by Leigh Rubin
Charles Schulz had his Mell (Miss Peach) Lazarus. Garry Trudeau had his Berke (Bloom County) Breathed. Gary Larson has Leigh Rubin, a Palmdale, California-based syndicated cartoonist. Like Larson, he uses animals to illustrate his views on human nature—a previous collection was called Sharks!... Are People Too! Rubin's views generally follow Larson's less-than-optimistic monorail of thought too. This sneakily funny book includes one ion saying to another as they chase a deer, "Don't you ever wonder if there's more to life than chasing the buck?" In another panel, an adult sheep is telling an offspring, "Be a good little lamb and eat all of your grass so you'll grow up big and strong and become a seat cover like your father." These cartoons come from Rubin's daily newspaper panel, Rubes. While looking at it and The Far Side in the same day might tend to give one a depressing view of things, until the universe shapes up a little, it probably won't hurt to keep things in perspective. (Perigee, paper, $4.95)
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