Rubes by Leigh Rubin

With his cartoon panel Rubes in hundreds of newspapers across the country and gracing millions of greeting cards, mugs and T-shirts, Rubin has plenty of opportunities. Walk into almost any gift shop, and you'll probably see a bevy of Rubes cards. And, ironically, the inspiration to create a new cartoon panel hit Rubin while he was surrounded by just such a collection of greeting cards.

"It was 1978, and I was walking through the card section of a pharmacy," Rubin said. "I just stopped in my tracks, looked at the cards and thought: 'Wait a minute, I can do that."'

And so he did. Rubin took his first steps on the path to cartoon success by creating a publishing company and distributing his own greeting cards. Rubes Publications, established in 1979, and also publishing the popular Notable Quotes in 1981.

Rubes, in the form that cartoon aficionados now know it, began appearing in newspapers in 1984. The first paperback collection of Rubes was published in late 1988, by G.P. Putnam & Sons. His most series of books include The Wild Life of Dogs, The Wild Life of Pets, The Wild Life of Cows and The Wild Life of Farm Animals.

Originally self-syndicated, Rubes is now distributed by Creators Syndicate to more than 400 newspapers worldwide. As one of the most popular single-panel cartoons, Rubes is a regular feature in SkyWest's United Express and Delta Connections magazines, and appears in such major daily metropolitan papers as the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Winnipeg Free Press, The Washington Times, the Houston Chronicle, The Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Rubin is married and has three sons.