cover image Crazy Is the New Normal

Crazy Is the New Normal

Tom Tomorrow. IDW, $19.99 trade paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-63140-700-0

Cartoonist Dan Perkins, aka Tom Tomorrow, brings together three years’ worth of strips from his syndicated This Modern World. Inspired by partisan politics, and the machinery of fanatical supporters, angry detractors, talking heads, and media personalities who are hell-bent on shaping the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Perkins finds plenty of targets for his well-honed wit. Inhabiting a brightly colored landscape that reinforces the idea that crazy is the new normal, the characters—President Obama, the Incredible Trump, and an assortment of anthropomorphized animals—show how fractured America has become over a variety of issues, including gun control, racial violence, drones, torture, and, of course, the full-blown craziness of the election itself. Perkins is as much at home in his classic six-panel strips as he is in his text-rich 20-panel “Year in Review” segments, the common thread being his keen ability to show America’s difficulty changing the narratives that dominate its headlines. It is, despite its delightful hilarity, terrifying to read. (Oct.)