View source for Tom the Dancing Bug

{{short description|Comic strip}}
{{Infobox Comic strip
|title=Tom the Dancing Bug
|image=
|caption=
|creator=[[Ruben Bolling]]
|current=
|status= Weekly
|syndicate= Quaternary Features (1990–1997)<br />[[Universal Press Syndicate]]/[[Universal Uclick]]/[[Andrews McMeel Syndication]] (1997–present)
| publisher = [[HarperPerennial]], [[NBM Publishing]], [[Andrews McMeel Publishing]]
|genre=[[Humor]], [[comedy]] [[Political satire|political humor]], [[satire]], [[Surreal humour|absurdist humour]], [[Postmodernism|postmodernist comedy]]
|first={{start date and age|June 8, 1990}} (on ''[[New York Perspectives]]'')
|last=
|url=https://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug
}}
'''''Tom the Dancing Bug''''' is a weekly [[satire|satirical]] [[comic strip]] by [[cartoonist]] and political commentator [[Ruben Bolling]] that covers mostly [[United States of America|US]] current events from a liberal point of view.  Tom the Dancing Bug won the 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008,<ref name="Gardner">Gardner, Alan. [https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/06/10/ruben-bolling-wins-best-cartoon-award-from-aan/ Ruben Bolling Wins Best Cartoon Award from AAN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303092930/http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/06/10/ruben-bolling-wins-best-cartoon-award-from-aan/ |date=2021-03-03 }}. The Daily Cartoonist (June 10, 2008)</ref> and 2009<ref name="Xerexes">Xerexes, Xavier. [http://comixtalk.com/onward_webcomics_breach_updated/ Onward Into the Webcomics Breach] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301171536/http://comixtalk.com/onward_webcomics_breach_updated/ |date=2021-03-01 }}. Comix Talk (July 1, 2009)</ref> Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards for Best Cartoon.  The strip was awarded the 2010 [[Sigma Delta Chi Award]] for editorial cartooning by the [[Society of Professional Journalists]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/ |title=Tom the Dancing Bug Blog |publisher=Gocomics.typepad.com |date= |accessdate=2014-02-22 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222021911/http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and best cartoon in the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book & Journalism Awards.<ref name="RFK">[https://rfkhumanrights.org/news/2018-book-and-journalism-winners FULL LIST: 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book & Journalism Award Winners] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225012434/https://rfkhumanrights.org/news/2018-book-and-journalism-winners |date=2021-02-25 }} (May 3, 2018)</ref> His work on the strip won Bolling the 2017 [[Herblock Prize]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gocomics.com/news/in-the-news/3744/tom-the-dancing-bug-creator-ruben-bolling-awarded-the-2017-herblock-prize |title='Tom The Dancing Bug' Creator Ruben Bolling Awarded The 2017 Herblock Prize |publisher=GoComics |date= |accessdate=2022-08-31 |archive-date=2018-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303003352/http://www.gocomics.com/news/in-the-news/3744/tom-the-dancing-bug-creator-ruben-bolling-awarded-the-2017-herblock-prize |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.herbblockfoundation.org/herblock-prize/prize-winners/ken-fisher-aka-ruben-bolling|title=Ruben Bolling (Pen name of Ken Fisher) &#124; the Herb Block Foundation|access-date=2017-03-06|archive-date=2017-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306134510/https://www.herbblockfoundation.org/herblock-prize/prize-winners/ken-fisher-aka-ruben-bolling|url-status=live}}</ref> and the 2021 Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ruben Bolling Wins 2021 Berryman Award|first=D. D.|last=Degg|work=The Daily Cartoonist|date=May 11, 2022|url=https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/11/ruben-bolling-wins-2021-berryman-award/|access-date=January 17, 2024|archive-date=January 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117165858/https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/11/ruben-bolling-wins-2021-berryman-award/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Berryman">{{cite web|url=https://nationalpress.org/award-story/ruben-bolling-wins-2021-berryman-cartoonist-award|title=Ruben Bolling wins 2021 Berryman Cartoonist Award|date=November 1, 2021|website=National Press Foundation|access-date=May 11, 2022|archive-date=January 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120110530/https://nationalpress.org/award-story/ruben-bolling-wins-2021-berryman-cartoonist-award/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Berryman-video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGwm4wELGi0 Winning Editorial Cartoonist Accepts Berryman Award] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511203703/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGwm4wELGi0&gl=US&hl=en |date=2022-05-11 }} (May 10, 2022)</ref> and he was a finalist in the Editorial Cartooning category for the 2019<ref name="Pulitzer">{{cite web |year=2019 |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ken-fisher-drawing-ruben-bolling-freelancer |title=Finalist in editorial cartooning: Ken Fisher, drawing as Ruben Bolling, freelancer |publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]] |access-date=2021-03-20 |archive-date=2021-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308154825/https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ken-fisher-drawing-ruben-bolling-freelancer |url-status=live }}</ref> and 2021<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ken-fisher-drawing-ruben-bolling-tom-dancing-bug-andrews-mcmeel-syndicate |title = Finalist: Ken Fisher, drawing as Ruben Bolling, for "Tom the Dancing Bug," Andrews McMeel Syndicate |access-date = 2021-06-13 |date = 2021 |publisher = [[Pulitzer Prize]] |archive-date = 2021-06-13 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210613225457/https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ken-fisher-drawing-ruben-bolling-tom-dancing-bug-andrews-mcmeel-syndicate |url-status = live }}</ref> [[Pulitzer Prize]].

