THE TOM THE DANCING BUG FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISER

 

 

Hello, friends.

 

It's easy to feel helpless in these very dark times.

 

But we're not helpless, and fighting through that feeling is essential to our ability to get through this crisis.

 

Among the many ways you can help, making financial donations to organizations with infrastructure and expertise, if you are in a position to do so, can make an impact.

 

In the past, I've set up fundraising campaigns for various causes, encouraging people to give, and offering meager, silly prizes, and the support these campaigns received has not only contributed to those organizations, it's helped me to feel a little less helpless and less alone.  And I hope it's helped the participants feel a little less helpless and alone.

 

So today I'm launching this Tom the Dancing Bug for Justice Fundraiser.  Because ever since my comic strip first featured a giant nap-taking alien, people have been saying it's For Justice.

 

-

 

You can participate by making your donation directly to NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund through a donation page I set up:

https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/tom-the-dancing-bug-for-justice-fundraiser

 

But watch out, you just might get a meager, silly prize:  a Tom the Dancing Bug original illustration, drawn just for you.  

Three donors will get a Tom the Dancing Bug illustration sent to them:

--> The top donor to the Fundraiser (multiple donations from the same donor will be aggregated); and

--> Two random donors to the Fundraiser regardless of size of donation, $25 minimum.

To be eligible for the prize, be sure to not to check "Don't show my name" on the donation page.

 

You can have me draw:

A pen/ink recreation of the cover of the Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse book, coming out in August; OR

A pen/ink recreation of (almost) any Super-Fun-Pak Comix (apx. 6 inches x 2 inches); OR

You can tell me what you'd like me to draw (subject to the boundaries of law and propriety), or we can come up with something in collaboration.  God-Man fighting Charley the Australopithecine, Hollingsworth Hound in a tutu, Percival Dunwoody riding a Giant Wombat... whatever you want.  (pen/ink, single panel, apx. 6 inches x 8 inches).

 

The deadline for prize eligibility is 11:59 pm ET, June 30, but why not donate now.  

Winners will be announced HERE on this blog post on July 1, so check back to see if you won.

Thank you, everybody.  Hoping you are fortunate enough to be in a position to help in any way.  

 

Yours Indeed,

Ruben Bolling

 

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION AND PARTICIPATE IN THE TOM THE DANCING BUG FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISER.

(Note: I made a $200 donation to start things off and to defray the transaction costs of using gofundme.com to manage this campaign.)

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Oh, and by the way, this Friday, June 5, 3:30pm ET, I'm doing a short online cartooning workshop for kids in support of Wear Orange Day.

Info here.

To print a comic strip template so you or your kids can play/draw along, download here.

This cartooning workshop event has been canceled by Everytown for Gun Safety, I understand out of respect for the protests.

My apologies.

--

 

--

 

 

TWO TOM THE DANCING BUG BOOKS COMING, PRE-ORDER BY JUNE 30!

The Official and Very Professional Video of the Tom the Dancing Bug books.

Watch only if you are prepared to be thrilled, amazed, moved, and curiously motivated to buy books.

 

Deadline to guarantee availability of books: June 30, 2020

 

👉 You can order Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse from Clover Press here.

👉 You can order The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader from Clover Press here.

 

👉 You can order Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse on Amazon here if you'd like.

 

 

👉 AND (again, until June 30) you can order the Super Fun Tom the Dancing Bug Book Package (both books!) directly from me.👇

You get:

  ☑️ a copy of Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse, signed / sketched / dated* by Ruben Bolling, personalized if requested

  ☑️ a copy of The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader, signed / sketched / dated* by Ruben Bolling, personalized if requested

  ☑️ two signed Tom the Dancing Bug / Super-Fun-Pak Comix bookmarks  

  ☑️ an EXCLUSIVE pdf booklet of "artist's materials," presenting notes, scripts, sketches, pencils and inks for selected comics from both books.

 

Publication date is August 15, 2020, and Packages will be sent out rather shortly thereafter.

 

$89.99, cheap.

Order 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.

Continental U.S. only please. Includes Media Mail postage.

For deliveries to other locations, please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com

 

Name I'd like books signed to

Inner Hive address (if any)

 

--

 

A message about a change in the publication model of the two Tom the Dancing Bug books:

So Clover Press and I had plans for these two books to be published this Spring. But the coronoavirus had other plans.

