"I love Tom The Dancing Bug Blog"

2022-05-25 16:24:15

Tom The Dancing Bug Blog March 23, 2022 NYC: Tom the Dancing Bug at MoCCA Fest 2022 UPDATE 4/1/22: All systems are go. I'll see you there.  Any further messages about the event will be on my Twitter feed: @rubenbolling Anyone in, or around, or willing to travel to, the NYC area:I'm planning to be at the Society of Illustrators' MoCCA Arts Festival 2022 on Saturday, April 2, 3pm - 5pm:  Metropolitan Pavilion located at 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011.  An entrance ticket is required.I'll have a limited supply of my books Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens and Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse(Volumes 6 and 7 of The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug, respectively) that I'll be signing/sketching/selling, at cover price.  (I'll also have some Super-Fun-Pak Comix Readers and Tom the Dancing Bug, Without the Bad Ones, not sold at cover price).  I'm also happy to say Hi and sketch for anyone who comes by, whether purchasing or not.You'll find me at the National Cartoonists Society table, Table C252.(Cash or Venmo.)But check back at this space to confirm before coming!  We're living in a time when things could change for the event or for me, and if there's any change in plans, I'll post any updates right here.Info about the books: bit.ly/TTDBbooks Posted at 01:38 PM | Permalink March 02, 2022 Donate to UNHCR... and maybe win a book?Like many people, I'm not sure what to do in the face of all this evil and suffering.  I've read that one of most effective ways to help is to donate to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, because they already have existing infrastructure on the ground and can use your money to help people immediately.I've donated, and I'm doing another tiniest drop-in-the-bucket thing:  Anyone who also decides to donate to UNHCR can email me and enter a random drawing to win a signed/sketched copy of the new book, Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens.Here's how to participate:1. Donate any amount to UNHCR;2. Send a screenshot of the receipt or forward the confirming email to [email protected]; and3. Use the subject heading TOM THE DANCING BUG UNHCR DONATION.You'll be entered in a drawing for a free book.Donate and send the email between today at 2:00pm ET through Sunday night 11:59pm ET to qualify.If you win, I'll email you back for your postal address.USA addresses only please.Thanks,Ruben 3/9/22 UPDATE:The winner of signed/sketched copies of Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens is Anthony Severo. And the winner of another drawing, just for participating members of the Inner Hive, is Jim Hodgson. So grateful that this little gesture generated thousands of dollars in donations. THANKS to everyone who participated to help the Ukrainian people! And thanks to everyone who donated to the Ukrainian people in any way, through my contest or otherwise! -Rb Posted at 01:25 PM | Permalink December 31, 2021 THE TOP TEN TOM THE DANCING BUGS OF 2021 The annual Countdown of the Top Tom the Dancing Bugs of the Year has been completed, and is now available for your convenience in its entirety on one page, HERE.THRILL to the mathematical, scientifically determined rankings, right up to the shocking conclusion, as an unprecedented development has led to the most astonishing #1 pick in Tom the Dancing Bug's Countdown History!  Posted at 08:45 AM | Permalink December 18, 2021 GIVE THE GIFT OF AN INNER HIVE GIFT MEMBERSHIPThis holiday season, you can give that special someone(s) a Gift Membership(s) to Tom the Dancing Bug's INNER HIVE.That's right, you can give a loved one / friend / frenemy a membership to the INNER HIVE, and from the moment you sign them up and throughout 2022 they will receive the weekly INNER HIVE emails containing:- that week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic, at least a day before it's published online; and- exclusive commentary, extra comics, contests, giveaways, word-find puzzles, and advice for the lovelornand all other benefits and privileges of membership will be conferred up on them.$29.99.  Simply sign up here, by entering the recipient's name and the email address the INNER HIVE mailings should be sent to: It is for you to inform the recipient of the gift.  The recipient will simply receive the next INNER HIVE email after you sign them up.You can also use the above form to RENEW an existing gift membership.More info on the INNER HIVE is here. IT'S THE GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING, EVERY DING-DONG WEEK, UNTIL IT STOPS.Thank you, and have a Merry Everything.RbTerms and Conditions apply.  