Editing This Modern World (section)

== Overview ==
While ''This Modern World'' 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.

The series has been through several incarnations through the years, the first of which appeared in the ''Suburban High Life'' comic books published by [[Slave Labor Graphics|Slave Labor]] in the late 1980s. A recurring theme in the comic books (though far less so in subsequent comic strip) was that of "reality engineering", wherein "the very fabric of space and time" is mined for "the good of mankind". This periodically generates "reality discontinuities", where reality breaks down. These are (generally) resolved by reality engineers.<ref>Tomorrow, Tom. ''This Modern World.'' Self-Syndicated, 1988.</ref>

Visually ''This Modern World'' draws inspiration from a [[retro]], 1950s sensibility, with brightly colored illustrations that are also inspired by [[clip art]]. Initially, the strip was almost completely composed of actual vintage clip art and magazine cutouts, assembled collage-style and often manipulated and retouched. However, Tomorrow has gradually replaced cutouts with his own drawings, which merely mimic the clip art look. Usually drawn in four panels, it is not uncommon for all panels to be identical or nearly so, with only the dialogue and/or facial expressions changing.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The '50s theme extends to the typically verbose dialogue of the strip's human characters, which is often bubbly, over-enthusiastic, and naïve. The stupidity of the humans is countered by Sparky, a fast-talking penguin (although the strip occasionally postulates he is actually an [[auk]]) with a red visor, who provides much of the strip's political commentary.