Because of the turmoil the pandemic crisis has thrown the entire publishing industry into, with new risks involving distribution and bookstore sales, we are changing the publication model for these books into a kickstarteresque online preorder-only deal.  These will not be in bookstores, and they may not even be available at all after the pre-order window expires -- the only way to guarantee your copies once they are released on July 15 is to pre-order by June 30.**

Obviously, there are far bigger tragedies than this going on.  But these books mean a lot to me, I worked hard on them, I'm proud of them, and I kind of pinned hopes on them being enjoyed by lots of people.  So if you're in a position to enjoy some summer sheltering reading, please consider them.

 

--

 

I've got to say one of the biggest disappointments in these books not getting into bookstores is that the physical version of that amazing back cover will never come under the gaze of perusing shoppers.  What a selling point! I'm about as proud of what these folks said about my comic strip as anything I've done.

 

For your reading convenience, here is a larger image of the back cover, with the blurb text below.  I'm so grateful to all who contributed.

 

 

 

"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."

from Neil Gaiman's foreword to Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse

 

 

"God bless Tom the Dancing Bug! Funny, succinct, and highly original, Ruben Bolling is able to make sense from the chaos and tragedy of America's political nightmares and make you laugh while doing it. An increasingly rare and more difficult feat these extra bleak days. This is worth your time and money. Do it!"

-David Cross

 

 

"Behold the wondrous, whimsical, witty world that is Tom the Dancing Bug! If you're someone who's not a fan of potent political humor with an incisive absurdist twist that's not only consistently funny, but downright therapeutic for an ailing world, I suggest you avoid this book like the plague. For everyone else, it's a MUST-READ!"

-Mark Hamill

 

 

"Delve into the dementia, the dread, and the delightfulness of this collection of Tom the Dancing Bug's strips -- it's history through the lens of a self-loathing insomniac. In a way, it's all of us."

-Patton Oswalt

 

 

"Ruben Bolling has been sending me his secret messages for years, in the form of comics printed first on paper, and then, once paper became extinct, on the internet. I don't know exactly what he's trying to tell me, except he seems to know about everything I find funny, delightful, strange and inexplicable to get my attention, from obscure literary references to negging deep dish pizza. I don't understand exactly what exactly he's trying to say to me, but I still obsessively keep reading, not just because he's hilarious, but because someday I hope to find out who this Tom the bug is, and why he is dancing." 

-Peter Sagal

 

 

"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. How he would rank in that other part of the universe is, of course, a matter that’s still being hotly debated within the scientific community.”

-“Weird Al” Yankovic

 

 

"I am a HUGE fan of Tom the Dancing Bug! It makes me laugh and think of course but it makes me feel better. No kidding, I read it and I think, someone else thinks like me, only funnier and better informed and I feel good. Thank you Ruben Bolling for giving us Tom The Dancing Bug. (Can't decide whether to capitalize ‘the’)."

-Gary Gulman

 

 

"That 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

 

 

“Each week Ruben Bolling takes an unassuming little blank white rectangle and fills it up with clever cartoonery, sneaky commentary, and more political laughs than you can shake a stick at. All hail Tom the Dancing Bug!”

-Matt Groening

 

---------

*Yes, I will date your book. But I will be a perfect gentleman.

**If you've already pre-ordered the book(s), the only thing that has changed is the publication date, from May 26 to August 15. This was done to give potential buyers a window to pre-order now that the new publishing model has been announced.

 

 

 

The Official and Very Professional Video of the Tom the Dancing Bug books.

Watch only if you are prepared to be thrilled, amazed, moved, and curiously motivated to buy books.

 

Deadline to guarantee availability of books: June 30, 2020

 

👉 You can order Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse from Clover Press here.

👉 You can order The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader from Clover Press here.

 

👉 You can order Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse on Amazon here if you'd like.

 

 

👉 AND (again, until June 30) you can order the Super Fun Tom the Dancing Bug Book Package (both books!) directly from me.👇

You get:

  ☑️ a copy of Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse, signed / sketched / dated* by Ruben Bolling, personalized if requested

  ☑️ a copy of The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader, signed / sketched / dated* by Ruben Bolling, personalized if requested

  ☑️ two signed Tom the Dancing Bug / Super-Fun-Pak Comix bookmarks  

  ☑️ an EXCLUSIVE pdf booklet of "artist's materials," presenting notes, scripts, sketches, pencils and inks for selected comics from both books.

 

Publication date is August 15, 2020, and Packages will be sent out rather shortly thereafter.

 

$89.99, cheap.

