Author: Ruben Bolling

The Number Seven Tom the Dancing Bug of 2022:

Chagrin Falls: “Boiling Frogs, All the Way Down” (from the week of March 28)

The Number Eight Tom the Dancing Bug of 2022:

Q-Nuts: “Don’t Say Gay, Charlie Brown” (from the week of April 4)

The Number Nine Tom the Dancing Bug of 2022:

Super-Fun-Pak Comix, feat. “Air Frankenstein” and More (from the week of April 11)

Gather the children, Call the neighbors. It’s time again for that cherished year-end tradition, the annual Top Ten Tom the Dancing Bugs Countdown!

Coming in at Number Ten:

Lucky Ducky, in “You’re in the Army Now” (from the week of July 18)

Galaxy Brain hath decreed that anyone who lists their username on another social media platform will get suspended, and I’d already had those names in my Twitter profile. I’ll be damned if I’m going to remove them because Elon forced me to.

So instead, I decided to lock the account and walk away. Well, it was just a matter of time; I’d been backing away from it with an eye toward leaving for about a month.

Twitter was a big part of my business plan for Tom the Dancing Bug, not only elevating its presence, visibility and fan base, but also driving subscriptions to my free newsletter and, most importantly, to my paid subscription service the Inner Hive.

I truly value all my partners and venues, but the Inner Hive has become the lifeblood of Tom the Dancing Bug, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen to it without the Twitter pipeline.

If you like Tom the Dancing Bug at all, I hope that you’ll join and interact with me on any of the below platforms. Twitter had been a lot of fun, and I’ll be working hard to make these fun and interesting too.

👉 You can find me at Mastodon, where I seem to be gaining most traction, and I’m spending most of my social media time now. @rubenbolling@mastodon.social

👉 I’m also kind of parallel posting at Post, Hive and Counter.social, all with the username @rubenbolling

👉 And I will continue to post, mostly just comics, at Instagram (@rubenbolling) and Facebook.

👉 Of course it would be great if you signed up for the free weekly Tom the Dancing Bug Review newsletter.

⭐️👉 And it would be greatest of all greats if you joined the fun at the Inner Hive, the paid subscription service, where you get each week’s comic emailed directly to you, at least a day before it’s published anywhere, plus other exclusive content, including extra comics, commentary, puppy pics, and whatever else I can think of each week. 🙏

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12/20/22 UPDATE: Did the following scene happen in the movie?

After all the slaves stand up and say “I am Spartacus,” refusing to identify the leader of their failed rebellion even to save their own lives, the Roman General says, “Er, actually I guess we won’t execute Spartacus.”

And so the slaves shuffle their feet and say, “Um, okay, then that guy there with the giant cleft chin is Spartacus.”

Because that’s what happened with Twitter. Musk backed down and is now allowing accounts to link to other social media sites.

So I’m dipping my toe back in. I’ll continue to tweet, but only to link to other social media sites (and other sites).

Having a chaotic man-baby as the leader of a site you’ve invested a lot of time in is exhausting.

This holiday season, you can give that special someone(s) a 2023 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 (e.g., today?) and throughout 2023 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.

$34.99.  Simply sign up here, by entering the recipient’s name and the email address the INNER HIVE mailings should be sent to:

<OFFER HAS EXPIRED>

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/Happy Everything.

Rb

-Terms and Conditions apply.  They always do.
-All 2023 Gift Memberships will end 12/31/23 regardless of date of sign-up.
-Payment is for starting the membership.  Recipient may cancel at any time (there’s no accounting for taste).
-This $34.99 offer is for an Inner Hive membership through MailChimp from time of sign-up to 12/31/23.  Alternatively, $77.00 annual and $7 monthly Inner Hive Gift Memberships through Substack can be purchased here.

For any questions, you can contact me at tomdbug at gmail dot com

Here is an Instagram post from “Weird Al” Yankovic about the comic I contributed to his upcoming graphic novel, The Illustrated Al.  I illustrated his great song “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” (1992) using a pastiche of the old comic strip, “Love Is…”  He posted one of the three pages I drew.

Here is Al performing “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” on the Arsenio Hall Show back in the day:

You can buy The Illustrated Al HERE.

There’s a new design in the Tom the Dancing Bug shop, and it features everyone’s favorite Poor Little Duck Who’s Rich in Luck!

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Just in time for Thanksgiving, you can show the world how thankful you are that you’re a Lucky Ducky!

(Also: just in time for Threadless’s sale: $15 Regular Tees, everything else on sale, ends 10/24.)

CLICK HERE to see all the different Lucky Ducky t-shirts, styles, garments, colors, and products you can obtain.

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CLICK HERE to see the full Tom the Dancing Bug Threadless Shop, with many other t-shirt designs (Chagrin Falls! Charley the Australopithecine! Doug! More!) and options.

And, as always, CLICK HERE to go to the full Tom the Dancing Bug Store, for t-shirts, books and more.

I’ll be in Columbus, Ohio on October 7, 8, and 9 at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, a comics festival that is also serving as the home of this year’s Association of American Editorial Cartoonists conference.

I’ll intermittently be at the AAEC’s tables (Tables 128-129). If you are attending, you could check this space and/or my Twitter account if you are interested in more information about my appearances.

Volume 4 of The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program has been published, and I’m now taking orders for signed/sketched copies of TOM THE DANCING BUG: ALL-MIGHTY COMICS.

Clover Press’s promotional copy for the book:

Clover Press’s Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program streaks forward with the fourth chronological volume, covering every installment of the award-winning (and two-time Pulitzer Prize Finalist) comic strip, from 2003-2006. 

All-Mighty Comics includes favorite characters of Tom the Dancing Bug, such as: God-Man, the Omnipotent Superhero; Charley the Australopithecine; Billy Dare, Boy Adventurer; Dinkle, the Un-Lovable Loser; and even the origin of Lucky Ducky. It also includes a special comic Bolling created for Mad Magazine during the covered years: “Educa-Fun.”

Tom the Dancing Bug is the wildly popular, groundbreaking comic strip that Mark Hamill called “wondrous, whimsical, and witty,” and that led Seth Meyers to recently write, “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!”

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You can purchase the book in bookstores, at online retailers like Amazon, and from the publisher, Clover Press.

But you can purchase SIGNED/SKETCHED books directly from me. If you order from me, you get:

1. Your book signed/sketched/dated by me, and personalized if requested;
2. A special authenticated (i.e., signed) All-Mighty Comics bookmark; and
3. A special All-Mighty Comics sticker (3.25″ x 4″); which are
4. Timeless treasures that will outstrip the stock market, cybercurrency, and precious metals in value and will provide joy and financial security for yourself and your progeny for generations to come

-> 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.  The book will still be signed and sketched in.

-> 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

$69.97, cheap

Name I’d like book signed to

Inner Hive address (if any)

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Visit the Tom the Dancing Bug Store to see the other books and book packages available from The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program.

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOM THE DANCING BUG STORE.

Be sure to check out the SPECIAL PRICE for the Tom the Dancing Bug: Eat the Poor / Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens package!

Just for fun, here is the back cover of Volume 5, Tom the Dancing Bug: Eat the Poor:

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