Hey, I’ve been nominated for a National Cartoonists Society Award.
The NCS members will now vote, and the winner will be announced in August at the NCS convention in Boston. And by the way, I am sickened by the whisper campaign against my very talented co-nominees, who do not deserve to have unproven (as of this writing) accusations sully their candidacy for this award, no matter how horrifying the allegations are.
Hey, I theme park nerded-out on the top theme park podcast, Disney Dish, subbing in for the vacationing Len Testa. Hear me talk with Disney historian Jim Hill about DRONES and RIDES and mispronounce VERISIMILITUDE! Link here to listen on Apple podcasts, and the podcast website is here.
Jim and Len, pictured below.
On this Sunday evening, March 16, I’m going to be hosted by fellow cartoonist Tom Tomorrow at Sullaluna in NYC to talk about Tom the Dancing Bug and political cartooning. Fair warning: Tom and I have been friends for over thirty years, so it might devolve into an argument about Star Trek or New Haven pizza. Or just giggling fits.
Seating is limited, but free.
Drawing the Line: Ruben Bolling in Conversation with Tom Tomorrow
Sunday, March 16, 2025, 6:00pm
Sullaluna, 41 Carmine Street, NYC
I will bring some Tom the Dancing Bug books to sell & sign (at cover price).
UPDATE: 3/13: I see that this almost instantly sold out, if that phrase can be used for a free event. Thanks, everyone — I look forward to seeing you there!
Of course if you are in NYC, you’ll be attending the Phil Collins Day 2025 celebration in Brooklyn on Saturday, February 15. You know I’ll be at the event, celebrating the drummer, pop balladeer, former child actor, philanthropist, prog rock pioneer, and beloved Tom the Dancing Bug character.
I’ll bring just a few Tom the Dancing Bug books to sell, so if you’re interested in a book or saying Hi, check my Bluesky account Saturday morning to confirm my attendance and to see how to find me.
You might take the occasion of this celebration to ask how I feel about the snub of Phil Collins by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which this week again refused to include the Chiswick Charmer in its annual announcement of nominees?
“I Don’t Care Anymore.”
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The last promotion did so much good, I’m doing it again. This time, I’ll phrase it this way:
If you were thinking of donating to help victims of the L.A. wildfires, do some of it here and you’ll get a free year’s membership in Tom the Dancing Bug’s Inner Hive. Here’s the deal:
From now (Tuesday, 1/14/25, 3:30pm ET) until midnight Sunday night (ET), if you sign up for any annual Inner Hive membership, I’ll donate $33* to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund to help victims and communities recover from the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
👉 You can purchase an annual membership on Patreon here (toggle the “Pay annually” switch).
👉 You can purchase a membership on Substack here. (Hit the Subscribe button, and choose a paid annual membership).
Members of the Inner Hive get each week’s Tom the Dancing Bug comic emailed to them at least a day before it’s published, plus extra comics, commentary, exclusive info, etc.
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*$33 (comes to $2.79 per month) is the base price of an annual Inner Hive membership on Patreon.
Okay, if you were thinking of signing up for the Inner Hive, this would be a good time to do it.
From now (Friday, 1/10/25, 1pm ET) until midnight Sunday night (ET), if you sign up for any annual Inner Hive membership, I’ll donate $33* to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation to help the LAFD save lives and protect property, such as creating emergency fire shelters, and purchasing essential equipment such as hydration backpacks and woodland brush tools.
👉 You can purchase an annual membership on Patreon here (toggle the “Pay annually” switch).
👉 You can purchase a membership on Substack here. (Hit the Subscribe button, and choose a paid annual membership).
Members of the Inner Hive get each week’s Tom the Dancing Bug comic emailed to them at least a day before it’s published, plus extra comics, commentary, exclusive info, etc.
—
*$33 (comes to $2.79 per month) is the base price of an annual Inner Hive membership on Patreon.
Here it is: The full, final list of the Top Ten Tom the Dancing Bugs of 2024. The top ten were determined by a rigorous, scientific, proprietary process, developed in my secret arctic fortress, that cannot be revealed lest it fall into the wrong hands.
But then the Top Three slots were put to a VOTE of the Inner Hive, an elite squad of the top minds on the globe, to determine their final order.
