2009-05-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011192612/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2007/12/olbermann_chann.php|archive-date=2008-10-11}}

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,{{cite web|url=http://thismodernworld.com/4657 |title=Oy |publisher=thismodernworld blog |access-date=2009-05-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413041100/http://www.thismodernworld.com/4657 |archive-date=April 13, 2009 }} prompting his friend Eddie Vedder to post an open letter on the Pearl Jam website in support of the cartoonist.{{cite web|url=https://pearljam.com/news/modern-world-needs-your-help|title=This Modern World Needs Your Help|publisher=Pearl Jam website|access-date=2017-06-05|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715113202/https://pearljam.com/news/modern-world-needs-your-help|archive-date=2009-07-15}} Vedder and Perkins had become friends after meeting at a campaign rally for Ralph Nader in 2000.{{cite news|last1=Sisario|first1=Ben|title=Bad Luck Turns Good: That's Rock 'n' Roll|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/arts/music/08pearl.html|website=The New York Times|date=7 September 2009 |access-date=4 June 2017}} The collaboration between Pearl Jam and Perkins continued with an invitation to submit cover art for the Backspacer album in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://thismodernworld.com/4774 |title=Now it can be (partly) told |author=Tom Tomorrow |publisher=Tom Tomorrow |date=2009-06-02 |access-date=2009-06-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605092728/http://thismodernworld.com/4774 |archive-date=June 5, 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.{{cite web|title=Pearl Jam Concert Posters by Tom Tomorrow|url=http://www.theblotsays.com/2009/11/pearl-jam-concert-posters-by-tom.html|website=TheBlotSays.Com|access-date=4 June 2017}}

In 2015, Perkins was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize{{cite news|last1=Cavna|first1=Michael|title=Pulitzer|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/04/25/tom-tomorrow-what-does-it-mean-when-a-true-outlier-is-a-pulitzer-prize-finalist/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=4 June 2017}} and later in the year, ran a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $300,000 to publish a career retrospective, 25 Years of Tomorrow.

{{Main|This Modern World}}

This Modern World is Perkins' ongoing comic strip that has been published continuously 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 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.

Perkins, a longtime resident of both San Francisco and Brooklyn, lives in New York City according to his Twitter bio.{{Cite Twitter profile|tomtomorrow}} Retrieved 2022-09-01

Anthologies of This Modern World

• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|last2=Griffith|first2=Bill (Introduction by)|title=Greetings from This Modern World|date=1992|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-08203-1|oclc=903699001}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=Tune in Tomorrow|date=1994|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-11344-5|oclc=30594550|url=https://archive.org/details/tuneintomorrow0000tomo}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=The Wrath of Sparky|date=1996|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-13753-3|oclc=34356174|url=https://archive.org/details/wrathofsparky00tomo}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|last2=Hitchens|first2=Christopher (Foreword by)|title=Penguin Soup for the Soul|date=1998|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-19316-4|oclc=39339312|url=https://archive.org/details/penguinsoupforso00tomo}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|last2=Eggers|first2=Dave (Introduction by)|title=When Penguins Attack!|date=2000|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-20974-2|oclc=44132892|url=https://archive.org/details/whenpenguinsatta00tomo}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=The Great Big Book of Tomorrow: a Treasury of Cartoons|date=2003|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-30177-4|url=https://archive.org/details/greatbigbookofto00tomo|oclc=52086366}} – a large omnibus of early work and selected strips
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=Hell in a Handbasket: Dispatches from the Country Formerly Known As America|date=2006|publisher=J.P. Tarcher/Penguin|location=New York|isbn=978-1-585-42458-0|oclc=61229839}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=The Future so Bright: I Can't Bear to Look|date=2008|publisher=Nation Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-568-58402-7|oclc=608483309|url=https://archive.org/details/futuresobrightic0000tomo}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|last2=Moore|first2=Michael (Foreword by)|title=Too Much Crazy|date=2011|publisher=Soft Skull Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-593-76410-4|oclc=658117509}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|last2=Vedder|first2=Eddie (Foreword by)|title=The World of Tomorrow|date=2012|publisher=Topataco|location=Easthampton, MA|isbn=978-1-936-56173-5|oclc=903701151}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=25 Years of Tomorrow|date=2016|publisher=Tomorrowco Industries|location=Easthampton, MA|isbn=978-1-936-56133-9|oclc=926736906}} – includes pre-Modern World material
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=Crazy Is the New Normal|date=2016|publisher=IDW Publishing|location=San Diego, CA|isbn=978-1-631-40700-0|oclc=948562092}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title= Life in the Stupidverse |date=2020|publisher=IDW Publishing|location=San Diego, CA|isbn= 978-1684056972}}

Children's picture book

• {{cite book|last1=Tomorrow|first1=Tom|title=The Very Silly Mayor|date=2009|publisher=Ig Pub.|location=Brooklyn, NY|isbn=978-1-935-43901-1|oclc=313077654|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/verysillymayor0000tomo}}{{cite web|url=http://verysillymayor.com/|title=The Very Silly Mayor|access-date=2009-05-01}} – a picture book for children aged 4–8

