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Okay, ya filthy landlubbers. As I told ya in this week's "Uncle Cap'n's Nifty N.F.T.s," you can actually bid on this here picture I drew of myself, as an NON-FUNGIBLE TOKEN.
A few things:
The varmints at Rarible don't seem to allow a real auction: they only allow an auction that takes bids forever, and it's up to me to accept one, or not. So to make this more like a real auction, I'll take the highest bid as of Friday, April 16, 11am ET or thereabouts. I'm told that because I'm not going to accept a set Sale Price, I pay the "gas fee" (?) on the sale instead of you, so take that into account when ya bid, ya stingy skinflints.
I'm also sendin' the winner a 2 inch by 2.5 inch drawing of the NFT image, by actual physical mail, drawn by me, yer ol' pal Uncle Cap'n.
Tom the Dancing Bug, that low-down, do-gooder, tree-hugging' comic strip, is taking 50% of the dollar amount I net out of this thing, and is donating it to The Carbon Fund.
UPDATE: This here auction has been switched over a straight-up sale of the NFT. Anybody wants to pony up 0.10 ETH (something like $240) can just buy the damn thing.
The example they printed of a comic strip that Facebook mistakenly removed from its site, and then allowed back on, was one of mine, the one I did on masks last summer.
Somehow Facebook flagged this comic's appearance on The Nib as a dangerous statement about Covid and masks, and removed it from The Nib's page. It wasn't long before it was reinstated, because the concern was obviously an error in failing to see the irony, but it did reveal a blind spot in Facebook's efforts to moderate its content.
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But I was totally blindsided by the article this morning. I was happily reading it because it was about my pal Matt Bors and his site The Nib, and then suddenly there was my comic, but without the Tom the Dancing Bug header, without the By Ruben Bolling byline, and without any attribution at all. No mention of me, as though the comic was created by some kind of Nib algorithm.
I had to spend the morning wrestling with the situation, but I finally did get in touch with the editor of the article, who was very apologetic and took full responsibility. They added an attribution, and they said they'd look into replacing the image with the full image, as the comic originally ran, including the header and byline. We'll see.
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Anyway, I've been focused on my own little drama of attribution, but the problem for The Nib explained in the article is an existential one for The Nib. And the good news is that Matt tells me that The Times getting in touch with Facebook for the article caused Facebook to finally take The Nib off "restricted distribution" probation status.
If you've ever thought about joining the INNER HIVE (or even if you haven't), this would be the month to do it.
Members get each weekly comic strip at least a day before it's published anywhere online, plus commentary, sneak peeks, extra exclusive comics, palindromes, giveaways, additional comics, "content", craft projects, juicy gossip, weather forecasts, "other stuff," cautionary tales, hot takes, etc.
But if you sign up for the INNER HIVE from today through the end of March*, I will donate $25 to The Food Bank for New York City, to help provide food for those in crisis during these trying times of the pandemic.
So at base INNER HIVE membership levels, more than DOUBLE the amount of your sign-up/initial membership dues will be donated to help those in need.
You can join through any of these platforms; click for more information or to join:
(If you don't want to join through one of these platforms, you can make a single PayPal payment for a prepaid two-year non-recurring membership, also triggering the $25 donation.)
More info on inner Hive membership can be found here.
So not only do you get early access to stupid comics, exclusive access to stupid commentary on those stupid comics, and other stupid stuff, you help those in crisis.
Tom the Dancing Bug was designed as a newspaper comic strip, and with the collapse of the newspaper market, the Inner Hive has been absolutely critical in keeping it viable. I deeply appreciate all who join, and I do my best every week to make sure members get value and are happy with their membership.
Please join the team making Tom the Dancing Bug. And make me donate!
*Because Patreon and Substack membership dues are monthly, for members who sign up through those platforms, membership must be maintained for four months to be eligible for this pledge.
The winners of the Inner Hive BIG INTO THE TRUMPVERSE GIVEAWAY CONTEST are:
Jaquine Hudson Bly John Robinson Joe James
These Inner Hive members will soon be proud possessors of the Tom the Dancing Bug book, Into the Trumpverse. I thank them and all Inner Hive members for their support in making the Tom the Dancing Bug comic strip possible!
This very strange, socially distanced holiday season, you can give the touching but touchless gift of a Super Fun Tom the Dancing Bug Book Package to that special (insert noun) in your life!
Imagine the thrill of receiving two books filled with award-winning, hilarious, thought-provoking and poignant comics, and how well that bounty will reflect on the magnanimous gift-giver.
Now imagine receiving these two books as a present.
The books
👉 Will be sketched in, dated and signed -- and personalized (if requested);
👉 Come with two commemorative bookmarks, also signed; and
👉 Include a special "Artist's" Edition pdf booklet.
And it will be delivered right to the recipient's door, so it's the gift you can give even if you are not physically seeing the givee this season. See instructions below.
12/8/20 UPDATE: ORDER BY 11:59pm ET, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 FOR PLANNED DELIVERY BY CHRISTMAS. No guarantees when it comes to the USPS, but they've been remarkably consistent for months; these packages have always taken 3-7 days for delivery anywhere in the U.S. (except Alaska and Hawaii can take longer). So, factoring in a healthy late-holiday cushion, the last shipment for a planned delivery by Christmas in the continental U.S. will go out on 12/12.
Order here, $89.99 CHEAP:
1. THE "NAME I'D LIKE BOOKS SIGNED TO" FIELD
If you'd like the books signed to the gift recipient, enter the name in the "Name I'd like books signed to" field. If not, you can leave the field blank.
For example, if you enter "Otis" in that field, I'll write "For Otis" in addition to all the signing/sketching I'll be doing in the books.
