When I got my second phone call from someone claiming to be from "Microsoft Windows" saying something's wrong with my computer and he will talk me through how to fix it, I had a sudden impulse to find out what he's up to and record it.
My family insisted I put this on the web. I think they liked that I eventually got "Peter" to curse at me in whatever his native language is.
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We've all seen the heartbreaking images and stories of devastation in the wake of the Oklahoma tornado. I'm sure many of you intend to make some donation to help the victims, and I thought I'd create another TOM THE DANCING BUG Challenge to help encourage generosity.
Make your donation directly to the American National Red Cross through a donation page I set up, http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ruben-bolling/tomthedancingbugtornadorelief, and you could win a specially drawn illustration I would create just for you.
There will be two winners:
– The top donor to the Challenge (multiple donations from the same donor will be aggregated); and
– One random donor to the Challenge regardless of size of donation, $15 minimum.
The illustrations will be 6 inches x 8 inches, and you can tell me what you'd like me to draw (subject to the boundaries of law and propriety), or we can come up with something in collaboration. God-Man fighting Charley the Australopithecine, Hollingsworth Hound in a tutu, Percival Dunwoody riding a Giant Wombat… whatever you want.
The deadline for the challenge is 11:59 pm, May 27, but PLEASE DONATE NOW. UPDATE: I'VE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE TO TUESDAY, MAY 28 AT 3:00 PM EASTERN TIME.
Winners will be announced on May 28.
Thank you, everybody. Hoping you are fortunate enough to be in a position to help in any way.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION AND PARTICIPATE IN THE TOM THE DANCING BUG TORNADO RELIEF CHALLENGE.
UPDATE: Tell the great comics writer, philosopher and humanitarian Greg Pak that you donated, and get free CODE MONKEY SAVE WORLD (his Kickstarter launched comic collaboration with Jonathan Coulton) stickers! Details here.
(Clarification: To be absolutely clear, I don't get anything out of this. Nothing. I only use this page to keep track of donations for the purposes of the contest.)
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Had a great time yesterday recording this latest installment of the Gweek Podcast with Mark Frauenfelder and Nate DiMeo. Click here for info and/or to listen.
In addition to the stuff Mark listed in his post, I also recommended and discussed the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. As a side note, I suspect that in so doing, I mispronounced Scott Aukerman's name, but I can't be bothered to listen to find out.
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I read the post by Patton Oswalt (who I think is hilarious and brilliant) about the Boston Marathon tragedy. I really liked his point that so many people were running toward the destruction to help — which reminds me of Mr. Rogers's very comforting suggestion when confronted with a catastrophe: "Look for the helpers." The human species can be mind-bogglingly brave and altruistic.
But Patton goes on to say that when a human commits some violent act like the Boston explosions, it's because of some anomalous snarl in the wiring of that human's brain. That's also very comforting.
And it's wrong. It's actually the brain functioning exactly as it's supposed to.
Look, no one knows who caused this. Maybe it was that rare psycho, and his parakeet told him to do it.
But it looks like this was just one of those not-at-all rare acts of humanity that was borne out of aggression, hatred, revenge, lust for power, political calculus, fear, bigotry, etc. etc. These violent acts are carried out every day, by and in the name of MILLIONS or BILLIONS of people, all over the world. Just ask people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Uganda, the Middle East, the entire 1940s, and countless decades and centuries and islands and regions and continents through human history.
I'm not making any moral equiavlence, and I'm not making a political point. I'm making a philosophical point, a biological point.
We can't pretend that when this happens to us it was caused by boogie men who crawled out of a crevice in the earth. They didn't do it in spite of their humanity, they did it because of their humanity — the very worst side of it.
And maybe if we recognize that, and see it clear-eyed in others and in ourselves, we'll come closer to finally defying that horrible, evil part of our humanity, and make a rational move toward peace.
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Tom the Dancing Bug of October 22, 2002
All these articles about the ten year anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq are making me feel very bitter. And I have to confess, I'm not just bitter about the horrific policy and humanitarian fiasco. I'm also bitter on a personal level.
It's hard to remember what it was like in 2002 and 2003. It felt to me like America had gone bat$#!% crazy. Bush and his cohorts had transparently lied and bullied their way into their war of choice, and there was no meaningful resistance. Mainstream liberals, both politicians and media players, lined up right behind him, and anyone who objected was considered a loony outsider. In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, the most prominent liberal columnist in the nation said the war was absolutely unquestionably worth it becasue SUCK ON THIS.