They always do.The Gift Membership will end 12/31/22.Payment is for starting the membership.  Recipient may cancel at any time (there's no accounting for taste).This $29.99 offer is for an Inner Hive membership through MailChimp.  $77.00 Inner Hive Gift Memberships through Substack can be purchased here.If you purchased a $77 Substack gift membership prior to the date of this announcement and would like to switch to a $29.99 MailChimp gift membership, contact me at tomdbug at gmail dot comAny other questions, also contact me at tomdbug at gmail dot com-- Posted at 02:18 PM | Permalink November 01, 2021 Giant Wombats, Tom the Dancing Bug won the Berryman Award! Hey, Tom the Dancing Bug just won the Berryman Award from the National Press Foundation!I'll be traveling to Washington, DC on February 9 to accept the award at a gala dinner. I hope there are tacos! I'm really honored, and I know I'm repeating myself, but I don't care:  Anytime I'm given any honor I only want it to reflect on the people and entities who partner with and support me and Tom the Dancing Bug:My web clients, BoingBoing.net, DailyKos.com, and GoComics.com, who have always shown great faith in the comic strip, and have brought it their great and incredibly enthusiastic audiences;Andrews McMeel Syndication, who has been a valued partner and great friend for almost 25 (!) years, and all of Tom the Dancing Bug valued print clients; andThe Inner Hive, the team that every single week makes the very existence of Tom the Dancing Bug possible, and much more fun. Anyway, my thanks to the National Press Foundation.  I'm grateful to the judges for finding something worthy in my comics, and for finding that cartooning in general is worthy, apparently a view that is not universally shared among judges of cartooning awards.So I appreciate the recognition, but I want to give a shout-out to my colleagues in the U.S. and all over the world, doing some of the most groundbreaking, innovative, brave cartooning in the history of the medium, in increasingly dark and difficult times!  I'm proud to be with you!One of the comics in the package cited by the Berryman judges:(From January, 2021) Join the Inner Hive team hereOh, and new Tom the Dancing Bug books are coming out!  Posted at 08:06 AM | Permalink September 22, 2021 About Tom the Dancing BugHere's the About Tom the Dancing Bug page in the new book, Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens:  And the Back Cover:   --LINK FOR INFO AND TO ORDER THE TWO NEW TOM THE DANCING BUG BOOKSOther links:To join Tom the Dancing Bug's INNER HIVETo sign up for the free Tom the Dancing Bug NewsletterTom the Dancing Bug comics on GoComics.comTom the Dancing Bug comics on BoingBoing.comTom the Dancing Bug comics on DailyKos.comRuben Bolling's speech accepting the Herblock PrizeRuben Bolling on the podcast Wheel of Randy, talking about Randy NewmanRuben Bolling on the podcast Cool Tools, talking about four favorite toolsRuben Bolling on the podcast Comic Shenanigans, talking about the history of Tom the Dancing Bug and Clover Press's Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program11/1/21 Announcement of Ruben Bolling's win of the National Press Foundation's 2021 Berryman AwardTo contact Ruben Bolling:  tomdbug at gmail dot com Posted at 09:46 AM | Permalink June 26, 2021 Cartoonists RightsI'm happy to announce that the winner of the random drawing in the Book Contest to Benefit Cartoonists Rights Network International is Colin Maroney.  He will be getting a copy of the 2020 book Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse.My heartfelt THANKS to all who donated and participated in the contest.  As I said in announcing it, the proof of the cartooning art form's vitality and impact is the fact that authoritarians and extremists all over the world are threatening, persecuting, and even killing satirical cartoonists for creating their art.  And yet here in the U.S., cartoonists are marginalized in just about every possible way by the world of Journalism of which we are supposed to be a part.  In my own tiny, inconsequential corner of this issue, no Pulitzer Prize was awarded this year in the cartooning category, despite two very deserving cartoonists (and, yes, myself) being named Finalists, not to mention the amazing work done by many, many of my colleagues in a year of unprecedented events. I started this contest on the spur of the moment, to help cartoonists in real danger in any small way, and I'm so heartened by my readers' response.