Ryan North facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ryan North
North (right) in 2018, with his dog Noam Chompsky
Born	(1980-10-20) October 20, 1980 (age 44) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Comic writer, computer programmer
Period	2000–present
Genre	Humour
Literary movement	Webcomics
Notable works	Dinosaur Comics Adventure Time (comic book) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
Notable awards	Eisner Award, 2013 & 2017
Spouse	Jenn Klug

Ryan North (born October 20, 1980) is a Canadian writer and computer programmer. He is well-known for creating the webcomic Dinosaur Comics. He has also written many popular comic series, including Adventure Time and Marvel Comics' The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.

His work has won several important awards, like the Eisner Award and Harvey Award. Many of his books have also appeared on New York Times Bestseller lists.

Ryan North's Comic Creations

Webcomics

Ryan North started his famous webcomic, Dinosaur Comics, in 2003. He was still in college at the time. This comic is special because it uses the exact same drawings for every strip. Only the words change! As of 2025, Ryan has made over 4,300 of these unique comics.

Dinosaur Comics has been praised by many. It was called one of the best webcomics in 2004 and 2005. Wired magazine even listed it as a great webcomic to share with kids. In 2005, it won an award for "Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic" at the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards.

Ryan North also created another website called Whispered Apologies. On this site, people could share comic art without any words. Then, others would write funny text to go with the pictures.

Printed Comics and Graphic Novels

Ryan North wrote the Adventure Time comic book series from 2012 to 2014. This series was very successful. In 2013, it won an Eisner Award for Best Publication for Kids. It also won a Harvey Award for Best Original Graphic Publication For Younger Readers.

North has written for several Marvel Comics series. These include The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Power Pack, and Inhumans: Once and Future Kings.

In 2013, he wrote a comic called Galaga. This comic was based on the classic 1981 arcade game.

In 2017, two of Ryan's projects won Eisner Awards. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl won for Best Publication for Teens. His work on Jughead won for Best Humor Publication.

In 2020, a graphic novel version of Kurt Vonnegut's book Slaughterhouse-Five was published. Ryan North adapted the story for this graphic novel.

Ryan North has continued to create new comics. In 2022, he launched a new volume of Fantastic Four. He also worked on Star Trek: Lower Decks, a comic series based on the animated TV show. Another project was a young adult graphic novel called Danger and Other Unknown Risks.

In October 2024, it was announced that Ryan North would be leading Marvel's 2025 event called One World Under Doom. This big comic event will follow Doctor Doom as he tries to take over the world.

Webcomic Tools

Ryan North also created tools to help other webcomic artists. One of these is Oh No Robot. This tool helps turn comic text into searchable databases. This makes it easier to find specific comics.

Books and Other Writing

Ryan North has written more than just comics. He co-authored several papers about how computers understand language.

He also created a funny website called Every Topic in the Universe Except Chickens in 2006. The idea was to encourage people who like to mess up Wikipedia pages to only mess with the article about chickens. He thought it was a small price to pay to keep the rest of Wikipedia safe.

In 2010, a collection of short stories called Machine of Death was released. Ryan North was one of the editors and also wrote a story for it. The book is about a machine that can predict how someone will die, but in a strange way. This book became very popular and even reached #1 on Amazon.com.

In 2012, Ryan North launched a project to create a book called To Be or Not to Be: That Is the Adventure. This book is a fun retelling of Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, where readers can decide what happens next. The project raised a lot of money, showing how excited people were for the book. It even made a New York Times Bestseller list.

He later released similar books, Romeo and/or Juliet in 2016 and "William Shakespeare Punches a Friggin' Shark" in 2017. These books also let readers make choices that change the story.

In 2018, Ryan North published a non-fiction book called How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler. This book is a guide to technology, written as if you've traveled back in time and need to invent things. It was named one of the best books of 2018 by NPR.

Ryan North also helped develop the story for a mobile game app called AVO! in 2019. In 2021, he wrote the action-adventure video game Lost in Random. In 2022, he wrote a six-episode podcast series called Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show, which continued the story from his comic series.

Awards and Recognition

About Ryan North's Life

Ryan North was born in Osgoode, Ontario, in 1980. He grew up in a rural area and spent a lot of time on the computer. He studied computer science at Carleton University and then got his master's degree at the University of Toronto. He focused on how computers can understand human language.

In 2006, Ryan North's website featured instructions for making cardboard boxes that looked like items from the video game Super Mario Bros..

In 2015, Ryan North found himself in a tricky situation. He got stuck in a skate pit with his dog, Noam Chompsky, because the ground was too slippery. He posted about it on Twitter, and hundreds of people offered funny suggestions on how to escape. He eventually got out safely. Sadly, his dog Chompsky passed away in October 2022.

Ryan North is married to Jenn Klug. They live in Leslieville, Toronto, Ontario.

See also

In Spanish: Ryan North para niños