== Publication history ==
As Bolling recounted in an interview:

{{cquote|I started ''Tom the Dancing Bug'' in 1990 in a small New York newspaper. It was called ''New York Perspectives'', then it was called ''New York Weekly'', then it was called "bankrupt." But before it went bankrupt, I was able to sell the strip to a few other papers. For seven years, I was sending packages out and following up with phone calls, trying to get editors to run the strip. I ended up selling it to about 60 newspapers [under the name Quaternary Features]. I was surprised at the success I had, especially in selling to daily newspapers. I didn't think it would be my market.

In 1997, the [[Universal Press Syndicate]] approached me and asked if we could work together. That came at just the right time, as I was starting a more serious day job, and I was about to have my first baby. I just didn't have the time and energy to devote to the selling of the strip. I decided that whatever job they did would be better than whatever I could put forth at that time.<ref name="Pikul" />}}

The strip appears in mainstream and alternative weekly newspapers, as well as on the [[Boing Boing]] website. At its peak, it was syndicated in print in over 100 newspapers.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1373461277440413696|user=RubenBolling|title=This is sadly true. Tom the Dancing Bug used to be in well over 100 print newspapers, and for a while in the NYT ab…|date=21 March 2021}}</ref> It ran on [[Salon.com]] from 1995 until March 18, 2010.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bolling | first=Ruben | url=http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/2010/03/salon-so-long.html | title=Salon, so long. | date=2010-03-22 | accessdate=2010-03-29 | quote=Salon.com has informed me that they have canceled Tom the Dancing Bug.... I was told that the cancellation was made because of 'severe budget constraints,' and that traffic for the comic continued to be good. | archive-date=2010-03-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325202138/http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/2010/03/salon-so-long.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, Bolling launched a subscription service, the Inner Hive,<ref>{{cite web |first1=Reuben |last1=Bolling |date=May 9, 2012 |url=http://boingboing.net/2012/05/09/come-on-and-join-tom-the-danci.html |title=Come on and join Tom the Dancing Bug's INNER HIVE! |website=Boing Boing |access-date=2021-03-20 |archive-date=2015-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729051933/http://boingboing.net/2012/05/09/come-on-and-join-tom-the-danci.html |url-status=live }}</ref> which he credits with keeping the comic going amid [[Decline of newspapers|declines in print newspapers]].<ref name="Roth">{{cite web |last1=Roth |first1=Stephen |url=https://www.gocomics.com/blog/4744/politics-through-the-compound-eyes-of-tom-the-dancing-bug |title=Politics Through the Compound Eyes of 'Tom the Dancing Bug |work=GoComics |date=November 26, 2018 |access-date=2021-03-20 |archive-date=2021-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418120420/https://www.gocomics.com/blog/4744/politics-through-the-compound-eyes-of-tom-the-dancing-bug |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, and especially with the election of [[Donald Trump]] as president in 2016, ''Tom the Dancing Bug'''s focus became more overtly political. When accepting the Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons on May 4, 2022, Bolling said, "When it started, it was just about apolitical. It was usually about a prehistoric ape-man, or an idiotic time traveler, or something even sillier. The comic strip got more political, more often, as it went along, certainly taking a turn after 9/11. But it was at the rise of Trump in 2016 that I just about handed the comic strip to what I saw as the most important political phenomenon of my lifetime."<ref name="Berryman-video"/>

