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Greetings, concerned citizens.
This is being written before the debate between Messrs. Trump and Biden, and I only hope it went well, with both participants making salient points about policy and exchanging ideas in a way that informs the electorate.
This week’s comic is “ONE DAY IN A LOUISIANA CLASSROOM.” I’m very happy with the response to it, and I especially like the comments about when the reader “got it.”
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 Patrick.L and new member Mark Van Wassenhove.
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The next section is excerpted from this week’s Inner Hive dispatch, because while most of the IH dispatches are super-secret and exclusive to its esteemed membership, I will happily divulge those rare aspects that are sheer commercial promotion.
New t-shirts!
Yes, It's the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug-Mania is sweeping the nation!
And in celebration of the new book, I'm announcing here two new t-shirts designs to the Tom the Dancing Bug Threadless Shop. They're both images from comics in the book.
And Threadless says there is currently a sale on t-shirts: certain styles are $14, and everything else is "up to" 35% off.
Btw, I always found that "UP TO" qualifier for sales funny. It says nothing about any actual discounts; it only places an upper bound on any discounts that may be applied. "Our pledge to you, our valued customer, is that nothing in our store will be MORE than 35% off!"
Anyway, here are the two new t-shirt designs. Various choices of colors and styles, of course.
CONCERNED CITIZEN (from the 9/1/20 comic, "Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy Day in Trump's America").
Are you concerned yet?
And the FLOATING HEAD OF IRRELEVANT AND WRONG PREDICTIONS (from the 4/10/23 installment of Super-Fun-Pak Comix, among others)
Just imagine the advantages of going about your day guided by the avatar of irrelevant and wrong predictions.
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This week’s Classic Tom the Dancing Bug (published on GoComics yesterday) is “BOB, THE LORD OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS FIGURES” (from 2002).
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And the GoComics Super-Fun-Pak Comix page has recently featured comics from this installment (from 2011).
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I’m now occasionally writing posts for Boing Boing. Here are a few of the items I wrote recently:
"I wouldn't wish it on anyone": Baseball legend Reggie Jackson describes racism early in career
The art of Jack Davis, MAD cartoonist and one of the all-time greats
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That’s it for this week, dear reader. Please do Buy™️ and Join® for more Tom the Dancing Bug enjoyment©. All info is below. 🙏
Until next,
Rb
Feel free to share The Tom the Dancing Bug Review with your friends at this button.
Even better, refer your friends to the Tom the Dancing Bug Review to get Benefits™️ and Rewards®! (Info below.)
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-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.
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.
👉 I am also on: Facebook and Instagram.
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My email address is tomdbug at gmail dot com
The Tom the Dancing Bug Review. Copyright 2024 Ruben Bolling.