Ruben Bolling, author of the “Tom the Dancing Bug” satirical weekly cartoon strip, has won the 2021 Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons from the National Press Foundation.

Bolling accepted the award at the National Press Foundation’s May 4, 2022 awards dinner in Washington, D.C.

The judges cited Bolling’s mordant wit, superior artwork and inventive delivery. The cartoonist parodies well-known American cultural memes, from Charles M. Schultz’s Peanuts to Richard Scarry’s children’s books to The Matrix.

His 2021 work included biting commentary on the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and the Q-ANON conspiracy theory.

Bolling was the runner up for the 2020 Berryman award, which was won by Steve Sack.

The “Tom the Dancing Bug” strip is distributed to numerous U.S. publications by Andrews McMeel Syndication and is also available on GoComics.com, Boingboing.com, and Substack.

Tim Campbell is the runner-up for the 2021 Berryman award for a hilarious and heartbreaking illustrated series based on comments the artist collected from middle school students during the pandemic.  Campbell’s work is distributed by the Washington Post News Service & Syndicate, and his winning work appeared in the KidsPost and Youarecurent.com.