Welcome to the Tom the Dancing Bug Review.
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Good morn or evening, friends.
I’m not really interested in all the talk about what celebrity should play what election figure on Saturday Night Live. I’m sure the cast can handle any of the candidates.
But I couldn’t help but chime on the discourse on Steve Martin’s resemblance to Tim Walz, a role that Lorne Michaels offered to Martin. Martin declined, saying, “‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy.’ I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses.”
And while the side-by-side pictures I’ve seen don’t show much of a resemblance beyond that, I think it’s more than just gray hair and glasses; their smiles are very similar.
So I took the step of creating my own side-by-side comparison.
I am really happy about that excitement around the Harris/Walz campaign! Dare I be optimistic???
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Meanwhile, in Tom the Dancing Bugland…
THE GREAT STORM HAS ARRIVED!
Thank you, Steve.
Yes, I received my shipment of copies of my brand new book, “IT’S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG!” I can now start signing books, drawing in them, packaging them with swag (see info at end of this post), and sending them out to valued purchasers.
A big batch will go out today (those post office clerks sure will be happy to see me back with my rolling duffle bag).
GET IN THE QUEUE TODAY! If you buy a signed/sketched/swagged copy, you can buy another book from the Tom the Dancing Bug collection for as little as TEN BUCKS.
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This week’s comic is an installment of SUPER-FUN-PAK COMIX, feat. “Lester the Jester,” “Man Puzzles,” and MORE.
Read this week’s Tom the Dancing Bug on GoComics HERE.
Read this week’s Tom the Dancing Bug on BoingBoing HERE.
Read this week’s Tom the Dancing Bug on DailyKos HERE.
Brought to you by the Inner Hive, including longtime member Luis C. and new member gmadoll789, who get a second shot because I screwed up their shout-out last week.
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And speaking of Tom the Dancing Bug commerce, Threadless informs me that they are having a $13 t-shirt sale. Information below.
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This week’s Classic Tom the Dancing Bug (published on GoComics yesterday) is “BETTER BUZZ BARR” (from 2020).
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And the GoComics Super-Fun-Pak Comix page has recently featured comics from this installment (from 2012).
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I’m now occasionally writing posts for Boing Boing. Here are a few of the items I wrote recently:
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Okay, that’s it! So excited to get this book out to you guys. Back to signing, sketching, swagging, and sending.
Stay Golden,
Rb
Why not share this The Tom the Dancing Bug Review with your friends, colleagues, relatives, and playmates?
Even better, refer your friends to the Tom the Dancing Bug Review to get “benefits”! (Info below.)
NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDER:
VOLUME 8 OF THE COMPLETE TOM THE DANCING BUG,
COLLECTING THE YEARS 2020-2023,
COVERING THE CRAZY 2020 ELECTION
AND THE INSANE AFTERMATH...
IT'S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG!
Clover Press's promotional copy for the book:
Clover Press’s Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program bursts forward with the eighth chronological volume, covering all of the most recent installments of the comic strip, a two-time Pulitzer Prize Finalist, from 2020-2023.
It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug! includes Bolling’s award-winning work covering the last year of the Trump presidency and the post-term MAGA insanity. All the favorite Tom the Dancing Bug characters try to make sense of the dark times of the early 2020s, including: the Smythe family of Chagrin Falls; Lucky Ducky, the poor little duck who’s rich in luck; and Billy Dare, boy adventurer. Also in the volume is Bolling’s comic contribution to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s hit graphic novel, The Illustrated Al.
Tom the Dancing Bug is the wildly popular, groundbreaking comic strip that has won multiple awards, including the Herblock Prize, the Berryman Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Mark Hamill called it “wondrous, whimsical, and witty,” and Seth Meyers recently wrote, “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!”
Buy your SIGNED/SKETCHED/SWAGGED copy of It's the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug, and you get:
Your copy of IT’S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG! signed/dated by me, and personalized if requested;
Your copy of IT’S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG! will have an illustration hand-drawn by me in it
A special authenticated (i.e. signed) It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug! bookmark;
A special It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug sticker (3.25″ x 4″)
An exclusive pdf booklet, The It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug, “Artist’s” Edition,
The option of purchasing another book from The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug Collection for only and extra $10, $20 or $30 (depending on volume), if you choose one of the GREAT STORM COMBOS
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Thank you for helping get the word out about The Tom the Dancing Bug Review!
The Tom the Dancing Bug shop at Threadless is growing.
And I’m told there’s currently a sale going on for $13 t-shirts. Looks like the Biden/Harris administration have totally reversed inflation!
Confuse your friends. Perplex your neighbors. Confound yourself. Various colors, styles, sizes available.
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In case you are interested:
Here is the official Tom the Dancing Bug webpage: tomthedancingbug.com
You can join me on:
Threads (@rubenbolling)
Bluesky (@rubenbolling.bsky.social)
Mastodon (@rubenbolling@mastodon.social)
I’m still on Twitter, but mostly just to burn down my account
And I’m on Substack’s own Notes.
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My email address is tomdbug at gmail dot com
The Tom the Dancing Bug Review. Copyright 2024 Ruben Bolling.