Ruben Bolling

Ruben Bolling is a pseudonym for Ken Fisher, a cartoonist, the author of Tom the Dancing Bug.

Biography

Bolling, who has no formal art training, read many comics when he was a child, and sometimes features their styles in his work. However, he didn't aspire to be a full-time cartoonist; instead he studied economics as an undergraduate and later attended Harvard Law School. It was at Harvard in the mid-'80s that Bolling came up with the idea for "Tom the Dancing Bug" and his pseudonym, "Ruben Bolling".

After graduation he practiced law for several years before resigning to pursue comic writing full-time. When that didn't work out he took a job in banking and continued comic writing on the side.

He currently lives and works in New York, and his urbane sense of humor suggests liberal or progressive political inclinations. His pieces demonstrate concern about the power of large corporations and satirize the way government has been corrupted by money. [1] His work sometimes shows an antiwar spirit, challenging the way government manipulates the media and attempt to define its own version of events, especially surrounding the Iraq war. He is also scathing of celebrity culture, particularly in strips such as "Funny, Funny Celebs". [2] Many of his strips show no political viewpoint and feature absurdist humor or parody comic strip conventions.

Books

Three book-form collections have been published:

• 1992: Tom the Dancing Bug ISBN 0060969490
• 1997: All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From My Golf-Playing Cats ISBN 1561631833
• 2004: Thrilling Tom the Dancing Bug Stories (oversized treasury) ISBN 0740747371

External links

• Biography (PDF)
• The Comics Journal #247 (contains an interview)
• Interview at Salon; may be viewed via 'free pass'
• Metro interview (page 13)