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In this week’s comic, NEWS OF THE TIMES reports on the massive manhunt for a killer CEO.
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 BobbyG and new member Noghar.
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This week’s Classic Tom the Dancing Bug (published on GoComics yesterday) is Chagrin Falls: “Corporate Sky-Deity Bless America” (from 2014).
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And the GoComics Super-Fun-Pak Comix page has recently featured comics from this installment (from 2014).
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I’m now occasionally writing posts for Boing Boing. Here are a few of the items I wrote recently:
Disneyland Paris celebrating the reopening of Notre Dame with fireworks/drone nighttime sky show
Advance images of Universal's upcoming Epic Universe theme park are flowing in
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Logrolling in Our Time
Speaking of Boing Boing, that site’s own Mark Frauenfelder was kind to include me in his post suggesting book gifts: “An anti-boring book guide: six great gift picks.”
” ‘It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug!’ by Ruben Bolling will have you chuckling over the downfall of western democracy through sharp satirical comics featuring beloved characters like Lucky Ducky and the Smythe family of Chagrin Falls. The collection showcases Bolling’s award-winning work, which has been delighting readers weekly on Boing Boing for over a decade.”
I understand that to be sure there was no bias in this recommendation of a book by Boing Boing’s own cartoonist who also occasionally writes for the site, Mark read the entire book blindfolded.
You can find out how to buy “It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug!,” as well as other Tom the Dancing Bug books, HERE.
(For another article about the book and Tom the Dancing Bug, from a less biased source, here is what The New Yorker had to say.)
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Inner Hive Announcement
I have to make an end-of-year announcement regarding the Inner Hive.
I value and cherish each and every Inner Hive member, regardless of geographic location, sports team affiliation, or pizza preference. But there are different tiers of membership, which can be accessed on two of the Inner Hive platforms: Patreon and here on Substack.
Various upper tiers of membership come with rewards that are bestowed upon members at those levels each new year. In order to qualify, such members must have been at that membership tier for the entire previous calendar year.
So I am announcing/reminding all members that to qualify for 2025 upper tier rewards, such as they are, the deadline for being an upper tier member is 1/1/25 (and then that membership must be maintained that tier through 12/31/25).
- The upper tiers on Patreon are described here.
(Note: Do not join or upgrade a Patreon membership on the Patreon app on an iPhone (iOS): Apple will charge you 30% more! Join/upgrade on a web browser to avoid this charge. Confused? If you see the price for a base membership as $3/month, then you have engaged with Patreon correctly and can proceed.)
- There is only one upper tier on Substack, and it is described here.
Of course, those who have been upper tier members throughout 2024 will get their rewards in the new year!
Okay.
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And that’s it for this week’s Tom the Dancing Bug Review, friends. If you’re stuck for a holiday gift, there are plenty of ideas of how to spread the Tom the Dancing Bug spirit below.
Yours Indeed,
Rb
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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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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:
Bluesky (@rubenbolling.bsky.social)
Threads (@rubenbolling)
Instagram (@rubenbolling)
Facebook (facebook.com/rubenbolling)
Mastodon (@rubenbolling@mastodon.social)
Substack’s Notes (@tomthedancingbug)
I’m still on Twitter, but mostly just to make occasional announcements an urge people to leave it
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My email address is tomdbug at gmail dot com
The Tom the Dancing Bug Review. Copyright 2024 Ruben Bolling.