Order 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.

Continental U.S. only please. Includes Media Mail postage.

For deliveries to other locations, please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com

 

Name I'd like books signed to

Inner Hive address (if any)

 

--

 

A message about a change in the publication model of the two Tom the Dancing Bug books:

So Clover Press and I had plans for these two books to be published this Spring. But the coronoavirus had other plans.

Because of the turmoil the pandemic crisis has thrown the entire publishing industry into, with new risks involving distribution and bookstore sales, we are changing the publication model for these books into a kickstarteresque online preorder-only deal.  These will not be in bookstores, and they may not even be available at all after the pre-order window expires -- the only way to guarantee your copies once they are released on July 15 is to pre-order by June 30.**

Obviously, there are far bigger tragedies than this going on.  But these books mean a lot to me, I worked hard on them, I'm proud of them, and I kind of pinned hopes on them being enjoyed by lots of people.  So if you're in a position to enjoy some summer sheltering reading, please consider them.

 

--

 

I've got to say one of the biggest disappointments in these books not getting into bookstores is that the physical version of that amazing back cover will never come under the gaze of perusing shoppers.  What a selling point! I'm about as proud of what these folks said about my comic strip as anything I've done.

 

For your reading convenience, here is a larger image of the back cover, with the blurb text below.  I'm so grateful to all who contributed.

 

 

 

"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."

from Neil Gaiman's foreword to Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse

 

 

"God bless Tom the Dancing Bug! Funny, succinct, and highly original, Ruben Bolling is able to make sense from the chaos and tragedy of America's political nightmares and make you laugh while doing it. An increasingly rare and more difficult feat these extra bleak days. This is worth your time and money. Do it!"

-David Cross

 

 

"Behold the wondrous, whimsical, witty world that is Tom the Dancing Bug! If you're someone who's not a fan of potent political humor with an incisive absurdist twist that's not only consistently funny, but downright therapeutic for an ailing world, I suggest you avoid this book like the plague. For everyone else, it's a MUST-READ!"

-Mark Hamill

 

 

"Delve into the dementia, the dread, and the delightfulness of this collection of Tom the Dancing Bug's strips -- it's history through the lens of a self-loathing insomniac. In a way, it's all of us."

-Patton Oswalt

 

 

"Ruben Bolling has been sending me his secret messages for years, in the form of comics printed first on paper, and then, once paper became extinct, on the internet. I don't know exactly what he's trying to tell me, except he seems to know about everything I find funny, delightful, strange and inexplicable to get my attention, from obscure literary references to negging deep dish pizza. I don't understand exactly what exactly he's trying to say to me, but I still obsessively keep reading, not just because he's hilarious, but because someday I hope to find out who this Tom the bug is, and why he is dancing." 

-Peter Sagal

 

 

"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. How he would rank in that other part of the universe is, of course, a matter that’s still being hotly debated within the scientific community.”

-“Weird Al” Yankovic

 

 

"I am a HUGE fan of Tom the Dancing Bug! It makes me laugh and think of course but it makes me feel better. No kidding, I read it and I think, someone else thinks like me, only funnier and better informed and I feel good. Thank you Ruben Bolling for giving us Tom The Dancing Bug. (Can't decide whether to capitalize ‘the’)."

-Gary Gulman

 

 

"That 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

 

 

“Each week Ruben Bolling takes an unassuming little blank white rectangle and fills it up with clever cartoonery, sneaky commentary, and more political laughs than you can shake a stick at. All hail Tom the Dancing Bug!”

-Matt Groening

 

---------

*Yes, I will date your book. But I will be a perfect gentleman.

**If you've already pre-ordered the book(s), the only thing that has changed is the publication date, from May 26 to August 15. This was done to give potential buyers a window to pre-order now that the new publishing model has been announced.

 

 

HEY, KIDS! JOIN THE EMU CLUB!

 

Over the past couple of weeks, I've made both books in The EMU Club Adventures series available for free.

 

You can get information on how to download them here.

 

 

I thought it would be fun to set up a very little project for kids who have read the books.  As those who have read them know, when Stuart, Brian and Violet are bored, they find fantastic adventuresby focusing all their curiosity and creativity on one particular regular, ordinary mystery of their everyday lives.  

 

The question "Where did our lost video game controller go?" leads them to an alien invasion in their backyard.

 

The question "Why does time seem to move so slowly right before school ends?" leads them to a ghostly thief of time.

