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 talented Canadian writer and computer programmer. He is well-known for creating the popular webcomic Dinosaur Comics. Ryan North has also written for many famous comic series, including Adventure Time and Marvel Comics' The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. His amazing work has won several big awards like the Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards. His books have even appeared on the New York Times Bestseller lists!

Exploring Ryan North's Comic Creations

Dive into Webcomics

Ryan North started his famous webcomic, Dinosaur Comics, in 2003. He was still in college at the time. What's cool about Dinosaur Comics is that it uses the same main drawings for every single comic strip. Only the words change! As of 2025, Ryan has made over 4,300 of these unique comic strips.

Dinosaur Comics quickly became very popular. It was named one of the best webcomics in 2004 and 2005. Wired magazine even called it one of "Five Webcomics You Can Share With Your Kids." PC Magazine also put it on their list of "10 Wicked Awesome Webcomics." In 2005, it won an award for "Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic."

Besides Dinosaur Comics, Ryan also made a website called Whispered Apologies. On this site, people could share comic art without any words. Then, others would write funny or interesting text to go with the pictures.

Many people see Ryan North as a pioneer in the world of webcomics. This means he was one of the first and most important creators in this field.

Printed Comics and Graphic Novels

Ryan North has written for many printed comics and graphic novels too. From 2012 to 2014, he was the writer for the Adventure Time comic book series. This series won an Eisner Award and a Harvey Award in 2013 for being the "Best Publication for Kids."

He has also written for several Marvel Comics series. His most famous Marvel work is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. He also wrote for Power Pack and Inhumans: Once and Future Kings.

In 2013, Ryan wrote a comic called Galaga. It was based on the classic 1981 arcade game of the same name.

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

In 2020, Ryan adapted a famous book called Slaughterhouse-Five into a graphic novel. This means he turned the story into a comic book format.

Ryan has more exciting comic projects coming out. He is working on Star Trek: Lower Decks, a comic series based on the animated TV show. He is also creating a graphic novel for young adults called Danger and Other Unknown Risks. This book is a "dystopian fantasy" story. In 2022, he started writing a new volume of Fantastic Four comics.

In 2024, it was announced that Ryan North will be leading Marvel's big 2025 event called One World Under Doom. This event will follow Doctor Doom as he becomes the emperor of the world.

Tools for Webcomic Creators

Ryan North also created some helpful tools for other webcomic artists. One of these is "Oh No Robot." This tool helps turn the words in webcomics into searchable text. This makes it easier for people to find specific comics.

Ryan North's Books and Other Writing

Fun Books and Guides

In 2010, Ryan North helped edit a collection of short stories called Machine of Death. This book was based on an idea from one of his Dinosaur Comics strips. The idea was about a machine that could predict how a person would die, but in a confusing way. The book became very popular and even reached #1 on Amazon.com.

In 2012, Ryan 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 make choices for the characters. The project raised a lot of money, showing how excited people were for the book. It even made a New York Times Bestseller list. In 2016, he published a similar book called Romeo and/or Juliet. This book has an incredible number of possible adventures!

In 2018, Ryan North wrote a non-fiction guide called How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller. This book is a guide to technology, pretending you're a time traveler stuck in the past. It was named one of the best books of 2018 by NPR and BBC Science Focus.

Games and Podcasts

In 2019, Ryan helped create the story for an iOS game app called AVO!. He also wrote the 2021 action-adventure video game Lost in Random.

In 2022, Ryan North wrote a six-episode podcast series called Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show. This podcast continues the story from the comic series he wrote.

Ryan North's Awards and Achievements

Ryan North's Personal Life

Ryan North was born in Osgoode, Ontario, in 1980. He has a younger brother named Victor. Ryan has shared that his family lived in a rural area, so he spent a lot of time on the computer.

He studied computer science at Carleton University in Ottawa. Later, he earned his master's degree in computer science from the University of Toronto. He focused on computational linguistics, which is about how computers understand human language.

Ryan North is married to Jenn Klug. As of 2016, they live in Toronto, Ontario.

Images for kids

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  North (right) in 2018, with his dog Noam Chompsky

See also

In Spanish: Ryan North para niños