Clover Press and cartoonist Ruben Bolling are preparing to complete the complete Tom The Dancing Bug, the definitive collection of eight volumes of two Pulitzer Prize finalists and award-winning political humor strips. It will also be revealed as part of the upcoming Kickstarter campaign that fans will be able to get the official Tom The Dancing Bug T-shirt and sticker set, which will only be available in the campaign.
The new Kickstarter funds the last two volumes of the series and collects the earliest years of Tom the Dancing Bug. The secret origins collect strips from 1990 to 1994, and collections of works from Sex, Tom the Dance bugs and rock and roll compilation. Together, they can get a rare glimpse into the formative creative era of Bolling. The New Yorker once called “a quietly thrilling revelation,” tinkered with “the eyes of subtly ridiculous people” with pop culture, human nature and the history of cartoons.
“These two volumes document the early years of this strip, and in a way, my most authless and ambitious work,” Bolling said. “With the announcement of these two volumes, The Complete Tom The Dancing Bug program will soon become a 35-year comic book, the complete eight-volume chronicle of my life’s work.”
Beyond the books, Kickstarter features a collectible 11″ x 13″ lithograph print, a slip case that houses all eight Clover Press editions, and newly revealed items. These exclusives will not be sold outside the campaign and will become a must-have for longtime fans and new readers.
Publisher Hank Canalz praised Bolling’s lasting relevance. “The Tom the Dance bug has been running in the newspaper for 35 years, and this is a first-hand look at its roots, proving it is as timely and sharp as ever.
Fans will be able to follow the pre-pre-laan page to be notified when the Kickstarter campaign is released later this summer.
