Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins. His weekly comic strip This Modern World, which comments on current events, appears regularly in over 90 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada as of 2006, as well as on Salon.com and CREDO Action. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Spin, Mother Jones, Esquire, The Economist and The American Prospect.
In 1998 he was asked by editor James Fallows to contribute a bi-weekly cartoon to U.S. News and World Report, but was fired less than six months later, reportedly at the direction of owner Mort Zuckerman.
In 1999 Perkins had an animation deal with Saturday Night Live, producing 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 author and Jeopardy champion Bob Harris. He has also collaborated with Michael Moore, according to a 2005 interview with Santa Cruz Metro, in which he stated, "(T)his never got to actual animation, but I did work on a script with Michael Moore for a year. It was right after Bowling for Columbine, and there was this French guy who wanted to give him the money to do another documentary. But Michael wanted to do this animated piece that we were working on. It was kind of set in the moment, right after 9/11 and as we were gearing up for the war in Iraq. If you read my cartoons about the small cute dog in the parallel universe who accidentally becomes president...it was basically a movie about the small cute dog, except that he gets lost and ends up in this war zone. And a character who bore an uncanny temperamental resemblance to Bill O'Reilly was sort of the central character. And lots of zany things happened."
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 lost twelve client papers in cities including Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York and Seattle, prompting his friend Eddie Vedder to post an open letter on the Pearl Jam website in support of the cartoonist. The band would enlist him to make art for their 2009 album Backspacer.
This Modern World debuted in 1990 in SF Weekly. 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.
There have been eight cartoon anthologies of This Modern World published:
Greetings From This Modern World (1992)
Tune in Tomorrow (1994)
The Wrath of Sparky (1996)
Penguin Soup for the Soul (1998)
When Penguins Attack (2000) (Introduction by Dave Eggers)
The Great Big Book of Tomorrow (2003)
Hell in a Handbasket: Dispatches from the Country Formerly Known as America (March 2006)
The Future's So Bright I Can't Bear to Look (September 2008)
The anthologies were published by St. Martin's Press until Hell in a Handbasket, when Perkins switched to Tarcher. The Future's So Bright I Can't Bear to Look was published by Nation Books.
The Very Silly Mayor, a picture book for children aged 4—8, was published in September 2009 by Ig Publishing.
Perkins received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1998 and 2003. He began his blog, also called This Modern World, in September 2001.
1993: Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award (MAMA)
1995: Society of Professinal 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
