Ryan North (born October 20, 1980) is a Canadian writer and computer programmer.
He is the creator and author of ''
Dinosaur Comics
''Dinosaur Comics'' is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on February 1, 2003, although there were earlier prototypes. ''Din ...
'', and has written for the comic series of ''
Adventure Time
''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
'' and
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
' ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, All ...
'' and ''
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...
''. His works have won multiple
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
s and
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...
s and made
''New York Times'' Bestseller lists.
Comics
Webcomics
North started the webcomic ''
Dinosaur Comics
''Dinosaur Comics'' is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on February 1, 2003, although there were earlier prototypes. ''Din ...
'' in 2003, during the last year of his undergraduate degree.
''Dinosaur Comics'' is a fixed-art webcomic which uses the same base art for every strip. North has produced more than 4,300 strips.
''Dinosaur Comics'' was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 and 2005 by The Webcomics Examiner. ''
Wired
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
'' listed ''Dinosaur Comics'' as one of "Five Webcomics You Can Share With Your Kids" and ''
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues .
Overview
''PC Mag ...
'' included the comic in its "10 Wicked Awesome Webcomics" list.
Cracked.com named ''Dinosaur Comics'' one of the 8 funniest webcomics on the internet.
In 2005, it won "Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic" in the
Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards
The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''New York Times'' column on webcomics ...
.
As well as ''Dinosaur Comics'', North also created ''Whispered Apologies'', a site where users could submit comic art without text and others would write text to match the art.
Canada's ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' described North as a "pioneering webcomic creator".
Printed comics and graphic novels
North was the writer of the ''
Adventure Time
''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
''
comic book series
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
from 2012 to 2014. In 2013 the series won an
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
(Best Publication for Kids) and a
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...
(Best Original Graphic Publication For Younger Readers).
North has written for several
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
series, including ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, All ...
,
Power Pack
Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...
'', and ''Inhumans: Once and Future Kings''.
On January 21, 2013,
Shiftylook.com launched ''Galaga'', a comic written by North and illustrated by
Christopher Hastings
Christopher Hastings (age ) is an American comic writer and artist. He is known for his webcomic ''The Adventures of Dr. McNinja'' as well as writing for '' The Unbelievable GwenPool'' and the ''Adventure Time'' comics.
Biography
Hastings attend ...
and colored by Anthony Clark, the creators of ''
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
''The Adventures of Dr. McNinja'' is a webcomic written and drawn by Christopher Hastings, and inked formerly by Kent Archer and after 2010 by Hastings himself. Published three times a week on its own website, it features the fictional adventure ...
''. The comic is based on the
1981 arcade shooter of the same name.
On July 21, 2017, two of North's projects were awarded
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
s: "Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)" for ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' (with
Erica Henderson), and "Best Humor Publication" for ''
Jughead'' (with
Chip Zdarsky
Steve Murray (born December 21, 1975), known by the pen-name Chip Zdarsky (), is a Canadian comic book artist and Comic book writer, writer, journalist, illustrator, and designer. Murray worked for ''National Post'' for over a decade, until 2014 ...
, Henderson, and Derek Charm).
On September 15, 2020,
Archaia published a graphic novel adaptation of
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...
's ''
Slaughterhouse-Five
''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his ...
'', which was adapted by North and illustrated by
Albert Monteys.
In July 2022, North announced two upcoming comics projects via his newsletter.
The first is ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' —a
limited series
In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...
based on the animated series
of the same name—with artist Chris Fenoglio; the first issue is scheduled to be published in September 2022 by
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
.
The second is a YA graphic novel, titled ''Danger and Other Unknown Risks,'' with artist Henderson; North and Henderson were co-creators on ''Squirrel Girl''.
This graphic novel is described as a "dystopian fantasy" and is scheduled to be published in April 2023 by
Penguin Teen.
In November 2022, North launched a new volume of
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...
with artist Iban Coello.
In October 2024, at
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...
, it was announced that North was heading up Marvel's 2025 event ''
One World Under Doom''. The event will follow
Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' The Fantastic Four'' #5 in April 1962, and has since endured as the arch ...
who, after being granted the title of
Sorcerer Supreme
Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...
during the events of
''Blood Hunt'', has declared himself emperor of the world. The event will begin in February 2025 with the main miniseries written by North and drawn by R.B. Silva.