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate the outpouring of support for these brave artists. The contest is over, but of course you can donate to CRNI any time you like!THANK YOU,Rb Posted at 02:53 PM | Permalink June 15, 2021 TWO NEW TOM THE DANCING BUG BOOKS! Two new Tom the Dancing Bug books are here! "Behold the wondrous, whimsical, witty world that is Tom the Dancing Bug!"  -Mark Hamill"This fine collection of work by Mr. Bolling provides ample evidence as to why he is unanimously considered one of the greatest cartoonists in the known universe."  -"Weird Al" Yankovic"God Bless Tom the Dancing Bug!"  -David Cross"The fact that Tom the bug can keep dancing in this day and age is a testament to Ruben Bolling’s skills as a cartoonist!"  - Seth Meyers"All hail Tom the Dancing Bug!"  -Matt Groening"Ruben Bolling's craft and commentary are as powerful and as pointed, as capable of making you laugh while breaking your heart as they were when we were all so very young."  -Neil GaimanTwo-Time Pulitzer Prize Finalist (2019 and 2021)  TOM THE DANCING BUG AWAKENS, by Ruben BollingThe Complete Tom the Dancing Bug, Volume 6: 2012-2015Clover Press continues its Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program by presenting the sixth chronological volume (and second volume published to date), covering every comic from 2012-2015.  This volume covers the Obama years and the rise of Trump, and it includes the introduction of the popular feature “Chagrin Falls” and installments of many other Tom the Dancing Bug favorites, such as God-Man, Lucky Ducky, and Super-Fun-Pak Comix.  It also includes other comics Ruben Bolling created during those years: a two-page New Yorker spread, and six daily installments of the comic strip Cul de Sac.  AND  TOM THE DANCING BUG, WITHOUT THE BAD ONES, by Ruben BollingThe Very, Very, VERY* Best of Tom the Dancing Bug, 1990-202131 years in the making, this book collects the top, most popular, most talked-about, most important, most Tom-the-Dancing-Bug comics in Tom the Dancing Bug's history.  Imagine the thrill of reading and owning the award-winning and award-losing comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug, distilled into one handsome tome containing only its scientifically determined very, very, VERY* best.-*VERY!!!  --THE BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT FINE AND LESS-THAN-FINE BOOKSTORES AND COMICS SHOPS.  AND HERE'S HOW YOU CAN ORDER THESE BOOKS ONLINE: 1.  You can order Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens from Amazon, HERE. And Tom the Dancing Bug, Without the Bad Ones from Amazon, HERE. 2.  You can order Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens and/or Tom the Dancing Bug, Without the Bad Ones from Clover Press, HERE. OR 3.  You can order BOTH books directly from me: The 2021 New Book Package, below.If you order the 2021 New Book Package from me, you get:-> a copy of Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens, signed/sketched/dated by me, personalized if requested-> a copy of Tom the Dancing Bug, Without the Bad Ones, signed/sketched/dated by me, personalized if requested-> two signed "Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens" / "Tom the Dancing Bug, Without the Bad Ones" bookmarks  -> an EXCLUSIVE pdf booklet of "artist's materials," presenting notes, scripts, sketches, pencils and inks for selected comics from both books. Limited time offer. 2/26/22 UPDATE: When Volume 5 of The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug ("Tom the Dancing Bug: Eat the Poor") is released in April/May, this 2021 New Book Package offer will expire.  New prices will reflect the limited quantity of "Tom the Dancing Bug, Without the Bad Ones" remaining.  Pre-Order Price: $89.99Order below. If you would like the books signed "to" a particular name (your name, the name of a gift recipient, etc.), type that name in the field below.  If not, you can leave that field blank.If you are a member of the Inner Hive, enter the email address you use for that membership in the indicated field.  If you are not, no problem, you can leave that field blank.This offer is for U.S. deliveries only (includes Media Mail postage).But I welcome international orders!  For deliveries outside the U.S., please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com THE TOM THE DANCING BUG 2021 NEW BOOK PACKAGE (TOM THE DANCING BUG AWAKENS, AND TOM THE DANCING BUG, WITHOUT THE BAD ONES)  ------------------B. THE TRUMPVERSE/AWAKENS PACKAGEVolumes 6 and 7 in The Complete Tom the Dancing BugBoth books signed/sketched/dated, if requested, with exclusive pdfs, and with AWAKENS bookmark, and possibly* with TRUMPVERSE bookmarkLimited time offer.