"Tom the Dancing Bug" Creator Discusses Drawing Struggles, Movie Deal, and Religion in Podcast Interview

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Ruben Bolling, creator of the weekly comic strip "Tom the Dancing Bug", is interviewed in the April 19, 2010 episode of Deconstructing Comics Podcast.

TOKYO (April 19, 2010) -- "Compared to the great cartoonists of the past and now, I'm no artist," says Ruben Bolling, creator of the weekly comic strip "Tom the Dancing Bug," in the April 19 episode of Deconstructing Comics Podcast.

Bolling tells host Tim Young that he is working on changing his focus, finding more writing-focused outlets, without necessarily giving up the strip. He has become "much more interested in the writing process than drawing it," he says.

One project in the offing is a movie based on Bolling's character Harvey Richards, Esq., a “Lawyer for Children.” The movie project with New Line Cinema, dormant for several years, has recently "roared back to life," Bolling says in the interview.

"Tom the Dancing Bug" is a long-running weekly comic strip which makes use of a variety of formats and recurring characters, including Harvey Richards. Young asked Bolling about another "Tom" character, God-Man, "the superhero with omnipotent powers." On the controversy which such a character attracts, Bolling said, "It's strange that you can't comment on religion because religious people are the ones who want to stop that." He added that "God-Man" is intended not a satire of the deity, but a look at "how we think about religion."

The episode also features Young, with regulars Kumar Sivasubramanian and Mulele Jarvis, discussing their recent creative projects.

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Deconstructing Comics is a weekly podcast dealing with all aspects of comics creation and appreciation. The podcast originates in Tokyo and includes comics reviews, interviews, and discussion of comics-related issues. The podcast is published every Monday at deconstructingcomics.com, and on iTunes.