Webcomic tools
North created three tools to aid webcomic authors: Oh No Robot, a webcomic transcription tool that creates searchable text databases for comics; RSSpect, a method of creating
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...
feeds for websites; and
Project Wonderful
Project Wonderful was an advertising service created by programmer and webcomic author Ryan North in late 2006. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the service supported thousands of webcomics and blogs with auctioned online advertisement, online a ...
, a pay-per-day
auction
An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
-based
ad serving
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically used ...
system. The first two were free, whereas the last took 25% of each sale. Only Oh No Robot remains.
Books and other writing
During his academic career, North co-authored three papers on computational linguistics.
Some of North's original comedy writing appears on the website Madhouse, including ''Robot Erotica,'' and prank emails such as attempts to stop other people named "Ryan North" from using his name.
In November 2006, Ryan North created the site ''Every Topic in the Universe Except Chickens'', which purports to provide a solution to
vandalism on Wikipedia
On Wikipedia, vandalism is editing the project in an intentionally disruptive or malicious manner. Vandalism includes any addition, removal, or modification that is intentionally Humour, humorous, Nonsense, nonsensical, a Reliability of Wiki ...
, in that it encourages vandals to vandalize only the article on
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
s: "...instead of vandalizing Wikipedia in general, we all just vandalize the chicken article." North reasoned that it was worth trading the reliability of the chicken article if it meant freeing the rest of the encyclopedia from the threat of vandalism because "Dudes already know about chickens." The site received media attention.
A collection of short stories titled ''
Machine of Death'' was released October 2010 through Bearstache Books. The book, featuring stories and illustrations by various authors and artists, was based on a ''
Dinosaur Comics
''Dinosaur Comics'' is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on February 1, 2003, although there were earlier prototypes. ''Din ...
'' comic by North of December 5, 2005, with the premise of a machine that predicts the manner of a person's death accurately but in a difficult to understand manner. North was one of its editors, and contributed one of the stories. ''Machine of Death'' reached #1 on
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
, beating
Glenn Beck
Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...
and drawing criticism from him as exemplifying a "liberal
culture of death".
In November 2012, North launched a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
project to fund a book entitled ''
To Be or Not to Be: That Is the Adventure'', a retelling of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'' modelled on
Choose Your Own Adventure
''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...
novels. The project raised more than six times its $20,000 goal in less than a week, and closed on December 22, 2012 having raised $580,905, nearly thirty times its original goal, and a record for a ''Kickstarter'' publishing project at that time. The book allows readers to take the role of
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
,
Ophelia
Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...
or
Hamlet's father and make their own choices throughout the story; the latter characters, as well as over 100 colour illustrations by a range of artists, were added to the book as funding increased. The book made a New York Times Bestseller list.
In 2016, Ryan published a similar book titled ''Romeo and/or Juliet''. There are 46,012,475,909,287,476 possible adventures in it. The book received generally positive coverage.
In 2018,
Riverhead Books
Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) founded in 1994 by Susan Petersen Kennedy.
Writers published by Riverhead include Ali Sethi, Marlon James, Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, Nick Hornby, Anne Lamott, Carl ...
published Ryan North's ''
How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler'', a nonfiction guide to technology based around the fictional premise of a time machine stranding the reader in the past, with illustrations by
Lucy Bellwood. It was named one of
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's and
BBC Science Focus's Best Books of 2018.
In 2019, North helped develop the story and writing for an iOS game app called AVO! by Playdeo Limited
North wrote the 2021 action-adventure video game ''
Lost in Random'', published by Electronic Arts.
In April 2022, North was the writer for the six-episode
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
series ''Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show'' which is a direct continuation of the comic series he wrote; the series is produced by Radio Point, directed by Giovanna Sardelli and stars
Milana Vayntrub
Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. She began her career as a child actress and came to prominence for her appearances in AT&T television commercials as saleswoman L ...
as Squirrel Girl.
Awards
, -
, rowspan=2, 2024
, ''Danger and Other Unknown Risks''
,
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
: Best Publication for Teens
,
, Created by North and
Erica Henderson
, -
, Star Trek: Day of Blood—Shax's Best Day
, Eisner Award: Best Single Issue/One-Shot
,
, Created by North and Derek Charm
, -
, rowspan=4, 2017
, ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, All ...
