Ruben Bolling (Super-Fun-Pak Comix)

by GoComics

August 09, 2014

Today, we bring you a guest post from Ruben Bolling!

It's not always easy being the editor of the immensely popular worldwide sensation Super-Fun-Pak Comix.

Managing the artistic output and schedules of as many varied cartoonists as we have at Super-Fun-Pak is a constant challenge. Some never meet a deadline, others' writing is so laced with obscenities that preparing them for publication is more like translating than editing. One cartoonist submits his comics by mysteriously leaving soiled envelopes on my pillow (no matter how many times I change the locks on my door).

But when I was approached years ago by Nerrex, Inc. to assume the mantle of the most esteemed (indeed, the only) anthology comic strip, I knew it was an honor I couldn't refuse.

Who wouldn't leap at the chance to work with comics legend Rex Feinstein on his delightful domestic comedy Marital Mirth?

Or edit Steve Heisseldorf, the great-great-grandson of comics pioneer Wolfgang Heisseldorf, on one of the classic comic strips of all time, Immigrant Kids, as timely a look at the German immigrant experience as ever?

Or present to the world the latest hijinks of Dinkle, the UNlovable loser?

My day starts at Nerrex headquarters, where I undergo my daily radiation baseline testing. (In addition to Super-Fun-Pak Comix, Nerrex is also the world's leading producer of industrial byproduct waste management products.)

Then it's off to the salt mines (another of Nerrex's industrial interests), where I make a left, take elevator bank L to the 23^rd floor, pass the break room and settle into my office.

My mornings are usually taken up by slotting various comic strips into upcoming Super-Fun-Pak installments and fielding complaints from readers, clients, cartoonists, Nerrex executives, advertisers, printers and my parents. There isn't a single constituency of, or interest in, the comic strip that doesn't complain loudly, angrily and constantly. But as they say, you can't please everyone.

When it's time for a well-deserved lunch, I always find a quiet, tasteful restaurant without a liquor license, where I will be certain not to run into any of the Super-Fun-Pak cartoonists who may be in town dropping off their contributions.

The afternoons usually consist of a few martinis with the boys from accounting, followed by a nap, or, if the quarterly budget reports are due, a jaunt to the track.

And there you have it: an inside look at the typical day your humble editor. I've always dreamed of being in the entertainment/literary field; I don't think there's a higher calling than giving the world chuckle and a different way of looking at life. Yet editing Super-Fun-Pak Comix isn't a bad alternative, because the hours are good, plus Nerrex has a decent dental plan. (They have to, because of the radiation.)