2. THE "GIFT-GIVER / DATE TO BE OPENED" FIELD
In the "Gift-Giver / Date to be opened" field, enter the phrase, if any, you'd like me to write about who the book came from, a slant, and then the date the gift should be opened, if any, you'd like me to write on the package.
For example, if you enter in that field, "From your buddy Worthington / Kwanza," then in the books I'll write, "From your buddy Worthington," and on the outside of the package I'll write, "PLEASE DO NOT OPEN UNTIL KWANZA."
If you write in that field just, "12/15," then I won't include any note about the giver in the books, but I will write on the outside of the package, "PLEASE DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 12/15."
If you write in that field, "Merry Christmas from your loving high school principal Mr. Garcia," I'll include that phrase in the books, but no date on the outside of the package.
You can also leave this field blank.
Note that the return address on all packages will indicate it is from me, Ruben Bolling.
ON THE PAYPAL ORDER FORM THAT THIS LINKS TO, BE SURE THE RECIPIENT'S POSTAL ADDRESS IS FILLED IN, NOT YOURS.
U.S. only please. Includes Media Mail postage. For deliveries to other nations, please contact teamdancingbug at gmail dot com
I've seen that Media Mail takes five to nine days to ship the package anywhere in the U.S., but order as early as possible.
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Here's an example of what the recipient will receive.
Both books, personalized in the way you indicated (the books pictured are not gifts, so there is no "from"), signed and sketched, plus two signed bookmarks.
And this pdf booklet presenting notes, scripts, sketches, pencils and inks for selected comics from both books.
Finally, I can't post this video about the books enough:
And why not show the back cover of Into the Trumpverse?
This holiday season, 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 2021 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.
$29.99 CHEAP. 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.
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.
Join the team that makes Tom the Dancing Bug possible every week.
It was publicly announced yesterday that John Glynn, an executive at Andrews McMeel Universal, the company that distributes Tom the Dancing Bug, has officially left the company.
I met John when he first started at AMU (I'm told, 20 years ago), and it was immediately clear that he was not your typical syndicate editor/executive. He is socially funnier than the vast majority of the cartoonists he represents, and with a sense of humor that is deeply offbeat and silly, even whimsical. And I was honored and kind of puzzled by his knowledge of Tom the Dancing Bug -- he routinely drops obscure references and quotes to years-old Tom the Dancing Bug comics that even I sometimes have to strain to recall.
I say this here not just to flatter John -- although he sure likes to be flattered -- but because this blog is about Tom the Dancing Bug, and he has been very important to the comic strip. As he rose to become President and Editorial Director (I think that was his title) he was always a champion of the strip, showing great faith in me as a cartoonist and writer.
For example, it was his efforts (and his colleague Bridget McMeel's) that led to the option, and eventual purchase, of one of my characters, "Harvey Richards: Lawyer for Children" to New Line Cinema. (Scripts were written, money was paid, tears were shed, but no movie was ever made.)
He also worked enthusiastically to bring others of my characters to Hollywood -- I recall that he even wrote his own treatment for "Sam Roland, the Detective Who Dies" that led to me "taking a meeting" with Wayne Brady.
John made an appearance in a Super-Fun-Pak Comix.
He has also been a warm, encouraging, confidence-inspiring presence at the company. We would meet whenever he admitted he was in town, to talk shop or just talk. Late one night, when we stumbled across some Karaoke, and I challenged him to choose my song, he had enough faith in me to select Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen" -- yes, I'm choosing to cast it that way, and not as an act of utter cruelty. There's a bar downtown that still has my picture by the door on the DO NOT ADMIT list.
And he was there for me on so many occasions -- it really touched me that he came for the ceremony when I received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and he led the celebration afterwards.
2018 at the RFK Awards. L to R, Johnny G., Your Humble Correspondent, and my friend David Grayson. Just before the picture was taken John said, "Chins out!"
Most recently, John conducted a very silly two part interview with me on the occasion of the publication of my two new books. Part 1.Part 2.
Yes, John has been a fantastic supporter Tom the Dancing Bug, but he's also a great friend to me.
And I think the real testament to his talent as an executive/editor is that so many other Andrews McMeel creators also feel they have that kind of special relationship with John.
But I'm not jealous. He's so skilled, he can have a real friendship with me while faking it so well with others.
It's indisputable that John has become a giant in the comics industry. In a time of seismic contraction of the newspaper world, he oversaw a great expansion of Andrews McMeel syndication, becoming the biggest syndicator in the world, the development of GoComics.com, and the successful launch of many new, innovative, popular comic strips. He has great skill at managing and nurturing talent, but also a great eye for spotting and developing it.
John was due to receive the Silver T-Square Award at the National Cartoonists Society award banquet this past June, for his outstanding dedication and service to the cartooning profession. Unfortunately, the event was capsized by the pandemic -- John really would have deserved that moment in the sun.
Whatever John decides to do next, I know he will succeed, and as that venture progresses, I'm looking forward to getting daily, bizarrely hilarious texts that have or do not have anything to do with that.
Thanks for the soup, John.
Just look at that boyishly handsome face looking confidently into the future!
My buddy Tom Tomorrow* and I were featured in The Washington Post, which reviewed our new books.
Many thanks to reviewer Michael Cavna.
Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse can be purchased here,
and Tom Tomorrow's book, Life in the Stupidverse, can be purchased here.
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*For the record, I swear Tom and I did not coordinate on launching alternative-style newspaper comic strips in 1990 using pseudonyms, and incorporating the name "Tom," and then publishing books about Trump in 2020 using the "verse" suffix in the title, and getting blurbed by Mark Hamill.