The following is an interview with cartoonist Ruben Bolling regarding the recent Kickstarter campaign launch for the collected volumes of the award-winning Tom the Dancing Bug series in collaboration with Clover Press. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Bolling about revisiting his body of work for the collection, the incredible backer rewards available through the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You recently launched a Kickstarter campaign in conjunction with Clover Press two new volumes of Tom the Dancing Bug, collecting your incredible work on the comic strip from 1990-1998. As you look ahead to the combined collection, what has been your experience in revisiting the strip from this time period?
Ruben Bolling: I’ve been surprised at how willing I was to take risks when I first started my cartooning career. Today, I know what a Tom the Dancing Bug comic should look like, and although the strip varies from week to week maybe more than any other comic strip, there are certain ineffable parameters I tend to stay within. But in these early years, what the strip is hadn’t coalesced yet, and each comic could be absolutely anything. I took wild chances and huge swings, with some interesting misses.
BD: Likewise, in revisiting theses pieces, was there anything new or intriguing that you took away from the work that you hadn’t anticipated when originally creating it?
RB: I used to do multi-week comics, in which a story would be continued over the course of successive Tom the Dancing Bug comics, and I really like the effect of those. For various reasons, I don’t do that anymore, but looking back on those longer stories, especially featuring my character Charley the Australopithecine, makes me want to try it again.
BD: What can you tell us about your shared creative process in working with Clover Press for these collections?
RB: Clover has been a dream to work with, and we’ve been on the same page from day one. When we first started, I talked about how important it was to me for the spines of the multiple volumes to match up so they looked cohesive on a bookshelf, and when they enthusiastically agreed and we talked about it for a half hour, I knew we were kindred spirits.
BD: Your award-winning work on Tom the Dancing Bug has ranged from the surreal to the satirical, documenting our history by way of your beloved character. Is there anything in particular that you hope that readers might take away from your body of work or any conversations that you hope it might inspire?
RB: Despite my taking on some big issues throughout my career, including very pointed political comics recently, my only personal goal with the comic strip has always been just to entertain and interest the reader. From the start of the strip, all I’ve wanted to do each week was delight or surprise my imaginary reader, and tackling philosophical, ethical, or political issues – or being absolutely silly and absurd — have always been just the various ways that I can try to achieve that goal.
BD: Lastly, in light of the Kickstarter campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
RB: I love the stickers and t-shirt that Clover put together, but there will be other surprises, like a project that I’m currently working on but can’t talk about yet!