Bolling also explained his approach to satire, pre- and post-Trump, at the same dinner: {{cquote|In the before days, pre-Trumpism, my age-old satirist trick was to exaggerate and twist my target's position to expose its hypocrisy or flaws. But you can't exaggerate Trump. He does it before you can. And he's better at it. And then he'll double down on that. And forget about exposing the logical flaws in Trumpist positions - let's just say that logic is not their intended feature. So one technique I've developed is that instead of exaggerating, I'll recontextualize. I take exactly what's happening and put it in a new context to shine a different light on it. ... So I'll take the [[2021 United States Capitol attack|January 6 insurrection]] and the [[QAnon]] followers waiting for the Great Storm, and put it in the context of the [[Peanuts]] comic strip and cartoon, and Linus [[It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown|waiting for the Great Pumpkin]]. After all, what comes after ''Peanuts'', but ''Q-Nuts''. In a similar vein, when it was revealed back in 2016 that Donald Trump used to call reporters and [[John Barron (publicist)|pretend to be his own publicist]], I started this [[Calvin and Hobbes]] pastiche series with little Donald and his imaginary publicist John. ... In this 2020 comic, I put certain Americans' refusal to wear masks during [[COVID-19 pandemic|a pandemic]] into the context of a 1940s [[newsreel]] about the sacrifices Americans will and won't make for the good of the country.<ref name="Berryman-video"/>}}

== Recurring characters and segments ==
''Tom the Dancing Bug'' has no real narrative continuity.  The title itself is a [[dada]]ist non-sequitur, as there is no character called "Tom the Dancing Bug" ever seen or referred to in the strip.

Some individual strips are one-shot "stand-alone" presentations, but certain recurring features within the strip are seen regularly on a rotating basis.  One of the most popular recurring segments, "Super-Fun-Pak Comix", appears roughly once every month or two, and is dealt with in a separate entry, below.  Other features currently seen on a fairly frequent basis include:

