Rubes Then & Now

In Rubes Then & Now, internationally syndicated cartoonist Leigh Rubin delivers probably the most important tool we'll need to survive the passage of the millennium: humor. Each section of Then and Now brings us a subtly twisted "take" on conventionally accepted views of our past and present. By poking fun at all peoples and topics, from the lives of cavemen, Biblical figures and other notables to the struggles of environmentalists and the present-day actions of society, Rubin shows us that life should not be taken too seriously, at least not in the world of Rubes! These delightfully simple cartoons can be enjoyed by "children" of all ages, including the one inside each of us. Rubes Then & Now is a fun-filled way to look back into our past and to speculate on just where we might be headed in the next millennium in this crazy mixed-up world of ours.

Walk into almost any gift shop, and you'll probably see a bevy of RUBES greeting cards, mugs and T-shirts. Ironically, the inspiration to create his trademark cartoon panels 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. After creating his own publishing company, Rubes Publications, in 1979 and distributing his own greeting cards, Rubin published the popular Notable Quotes in 1981. Rubes, in the form that cartoon aficionados now know it, began appearing in newspapers in 1984. It is now distributed by Creators Syndicate to more than 400 newspapers worldwide. Rubes appears in such major daily metropolitan papers as the Philadelphia Daily News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Columbus Dispatch, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Winnipeg Free Press, The Orlando Sentinel, Washington Times, Houston Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times.

The first paperback book collection of Rubes Cartoons was published in late 1988.

When asked about his considerable creative talent, he states it very simply, "Maybe you could call me a sit-down comedian," Rubin muses. "Whatever you call it, I'm just gratified I have the opportunity to make other people laugh."

Leigh Rubin is married and has three sons.