• 1993 Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award (MAMA){{cite web|url=http://www.well.com/~srhodes/paleyperkins.html|title=Paley, Perkins leave Examiner for weeklies|publisher=Mediafile|access-date=2009-05-04}}
• 1995 Society of Professional Journalists James Madison Freedom of Information Award{{cite web|url=http://www.spjchapters.org/norcal/foiwinners.html |title=Freedom of Information Award Winners |publisher=Society of Professional Journalists |access-date=2009-05-04 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122155821/http://spjchapters.org/norcal/foiwinners.html |archive-date=January 22, 2009 }}
• 1998 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Cartoon, for This Modern World{{cite web|url=http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1998/|title=30th Annual Awards - 1998 (for 1997 coverage)|publisher=Robert F. Kennedy Memorial|access-date=2009-03-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102072702/http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1998/|archive-date=2009-01-02}}
• 2000 Association for Education in Journalism and Education, Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award{{cite web|url=http://aejmc.net/ccs/NewsletArchv/CCSWint2000.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040908041550/http://www.aejmc.net/ccs/NewsletArchv/CCSWint2000.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2004-09-08|title=Tom Tomorrow wins PF&R Award|publisher=Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication|access-date=2009-05-04}}
• 2001 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism{{cite web|url=http://filmmedia.hunter.cuny.edu/aronson/pastwinners.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070612165232/http://filmmedia.hunter.cuny.edu/aronson/pastwinners.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-12 |title=James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism Recipients |publisher=James Aronson Award |access-date=2009-05-13 }}
• 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Cartoon, for This Modern World{{cite web|url=http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2003/|title=35th Annual Awards - 2003 (for 2002 coverage)|publisher=Robert F. Kennedy Memorial|access-date=2009-03-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102070950/http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2003/|archive-date=2009-01-02}}"[http://www.rfkcenter.org/node/113 35th Annual Awards: 2003 (for 2002 coverage)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727215818/http://www.rfkcenter.org/node/113 |date=2011-07-27 }}", Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
• 2004 AltWeekly Award, Cartoon (More than five papers), 2nd Place, for This Modern World{{cite web|url=http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewPerson?oid=oid%3A137561|title=Tom Tomorrow|publisher=Association of Alternative Newsweeklies|access-date=2009-03-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615170127/http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewPerson?oid=oid%3A137561|archive-date=2010-06-15}}
• 2006 AltWeekly Award, Cartoon (Four or more papers), 3rd Place, for This Modern World
• 2013 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning{{cite web | title = Dan Perkins, aka Tom Tomorrow, announced 2013 Herblock Prize Winner | publisher = The Herb Block Foundation | date = February 26, 2013 | url = http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/press-release/966 | access-date = 2013-02-26 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130301082140/http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/press-release/966 | archive-date = March 1, 2013 }}Byers, Dylan. [https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/02/tom-tomorrow-wins-herblock-prize-157889 "Tom Tomorrow wins Herblock prize,"] Politico (Feb. 26, 2013).
• 2014 Association of Alternative Newsmedia second place award for cartooningGardner, Alan. [https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2014/07/14/sorensen-tomorrow-rogers-win-association-of-alternative-newsmedia-awards/ "SORENSEN, TOMORROW, ROGERS WIN ASSOCIATION OF ALTERNATIVE NEWSMEDIA AWARDS,"] Daily Cartoonist (July 14, 2014).
• 2015 First Place, Cartoon category, Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) Awards {{cite web| title = 2015 AAN Awards Winners Announced | publisher = Association Of Alternative Newsmedia | date = July 18, 2015 | url =http://archive.altweeklies.com/aan/2015-aan-awards-winners-announced/Article?oid=8218132 | access-date = 2015-07-18}}Zaragoza, Jason. [http://archive.altweeklies.com/aan/2015-aan-awards-winners-announced/Article?oid=8218132 "2015 AAN Awards Winners Announced,"] Association of Alternative Newsmwedia website (JULY 18, 2015).
• 2015 Comic Strip Gold Medal in the Society of Illustrators' Comic and Cartoon Art Annual competition{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/society-of-illustrators-announces-award-winners/ |title=Society of Illustrators announces award winners |date=2015-02-27 |website=CBR |language=en-US |access-date=2018-01-02}}
• 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning finalist{{cite news|last1=Cavna|first1=Michael|title=What Does It Mean when a True Outlier is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/04/25/tom-tomorrow-what-does-it-mean-when-a-true-outlier-is-a-pulitzer-prize-finalist/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 25, 2015|access-date=4 June 2017}}Ryce, Walter. [http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/arts_culture_blog/tom-tomorrow-s-political-cartoon-strip-this-modern-world-earns/article_8ccfd680-e88c-11e4-bfe3-9b049faf2861.html "Tom Tomorrow's political cartoon strip This Modern World earns him a Pulitzer finalist spot,"] Monterey Country Weekly (Apr 21, 2015).
• 2024 Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons{{cite web | url=https://nationalpress.org/award-story/tom-tomorrow-dan-perkins-wins-2024-berryman-cartoonist-award/ | title=Tom Tomorrow Wins 2024 Berryman Cartoonist Award }}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Twitter}}
• [http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/10/int03201.html Buzzflash Interview: Tom Tomorrow, Author of "This Modern World"]
• [http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=3105 Beyond Chron Profile: Tom Tomorrow]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070704000855/http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2004_03_07.html Debunking Thomas Friedman's "I lost my job to India and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" story.]

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