Originally from Japan and raised in a Japanese-American family, Brubaker rose to prominence in the cartoon circle, assisting historians on animation books while he was still a teenager. In college, he started drawing comics for the student-run paper, as well as the local city paper. In 2012, he graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a BFA in Graphic Design. Brubaker contributes to MAD Magazine and SpongeBob Comics, draws comics "Ask a Cat" and "The Fuzzy Princess", and writes about animation history.