Leigh Rubin comic.

Rubes comic at SOU Wednesday

Leigh Rubin comic.
Comic courtesy of Leigh Rubin.

Nationally syndicated cartoon creator, Leigh Rubin will speak Wednesday at SOU. Rubin will elaborate on his inspiration for “Rubes” and the history behind his four decade old cartoon at 6:30 p.m. in the Hannon Library Meese Room.

Rubin began as a cartoonist over thirty years ago and quickly began drawing the Rubes cartoon.  “Rubes” celebrated its 26 birthday on November 1.

Rubin, who has spoken at newspapers and libraries in New York and Sacramento in the last few weeks, will visit Eugene Tuesday before heading down to SOU.

“I called Editor Bob Hunter at the Mail Tribune and I was wondering if he wanted me to visit,” said Rubin, “[He] thought it would be a good idea to have the university involved. The more people that are involved, the merrier.”

Rubin will talk with guests about his ability to stay creative and inspired with his cartoon, which is syndicated and published in 400 newspapers.

“The area that I look into a lot is creativity, maintaining and staying fresh at being creative daily,” said Rubin, “It’s always a question of where I get my ideas from.”

Rubin said the “Rubes” cartoon, named after his last name, is always different every day.

“There is no set character and there is a different situation every day. I like to surprise myself as well as others who are reading the cartoons,” he said.

Although Rubin acknowledges the changing format of newspapers, he thinks comic strips are in no immediate trouble.

“I hope that the future of newspaper cartoons will still be around for a long time,” Rubin said, “It’s going through a big transformation from newspapers to the web, but generally I think it’s still healthy because newspaper cartoons are still popular right now.”

Rubin is co-sponsored by the SOU communication department and the Medford Mail Tribune.  The event is free and open to the public.

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