Starting early next year, the Weekend section of the Washington Post will no longer be running the hilarious musings of Ken Fisher, aka “Ruben Bolling,” creator of the “Tom the Dancing Bug” strip. The decision ends a run of 10-plus years for the strip, which is a staple of the alternative news universe and runs in approximately 50 papers.
Weekend editor Tracy Grant reports that when she mentioned the strip to her staffers, no one said, “Oh, we must keep it!” After such a long run, says Grant, the strip has “probably run its course.”
Fisher pronounced himself “extremely disappointed” in the decision, noting that the Weekend section placement was “a jewel of my syndication efforts.” But Fisher reports that Grant said the decision isn’t irreversible, meaning that “readers should know that they have that power if they should choose to exercise it.” Let the angry e-mails begin!