Leigh Rubin is the creator of the syndicated comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 Rubes

Rubes

Rubes is a syndicated newspaper single panel cartoon created by Leigh Rubin in 1984.Leigh Rubin began making and distributing his own greeting cards in 1979 through his company Rubes. The cartoon Rubes began appearing in newspapers in 1984 and is since 1989 syndicated by Creators Syndicate to over...

. Born in the Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

 borough

Borough (New York City)

New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...

 of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Rubin was brought to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 at age 3. Rubin's parents sold advertising and by the early 70s, he was working in the family print shop. In 1978 he started his own greeting card company, Rubes Publications, featuring early renditions of his animal characters. He designed a greeting card

Greeting card

A greeting card is an illustrated, folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays, they are also sent to convey thanks or express other feeling. Greeting cards,...

 series with characters who took the shape of musical notes and later published his first cartoon collection, Notable Quotes, in 1981. In 1984, a newspaper editor friend approached Rubin about writing a daily comic for the Antelope Valley Press

Antelope Valley Press

The Antelope Valley Press, colloquially referred to as the Valley Press or AV Press by its staff and Antelope Valley residents, is a daily newspaper with emphasis on local news located in Palmdale, California USA. It is the largest circulating newspaper in the area...

 in Palmdale, California

Palmdale, California

Palmdale is a city located in the center of northern Los Angeles County, California, United States.Palmdale was the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city on August 24, 1962; 47 years later, voters approved creating a charter city in November, 2009. Palmdale is...

. After illustrating about 100 cartoons, he began pitching major and minor syndicates. Rubes has been distributed by Creators Syndicate

Creators Syndicate

Creators Syndicate is an independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns for daily newspapers. It was founded in 1987 by Richard S. Newcombe, and is based in Los Angeles. Creators was one of the first syndicates to allow its clients to maintain creative control of their material...

 since 1989 and now appears in more than 400 newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s worldwide. Leigh also enjoys a busy schedule giving thought-provoking and entertaining cartoon presentations at conferences, as well as professional organizations all around the country. Rubin lives in Nipomo, California

Nipomo, California

Nipomo is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 12,626 at the 2000 census, and grew to 16,714 for the 2010 census.-Geography:Nipomo is located at ....

 with his wife, Teresa and his three sons, Jeremy, Ryan, and Andrew.

Books

• Notable Quotes. Rubes Publications, 1981. ISBN 978-0941364003
• Encore! Rubes Publications, 1983. ISBN 978-0943384030
• Amusing Arrangements. Rubes Publications, 1985. ISBN 978-0943384047
• The Penguin is Mightier than the Swordfish. Fragments West / Valentine Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0916063153
• Rubes. Penguin Group, 1988. ISBN 978-0399514883
• Sharks Are People Too! Rubes Publications, 1990. ISBN 978-0943384023
• Calves Can Be So Cruel: The Best of Rubes Cartoons. Penguin Group
  Penguin Group
  The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
  
  , 1990. ISBN 978-0452265097
• Rubes Calves Can Be So Cruel. Ravette Publishing, 1992. ISBN 978-1853044304
• Rubes Bible Cartoons. Hendrickson Publishers, 1999. ISBN 978-1565634237
• Rubes Then & Now: Cartoons for the Millennium and Beyond! Image Maker Publishing, 1999. ISBN 978-0964469549
• The Wild Life of Dogs: A Rubes Cartoon Book. BowTie Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1889540986
• The Wild Life of Pets: A Rubes Cartoon Book. BowTie Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1889540993
• The Wild Life of Cows: A Rubes Cartoon Book. BowTie Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1931993364
• The Wild Life of Farm Animals: A Rubes Cartoon Book. BowTie Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1931993371
• The Wild Life of Cats: A Rubes Cartoon Book. Willow Creek Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1595432339
• The Wild Life of Love: A Rubes Cartoon Collection. Willow Creek Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1595433688
• The Wild and Twisted World of Rubes: A Rubes Cartoon Collection. Andrews McMeel Publishing
  Andrews McMeel Publishing
  Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC is a company which publishes books, calendars, and related toys...
  
  , 2010. ISBN 978-0740791567

Calendars

• Rubes Farm Animal Funnies Family Organizer 2006 (Wall) Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1595432308
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2006 Daily Box Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1595431820
• Rubes Animal Antics Family Organizer 2007 (Wall) Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1595433237
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2007 Daily Box Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1595434166
• Rubes Animal Antics Family Organizer 2008 (Wall) Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1595434999
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2008 Daily Box Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1595436245
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2009 Daily Box Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1595438317
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2010 Daily Box Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1607550464
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2011 Daily Box Calendar. Willow Creek Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1607552468
• Rubes 2012 (Wall) Calendar. Day Dream Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1423811350
• Rubes Zoo in a Box 2012 Daily Box Calendar. Mead, 2011. ISBN 978-1423812401

Mega Mini Kit

• Rubes Cow Tipping: You Can't Keep a Good Cow Down! Running Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0762440085

External links

• Rubes Cartoons website