 

So since kids are sheltering at home right now, and are probably going through some moments of boredom, I though it could be fun if they could:

-Think of some ordinary mystery or question in their home-bound lives right now; and

-Think of some extraordinary, crazy, adventurous solution to that mystery, as often happens to the EMU Club.

 

LET ME KNOW! Email the responses to me at:

TheEMUClubAdventures@gmail.com

 

Email a simple typed message.

Or email a picture of a handwritten page. Maybe even with a picture too!

 

I'm not sure what I'll do with the responses, but I'd say there's a good chance Stuart, Brian or Violet will respond to each email.

 

The project ends on April 20, so get those responses in by then! 👊👽🏡👻🕰️

-Rb

 

 

 

 

 

ERASE COVID - BUY PRINTS TO RAISE MONEY

ERASE COVID - ARTISTS GIVE BACK

I've joined Erase COVID to have prints of two of my comics available for purchase to raise money for coronavirus-related causes.

You can see the comics and how to purchase them as prints here.

A better look at the comics here and here.

-

Profits will be split evenly between the artist, the printer, and the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.

And I'm donating 100% of my share of these profits to the Food Bank for New York City.

(To be clear, 100% of all money I receive from this will be donated.)

Thanks,

Rb

FREE BOOK: THE EMU CLUB ADVENTURES - GHOSTLY THIEF OF TIME

 

In support of quarantined families with kids, I'm now making my second EMU Club Adventures book, Ghostly Thief of Time, available for free.

 

You can download the pdf of Ghostly Thief of Time at THIS LINK for free.  Gratis.  No charge.  On the house.

 

You can also get the first book, Alien Invasion in My Backyard for free at THIS LINK.

 

I hope you guys are enjoying the series.  Next week, for kids who finished both books, I'm going to announce a little project that they can do.

 

What better time to exercise your imagination?

 

Stay well and stay kind, everybody.

 

--

 

ABOUT THE EMU CLUB ADVENTURES:

 

Stuart Tennemeier, his best friend Brian Hrzincz, and his sister Violet want to start a mystery club like the ones they read about in books, but they have no idea how to even find a mystery in their suburban neighborhood.

They settle on trying to solve a mundane mystery from their lives – what happened to the game controller they lost – and they find that when you look really, really closely at your world, you can find absolutely amazing things.  And maybe even save the world.

The EMU Club Adventures series, for kids aged 7-10 (and adventurous, curious spirits of all ages), is by cartoonist Ruben Bolling, the author of the award-winning comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug.

 

"Ruben Bolling is one of my cartooning heroes, and The EMU Club Adventures is seriously, mysteriously funny!" - Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

 

"There's no mystery—the EMU Club is a hit! This is a fun, funny adventure that kids will love to read." —Lincoln Peirce, Big Nate

 

"The EMU Club inhabits exactly the world I always hoped to live in when I was 12, when the answer to questions like 'Where did I put my toy' led inevitably to alien conspiracies and secret underground tunnels. A book for the curious and adventurous!" - Cory Doctorow

 

"The funniest book about unbelievable kid mystery exploring I've ever read. The only real mystery is why you aren't reading this book RIGHT NOW!" -Elliott Kalan

FREE BOOK: THE EMU CLUB ADVENTURES - ALIEN INVASION IN MY BACKYARD

 

I can only imagine how hard it must be to be quarantined / sheltered / home isolated / whatever-it's-called with high-energy, bored kids, so I thought I'd contribute something that might help in some tiny way.

 

I'm offering a FREE download of the first book in my EMU Club Adventures series, Alien Invasion in My Backyard, for anyone who wants it.  

 

Free.  No charge.

 

You can download the pdf of the book at THIS LINK.

                                        
At the linked Dropbox page, 👆simply click on this icon, and the pdf will download to your computer.  You can then even put it on your kindle or other reader by following that reader's instructions for uploading pdfs.

 

I hope your kids enjoy it.  Maybe you will too.

 

In a week, I'm going to provide a link to download the second book, Ghostly Thief of Time.  Also for free.

 

These are scary times for everyone.  I hope these bookshelp some people get through it just a bit better.

Rb

 

--

"Ruben Bolling is one of my cartooning heroes, and The EMU Club Adventures is seriously, mysteriously funny!"

- Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

 

 

 

ORDER THE TOM THE DANCING BUG SUPER FUN BOOK PACKAGE

 

You can order BOTH books directly from me: The Tom the Dancing Bug Super Fun Book Package.