*'''God-Man: The Superhero With Omnipotent Powers!''': Placed in normal superhero situations, God-Man fights villains like [[Nietzsche]]-lad, Dr. [[Moral relativism|Moral Relativism]] and [[Blasphemy]] Boy. God-Man's "mundane identity" (when he does not want to attract suspicion) is '''Milton Baxter'''. God-Man occasionally solves problems by re-creating the universe and organizing the atoms so that the problem is prevented in the first place. Bolling, speaking in an interview about readers who take offense to the God-Man strips, said "God-Man isn't actually God. He is a straw man that I'm using to make fun of some people's very simplistic views about religion and philosophy."<ref name="Pikul">{{cite web | last=Pikul | first=Corrie | url=http://dir.salon.com/story/books/int/2005/01/14/bolling/index.html | title=The mystery man behind "Tom the Dancing Bug" | date=2005-01-14 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060719055741/http://dir.salon.com/story/books/int/2005/01/14/bolling/index.html | archivedate=2006-07-19 }}</ref>  '''Billy Billings''' is "God-Man's Pal", a parody of [[Jimmy Olsen]].
*'''Lucky Ducky: The Poor Little Duck Who's Rich In Luck''', is a recurring segment purportedly presented by Wall Street Journal Comix. Lucky Ducky first appeared in 2002, after ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' editorialized against [[progressive tax]] policies, calling [[poverty|poor]] workers "[[lucky duckies]]" because they have a smaller federal income tax burden.<ref name=Manjoo2002>{{Citation|title=March of the "lucky duckies"|url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/12/21/duckies/index.html|year=2002|author=Manjoo, Farhad|journal=Salon|accessdate=2010-05-13|archive-date=2024-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520211041/https://www.salon.com/2002/12/21/duckies/|url-status=live}}</ref> In his appearances in Bolling's strip, Lucky Ducky is an anthropomorphic duck who despite being homeless, destitute, and working in a crummy job always manages to enrage his nemesis, the very wealthy '''Hollingsworth Hound'''. Hollingsworth (who usually has a much more prominent role in this segment than the title character) views any source of joy, comfort or financial support in Lucky's life to be coming at the expense of the very rich, like himself.  As an example, when Lucky is severely injured, and the emergency room accepts him as an indigent patient, Hollingsworth is apoplectic with rage at the "lucky" break the nearly comatose Lucky has received.  Typically, the strip will end with an exploited, jailed, and/or near-death and hospitalized Lucky saying "Gotcha!" to an enraged Hollingsworth.  Hollingsworth Hound has also occasionally been seen in solo adventures.
*'''Donald and John: A Boy President and his Imaginary Publicist''' features six year old president Donald Trump, who is seen conferring with his imaginary publicist [[Pseudonyms used by Donald Trump|John Barron]] (an imaginary character Trump created and used in real life).  The drawing style, lettering, and general tone of the piece is a clear tribute to ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''.
*'''Q-Nuts''' casts some of the characters from the ''[[Peanuts]]'' comic strip as [[QAnon]] adherents.
*'''Louis Maltby''' is an introverted kid with a major guilt complex. He's featured in segments "Games Louis Plays", which describe how Louis looks at the world, and "The Education of Louis", which show his confusion at the world around him. Louis is used to make social commentary by displaying how school and society treats him, and may be semi-autobiographical.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bolonik | first=Kera | url=http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2006/features/feature2.html | title=The world according to Ruben Bolling | year=2006 | access-date=2010-11-19 | archive-date=2009-11-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104211906/http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2006/features/feature2.html | url-status=live }}</ref> He also sometimes appears in other segments when a kid is needed, and has on at least one occasion appeared in a superhero parody in the guise of his alter-ego, 'The Passive-Aggressor'.
*'''News of the Times''' parodies current events, in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of ''[[The March of Time]]'' newsreels.
*'''Judge Scalia''' was an extremist version of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] justice [[Antonin Scalia]], used to criticize Justice Scalia's Supreme Court opinions and overall judicial philosophy.
*'''Did You Know?''' points out "Fun Facts" in all sorts of things, poking fun at statistic-and-tidbit-obsessed society. The [[cult of celebrity]] is also a frequent target, with subversive trivia such as ''[[Nicole Kidman]] had to work as a waitress before she became famous, and not a single person asked her for her autograph'' and claiming that the [[Universe]] has never been nominated for an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]].
*'''Chagrin Falls''' is a recurring feature about the Smythes, a typical Middle American family.
*'''Bob''' is the extremely average male. He sits at home drinking beer and watching scrambled porn on TV on the weekends, and tries to avoid doing chores and other household duties. During the week, he works (or more often daydreams) in the cubicle by the elevator.
*'''Harvey Richards Esq., Lawyer for Children''' is about a lawyer who works for children by using the standard children's tricks for getting out of things or getting people to do things ("My fingers were crossed!" "I called no crossies!"). The point is that lawyers act an awful lot like young children. The character has been optioned for a feature film by New Line Cinema, to be co-produced by Universal Press Syndicate's AMUSE division, but was never realized.
*'''Brain in a Beaker''' is a disembodied brain that believes it is in a real body.
*'''Charley''' is an [[australopithecine]]—a less-developed [[Hominidae|hominid]] from the [[pliocene]] epoch. He does not have some of the more advanced emotions of humans. He has a taste for grape [[soft drink]]s.  He appears to be a satire of [[Curious George]].
*'''Billy Dare, Boy Adventurer''' parodies the clichés used in boy adventurer stories. Billy is very similar in appearance to [[The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin]], the famous Belgian comics adventurer.
*'''Sam Roland, the Detective Who Dies''' is a [[Sam Spade]]-esque [[film noir|noirish]] private detective, except that ''he'' always dies.
*'''James K. Poult''', a [[Mallard Fillmore]] parody, is an "unbiased media chicken" with multiple conservative media outlets.  He was seen briefly as a supporting character in a Hollingsworth Hound story in 2013, but has not had a "starring" role in any strip for several years.
*'''The Outer Reaches of Plot Twists''' parodies ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' and ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|Outer Limits]]'', showing stories that use multiple plot twists to the point that suspension of disbelief is difficult to achieve.
*'''Larry Dodson''' is an "average joe" type character whom the art world has called "the most important artist of the 21st century."
*'''Nate the Neoconservative''' is a [[neoconservative]] who refuses to admit his mistakes.
*'''The Impossible Squad''' is a military squad of stereotypical 'tough guys', all sergeants that list 'explosives' as their expertise except for one member (whose specialty is usually extremely different from his squadmates). They consider explosives to be the only way to complete any mission. However, the 'different' member will always suggest another solution based on his skills but his idea is usually shot down by the rest of the team (probably because it doesn't involve the direct use of explosives).
*'''Hollywood Tales''' are stories that depict Hollywood celebrities, featuring realistic (but static) likeness of their faces, in humorous situations.
*'''The Ghost of James Caan''' is a character introduced in a Hollywood Tales story concerning actor [[Zac Efron]]. He is supposed to be the disembodied spirit of actor [[James Caan]], despite the fact that Caan is (as of the time of his ghost's introduction) still very much alive. This is also true within the comic, causing confusion to the other characters that appear alongside him.  The Ghost of James Caan now makes occasional appearances in "Super-Fun-Pak Comix", below.

