Tom Tomorrow: Village Voice nuclear strike on career complete

Dan Perkins, better known as Tom Tomorrow, the creator of This Modern World is alerting fans and readers that the Village Voice is no longer running his cartoon. In a blog post he explains that the six month suspension of cartoons in the chain’s newspapers is now in its fourth year and had it not been for an editor in the Village Voice, his work would not have returned.

As some of you know, a few years back the powers that be at the Village Voice chain decided to shitcan all cartoons across the chain (costing me almost a dozen major cities in a single day – it was like a nuclear first strike on my career). The one exception for me was the Village Voice itself, because editor Tony Ortega was a hardcore fan of my cartoon, and fought some serious battles to keep it in. He resigned a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been waiting for the axe to fall there, and was not remotely surprised to learn just now from the interim editor that my cartoon will no longer be running in their paper.

Dan is launching an effort called Sparky’s List to connect directly to fans. Sparky’s List is modeled after The Inner Hive – a feature created by Tom the Dancing Bug’s Ruben Bolling that emails containing his cartoon to fans before it’s published elsewhere and offers other insider goodies. Sparky’s list is a $9.99 every six months.

Dan describes Sparky’s List to fans:

So I’ve decided to add a new component to the overall Tomorrowco strategy for survival, and offer my own email subscription service which – as previously noted – I’m calling SPARKY’S LIST. Like Ruben, I didn’t want to ask for charity – I’ve always been somewhat uncomfortable even having that donations button on the blog. Instead, I wanted to offer something of value to TMW’s most devoted readers – the opportunity to see the cartoon several days before it appears online or in print, as well as the convenience of having it delivered directly to your inbox. If you’re one of those people who can never remember where you left your keys or what day TMW appears on what website, this is the answer for you. About the cartoon, I mean. I can’t help you with your keys.

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I’ll also offer occasional extras, such as alternate unpublished drafts of cartoons, contest/giveaways, “classics” from years past, and other bonus content to be determined. But don’t worry, I won’t spam your inbox – these will simply be the sprinkles on the delicious, weekly ice cream sundae that is SPARKY’S LIST.