The National Cartoonists Society is the world's largest organization of professional cartoonists. It presents the Reuben Awards.

The NCS was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops. They found that they enjoyed each other's company and decided to get together on a regular basis.

Today, the NCS membership roster includes over 500 of the world's major cartoonists , working in many branches of the profession, including newspaper comic strips and panels, comic books, editorial cartoons, animation, gag cartoons, greeting cards, advertising, magazine and book illustration and more. There is also the notable exclusion of cartoonists who work with web comics.

Membership is limited to established professional cartoonists, with a few exceptions of outstanding persons in affiliated fields. The NCS is not a guild or labor union.

The NCS's stated primary purposes are: "to advance the ideals and standards of professional cartooning in its many forms," "to promote and foster a social, cultural and intellectual interchange among professional cartoonists of all types," and "to stimulate and encourage interest in and acceptance of the art of cartooning by aspiring cartoonists, students and the general public."

The Society's offices are in Winter Park, Florida. In addition, the NCS has chartered 16 regional chapters throughout the United States and one in Canada. Chapter Chairpersons sit on the NCS Regional Council and are represented by a National Representative, who is a voting member of the Board of Directors.