Now that the dust has settled, I'm going to need to revise my original take on these Harvey Award nominations. (See "It's In the Bag, Boys.") It appears that in the first blush of competition, I said some things about my colleagues that are factually untrue, which I do not believe, and which I now regret. They are a fine group of accomplished and brilliant artists, and I'm truly honored to be nominated with them.
That being said, and now that I've had time to learn exactly what the Harvey Awards are, and how the voting works, I'm going to say that I STILL think I'm going to win this thing. You see, apparently the award is granted based on a popular vote of comics professionals. And that is critical, because there is one important quality that separates me from the other four nominees.
The four other nominees are far too classy to actively campaign for this award.
I, however, plan to campaign frenetically. If you follow me on twitter or facebook, brace yourself for a barrage of crass pleas for votes. If you don't, you'll nevertheless see me canvassing for votes in trade publications, website comments sections, letters to the editor, and the crowd behind Al Roker on The Today Show.
Now, you may ask, "Is this some kind of self-promotional ego-trip?" To which I reply: "Ha! Far from it!" In fact, this will be an extended piece of performance art, in which I ironically "seek" an award, but my motive is solely to illuminate the folly of a popular vote in matters of art in particular, artistic award competitions in general, and the inane commercialization of American culture as a whole.
And if my relentless campaigning leads to a Tom the Dancing Bug win against this illustrious competition, will I not have made my point?
So, if you are a cartooning/comics industry professional, please vote for Tom the Dancing Bug and urge your colleagues, friends and neighbors to do so as well. Thank you for your time, and God Bless America.