=== Super-Fun-Pak Comix ===
A recurring feature, Super Fun-Pak Comix consists of four to six smaller strips, grouped together.  These collections of smaller comic strips poke fun at the typical conventions and clichés of modern comic strips. For example, they commonly make fun of stereotypical ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' cartoon settings, such as two people sitting across a desk or a husband and wife at home reading the paper. Individual comics can also be based around peculiar or bizarre concepts, like 'Funny Only to Six-year-olds' or 'Comic Designed to Fit Vertical Spaces'.  Many Fun-Pak strips are one-offs, but there are also numerous recurring strips, and occasionally, some Fun-Pak space is taken up by a fake ad for unlikely products.  As well, some recurring long-form Tom The Dancing Bug comics occasionally make Fun-Pak appearances in a shorter format, and a few recurring Fun-Pak characters (Percival Dunwoody, Dinkle) have made appearances in a long-form strip.

Super-Fun-Pak Comix also appears as a daily strip on gocomix.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/super-fun-pak-comix|title=Super-Fun-Pak Comix by Ruben Bolling|last=Bolling|first=Ruben|website=GoComics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-27|archive-date=2020-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416104439/https://www.gocomics.com/super-fun-pak-comix|url-status=live}}</ref>

Currently recurring mini-strips (not always seen in every Fun-Pak) include:

*'''Percival Dunwoody, Idiot Time Traveller from 1909''' is in awe of the modern age, although he is also amazed by things that existed well before 1909, including lightbulbs, dogs and hands. However, he is aware of his own idiocy. Later strips have revealed him to be unfamiliar with the mechanics of time travel and causality (for example, believing that accidentally interfering with someone in the future could prevent his own birth).
*'''Dinkle, The <u>Un</u>lovable Loser''' is a parody of such characters as [[Ziggy (comic strip)|Ziggy]] or [[The Born Loser]], with the catch being that his status as a loser is completely justified because he is truly un-lovable; he is [[narcissistic]] and typically exhibits obnoxious attitudes, such as [[anti-Semitism]], and [[Psychopathy|sociopathic]] behaviour, ruthlessly exploiting everyone he encounters.
*'''Marital Mirth''' is a parody of ''[[The Lockhorns]]''.  The strip concerns a middle-aged married couple in an extremely unhappy relationship, and is supposedly drawn by bitter (fictional) cartoonist Rex Feinstein.
*'''Doug''' is an anthropomorphic cartoon creature who is too generically drawn to be any particular type of animal. He is not of high intelligence and has few real talents. The ''How to Draw Doug'' scripts make fun of Doug's rather pathetic life.
*'''Darthfield''' reimagines the cartoon character of [[Garfield]] the cat as [[Darth Vader]], such as with the ability to use the Force to strangle people.
*'''Phil Collins''' is a comic strip about, unsurprisingly, [[Phil Collins]].  In recent Fun-Pak strips, he has been teamed with The Ghost of James Caan.
*'''Science Facts for the Immature''' presents a scientific fact which is either a double entendre or is followed by a punchline based on bodily humor.  Variations of this mini-strip have included '''Science Facts for the Depressed''' and '''Science Facts for the Internet-Addled'''.
*Various '''Superhero comics''', featuring superheroes with names and traits that parody superheroes in general. Examples include 'Talk-Up-His-Secret-Identity Man' and 'Garish-Skintight-Lycra-Outfit Man'.
*'''Hillbilly Bill, of The Hills''' is a parody of ''[[Barney Google and Snuffy Smith]]''.
*'''Classix Comix/Comix Playhouse''' is an extremely shortened comic form of famous plays and novels. This is apparently a reference to ''[[Classics Illustrated]]'', a series that provided classic books in shortened comic form.
*'''Comics for the Elderly''' (formerly "Hey, Old People! Comics!") shows old people giving ornery advice to young people and the young people quickly accepting it.
*'''Uncle Cap'n''' is an old lazy pirate who swears and makes you do his work for him through supposed 'puzzles' and 'fun' (but usually illegal) activities.  He is a parody of [[Cappy Dick]].
*'''Selfish Gene''' is about a boy named Gene who only acts in ways that are beneficial to him under the framework of [[sociobiology]]. This is a reference to Richard Dawkins' ''[[The Selfish Gene]]''.
*'''Chaos Butterfly''' parodies the [[butterfly effect]]. Each strip features a butterfly in Brazil flapping its wings and indirectly causing something unpleasant to happen to a man in Chicago some time later.
*'''Killjoy was Here''' features Killjoy, a man who ruins any attempt at a funny dialogue by spouting out depressing facts on global issues such as poverty.
*'''The Epic/Brutal Report''' is a two-panel comic based on the good news/bad news gag. The first panel has a teenager relaying the 'good news' to his friends, who then exclaim 'Epic!'. In the second panel, he will tell them the 'bad news', to which his friends exclaim 'Brutal!'. The 'bad news' is always extremely disproportional and/or outlandish relative to the 'good news'.
*'''Comics Appropriating and Abusing Intellectual Property Newly Lapsed Into the Public Domain''' is a vertical strip that has run in the first Super Fun Pak Comix installment of each year since 2019, when works resumed lapsing into the public domain in the United States. Each parodies one of more of the works that entered the public domain of January 1 of that year, initially through fart jokes. 2022's installment was instead a complete Billy Dare strip, featuring [[the Hardy Boys]].