And so, here are the Top Ten Tom the Dancing Bugs of 2024:
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HONORABLE MENTION:
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, 2025, from the week of December 16, 2024,
which is included because the list was determined before the full impact of this comic’s popularity and impact had manifested, and had the comic not been released at the very end of the year, it could have landed in the Top Ten.
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THE NUMBER TEN TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024
SUPER-FUN-PAK COMIX: MICKEY MOUSE, from the week of January 1.
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THE NUMBER NINE TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024.
NEW YORK TIMES NEWSROOM, from the week of March 11.
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THE NUMBER EIGHT TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024.
CHAGRIN FALLS: “AMERICAN SHRUG”, from the week of July 8.
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THE NUMBER SEVEN TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024.
A TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN STORY: “LIBERALS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT,” from the week of February 12.
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THE NUMBER SIX TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: TRUMP 47 VERSION, from the week of October 21.
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THE NUMBER FIVE TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024.
Q-NUTS: “IT’S ELECTION DAY, CHARLIE BROWN“, from the week of October 14.
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THE NUMBER FOUR TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024.
THE HAITIANS – WELCOME TO SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, USA, from the week of September 16.
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And as determined by Tom the Dancing Bug’s proud and mighty Inner Hive, here are the Top Three Tom the Dancing Bugs of 2024
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THE NUMBER THREE TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024
A BUSY, BUSY DAY AT THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION, from the week of July 15.
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THE NUMBER TWO TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024
HOW IT STARTED / HOW IT’S GOING, from the week of September 23.
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AND THE NUMBER ONE TOM THE DANCING BUG OF 2024
NEWS OF THE TIMES: CEO MANHUNT, from the week of December 9.
Thanks for reading, and let’s hope against all odds that we can make 2025 a good one. I’ll be drawing, and I hope you’ll join me on my journey — I’ll need all the friends I can get.
This year marks only the fifth time since 1900 that the first night of Hannukah falls on Christmas. So this is the rare year that the hilarious the Saturday Night Live classic stop-motion animation short, “Christmastime for the Jews” doesn’t apply.
It was written/produced by legendary comedy writer Robert Smigel, evoking the look of a Rankin/Bass Christmas special, and sounding like a Phil Spector Christmas song. Here is Smigel on Bluesky, writing under his alter ego Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
In a great oral history of “Christmastime for the Jews” by Jason Tabrys, published on Uproxx, is the story of how Smigel got Darlene Love, who sang “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” on the 1963 album “A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector,” to sing the parody song.
Smigel: I love the A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector album so much. I saw Darlene Love sing at The Bottom Line, this club down by NYU in Manhattan. I think this was the early ’80s. Every year, Paul Shaffer, I think, would set it up. They would do that album, which is just all Wall Of Sound versions of Christmas classics as well as the song “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home),” which was written for that album and which Darlene Love did on the Letterman show for 25 years. …
Darlene Love (singer): First they can’t find me and then they start calling singers to find me. This happened because one of my background singers, Elaine Caswell, works with Saturday Night Live most of the time and they happened to ask her if she might get in touch with me. She called me and asked me if she could give them my number.
Smigel: I was obviously excited to work with Darlene Love. You can tell by the end credits — the font is enormous. Her credit is gigantic. I remember Lorne Michaels making fun of me for that. I just wanted people to know we really got Darlene Love to sing it.
A couple of notes: First, I love the story about the recording of “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home), my own favorite Christmas song. It’s said that producer Phil Spector (murderer, noted) was so thrilled with lines pianist Leon Russell was playing toward the end of the song (I was told it’s the part that starts at 2:08), he leaped out of the control room and handed Russell $100 on the spot.
And second, appearing on the same December 17, 2005 SNL show as “Christmastime for the Jews” was another comedy classsic for the ages: “Lazy Sunday,” by Lonely Island. I remember when I first watched this on my DVR, I didn’t even laugh; my jaw just dropped and when it was over, I immediately rewound so I could re-watch it, for the first time of many that day.
Now available for sale: The 2024 Tom the Dancing Bug Annual, a pdf containing every Tom the Dancing Bug comic of the year. Imagine the thrill of owning this virtual keepsake and comprehensive chronicle of the year in Tom the Dancing Bug!
You can buy this at my Patreon store. $14.99 cheap.
(NOTE: If the price you are seeing is more than $14.99, you are viewing the store on Patreon’s Apple phone iOS app. Simply leave the app, and access the store any other way, such as on a web browser.)
