Eddie Vedder Says This Modern World…
We all know the economy is bad and likely to get worse in the days ahead. I’m sure you know people who’ve been affected. I want to tell you about a friend of mine who recently took a huge hit, cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, creator of “This Modern World.”
In January, Village Voice Media, the largest group of weekly newspapers in the country, indefinitely suspended all syndicated cartoons. In a single day, Tom’s strip was cut from 12 papers. Obviously that means a loss of income for him. Perhaps even worse is the lost connection to readers who faithfully turn to Tom and his sardonic penguin Sparky to help them survive the absurdities of the world around us.
Political cartoons have a powerful history in the United States. Many cartoonists were the Jon Stewarts of their day, quickly cutting complex issues to their cores. Decades before the Revolutionary War, Ben Franklin sketched a disjointed snake to rally the colonies to unity, creating a lasting symbol of the time. Herb Block’s incisive visual commentaries played a significant role in the public perception of Watergate. Alt-weeklies have provided a home to some of our finest subversive comic art, from Bill Griffith’s “Zippy the Pinhead” to Simpsons-creator Matt Groening’s “Life in Hell.”
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Related post here.
And another thing you could do to help out Tom Tomorrow is BUY HIS BOOK!
