Tom The Dancing Bug Blog

COMMISSION FOR ALICE'S KIDS

To raise money for Alice's Kids, I'm offering to re-draw one of two comics for $1,100 ($1,000 to Alice's Kids, $100 for my expenses including shipping).

You can choose one of these two comics, and I'll re-draw* it on 11x14 bristol board, pencil/pen/ink (so black and white line art, not color), and sign it however you like:

Lucky Ducky, in "Red Flags"

or It's the Great Storm, Charlie Brown

Alice's Kids' mission is to "enhance the self-esteem of children in need by providing them targeted financial assistance that will facilitate their participation in scholastic, recreational and social activities."

"Over the years we have built a network of hundreds of teachers, social workers, police department personnel, homeless shelter staff and others who, upon identifying a child with a specific need, send us a request form for assistance. The child might need a winter coat or glasses, They might hide in the back of the classroom as others are exchanging senior yearbooks that they could not afford or cannot attend school because they cannot afford the school uniform. The teacher asks for help and we process the request within 24 hours. In the case of a gift card (e.g., the child needs track shoes), we might send the teacher a Dick's Sporting Goods gift card. The teacher prints it out and presents it to the parent who then can proudly announce to their child that they are going shopping for those shoes! All of our assistance is provided anonymously to help preserve the dignity of the child."

Email me at tomdbug at gmail dot com to let me know you'd like to purchase this commission and help Alice's Kids!

Thanks, Rb

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*Because I'm re-drawing the comic, it may not look exactly the same as the published comic; I'll be doing my best to re-draw to it as faithfully as possible, but there will certainly be small differences.

 

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5/1/21 UPDATE:

Many thanks to @cdsaether who purchased this commission! (Thanks go to Patton Oswalt, who inspired the commission because of his work in helping and publicizing Alice's Kids.)

 

Uncle Cap'n's Nifty NFT!

 

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.

You can bid on this NFT of my glorious mug, a real piece of Digital Art, RIGHT HERE, ON RARIBLE.COM

The rules are up to me, so don't be a bellyacher.

-Uncle Cap'n

 

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.

 

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Facebook, The Nib, and The New York Times

After spending the morning wrestling with The New York Times, I can point people to this article about Facebook moderation and the problem they have with satire.

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.  

For now.

MARCH INNER HIVE DRIVE - MARCH TO FIGHT HUNGER

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:

• PATREON(monthly billing)
• SUBSTACK(monthly billing)
• MAILCHIMP / CAMPAIGNZEE(billing every six months)

(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!

THANK YOU,

Ruben Bolling

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Not applicable to Gift Memberships.

*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.

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JOIN THE INNER HIVE HERE.

CONTEST WINNERS, LUCKY DUCKY DINNERS!

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!

And the winner of the Tom the Dancing Bug Newsletter SUPER-FUN-PAK COMIX READER GIVEAWAY CONTEST is:

Adrian Bartoli

Congratulations to all the winners and the losers of the world, and Merry Happy Everything!

The books can be happily purchased here.

GIVE THE GIFT OF (SIGNED! SKETCHED! PERSONALIZED!) TOM THE DANCING BUG BOOKS

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:

 

Name I'd like books signed to

Gift-Giver / Date to be opened

 

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?

 

The Comics Journal, on The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader:

"A great treasury of wild, often brilliant humor and a record of life in America"

 

The Washington Post, on Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse:

"Like a warm pet that leaps and rolls over before delivering a satiric bite."

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Any questions about ordering, please write to teamdancingbug at gmail dot com

 

 

 

IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO BE MENTIONED.

It's always nice to be mentioned.  Particularly if it's honorably.

Tom the Dancing Bug won an Honorable Mention for the National Press Foundation's Berryman Award.

Congratulations to Steve Sack!

 

...

The Tom the Dancing Bug Newsletter - FREE

So I started a free e-mail newsletter over at Substack.  You can get information and/or sign up here.

This is a separate list from the Inner Hive, which is a paid membership, and which you can join in various ways, including at Substack and at Patreon.

The first Tom the Dancing Bug Newsletter goes out tomorrow!  Be part of this momentous, historic occasion and sign up today!

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GIVE THE GIFT OF TOM THE DANCING BUG

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:

 

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 12/31/21.

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

 

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HEY, YOU CAN ALSO JOIN THE INNER HIVE FOR YOURSELF!

HOW?  LET ME COUNT THE WAYS:

 

⇒ You can join through Patreon, where you pay per month, and there are different levels of membership. $3/month and up

This has become the most popular way to join the Inner Hive.

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

⇒ You can join through CampaignZee / MailChimp, where you pay per six months. $11.95/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. It ends when it ends. $75.00

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

-

UPDATE 11/12/20: ⇒ You can now join through Substack, where you pay $7 per month.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR OWN INNER HIVE MEMBERSHIP THROUGH SUBSTACK 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.

Join the team that makes Tom the Dancing Bug possible every week.

 

 

 

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:

 

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 12/31/21.

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

 

--

 

HEY, YOU CAN ALSO JOIN THE INNER HIVE FOR YOURSELF!

HOW?  LET ME COUNT THE WAYS:

 

⇒ You can join through Patreon, where you pay per month, and there are different levels of membership. $3/month and up

This has become the most popular way to join the Inner Hive.

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

⇒ You can join through CampaignZee / MailChimp, where you pay per six months. $11.95/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. It ends when it ends. $75.00

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

-

UPDATE 11/12/20: ⇒ You can now join through Substack, where you pay $7 per month.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR OWN INNER HIVE MEMBERSHIP THROUGH SUBSTACK 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.

Join the team that makes Tom the Dancing Bug possible every week.

 

 

Cheers for Johnny G.

 

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!