You get:

-> a copy of Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse, signed/sketched/dated by me, personalized if requested

-> a copy of The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader, signed/sketched/dated by me, personalized if requested

-> two signed Tom the Dancing Bug / Super-Fun-Pak Comix bookmarks  

-> an EXCLUSIVE pdf booklet of "artist's materials," presenting notes, scripts, sketches, pencils and inks for selected comics from both books.

 

ORDER DEADLINE IS JUNE 30, 2020

Publication date is August 15, 2020, and Packages will be sent out rather shortly thereafter.

 

$89.99

Order 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.

Continental U.S. only please. Includes Media Mail postage.

For deliveries to other locations, please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com

 

 

Name I'd like books signed to

Inner Hive address (if any)

(You can also order Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse from Amazon, or either book from Clover Press.)

 

LET ME COUNT THE WAYS YOU CAN JOIN THE INNER HIVE

 

 

⇒ You can give a 2020 GIFT MEMBERSHIP to a loved one/liked one!  It starts the minute you sign up, and lasts through the end of 2020.

SIGN SOMEONE UP FOR AN INNER HIVE GIFT MEMBERSHIP HERE.

 

⇒ You can join through Patreon, where you pay per month, and there are different levels of membership.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR OWN INNER HIVE MEMBERSHIP THROUGH PATREON HERE.

 

⇒ You can join through CampaignZee / MailChimp, where you pay per six months.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR OWN INNER HIVE MEMBERSHIP THROUGH CAMPAIGNZEE HERE.

 

⇒ Or you can pre-pay a two-year membership, no recurring payments at all.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR OWN PRE-PAID TWO-YEAR INNER HIVE MEMBERSHIP HERE.

 

However you sign up, members get each week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic at least a day before it appears anywhere on the web, along with exclusive commentary, inside peeks, info, jokes, riddles, palindromes and whatever else I can fit in each email.

THANK YOU for reading this.

GIVE THE GIFT OF TOM THE DANCING BUG

This year, you can give that special someone a Gift Membership to Tom the Dancing Bug's INNER HIVE.

 

That's right, you can give a loved one / friend / frenemy a yearlong membership to the INNER HIVE, and from the moment you sign them up and throughout 2020 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 lovelorn

and all other benefits and privileges of membership will be conferred up on them.

 

$25 CHEEP.  Simply sign up here, including the recipient's name and the email address the INNER HIVE mailings should be sent to:

 

Name of RECIPIENT

Email address of RECIPIENT

 

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.

Rb

Terms and Conditions apply.  They always do.

The Gift Membership will end 12/31/20.

Payment is for starting the membership.  Recipient may cancel at any time (there's no accounting for taste).

Any questions, please contact teamdancingbug@gmail.com

THE RESULTS OF THE TOM THE DANCING BUG FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN FUNDRAISER

 

Looks like I've got my drawing work cut out for me.

 

Guys, together we raised $14,000 to help these frightened children.

 

PLUS, another $5,315 was donated directly to the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights separately, by two participants who were inspired by this fundraiser, but could not donate through this fundraising page.  Counting these contributions raises the total to $19,315!

 

I'm so proud of the generosity of the Tom the Dancing Bug community, and so grateful that this money will go toward aiding children who are in horrible living conditions, alone, and desperately afraid.

 

THANK YOU to everyone who participated, no matter the amount.

 

I said I would create a custom Tom the Dancing Bug illustration for certain participants, and I'm now announcing those who will have these drawings foisted upon them.

 

1. I said that the top contributor would get an illustration.  But as the top contributions soared, my drawing hand was horrified when I revised that to say I would create an illustration for any contribution over $800.  The following people should email me at <tomdbug at gmail dot com> to arrange their illustration:

 

Alan Crawford

Anonymous*

Philip Apps

Alan Ward

Larry and Holly Beck

 

(* This person complied with all rules for eligibility, but contacted me separately requesting anonymity in the prize's announcement.)

If your contributions aggregated to over $800 and I somehow missed you, please also contact me to let me know.

 

2. I also said that two random contributors of $25 or more would win an illustration, and the following two winners of the random drawing should now contact me at <tomdbug at gmail dot com> to arrange the illustration:

 

Thomas M.

Andy Karn

 

INNER HIVE members should check next week's email for the results of the contest specific to the INNER HIVE.

 

--

 

Yours in utter awe and gratitude,

Ruben Bolling,

the son of an unaccompanied minor refugee immigrant