I didn't think much of this at the time, because the price being paid by the war's participants was (and still is) monstrous. But ten years later, I'm surprised that I'm looking back in anger at how isolated and marginalized those of us who vehemently objected to the war found ourselves.
It's unseemly to say "I told you so." And it's crass to complain about losing newspaper clients and being called crazy, stupid and unpatriotic when a war has destroyed thousands upon thousands of lives. But this week, as I watch the war's architects and cheerleaders attempt to justify and rehabilitate themselves, I feel bitterness that there is absolutely no reckoning for those who perpetrated this. And that our country's institutions could be so blinded that they allowed themselves to be manipulated by despicable warmongers telling flimsy, ridiculous lies.
Of all the anti-war comics I did during the time, this one, from March 2003, best summarized why I was so certain that the war was going to be a horror: The guy leading us into it was deeply and obviously untrustworthy, repeatedly showing horrible judgement at his best, and malicious deceit at his worst.
Happy Anniversary.
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Judge Scalia, in "LEGISLATIVE SOUL SEARCH!"
Click here to read on Boing Boing.
Click here to read on Daily Kos.
Click here to read on GoComics.
So many members of the INNER HIVE asked if they could share this week's commentary (exclusive to members of the INNER HIVE, hint, hint), that I thought I'd make a quick note here.
Basically, in this week's comic I take issue with the breathtaking hypocrisy Justice Scalia revealed in oral arguments for Shelby v. Holder.
When it comes to laws that restrict the rights of individuals and minority groups, Scalia refuses to consider the legislative history of the law, and gives great deference to the legislative, political process, which he repeatedly states is the best process to resolve the issues of the day. These are two of the most basic tenets of his stated judicial philosophy.
But in this case, in which we're looking at whether or not to override the legislature to remove protections for minorities, Scalia happens to find that the political process is uniquely ill-suited to come to a proper decision. And when looking at the legislature's motives for a 98-0 vote, he goes far beyond legislative history; he assigns self-serving motives simply because the vote was so overwhelmingly in support of the act.
A Justice of Action!
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Currently at the Society of Illustrators in NYC is the best comics museum exhibit I've ever seen, happily on my favorite subject in comics — Harvey Kurtzman, the creator of Mad Magazine. I attended the opening last night, and was floored by the material on display.
My favorite pieces were ones showing unfinished and preliminary art, showing the process of creation, and in particular the process of collaboration; the most successful aspects of Kurtzman's career were his collaborations with some of the great cartoonists of the 20th century.
Here is one of several unfinished pages on display of a Little Annie Fanny (Playboy) story on The Beatles (Hugh Hefner apparently pulled the plug on the project for some reason). Kurtzman did the layouts, and his pencilled lettering can be seen. Jack Davis did the spectacular and intricate pencils in his distinctive style. And where Bill Elder painted over the pencils, he converted the style to his own.
I can't bear to show this picture without pointing out that Paul is playing right-handed.
There are many pieces like this, providing a window into the creative and collaborative processes of Kurtzman. Huge pages of pre-pencilled layouts, a beautiful, painted mock-up for the cover of Mad Magazine #1 (!!), and even loose layout panels for a detailed fight scene, with the finished product by Jack Davis, closely following Kurtzman's poses and framing.
Kurtzman was an uncompromising genius, always stretching himself and his colleagues for innovation. One of the many fascinating conversations I had last night was with Al Jaffee, who was talking about his next Fold-In for Mad, something like his 430th. He said that when he did his first one the editor Al Feldstein, Kurtzman's successor at Mad, Feldstein instantly asked for another. Al said he was shocked that Feldstein thought the concept could last more than one iteration — he had planned for the Fold-In to be a one-off thing. And Al said that Kurtzman would never have asked for another Fold-In; he would have seen that as a great piece and asked Al for his next brand-new concept. This may demonstarte why, as brilliant as Kurtzman was (and as much as Al revered him), Feldstein may have been the better editor to move Mad from innovative sensation to cultural mainstay.
If you have any interest in Kurtzman and Mad (and I can't imagine how any readers of my comic strip could not) and you're in or can be in New York City by May 11, I urge you to get to this exhibit. Info HERE.
Thanks to the Society of Illustrators and curators Monte Beauchamp and Denis Kitchen for creating the amazing exhibit.
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This post about an exchange betweenwriter Glenn Fleishman and a twitterer who strenuously opposes gay marriage reminded me of this comic…
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