Brubaker began his career in comics as a cartoonist, writing and drawing Pajama Chronicles for Blackthorne Publishing, Purgatory U.S.A. for Slave Labor Graphics and several short stories for various small-press anthologies. His most well-known work of the period is Lowlife, a semi-autobiographical series first published by Caliber and later moved to Aeon Press. For Caliber, Brubaker also co-edited an anthology publication titled Monkey Wrench.
