With its tortured perspective, gritty realism, and outlandish urban humor, Derf’s The City has kept an outsider’s beat on current events, trends and out-there aspects of contemporary culture since 1990. Whether depicting the coarse insanity of modern urban life or the ultra-clean realm of the feature’s only recurring character - White Middle Class Suburban Man - Derf uses dissonant humor to speak up for what he calls "the common schlub".