Tom Tomorrow Explained

Birth Name:Dan Perkins
Birth Date:1961 4, mf=yes
Birth Place:Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Area:cartoonist
Notable Works:This Modern World
Awards:full list

Dan Perkins (born April 5, 1961), better known by his pen name Tom Tomorrow, is an American editorial cartoonist. His weekly comic strip, This Modern World, which comments on current events, appears regularly in more than 80 newspapers across the United States and Canada as of 2015,[1] as well as in The Nation,[2] The Nib,[3] Truthout,[4] and the Daily Kos, where he was the former comics curator [5] and now is a regular contributor.[6] His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Spin, Mother Jones, Esquire, The Economist, Salon, The American Prospect, CREDO Action, and AlterNet.[7] [8] [9] [10]

Career

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.[11] [12]

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.[13]

In 1999, Perkins had an animation deal with Saturday Night Live and produced three animated spots that were never aired.[8] 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.[14] Perkins has also collaborated with Michael Moore, according to a 2005 interview with the Santa Cruz Metro.[15]

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.[16]

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,[17] prompting his friend Eddie Vedder to post an open letter on the Pearl Jam website in support of the cartoonist.[18] Vedder and Perkins had become friends after meeting at a campaign rally for Ralph Nader in 2000.[19] The collaboration between Pearl Jam and Perkins continued with an invitation to submit cover art for the Backspacer album in 2009.[20] 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.[21]

In 2015, Perkins was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize[22] and later in the year, ran a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $300,000 to publish a career retrospective, 25 Years of Tomorrow.

This Modern World

See main article: 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:

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.[23]

Works and publications

Anthologies of This Modern World

Children's picture book

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Tom Tomorrow's omnibus book tops $310,000 on Kickstarter. LA Times. 4 June 2017.
  2. Tom Tomorrow. The Nation. 2017-11-26.
  3. Web site: Tom Tomorrow. The Nib. 2017-11-26.
  4. Web site: Cartoons. Truthout. 2017-11-26.
  5. News: March 30, 2011. Rebel With A 'KOS': Tom Tomorrow ends Salon run to become 'comics curator' at the Daily Kos. Michael. Cavna. The Washington Post.
  6. Web site: Personal Blog. This Modern World. June 2017 .
  7. Web site: Tom Tomorrow. Spitfire Tour. 2009-05-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080704065314/http://www.spitfiretour.org/tomorrow.html. 2008-07-04.
  8. Web site: Tom Tomorrow (the Progressive Interview). The Progressive. 2005-11-02.
  9. Web site: CREDO Action - Comics. Working Assets. 2009-03-05. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090323124543/http://www.credoaction.com/comics/. 2009-03-23.
  10. Web site: Stories by Tom Tomorrow. AlterNet. 2017-11-26.
  11. Web site: Rhodes. Steve. Tomorrow Never Knows. Mediafile. December 1992 – January 1993. 4 June 2017.
  12. Web site: Animated Series Based On Acclaimed Underground Comic Strip 'This Modern World' In Works . Lincoln . Ross A. . 2016-10-08 . Deadline. 2017-12-30.
  13. News: No Mort Tomorrows. The Village Voice. 2009-05-02.
  14. Web site: Let's Get Animated. Online Journalism Review. 2009-05-02. See http://thismodernworld.com/animation-and-film
  15. Web site: Here Today, Tom Tomorrow. Santa Cruz Metro. 2009-05-02.
  16. Web site: Runnin' Scared. The Village Voice. 2009-05-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081011192612/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2007/12/olbermann_chann.php. 2008-10-11.
  17. Web site: Oy . thismodernworld blog . 2009-05-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090413041100/http://www.thismodernworld.com/4657 . April 13, 2009 .
  18. Web site: This Modern World Needs Your Help. Pearl Jam website. 2017-06-05. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20090715113202/https://pearljam.com/news/modern-world-needs-your-help. 2009-07-15.
  19. News: Sisario. Ben. Bad Luck Turns Good: That's Rock 'n' Roll. The New York Times. 7 September 2009 . 4 June 2017.
  20. Web site: Now it can be (partly) told . Tom Tomorrow . Tom Tomorrow . 2009-06-02 . 2009-06-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090605092728/http://thismodernworld.com/4774 . June 5, 2009 .
  21. Web site: Pearl Jam Concert Posters by Tom Tomorrow. TheBlotSays.Com. 4 June 2017.
  22. News: Cavna. Michael. Pulitzer. The Washington Post. 4 June 2017.
  23. Retrieved 2022-09-01
  24. Web site: The Very Silly Mayor. 2009-05-01.
  25. Web site: Paley, Perkins leave Examiner for weeklies. Mediafile. 2009-05-04.
  26. Web site: Freedom of Information Award Winners . Society of Professional Journalists . 2009-05-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090122155821/http://spjchapters.org/norcal/foiwinners.html . January 22, 2009 .
  27. Web site: 30th Annual Awards - 1998 (for 1997 coverage). Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. 2009-03-05. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090102072702/http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1998/. 2009-01-02.
  28. Web site: Tom Tomorrow wins PF&R Award. https://web.archive.org/web/20040908041550/http://www.aejmc.net/ccs/NewsletArchv/CCSWint2000.pdf. dead. 2004-09-08. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. 2009-05-04.
  29. Web site: James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism Recipients . https://archive.today/20070612165232/http://filmmedia.hunter.cuny.edu/aronson/pastwinners.html . dead . 2007-06-12 . James Aronson Award . 2009-05-13 .
  30. Web site: 35th Annual Awards - 2003 (for 2002 coverage). Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. 2009-03-05. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090102070950/http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2003/. 2009-01-02.
  31. "35th Annual Awards: 2003 (for 2002 coverage) ", Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
  32. Web site: Tom Tomorrow. Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. 2009-03-05. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100615170127/http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewPerson?oid=oid%3A137561. 2010-06-15.
  33. Web site: Dan Perkins, aka Tom Tomorrow, announced 2013 Herblock Prize Winner . The Herb Block Foundation . February 26, 2013 . 2013-02-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130301082140/http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/press-release/966 . March 1, 2013 .
  34. Byers, Dylan. "Tom Tomorrow wins Herblock prize," Politico (Feb. 26, 2013).
  35. Gardner, Alan. "SORENSEN, TOMORROW, ROGERS WIN ASSOCIATION OF ALTERNATIVE NEWSMEDIA AWARDS," Daily Cartoonist (July 14, 2014).
  36. Web site: 2015 AAN Awards Winners Announced . Association Of Alternative Newsmedia . July 18, 2015 . 2015-07-18.
  37. Zaragoza, Jason. "2015 AAN Awards Winners Announced," Association of Alternative Newsmwedia website (JULY 18, 2015).
  38. Web site: Society of Illustrators announces award winners . 2015-02-27 . CBR . en-US . 2018-01-02.
  39. News: Cavna. Michael. What Does It Mean when a True Outlier is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist. The Washington Post. April 25, 2015. 4 June 2017.
  40. Ryce, Walter. "Tom Tomorrow's political cartoon strip This Modern World earns him a Pulitzer finalist spot," Monterey Country Weekly (Apr 21, 2015).

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