Tom Tomorrow - This Modern World

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.