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Hello, friends and lovers. Happy Valentine’s Day from me to you.
This week’s comic is a Calvinesque and Hobbesian look at a criminal presidency.
It’s Donald and John, in “Colossal Donald!”
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.
Read this week’s Tom the Dancing Bug on The Contrarian HERE.
Brought to you by the Inner Hive, including longtime member Skull Goblet and new member Gene G.
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Last week’s comic was one of my most popular, so I thought I’d post it right here in The Tom the Dancing Bug Review:
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Phil Collins Day 2025
The big news is that Phil Collins was snubbed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when they announced their 2025 nominees this past Wednesday morning.
But that travesty will not stop NYC’s celebration of Phil Collins Day tomorrow. Of course I’ll be at the event, celebrating the drummer, pop balladeer, former child actor, philanthropist, prog rock pioneer, and beloved Tom the Dancing Bug / Super-Fun-Pak Comix character.
I’ll bring just a few Tom the Dancing Bug books to sell, so if you’re interested, check my Bluesky account tomorrow morning to confirm my attendance and to see how to find me.
Link to Phil Collins Day 2025 (the event takes place in Berry Park, which is not a park, but an indoor venue)
Link to my Bluesky account
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This week’s Classic Tom the Dancing Bug (published on GoComics yesterday) is “The First Scientist” (from 2015).
Can you spot someone deserving to be Secretary of Health and Human Services in there?
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And the GoComics Super-Fun-Pak Comix page has recently featured comics from this installment (from 2018).
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I’m now occasionally writing posts for Boing Boing. Here is an item I wrote recently:
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That’s it for this week!
How can you up your Tom the Dancing Bug game? Let me count the ways. 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
The 2024 Tom the Dancing Bug Annual pdf, containing every comic from the 2024, is available here.
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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)
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My email address is tomdbug at gmail dot com
Please do not send me any comments, messages, chat invitations, etc. on Substack: I will not see them. Instead, simply use my email address above. Much easier and better, right?
The Tom the Dancing Bug Review. Copyright 2025 Ruben Bolling.