$109.99Order below. If you would like the books signed "to" a particular name (your name, the name of a gift recipient, etc.), type that name in the field below.  If not, you can leave that field blank.If you are a member of the Inner Hive, enter the email address you use for that membership in the indicated field.  If you are not, no problem, you can leave that field blank.This offer is for U.S. deliveries only (includes Media Mail postage).For deliveries to other countries, please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com*bookmark supplies for the 2020 book may run out, availability not guaranteed THE TOM THE DANCING BUG "TRUMPVERSE/AWAKENS" BOOK PACKAGE------------------ C. THE GRAND SLAM PACKAGEALL FOUR books signed/sketched/dated, if requested, with exclusive pdfs, and with AWAKENS and WITHOUT THE BAD ONES bookmarks, and possibly* with TRUMPVERSE and SFPC bookmarkLimited time offer.$229.99Order below. If you would like the books signed "to" a particular name (your name, the name of a gift recipient, etc.), type that name in the field below.  If not, you can leave that field blank.If you are a member of the Inner Hive, enter the email address you use for that membership in the indicated field.  If you are not, no problem, you can leave that field blank.This offer is for U.S. deliveries only (includes Media Mail postage).For deliveries to other countries, please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com*bookmark supplies for the 2020 books may run out, availability not guaranteed THE TOM THE DANCING BUG "GRAND SLAM" BOOK PACKAGE ------------------------------------------------------------UPDATE 12/24/21:Yes, the books have finally broken through the clogged supply chain and are in my hot little hands, ready to be signed, sketched in, and sent out to YOU!--      Posted at 03:00 PM | Permalink June 14, 2021 Tom the Dancing Bug: 2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, in a Year with No Winner 1.First of all, I am only deeply thrilled and honored by the decision by the Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer Jury to name me a Finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Award (for the second time), along with such amazing talents as Lalo Alcaraz and Marty Two Bulls, Sr.  And I don’t want anything else I say to diminish my appreciation for that.And whenever I'm recognized in any way, I always want to thank my syndicate, Andrews McMeel Syndication, all of Tom the Dancing Bug's print clients, its web clients BoingBoing.net, DailyKos.com, and GoComics.com, and the fantastic, indispensable, proud & mighty Inner Hive.  I am so deeply grateful for these entities, and the people behind them, for sustaining Tom the Dancing Bug, and I make it my entire professional goal to give them more than they give to me.At the end of this post are some of my comics from 2020 that the Pulitzer Prize Jury considered in naming me a Finalist. ------------------------2.But the decision by the Pulitzer Prize Board to refuse to name a winner from among those Finalists, as is the custom, or from among any other cartoonists, as is their right, is frustrating, baffling, and wrongheaded.I don’t know what happened that the Board was unable to name a winner.  But it sure looks like they were saying that no cartoonist did work that was Pulitzer-worthy this year.I’ve never begrudged a judging panel their decision for an award.  Not in cartooning, not for my favorite movie at the Oscars, not for best pie at the county fair. I've always been ambivalent about the whole Awards idea.  There aren't many kinds of human endeavors less suited to comparative judging than the arts.  But I understand their role in marketing, and I've certainly been a beneficiary of the whole thing -- I've been fortunate enough to have won some1 -- so I'm happy to play along.  I do think it’s silly, childish and arrogant to think there’s an objectively correct comparative winner of any award in the arts; judges simply make their best subjective call, and we all move on.But this looks like it’s the Pulitzer Board members who are the silly, childish and arrogant ones, effectively declaring that there’s some objective standard of Pulitzer-worthiness, and going far, far out of their way to make a grandiose statement that nothing in an entire field was at that level.  