The Modern Parents

The Modern Parents are characters who appeared in VIZ magazine in the early 1990s as an antidote to the type of left-wing, sharing, forever-young parenting which was becoming more prevalent in society. Malcolm and Cressida are the parents in question; they are adults whose obsession with equality, liberalisation and environmental awareness gets in the way of their basic role as parents to despairing eldest son Tarquin and backgrounded younger child Guinevere. Traditional childhood activities such as visiting fairgrounds or fast food restaurants; taking part in games or competitions; playing sport or with toys; enjoying foreign holidays or even going to school; all of these go against Malcolm and Cressida's principles.

Unfortunately, Malcolm and Cressida also believe that all humans are equal to the extent that there is no such thing as immaturity; as a result Tarquin is often greeted by the sight of his parents openly having sexual intercourse (having also previously announced this intention to their kids) and has to shield Guinevere from such activity. Each story of the Modern Parents primarily sees the parents forcing the kids into participation in some new world, wide eyed, hare brained post-modern activity which ostensibly encourages a policy of togetherness but ironically ends up with exclusion; and Tarquin and Guinevere escaping to their much more realist uncle Eddie who supplies them with the ice creams and trips to theme parks which their parents refuse to allow. Often, while the children are enjoying themselves with uncle Eddie, their parents are suffering or arguing due to their latest idea/scheme going horribly wrong.