''
, Eisner Award: Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17)
,
, Illustrated by Erica Henderson
, -
, ''
Jughead''
, Eisner Award: Best Humor Publication
,
, Created by
Chip Zdarsky
Steve Murray (born December 21, 1975), known by the pen-name Chip Zdarsky (), is a Canadian comic book artist and Comic book writer, writer, journalist, illustrator, and designer. Murray worked for ''National Post'' for over a decade, until 2014 ...
, North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm
, -
, ''Romeo and/or Juliet: A Choosable-Path Adventure''
,
Alex Award
The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of th ...
,
,
, -
, (multiple comics)
,
Joe Shuster Award: Outstanding Writer
,
,
, -
, rowspan=2, 2016
, ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, All ...
''
,
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
: Best New Series
,
, Illustrated by
Erica Henderson
, -
, (multiple comics)
,
Joe Shuster Award: Outstanding Writer
,
,
, -
, rowspan=2, 2015
, (multiple comics)
,
Joe Shuster Award: Outstanding Writer
,
,
, -
, ''
The Midas Flesh''
,
Joe Shuster Award: The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids)
,
,
, -
, rowspan=3, 2014
, ''Adventure Time''
,
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which wer ...
: Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers
,
,
, -
, ''Adventure Time''
,
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which wer ...
: Special Award for Humor
,
,
, -
, (multiple comics)
,
Joe Shuster Award: Outstanding Writer
,
,
, -
, rowspan=6, 2013
, ''Adventure Time''
, Eisner Award: Best Publication for Kids (ages 8–12)
,
,
, -
, ''Adventure Time''
,
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which wer ...
: Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers
,
,
, -
, ''Adventure Time''
,
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which wer ...
: Special Award for Humor
,
,
, -
, ''Adventure Time''
, Eisner Award: Best New Series
,
,
, -
, ''Adventure Time''
, Eisner Award: Best Humor Publication
,
,
, -
, ''Adventure Time''
, Sushter Awards: Outstanding Writer
,
,
, -
, 2005
, ''
Dinosaur Comics
''Dinosaur Comics'' is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on February 1, 2003, although there were earlier prototypes. ''Din ...
''
,
Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards
The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''New York Times'' column on webcomics ...
: Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic
,
, In the same year, ''Dinosaur Comics'' was also nominated for Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Comedic Comic, and Outstanding Short Form Comic.
Personal life
North was born in
Osgoode,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, in 1980. His parents are Anna and Randall North and said in an interview that he has a younger brother, Victor.
In an interview, North said that his family lived in rural Osgoode and there was not a lot to do, so spent much of his time on the computer.
After high school, he studied
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
at
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...
in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, then did his
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in computer science at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, specializing in
computational linguistics
Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, computational linguistics ...
.
North once hosted instructions on his website for building cardboard boxes designed to look like elements of ''
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...
'', designed by his friend
Posterchild. In 2006, a group of teenage girls in
Ravenna, Ohio
Ravenna is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,323 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located east of Akron, Ohio, Akron. Formed from portions of Ravenna Township, Portage Co ...
were arrested after they created and distributed several of these blocks, over fears they were bombs.
On August 18, 2015, North became stuck in a skate pit with only an umbrella, a leash, his phone, and his dog, Noam Chompsky, after rain made the surface too slick to easily climb with a dog in tow. He posted about his conundrum on Twitter, leading hundreds of Twitter users to reply with suggestions on how to combine the items in his "inventory" to escape, eventually leading to success. Chompsky died in October 2022.
North is married to Jenn Klug.
As of 2016, they lived in
Leslieville
Leslieville is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated east of the Don River. It is bounded by the Canadian National railway line and Gerrard Street to the north, McGee Street to the west, Eastern Avenue to south, and Coxwell ...
,
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario.
Bibliography
* Author, ''The Best of Dinosaur Comics: 2003-2005 AD'' (April 15, 2006, Quack!Media)
* Author, ''Dinosaur Comics: Dudes Already Know About Chickens'' (2010, TopatoCo)
* Editor and contributor, ''
Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die'' (October 13, 2010, Machines of Death)
* Author, ''Everybody Knows Failure Is Just Success Rounded Down: Dinosaur Comics'' (2011, TopatoCo)
* Author, ''
To Be or Not to Be: That Is the Adventure'' (2013, Breadpig)
* Editor, ''
This Is How You Die; Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death'' (2013, Grand Central Publishing)
* Author, ''The Midas Flesh Vol. 1'' (2014, BOOM! Box)
* Author, ''The Midas Flesh Vol. 2'' (2015, BOOM! Box)
* Author, ''Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure'' (2016, Riverhead Books)
* Author, ''How to Be a T.Rex'' (2018, Dial Books)
* Author, ''How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler'' (2018, Riverhead Books)
* Author, ''
Slaughterhouse-Five
''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his ...