In a year in which, my comics aside, I think some of the best and most vital work in the history of the artform was done.As though you can look back at the 100 years of editorial cartooning work that has been awarded Pulitzer Prizes and sniff that nothing done this year was of even a similar "quality."  When it comes to subjective award-judging in the arts, I don’t think there’s much you can say that is wrong.  But that is just wrong.I don’t mind anyone saying this or that cartoonist's work is better than mine.  They're probably right, and who's to say?  But I absolutely resent the Pulitzer Board saying that my work is definitionally not worthy of a Pulitzer and neither is any of my colleagues’ in the entire artform.I’ve honestly never been insulted by losing an award; I try to think about them as little as possible, and I don’t feel I’ve ever deserved anything.  But I am insulted by this decision by the Board, on behalf of myself and all cartoonists. --1 I cringe to do this, but the Pulitzer Board has me feeling defensive.  In addition to Pulitzer Prize panels of jurors (twice), the following organizations in the past did not find my work categorically unworthy of an award, and somehow found themselves a way to bestow a top award on Tom the Dancing Bug:  The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, The Society of Professional Journalists, the National Cartoonists Society, The Society of Illustrators, The Herblock Foundation, and The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.  And by the way, of course the other Finalists, Lalo Alcaraz and Marty Two Bulls, Sr. have both received numerous honors, and are clearly far from definitionally unworthy of a top award.--6/15 UPDATE: A Washington Post article about the controversy here. ------------------------3.Finally, not that any tragedy has befallen me, or that I'm in any dire need of Support Through This Difficult Time, but if this feels like a good time to join the INNER HIVE, to get each week's Pulitzer-unworthy Tom the Dancing Bug comic at least a day before it's published anywhere, with commentary and other exclusive comics, and to join the team that literally makes Tom the Dancing Bug possible...YOU CAN DO SO HERE.Thank you, I hope to see you there.Rb ------------------------Some of the 2020 Tom the Dancing Bug comics nominated by the Pulitzer Prize Jury: 4/6/20  --4/20/20 --5/4/20--6/22/20--8/17/20 --9/21/20 --9/28/20 --6/16/21 UPDATE:In the U.S., editorial/political/topical/satirical cartoonists get very little respect in the journalism world that’s supposed to support us. But for some reason, the world over, these cartoonists are on the front lines of threats, censorship, prosecution, and even murder, for their work. From the cartoonists killed for the Mohammed cartoons, to the Charlie Hebdo massacre, to jailed and/or tortured cartoonists in Turkey, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Egypt, etc., etc.Maybe that’s because what cartoonists do is vital, popular, and effective.American mainstream journalism dismisses cartoons, firing cartoonists for financial and political reasons, and repeatedly marginalizing their contribution. Yet cartoons always are among the most popular, best-read features on any outlet that runs them, and somehow effective enough to draw the targeted ire and even violence of authoritarians and extremists.The refusal of an awards judging board, representing the behemoths of American mainstream journalism, to name a winner in the 100 year old cartooning category, and thus (in my view) insulting the cartooning art form and profession, is a silly, meaningless imbroglio, and what should be called a First World Problem.But I thought I’d turn it around in some tiny, personal way and announce a contest benefitting Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI), which "Defends Political Cartoonists on the Front Lines of Free Speech" around the world.Most recently, they’re defending Malaysian cartoonist Zunar, who’s been jailed, released, and is now under investigation by police again. And Bangladeshi cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, jailed for ten months, during which he was beaten and tortured.Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Hamdi was arrested in January for “spreading false information and misusing social networks,” and he hasn't been seen or heard from since. If you join me in making a contribution, of any amount, to CRNI and send the screenshot of the receipt to me at [email protected] with the subject “CRNI DONATION” by 6/25/21 11:59pm ET, you’ll be entered in a random drawing for a free Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse (2020) book.Thanks.