Greetings From This Modern World

by Tom Tomorrow, Bill Griffith (Introduction)

Welcome to a world in which Ted Koppel's hair is actually a being from outer space. A world where George Bush hosts the "Media Excellence in Shaping Public Opinion in Accordance with what George Bush Wants People to Think" Awards. A world where anyone can run for president--even a bitter and cynical cartoon penguin who dismisses his opponents as "wankers."

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Politics

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins, creator of the weekly political cartoon, This Modern World, which appears in approximately 80 newspapers across the U.S., and on websites such as Daily Kos, Truthout and Credo. His work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Spin, Mother Jones, Esquire, The Economist, The Nation, U.S. News and World Report, and The American Prospect, and has been featured on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

From 1999-2001, he worked on a series of animated web cartoons which can be viewed here.

In 2009, he created the cover art for the Pearl Jam album Backspacer.

In 2011 he ended a 16 year run at Salon to create and edit a new comics section at Daily Kos.

He has published nine anthologies of his work:

–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 (2006)
–The Future’s So Bright I Can’t Bear to Look (2008)
Too Much Crazy (2010)

He is also the author of a book for children, The Very Silly Mayor (2009).

He received the first place Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1998 and in 2003. Other honors include:

1993: Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award
1995: Society of Professional Journalists James Madison Freedom of Information Award
2000: Association for Education in Journalism and Education, Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award
2001: James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
2004: Altweekly Award, 2nd Place
2006: Altweekly Award, 3rd Place

Tom Tomorrow is available for speaking engagements. For further information, contact tomtomorrow (at) gmail (dot) com. He is also currently in the market for a new publisher, if anyone’s interested.

Reviews

[S. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of This Modern World features the early works of Tom Tomorrow as they originally evolved from single-panel indictments of "consumer culture" to the multi-panel politically charged satire for which the comic and author are now famous. The author includes in the book's forward that much of this evolution was due to his involvement in Gulf War (the first one) protests, and so you can expect a lot of Poppy Bush popping up in the later entries into this collection. A reliable time-capsule of the political frustrations and corporate media shortcomings of a still-fresh part of history.

[Joshua Zucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun re-read for me. It's interesting to see how his work has changed over the last 25 or so years!

p. 68 has my favorite cartoon of the collection: it's just after the first gulf war, and they're talking about "what are we going to be scared of, now that Iraq has been defeated?" -- here it is, from 1991: http://www.thismodernworld.org/arc/19...

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freakishly current, pretty sharp. Some of the politics haven't aged well (ragging on GMOs, or movie stars getting paid too much). Striking to see how poorly HW was regarded at the time.

[T. Smith]

Hey, Goodreads, it's Greetings from *THIS* Modern World.