Following the [[September 11 attacks]], Bolling used the Super Fun Pak Comix format to acknowledge the events; the punchline to each one of the comics was, "Terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, killing thousands".<ref name="Bolling2001">{{cite web|url=http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2001/09/29|title=Tom the Dancing Bug Comic Strip, September 29, 2001 on GoComics.com|last=Bolling|first=Ruben|date=2001-09-29|work=Tom the Dancing Bug|publisher=GoComics.com|accessdate=13 May 2010|archive-date=2010-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711135550/http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2001/09/29|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Books ==
Several book-form collections have been published:

* 1992: ''Tom the Dancing Bug'' ([[HarperPerennial]]) {{ISBN|0-06-096949-0}}
* 1997: ''All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From My Golf-Playing Cats'' ([[NBM Publishing]]) {{ISBN|1-56163-183-3}}
* 2004: ''Thrilling Tom the Dancing Bug Stories'' ([[Andrews McMeel Publishing]], oversized treasury) {{ISBN|0-7407-4737-1}}
* 2020: ''The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|978-1-951038-30-4}}
* 2022: ''Tom the Dancing Bug: Without The Bad Ones'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|9781951038403}}

In 2020, Bolling began publishing a series containing the complete set of ''Tom the Dancing Bug'' comic strips. The first volume, ''Into the Trumpverse'', collected strips from 2016-2019. Bolling then began adding volumes in reverse chronological order, dubbing ''Into the Trumpverse'' as Volume 7. Thus far, volumes 7 through 3 have been published.

* 2020: ''Tom the Dancing Bug Presents: Into the Trumpverse'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|1-9510-3808-8}}, collecting 2016-2019
* 2021: ''Tom the Dancing Bug Awakens'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|9781951038359}}, collecting 2012-2015
* 2022: ''Tom the Dancing Bug: Eat the Poor'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|9781951038427}}, collecting 2007-2011
* 2022: ''Tom the Dancing Bug: All-Mighty Comics'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|9781951038564}}, collecting 2003-2006
* 2023: ''On the Trail of Tom The Dancing Bug'' (Clover Press) {{ISBN|9781951038731}}, collecting 1999-2002

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/ Tom the Dancing Bug] comic strips at gocomics.com

{{UniversalPressSyndicate}}

[[Category:1990 comics debuts]]
[[Category:American comic strips]]
[[Category:Comics about politics]]
[[Category:Satirical comics]]
[[Category:American political satire]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:GoComics]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic ducks]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1990]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Comics about talking animals]]