: The Graphic Novel'' (2020, Archaia)
* Writer, ''The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel'' (2021, DC)
* Author, ''How to Take Over the World: Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain'' (2022, Riverhead Books)
Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...
* ''
Jughead'' #9–14 (September 2016–June 2017)
** Collected in ''Jughead Vol. 2'' (contains #9–11, trade paperback, 2017, )
** Collected in ''Jughead Vol. 3'' (contains #12–14, trade paperback, 2017, )
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
* ''
Star Trek: Lower Decks'' #1–3 (illustrated by Chris Fenoglio, September–November 2022)
** Collected in ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' (trade paperback, 2023, )
* ''Star Trek: Day of Blood - Shaxs' Best Day'' #1 (September 2023)
** Collected in ''Star Trek: Day of Blood'' (hardcover, 2024, )
* ''
Star Trek: Lower Decks—Warp Your Own Way'' (trade paperback, 2024, )
* ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' (vol. 2) #1–present (illustrated by Derek Charm, November 2024–present)
KaBOOM! Studios
* ''
Adventure Time
''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
'' #1–35, 75 (February 2012–December 2014, April 2018)
** Collected in ''Adventure Time Vol. 1'' (#1–4, trade paperback, 2012, )
* ''Bill & Ted's Most Triumphant Return'' #1–6 (March – August 2015)
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
* ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, All ...
'' #1–8 (January–August 2015)
** Collected in ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1: Squirrel Power''
** Collected in ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True''
* ''
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. The solo series debuted in January 2015 and ran for 8 issues, and was relaunched in October 2015 as part of Marvel's All-New, All ...
'' (vol. 2) #1–50 (October 2015–November 2019)
* ''
Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber, based very loosely on his college friend Howard Tockman, and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck firs ...
'' (vol. 6) #6 (co-written with
Chip Zdarsky
Steve Murray (born December 21, 1975), known by the pen-name Chip Zdarsky (), is a Canadian comic book artist and Comic book writer, writer, journalist, illustrator, and designer. Murray worked for ''National Post'' for over a decade, until 2014 ...
, illustrated by Joe Quinones, April 2016)
** Collected in ''Howard the Duck Vol. 1: Duck Hunt'' (trade paperback, 2016, )
** Collected in ''Howard the Duck by Zdarsky & Quinones'' (hardcover, 2022, )
* ''
Power Pack
Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...
'' #1–5 (illustrated by Nico Leon, November 2020–April 2021)
** Collected in ''Power Pack: The Powers That Be'' (trade paperback, 2021, )
* ''
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...
'' (vol. 8) #1–present (November 2022–present)
* ''
Secret Invasion
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, that ran through a self-titled eight-issue Limited series (comics), limited series and several ti ...
'' #1–5 (illustrated by Francesco Mobili, November 2022–March 2023)
** Collected in ''Secret Invasion: Mission Earth'' (trade paperback, 2023, )
* ''
One World Under Doom'' #1–9 (illustrated by R. B. Silva, February 2025–present)
* ''Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four'' #1 (illustrated by
John Romita Jr., March 2025)
** Collected in ''Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe'' (trade paperback, 2025, )
References
External links
''Dinosaur Comics''''Whispered Apologies''Truth and Beauty Bombs
Ryan North's LiveJournalThe Amazing Regret IndexRyan North at University of TorontoProjectWonderfulEvery Topic in the Universe Except ChickensCarleton University alumni profileOh No RobotRSSpect
{{DEFAULTSORT:North, Ryan
1980 births
Artists from Ottawa
Canadian comic strip cartoonists
Canadian comics artists
Canadian comics writers
Canadian computer programmers
Canadian humorists
Canadian Internet celebrities
Canadian webcomic creators
Carleton University alumni
Eisner Award winners
Free software programmers
Living people
Marvel Comics people
Marvel Comics writers
University of Toronto alumni
Web Cartoonists' Choice Award winners
Writers from Ottawa